Q. What are the pros and cons of buying a glass top humidor, or a humidor with glass anywhere on it, as opposed to a solid wood type humidor?
– Robert V. in Colorado Springs, CO
A. Having recently purchased one of these myself, the main “con” to having a glass top humidor is that you should avoid direct sun or lamplight which can raise the temperature and humidity. It also depends how close the light source is to it, but most humidors are best kept in cooler, shaded spaces, or at least where there will be no direct sunlight for long periods of time. Even a solid wood cigar humidor can be affected by direct light depending on how close it is to the source.
Another thing is the placement of the humidifier. With most glass top models like the one shown here, the humidifier is positioned on the bottom which may prevent the cigars on the top tray from getting their share of moist air. Adding a Dry-Mistat stick or a small polyglycol crystal jar on the top tray will help. (For more on placement of the humidifier see my blog on this subject.)
Other than that I like the aesthetic of a glass top cigar humidor. The important thing is that it has a good tight seal and keeps your temp and humidity at a constant cigar-friendly level for long-term aging of your cigars.
Executive Editor
Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. A graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, prior to his career in the cigar business, Gary worked in the music and video industry as a marketer and a publicist.
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I have two glass top humidors and they work great. Have had them for ten years. The sunlight issue I have thought of but is not a problem with me. The one issue however that I have not read yet since reading just a few of the posts here, is that if the glass breaks, your out of luck. You will have to have the wood pulled out to get a nice pane of glass in there which could easily cost you the price of the humidor unless you can do it yourself. Keep your glass tops in a safe place and don’t lean on them or put anything on them and they should last a long time. One big benefit is that you can see the temperature and the humidity within a seconds glance without having to open the box which as we know slightly changes things for a few minutes.