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[ FEATURE STORY]
Preserving perfection
Humidity—and humidors—are essential to selling fine cigars
By Timothy Bryers
The fine cigar is an elegant luxury not unlike fine red wine, aged to perfection. But keeping the tasteful cigar in a pristine state is no accident. Just like storing wine is all about the wine cellar, preserving the perfect cigar is all about the humidor, the humidity and proper storage of the cigar.
And the right humidor for the sales space is the key component for cigar retailers offering customers the freshest, tastiest cigars. More and more retailers are reaping profits by recognizing the popularity of cigars and humidors, in particular, to consumers.
There is a growing market of cigar aficionados, and retailers are becoming more sophisticated at selling just as consumer tastes become more refined.
Troy Beckwith, a master cabinet builder and supplier of display humidor cabinetry for retailers, says almost all humidor manufacturers will build units with electronic components to keep humidity levels at the optimum level of 70 percent. Beckwith is with Stewart-Beckwith, a family-owned and operated business in San Jose, Calif. with more than 27 years of customer service and experience, that serves retailers with top-flight cigar storage needs.
A well-made and well-maintained humidor will last from two to 10 years, says Beckwith. “It’s key to take good care of the humidifier, keep it cleaned out good, so there is no bacteria buildup. A mild dish detergent will work and that won’t hurt the taste of the cigars.”
Depending on a tobacconist retailer’s available space, humidors come in various sizes but the standard wall unit is about three and a half to four feet wide and six to seven feet tall. A retailer’s volume of cigar sales will determine the size of the humidor and the cabinet.
“It’s critical that the humidor have a nice tight seal so you don’t lose humidity,” Beckwith says.
How long can a fine cigar reside in a humidor? Indefinitely, says Beckwith. “There are old Cuban cigars, pre-embargo Cubans, being kept in humidors.”
 “It’s all about the cigars staying humidified. As soon as a cigar dries out, the wrapper breaks and if the cigar gets too wet you have the same problem,” says Beckwith. “If I was looking for a humidor as a consumer or a retailer, I would first ask, ‘Does the product work visually for my store?’ Then I would make sure the humidifier works and be certain the humidor has a nice, tight seal.”
Another important thing a retailer, or consumer, should know about humidors is that the interior of the cabinet should have some quantity of Spanish cedar to deter bugs and beetles.
“You’ve got to make sure the cedar inside the cabinet is not the aromatic red cedar, but the Spanish cedar,” says Beckwith. The red cedar will make the cigars bitter and they’ll go bad, he adds.
Mike Howe, is the owner of Tampa Humidor, which sells 50 to 55 different humidor models from desktops to standalone cabinet units.
“In our place, we humidify the entire showroom, which is about 800 square feet,” says Howe. “We think it makes for a nice environment to come in and shop. Everything is humidified.”
Howe says his customer is the cigar lover. “We also sell cigars,” Howe said. “We sell a lot of the names people are looking for like Macanudo, Cohiba, Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta.”
“When it comes to humidors, we’re finding more and more customers are looking for larger units, upgrading from say a smaller desktop to a standalone cabinet,” Howe said.
Tampa Humidor carries the Quality Importers lines and also sells some custom-made products.
Like Beckwith, Howe stresses the importance of proper humidity levels and the use of Spanish cedar as crucial to cigar freshness.
“The important thing is keeping the cigars fresh, maintaining the proper humidity level, and it’s important that the humidor has a good seal. Every humidor we sell is made of Spanish cedar interior, whether it’s a $15 unit or a $1,000 humidor,” Howe says.
A recent survey done by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, shows more and more retailers have walk-in humidors.
The NATO survey shows: 91 percent of surveyed stores sell premium cigars, 98 percent of surveyed stores sell domestic cigars, 48 percent of stores that sell premium cigars have walk-in humidors and 58 percent of all stores surveyed have wall-case humidors.
 “The commitment of NATO members to the premium cigar segment is also demonstrated by the size of walk-in humidors,” says Executive Director Thomas A. Briant on the organization’s Web site. “Most of the walk-in humidors are larger than 100 square feet, with many being several hundred square feet in size all the way up to 2,000 square feet.”
To augment display space or in lieu of a walk-in humidor, member retailers have installed wall-case humidors in their stores to allow customers to easily select their favorite cigars.
Vigilant Inc. is a Dover, N. H. manufacturer and seller of cabinets and humidors. The company employs 35 people and has been in business for 11 years.
“My partner and I were big cigar smokers when we started this company 11 years ago,” says Vigilant’s Charlie Griffiths. “During the cigar boom in the early to mid-1990s it got harder and harder to get high-quality cigars. Because of that, when we got good cigars we wanted to keep them that way. That’s why we got into humidors and cabinets. That’s why we developed our own electronic humidification product.”
Griffiths says retailers never want to sell a product that will cause a customer a problem with their cigars. “Having the right humidification system will be a benefit for the retailer and then a benefit for the customer,” he says. “The retailer will sell more cigars.”
Like Tampa Humidors, Vigilant also sells humidors for individual use, as are some larger cigar retailers.
Vigilant’s top-of-the-line product is one for home use, the Climatech system. Griffiths  says the Climatech provides unrivaled cigar preservation and presentation. “Climatech cigar cabinets precisely monitor and control both temperature and relative humidity,” says Griffiths, adding that even in climates in the southwestern U.S. like Texas or Arizona where heat and humidity can fluctuate, the Climatech product holds the humidor humidity levels precisely at 70 percent.
“You’ve got temperature and humidity control all in one cabinet that has everything a customer would need,” says Griffiths. The Climatech starts at $4,400. “This product basically is a guarantee to the customer for the perfect condition of their cigars,” Griffith says.
There is also an excellent “frequently asked questions” section on the Vigilant Web site that answers a lot of questions retailers might have about the quality-control and craftsmanship involved in the making of top-of-the-line humidors and cabinets.
Most cigar and humidor experts agree that a high-end humidification system is the preferred method for keeping cigars fresh. One offered by Stewart-Beckwith and others is the Hurricane Humidifier, which is designed for a humidor cabinet, locker system, or small walk-in humidor. According to the manufacturer, in a 30- to 40-box capacity humidor, the Hurricane should meet the desired humidity level within a few hours and once that level is achieved, minimal water is needed to maintain it. The longer a humidification systems takes to recharge a humidor, the more moisture that is drawn out of the cigars to compensate, which can lead to loss of flavor.
The Avallo Accumonitor, made by Avallo Humidors in Nashville, Tenn. is another humidification system that has been highly praised by the experts at top25cigar.com, which described its performance as “amazing, to say the least.” It is available in a variety of models to meet different humidification needs. TR
For more information on these manufacturers and their products, visit:
www.stewart-beckwith.com
www.tampahumidors.com
www.cigarhumidors.vigilantinc.com
www.avallohumidors.com
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