Expert: James Yee - 2/27/2010

Question
Hi James, It's been a while...

Recently it has come to my attention that my humidor is either leaking humidity, or the cedar lining has lost all of it's retained moisture and i don't know what to do. Also i've noticed an uneven distribution of humidity. (It's all collecting right under the humidifier unit.) About a month ago I could open up the top of my box for a minute and close it to come back and have it at a pretty good level, around 65-72, but now i can't even get it above 62%. Now, I had a problem with the head room of my top layer of cigars, (i have mine in two layers) and the foot of a couple of the cigars right under the humidifier have split open a bit and I've been concerned about it obviously, so i have been moving smokes around constantly and i think i may have allowed by humidor to dry out in the process so now the humidity, if there is any to be found, is unevenly distributed and i have wet and dry cigars in the same box. Should i re-condition my humidor alltogether? Is my humidor leaking humidity from the sides or corners? How can i save my over-humidified/over-dry cigars in the same humidor? What do you think is wrong with my set up thats causing such an uneven distribution of humidity?

Thanks in advance,
Miles

Answer
Hi Miles,

It sounds like your humidor has dried out and your humidifier is being obstructed by something.  Re-season your humidor and the humidity level should improve and hold for a longer period of time.  As for the uneven distribution of humidity, is your humidifier obstructed by any cigars?  This can explain why excess moisture is developing beneath the humidifier.  Keep your humidifier at the base of your humidor in a centered location and avoid crowding the humidifier with cigars and/or the humidor trays and shelves.  An obstruction near your humidifier will cause the humidity to localize in one area of your humidor and this will cause your cigars to split at the wrappers.

If your humidor is nearly full of cigars, you may want to purchase an additional humidor and evenly divide your cigars between them.  A full humidor can also cause the humidity to be obstructed and build up in certain areas.

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

Regards,
James