Death of the wooden humi
 

with technology moving as fast as it does these days, I was wondering if you guys thought that the days of wooden humidors are starting to come to an end. I mean, with all of the great options these days that dont involve wood, unless of course you want to add it(coolidors, wineadors, ect), and the humidification devices have come leaps and bounds lately with beads and cigar oasis's and whatnot, it seems that the days of wooden humidors and startin to slow down. For instance, I have a desktop that I only use now a days to dry box cigars. Everything goes into the coolidor these days for me.

Now obviously there are guys that love the look and smell of wood, and there are the guys who love some fine lookin furniture or want walkin humi's, and the old school guys who will only use wood, but I feel that there are alot of guys who look at the better options and realize that it is just more practical for majority of us to use coolers and wineadors.

So my question to CA is, have you guys been finding yourself dumpin your wood humi's in favor of other options or are you a stictly wood guy, or a mix of both? And vendors, have you guys seen a drop in your humidor sales ever since people have been discovering other options, or are you seeing sales stay steady for the most part?

just curious what everyones thoughts are on the different options and what they mostly use

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have an Aristocrat humidor from Bob Staebell. While I understand why other options are good for others, I won't have anything but an Aristocrat now...unless I win the lottery and put a walk-in in my mansion. ;)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have 3......love them to death. :tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

So far, I've got desktops, and those are good for me. Never stored my cigars in anything but wood so far.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

i dumped my wood desktops for a vino then i dumped my vino's for an Aristocrat. the next step will be a walk-in but i think i will hold off for a while.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I boycott anything not made with wood. :tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

IMHO there will always be a place for wood humidors. Whether on the desktop or a cabinet. Some like to display their cigars, its hard to justify a cooler in the middle of the living room. I have 3 desktops, 3 coolers and 2 Vinotemps, but someday soon they will be upgraded to an Aristocrat cabinet. :2

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

The way that I see it (being new to the cigar hobby) people will buy what they feel comfortable spending money on. Not everyone is up for converting a fridge into a humidor and would rather just get a traditional cedar lined one.

I personally don't see any advantages over one or the other, unless you are hell bent on getting some added cedar flavor into your cigars. Both options are viable options in my opinion.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Thanks for the responses guys. But let me rephrase my question a little because I guess my real inquiry is how much do you guys care about having spanish cedar lining. Say an aristocrat comes out that has a vino lining and would allow you to set the exact temp you wanted. Basically a big aristocrat that looked beautiful, yet wasnt lined with spanish cedar. You save say, half the price by goin this route. Do you go this way or do you go with spanish cedar bc you like the smell of the cedar, the look of the cedar, and just overall feel that its best.

I guess I am askin this bc I was wonderin why companies havent started comin out with nice cabinets and other nice lookin humidors that are plastic lined, thus holding better seals and savin money. Maybe companies feel that there isnt really a demand for this kind of product. I guess companies maybe see it as the people who would want beautiful cabinets are also gonna want the look and smell of a spanish cedar lined cabinet and arent as concerned about the cost, whereas a person who wouldnt care would probably rather just save the money by simply using coolers and whatnot and spend the money on cigars instead.

IDK, just a random thought I guess.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I believe your assumptions are incorrect. Vinotemp has been making large cabinet type humidors for many years. This is not new technology. Neither are beads or active humidification. Spanish cedar linings are not incorporated only for smell, they are used because the wood helps stabilize the humidity. The same reason cigars are not shipped in plastic boxes. It would be much cheaper to use plastic boxes but cigars would not shed humidity in such conditions. In many parts of the country and world the average humidity is significantly above 70%. Beads will help absorb excess moisture, but the wood helps as well. Much depends on the type of cigars and reasons for storage. NC's are not meant to be aged more than a few years as their tobacco is already aged several years before production. Cuban cigars are rolled much younger in general and can benefit from many years of slow aging in a stable environment. It is not necessary to age cigars in an airtight container, some transpiration and off gassing is needed. :2

You have 3 mansions?!

BUDDY!!
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Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I almost sold my small 50 count humidor, I decided not to, it's a nice piece to have for decorations. I have it sitting counter, looks nice.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

:tpd:

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I'm glad to see you guys still like the wooden humidors. I'm not sure "CheapCoolidors.com" has quite the same ring to it lol.

People often debate between the vinotemp, coolidor, and spanish-cedar lined wooden humidors. Often, people choose wooden humidors for a lot of the reasons that bobarian and others have mentioned.

Personally, I've never used a coolidor, so I don't know the issues associated with it. We haven't seen any decline that I've noticed in wooden humidor sales. If anything, the only trend-shift lately has been to buy bigger humidors instead of multiple smaller ones. Peoples collections are getting bigger I think :)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

You "Think" Correctly, Sam!:):tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

i like the ease of a vino.

I also like the smell of a 150 count humidor.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Same here, plus I like the convenience of my coolidor as well ;)

I used to have 5 humi's going and that got to be a chore. So I now have 1 humi, 1 vino, and 2 coolers. Works for me.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have 2 wooden humi's and 1 cooler for NC's (which hides in a closet).

IMO, a vino or cooler sitting in the family or dinning room would never fly. Different strokes for different folks.

As for the plastic liner for sealing.... Wood works just great. Most wooden humis are laquered and sealed on the outside for looks. That outer coating is a great sealant for keeping in humidity and the inner cedar wicks moisture/adds aroma. My :2 Wooden humis will never fade like stone wash jeans.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have a wood humidor as well as a vinodore. I love the look of the desktop and will keep and use it.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have 4 woodies and 2 coolers.
I love the woodies, but use the coolers for long term storage and bulk.
3 of the woodies are at home and the fourth is on my desk at work.
If only I could smoke inside the damn building....:rolleyes:
Gotta get me a Vino...or two.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I'm actually in the market for getting a new one (slippery slope... nah I was pushed off the ledge) and I priced both a vino style and a tower of power style, and while it be easy to control the temps with the vino, now that the a/c is working, I want the extra space of a tower, so hopefully the only purchase after that is the aristocrat ;)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Hmm I am into the look, smell, and class a wood humi has. I only have a coolador for needed space as a word end table type just does not exist in the budget for me. Regardless as to the ability and cost of a vino, I find them to be a souless mechanical looking device and would never want one. A larger fancy plastic device with a higher cost the same. Bayliner boats, etc are cheaper to buy and may do the job, but just watch a Criscraft go by and heads turn.

Wood is the ultimate to me in beauty and class. I see some of the humis made by some of the BOTLs here and am amazed by their skills and the finished product they can turn out. Who ever makes the purple wood humis (sorry I can't remember the name) just rock! One of those would be my lottery winnings purchase.... I may buy a ticket today :)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have 3 wood desktops and 1 cooler. The cooler is where the boxes and the bulk of the samplers go, so there is not as much cedar in there as I would have liked since most of it is bundles and sampler bags.

2 desktops are at home, the third is at work suppemented by my travel-dor.

I just wish I could keep the 2yr old out of the cooler. I sometimes wish I had a vino just so I could put a padlock on it, but I would never be able to afford to put drawers in it.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

While I like my coolerdors, there is something about the scent of the spanish cedar from my desktop humi's that I would not willingly give up.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

:tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

It died for me awhile ago, and now I just use a cooler. I love large cabinets, but the affordable ones have build quality issues, IMO. It's hard to maintain a consistent RH in all areas of the cabinet, and some don't seal very well. An Aristocrat doesn't have these issues, but they are also major $$$$. I can buy a lot of boxes of high end sticks for what a large temp and RH controlled Aristocrat would cost me.

Coolers for me. :)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Thanks for all the responses guys. It seems to be a mix of feelings on here, but the spanish cedar market still seems to be alive and well.:banger

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Never forget that the goal is to properly store your cigars. Any storage meeting this requirement is proper storage.

That said, there is a culture of implied sophistication or elegance around the traditional wood humidor lined with cedar. Certainly, if one wishes to have a show piece, a wood humidor comes first to mind.

I have 3 vinotemps, 2 coleman coolers and will soon have a 100+ box Aristocrat. All work quite well for what they are and have their place in housing my collection. I'll note that I put a lot of cedar in my non-wood storage units to help the buffering and aroma.

As for the death of the wood humidor, I don' think that it will happen any time soon, if for no other reason than aesthetics. The Aristocrat is the first cigar storage that has me remapping the layout of furniture on the main level of the house.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

There is something not right about housing beautiful handmade works of art in a plastic cooler..I vote wood.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

For me there is something very intriguing about a wood humidor. The actual sticks are only half the fun, the humidor is the other half. Something very classy about a nice humidor on top of a desk, or on a book shelf.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

My Vinos definitely served there purpose, but I longed for a tower style, wooden, cooled unit. I finally found one on Craigslist, made by Vinotemp, that suited my needs. I put in a few computer fans to move the air around and couldn't be happier. The Gator Vault smells like a dream when you open it!!

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

You have to remember, most of the cigar smoking community has no idea or never thought about coolers for storage. Those of us on the boards are so much more educated about the hobby and we are a very small percentage.

I have a number of coolers but there is nothing like a nice, large piece of furniture to compliment the room it sits in.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I use a vino for the simple fact that it gets hot as chit here in the summer and I need the cooling unit. I wish I had an aristocrat with the temp control but that's a little out of my league at the moment. I prefer wooden humis but use the plastic out of necessity.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

:tpd:

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

The 100ct desktop from CH.com, and later, a 48qt coolidor. The coolidor has 4 nice size cedar trays and there is extra room for some boxes too. Beads are in both the desktop and coolidor. One of these days (when funds permit), a moveup will take place to possibly an Aristocrat or similar type of wood humidor.

Wood simply rocks:tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I have one 400 count and a 200 count both wood and I wouldn't trade them for anything....just love the way they look and smell....

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

and yet you have that tupperdor for all the "crappy NC" sticks ;)

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Exactly. Wood evokes sophistication and taste. It's not some toxic plastic goo poured into a mold, cooled, and dumped onto an assembly line. Instead, the natural beauty of trees combined with the labor needed to turn a it into a humidor implies a certain cost. In comparison, a plastic cooler looks "cheap."

The same holds throughout much of the industrialized world. Consider cotton vs. polyester clothes; leather vs. synthetic dress shoes; brick vs. vinyl home exteriors. The list goes on. In the end, natural materials (and their costly manufacturing process) are considered "sophisticated"--even if they're unnecessary or even inferior.

We can argue the merits of synthetic materials, but it won't change the tastes of the public. Who cares if your humidor's chipboard is made from scraps swept off the lumberyard floor? Slap a 1/64" oak laminate on it and you've got instant class. Wood humidors aren't going to disappear, even if they're technically inferior.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I love the look and feel of a wood humidor, but I also embrace the functionality of my edgestar with chasden's drawers and shelves. Now, if i could only have the edgestar exterior retrofitted with a wood exterior I'd be happy. I've seen a project on here somewhere in one of the threads.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I've moved past my wooden humi and store completely in coolers. I'd love to build a wooden cabinet as a project someday but the upkeep on the coolers is just so easy.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I appreciate the Aristocrat, and I am tossing around the idea of purchasing one, but the bugger is that my coolers and wine-a-dor just work so darned well. They hold humidity much steadier than any wooden desktop that I've EVER owned. That's probably due to the fact that I'd only owned cheaper desktops in the past, but I don't value the aesthetics enough to spend a lot of cash on a nice desktop; so I guess the point is moot anyway. I don't display my cigars or tobacco, they are for my greedy little eyes only! I don't think that there's a wrong answer here. I believe it just depends on how much you value aesthetics over pure function for cigar storage, and at this point I guess I value pure function over aesthetics.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Haven't used a wooden humi in 2 years...plug in the cooler, add beads and fahgeddaboutit :tu

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I'm not dead yet...:gn:gn:gn

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

I think some of the opinions depend upon where geographically people are located. If in a warmer climate, the wine fridge cooling ability becomes a necessity for some that don't have a basement or other location to keep temperatures low. If in an area of frequent climate change, the coolidor or wine fridge seem to remain more stable than a traditional humidor.

There is something about the elegance of a wood desktop humidor that can't be replaced. But from an economical point of view the coolidor holds more for less money.

Re: Death of the wooden humi
 

A solid wooden humidor will always have a place in my home. While I do value functionality of some cooler units. I will always try to get those luxuries inside a good wooden shell :tu