Cigar Humidification

Space between your cigars?

Q. I do not understand when you say to leave space between cigars in the humidor. I take the cellos off,and all of my cigars are in piles according to their brand.Is it OK to stack the cigars and possibly rotate them every once in a while? Thank you, and I enjoy all of the information that I learn from your column.
– James G., Cranberry Twp, PA
A. I’m referring to air circulation, which is a key ingredient in keeping your cigars fresh. I also remove almost all of my cellos, but I tend to stack a lot of my cigars by size rather than brand – an non-issue since that’s a personal choice thing. The key is to stack them loosely enough to create some air flow around them.

I rotate my cigars from bottom to top about every 4-6 months. The only caveat I can add is, when you have so many cigars in your humidor without cellos, you have to be very careful about moving your cigars around. I’ve chipped a few feet doing this, so a light touch is important.