Expert: James Yee - 6/2/2009

Question
Hi James,

I have one of those small standard sized humidors, I believe it is about 12 1/4” W x 8 3/4” D x 5” H.

So you can imagine it is not too spacious.   I have the round aqua foam humidifiers on the top lid, but because sometimes I have trouble sustaining 68-72% RH, I added those small jars with gel in them that keep the RH up.

anyways, my question is that with the gel jar on the ground in my humidor, some of the cigar foots get somewhat close to them, perhaps about half an inch.   Will this have any adverse effect?

ive seen some pictures online that show cigars directly adjacent to the humidifier, will this not possibly cause mold or over humidification of that direct spot next to the humidifer?

And a question off topic, are dividers necessary?   ive heard two different sides... one claiming that the flavours mixing will make the cigars better, and the other claiming that mild and strong cigars should be seperated.   Is it enough to just put a peice of cedar wood in between those I feel are mild/strong?   In other words, will prevention of contact be enough?

thanks again for your help!

Answer
Hi Andy,

If the humidity in your humidor is kept near the proper level and does not exceed 74-75% humidity, it should be safe to store your cigars near it.  However, it's still possible for your cigars (especially if you have a lot) to obstruct your humidification device(s) and cause the humidity to not circulate properly in your humidor.  To avoid this, try not to crowd your humidification device or gel jar with cigars.  When deciding the placement for your humidification device(s), always keep them in an unobstructed location inside your humidor.  Do not keep them in a corner or area in your humidor that is easily obstructed by humidor fixtures such as trays, shelves, dividers and/or cigars themselves.  

Because you have a small humidor, you have no choice to keep the gel jar near your cigars.  Monitor your humidor closely for a month or so and if the cigars near your gel jar shows any signs of mold or over-humidification (ie: soggy or mushy cigars/wrapper leaves), remove or relocate the gel jar immediately.

In regards to humidor dividers, I personally like them but they're not necessary.  If you plan on aging your cigars for a long time, you should keep the cigars separated with dividers or in their original boxes but for a small humidor with "everyday cigars", it's perfectly fine to store all your cigars together without dividers.  Contact between extremely mild and extremely strong cigars can indeed cause their aromas to amalgamate but most of the time, this is very negligible.  For extremely small humidors, it's also not necessary to use dividers as they can actually obstruct humidity flow.  Dividers are best suited for humidors that are 50-count and larger.  (The larger the humidor is, the more dividers you can use.)  Small desktop and travel humidors do not need them.  

The only concern you should have is storing those novelty, heavily scented, flavoured cigars with premium cigars.  Never do this.  Flavoured cigars are simply too pungent to be stored with premium cigars and can permanently fuse their scent with your other cigars as well as the cedar in your humidor.

Hopes this answers your question.  As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James