Stick Picks
Do You Need Two Humidors? Aging vs. Smoking Setup
You don't strictly need two humidors, but most collectors who age cigars benefit from having one. A dedicated aging humidor runs cooler and slightly drier (62, 65% RH, 62, 65°F) and stays sealed for months at a time, while your everyday smoking humidor is opened constantly and kept at a higher, more accessible humidity.
Most collectors start with one humidor and assume that’s all they’ll ever need. Then the collection grows, the humidor fills up, and a nagging question emerges: should I be keeping my daily smokes and my aging cigars in the same place? You don’t have to run two humidors. But once you understand why many serious collectors do, you’ll probably want to.
”Wait, why would I even need a second humidor?”
A question we hear often: the case for a second humidor isn’t about storage space. It’s about environment. Your everyday smoking humidor and your long-term aging humidor have fundamentally different jobs, and those jobs pull in opposite directions.
Every time a humidor is opened, humidity and temperature shift. Many collectors address this by keeping more than one humidor, one for everyday use and one reserved for aging and long-term storage. When your aging sticks share a home with your daily smokers, they’re subjected to every lid-opening, every temperature swing when you grab one for the evening. Over months or years, that instability adds up.
Aging cigars is less about time and more about consistency. When cigars sit in a stable environment with controlled humidity, the tobacco has time to settle. Flavors become more balanced, harshness fades, the overall smoke gets smoother. But when cigars are exposed to fluctuating humidity or inconsistent temperatures, aging doesn’t happen the way it should.
Think of it this way: a wine cellar and a wine rack on your kitchen counter both hold wine, but they serve completely different purposes.
”What’s actually different between a smoking humidor and an aging humidor?”
The differences come down to three variables: humidity, temperature, and how often you open the thing.
| Variable | Smoking Humidor | Aging Humidor |
|---|---|---|
| Target RH | 65, 70% | 62, 65% |
| Target Temp | 68, 72°F | 62, 65°F |
| Opened | Daily to weekly | Monthly or less |
| Best format | Desktop box, cabinet | Coolidor, wineador, large cabinet |
| Humidification | Boveda 69%, gel, or electronic | Boveda 62, 65%, or two-way packs |
| Tracking need | Light (you know what’s in there) | High, you need records |
Many aficionados prefer to dial humidity and temperature down a bit for aging, usually into the lower to mid-60s. That lower RH slows fermentation to a more deliberate pace and keeps the stick tighter and better protected against mold during long, undisturbed storage.
With stable humidity and temperature and very little fluctuation in either, years of aging is genuinely achievable. A humidity level somewhere in the 50, 60% range and temperatures between 60, 68°F are ideal for extended aging. Worth noting: the very low end of that range (50, 60%) is really for decade-plus projects. Most collectors doing 1, 5 year aging are comfortable holding 62, 65%.
”Do my cigars actually need to be physically separated, or is it just about the environment?”
This one comes up a lot: it’s both, and flavor transfer is a bigger concern than most newcomers expect.
The main reason cigar enthusiasts separate their humidors is to keep flavors from crossing over. Cigars absorb aromas from their surroundings, and this matters most in two scenarios: when you have infused or flavored cigars in the mix, and when you’re storing very bold, dark maduros alongside mild Connecticut-wrapped daily smokers.
Storing a single flavored cigar in a humidor, even briefly, can make all your other cigars taste like they’ve been flavored. Your humidor and humidification unit will absorb and pass that flavor onto any cigars you store later. That contamination isn’t fixed by removing the offending cigar, it bakes into the cedar itself.
For non-flavored cigars, the stakes are lower but still real. Darker wrappers will marry with lighter Cameroon and Connecticut Shade wrappers fairly quickly if they’re in contact. In a smoking humidor you open regularly, that marriage happens faster. In a sealed aging humidor where cigars rest for months, the effect is more gradual. It still happens, though, which is why grouping by wrapper family or blend profile matters even in a dedicated aging setup.
”I only have one humidor right now. What’s the minimum I can do before buying a second one?”
Most collectors end up with two natural categories: daily smokers and aging cigars. Daily smokers are your go-tos, the blends you know and trust and always keep on hand. Aging cigars are the ones you’re willing to put months or years toward, hoping the process creates something worth the wait.
If you’re not ready to buy a second humidor, here’s what to do instead: keep your aging cigars in their original box (the manufacturer’s cedar box is a solid short-term aging vessel), place that sealed box inside your main humidor, and don’t open it. Label the outside with the blend, date of purchase, and your target pull date. This creates a micro-environment inside your humidor that’s far more stable than loose sticks sitting on a tray.
It’s not as good as a dedicated setup, but it’s meaningfully better than nothing. And it costs zero dollars.
”When does it actually make sense to buy a second humidor?”
Readers frequently ask: there’s no magic number, but a few signals suggest it’s time.
You’re ready for a second humidor when: (1) you’re intentionally aging cigars for more than six months and care about the results; (2) you own more than 100 sticks and your collection has at least two distinct humidity zones you want to maintain; (3) you’ve started buying boxes for aging and singles for smoking; or (4) you own any infused or flavored cigars and naturals at the same time.
Some collectors store all their Nicaraguan cigars separately from Dominican cigars, some lump everything together except infused cigars, and others run different humidors at varying relative humidity to give the cigars they enjoy at 65% or 69% their own homes.
According to cigar industry data, the average serious collector owns between 100 and 300 cigars at any given time, a volume that makes single-humidor management genuinely inconvenient once you factor in aging stock. At that scale, a second humidor isn’t an extravagance. It’s an organizational tool.
”What’s the best humidor format for aging?”
For long-term aging, temperature stability matters more than any other single factor. Humidity control matters, but temperature is equally important. High temperatures increase the risk of beetle infestation and can accelerate tobacco breakdown in ways that hurt flavor.
That makes a coolidor or wineador the top aging choices. Both hold temperature far more consistently than a desktop wooden humidor sitting in a room that swings between seasons. If you want to go deeper on those formats, our guides on how to set up a coolidor and how to set up a wineador walk through the full process.
For aging specifically, the ideal setup inside either of those is straightforward: Spanish cedar shelves or trays, Boveda 62 or 65 packs (two-way humidity control requires almost zero maintenance), and a reliable digital hygrometer you check monthly, not daily.
”How do I keep track of what’s in my aging humidor without constantly opening it?”
This is where a cataloging habit pays real dividends. Log every cigar you move into the aging humidor, blend, vitola, box date, purchase price, and intended aging window, before you seal the lid. That way you never need to rifle through the humidor to remember what’s resting or how long it’s been there.
Stick Picks is built for exactly this workflow: scan or search a cigar when you acquire it, note which humidor it’s going into, and set a reminder for your target pull date. When the time comes, you already have a tasting baseline from your journal to compare against, so you can actually measure what aging did to the blend rather than guessing. Note the flavor profile when you first smoke one, knowing it will change as the cigar ages. To genuinely appreciate an aged cigar, you need a baseline for what the blend tastes like fresh, which is why so many enthusiasts keep a smoking journal. Those notes become a useful reference point when it’s time for a compare-and-contrast smoke.
Frequently Asked Questions
What humidity should an aging humidor be set to? Most aficionados age long-term at 62, 65% RH rather than the standard 65, 70% RH. The slightly lower humidity slows fermentation to a more deliberate pace, tightens the draw slightly, and reduces mold risk during extended undisturbed storage.
Can I age cigars in the same humidor I smoke from daily? Yes, but it’s not ideal. Every time you open the lid, humidity and temperature shift. Aging sticks benefit from a sealed, undisturbed environment. At minimum, keep aging cigars in a sealed box-within-a-box or a dedicated tray you never disturb.
What’s the best type of humidor to use for long-term aging? A coolidor (a cooler lined with Spanish cedar) or a wineador (a repurposed wine fridge) both excel for aging because they offer stable temperature control and large capacity. Desktop humidors work for short-term aging but struggle with the temperature consistency that matters most over years.
Do infused or flavored cigars belong in an aging humidor? No. Flavored cigars should never share a humidor with naturals, aging or otherwise. Their artificial aromas transfer aggressively to surrounding cigars and can permanently alter the flavor of everything stored nearby.
How do I track which cigars are in my aging humidor vs. my smoking humidor? Log each cigar in a cataloging app like Stick Picks when you place it into aging, and tag it with a target pull date. That way you never lose track of what’s resting, how long it’s been there, or what it cost, without opening the lid.
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
What humidity should an aging humidor be set to?
Most aficionados age long-term at 62, 65% RH rather than the standard 65, 70% RH. The slightly lower humidity slows fermentation to a more deliberate pace, tightens the draw slightly, and reduces mold risk during extended undisturbed storage.
Can I age cigars in the same humidor I smoke from daily?
Yes, but it's not ideal. Every time you open the lid, humidity and temperature shift. Aging sticks benefit from a sealed, undisturbed environment. At minimum, keep aging cigars in a sealed box-within-a-box or a dedicated tray that you never disturb.
What's the best type of humidor to use for long-term aging?
A coolidor (a cooler lined with Spanish cedar) or a wineador (a repurposed wine fridge) both excel for aging because they offer stable temperature control and large capacity. Desktop humidors work for short-term aging but struggle with the temperature consistency that matters most over years.
Do infused or flavored cigars belong in an aging humidor?
No. Flavored cigars should never share a humidor with naturals, aging or otherwise. Their artificial aromas transfer aggressively to surrounding cigars and can permanently alter the flavor of everything stored nearby.
How do I track which cigars are in my aging humidor vs. my smoking humidor?
Log each cigar in a cataloging app like Stick Picks when you place it into aging, and tag it with a target pull date. That way you never lose track of what's resting, how long it's been there, or what it cost, without digging through the humidor.