Cabinet Humidors
All humidors, no matter how well made, suffer from the same problem: at some point, they become too small. Despite what your significant other may think, you can never have too many cigars. Nevertheless, as your collection swells, your humidor will suffer from overcrowding. While the first humidor purchase for most cigar lovers is a desktop humidor, even the largest can hold only a few hundred smokes. When it’s full, you may be accused of having too many cigars, while in fact your only problem is that you don’t have enough space to store them in. Our advice? It’s time to invest in a cabinet humidor, many of which can hold more than 1,000 cigars.
Cabinet humidors come in a host of sizes, but most are like furniture—too large for a desktop. Rather than simply storing singles, cabinets are big enough to house cigars in their boxes. Some of them are only the size of small end tables, while the larger ones are more like bookcases or armoires. The largest are the ones you might find in a cigar shop. Their common denominator is they allow the freedom to not only store cigars, but to age them patiently.
Cabinets offer two other important assets: consistency and convenience. The majority of small boxes rely on passive humidification with moisture emanating from a sponge of sorts. In cabinets, humidification is active. A system with fans and motors keeps the air circulating, so there are no damp or dry spots. The bonus comes in their large water reservoirs. Fill them once and you can ignore humidor maintenance for weeks.
Vigilant has been making big humidors since 1995, and the New Hampshire company makes six styles of freestanding armoire humidors which hold 1,000 to 2,000 cigars in prices ranging from $3,800 to $4,800. When space is tight, the company offers a few models that are built to be recessed into a wall. If your space is unlimited you can even buy a wall of cigar lockers, including one that’s six-feet tall and four-feet wide (prices start at $6,600 and go up). If that’s still not enough room, maybe you need a bigger house.
