Humidor Basics - Construction and Materials

Have you ever wondered why there never seems to be any nice antique cigar humidors available for sale? They are there if you look, but virtually none of them can be used for little more than a junk box or conversation piece.  Why is that? Wood and humidity are natural enemies.  Wood will expand and contract as humidity increases and decreases inside the humidor.  This expanding and contracting over time will cause joinery to fail, opening up cracks and large gaps in the seal between the lid and box.  Antiques look nice, but grandpa’s old humidor might be put to better uses as a pencil box for the grandkids.

Most antique cigar humidors that you might find will be made from Mahogany wood. Mahogany was the wood of choice for its natural resistance to mold and decay, and was better able to handle the effects of changing humidity levels. It would not expand and contract as much as other hard woods like Oak or Cherry. The interior of the cigar humidor might have been lined with copper or nickel silver, and sometimes glass.  This was another measure of protection against humidity and provided a neutral environment that would not impart any foreign aromas or flavors to the cigars.

While there are still some cigar humidor manufacturers out there who use exotic hardwoods, they are becoming fewer and fewer and their products tend to come at a steep premium. It’s well worth the money to those who value exquisite craftsmanship and traditional wood working methods. But most modern humidors in use today are made with MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) as a base material, and covered with hardwood veneer.  MDF is a wood product made with wood dust and resin compressed into a sheet. There are good and bad aspects to the use of MDF. If MDF is exposed to direct humidity it will virtually disintegrate. But, once it is covered with veneer it is shielded from humidity and, therefore, is not affected by it. MDF has no wood grain and no cellular structure that can attract and hold water molecules. The expansion of wood occurs when the cells fill with water, and expansion usually occurs along the grain.  Even wood that no longer lives on the tree can’t resist a drink of water when it’s offered.  But MDF has no such cellular structure or grain and will not expand and contract like hardwood. So the result of using MDF as a base material is a cigar humidor that will probably be a good usable hand-me-down for years to come, unlike its more expensive hardwood cousin.

The use of veneer on the exterior allows for a much wider variety of styles and appeal to a wider variety of customers. Many hardwoods are becoming endangered species and harvesting them has become restricted. Veneering make these endangered hardwood species more accessible.  Honduran mahogany, for example, has become quite hard to find in the form of lumber, but it is still available as veneer.

The interior is also veneered, but in almost every case the single wood variety used here is Spanish Cedar.  Spanish Cedar is not actually a member of the Cedar family.  It is actually related more closely to mahogany.  This makes sense when you recall my mention of antique humidors having been made predominantly out of Mahogany. Calling it cedar was just a marketing ploy conceived by lumber distributors.  Spanish cedar  first gaining wide spread market appeal in the furniture industry as a mahogany substitute. It was noticed that it gave off an aroma similar to cedar when cut.  And because it is harvested from South and Central America, these two facts were combined to create “Spanish Cedar”.  So if you were thinking about turning a closet into a walk-in humidor and figured you would line the walls with Cedar wall panels to save some money…don’t.  It’s simply not the same wood and will make you humidor smell like a lumber yard. Spanish Cedar should be used exclusively inside every humidor.