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The previous chapter expanded upon the general characteristics of safe keeping of cigars at home. In case of variable storage, one should consider in more detail other aspects: goals, duration of storage, volumes of tobacco products. Depending on them, slightly different characteristics are required to maintain optimal conditions. Let's take a better look at them.

Let's start with the goals and there can be a few of those: that of preserving a recently purchased cigar to smoke it in the near future; preparing cigars for smoking; medium-term prospect of smoking a cigar in about three to five years; over ten years of careful storage; the goal of piling up a collection.
Depending on the set goals, cigars require different conditions and kinds of preservation. Let's look at the fine detailes of each goal described above separately. So, let's imagine the goal of preserving a recently purchased cigar to smoke it with pleasure in the very near future. What are we trying to achieve in this case? Say, the cigar was bought in a special store right from the shelf, where all conditions were close to optimal with a temperature of 18-20 °C and a humidity of 70-72%.
Now the task is to not allow the cigar lose in moisture for further comfortable smoking. To this end, it is sufficient to keep the cigar for a time in the same conditions similar to those in the store. Usually, the cigar is either in a package with a zip-lock, or is put in a home humidor that supports similar conditions. Now let's look at the prospect of just a few days. In this instance, humidity level values can vary from 55 to 75% so it is no longer important where the cigar is located; in a "zip lock" or in a humidor and whether there is access to excess air or not. This cigar will be smoked in the very near future anyway. This short-term storage with the prospect of a cigar being smoked in the next several days does not produce any effect on the quality of the product, provided that humidity levels around the cigar remain in the range of 55 to 75%.

Another goal is to prepare a cigar for smoking. In this instance, cigars that for one reason or another have been in unsuitable storage conditions are prepared for the smoking process. There can be two situations: a cigar has dried up from improper storage or, conversely, it has been kept in high humidity.

Let's start with a dried-up cigar. Where there are no necessary conditions, a cigar starts to lose moisture. Together with it, it loses aromatic essential oils and after a while it simply loses its puff and turns into a bundle of dry grass. A cigar kept at low humidity loses its taste and aromatic properties, which makes it unsuitable for smoking over a short period of time. The obvious question is how long can a cigar stay in the air without losing its taste properties?

There is no definite answer to that as a lot depends on the packaging, ambient humidity, sunlight and other factors. But usually a cigar that spends just a week out in the open air without a humidor loses up to 80% of its taste and aroma, provided that you restore it before smoking it by moistening it in a humidor. But one can never reverse a process which cannot be reversed! The essential oils will evaporate completely. And even a cigar that has been restored to physical conditions in terms of humidity after getting dried up can never be back to its original taste properties. Your cigars will turn into hay smoking which would be the opposite of delicious. Just dump it, face it, and keep your cigars away from unsuitable conditions next time.

It is a well-known fact that ice cream needs a freezer. No one would ever think of freezing melted ice cream by scraping it with a spoon into a mold? By the same logic, cigars need a humidor. Still, some people labor under the misconception that if they put a dry cigar in a humidor, moisten it and smoke it after a while, then it's okay. Remember the melted ice cream example and make your conclusions.

In a different case, a cigar can be waterlogged. This happens when there is excess moisture in a humidor. In this case, humidity levels exceed 80%. This can happen due to a faulty hygrometer, because of liquid spilled inside the box or absence of storage experience. In this case, a putrefactive process will develop inside the cigar. The tobacco will begin to putrefy and decompose accompanied with mold. The cigars will simply rot, as in a compost heap. In this shape, you can't smoke your cigars as the substances released during the rotting process can be very dangerous for your health. However, waterlogged cigars will burn badly, constantly go out in addition to emitting unpleasant odors.

It's all about the happy medium. For cigars, this is 65-75% humidity.

There is also a third option for preparing a cigar for smoking – placing a cigar from conditions of slightly reduced humidity to conditions of optimal humidity of 70-72%. How is this possible? This is practiced by experienced collectors before taking a sample from a batch that has been in long-term storage. You take a cigar out of the box and place it in a slightly higher humidity for a while. Then you taste and make your conclusions about the evolution of aging of the cigar and its potential.

Separately, quarantine period cigars are prepared at an optimal humidity value for smoking of 70-72% with mandatory oxygen access (for more information, see the article Min Ron Nee. Opinion on the aging of Cuban cigars).

Another purpose of storage is the preservation and maturation of cigars in the medium term. This involves storing cigars for three to five years. What would be the goals? The goal is to keep the cigar in the right condition for smoking a few years following purchase. Experienced collectors avoid oxygen access to cigars, room temperatures and a special humidity conditions of 65-70%.

Oxygen access produces a negative effect on cigars, except for the purposes of preserving a recently purchased cigar and preparing it for smoking. Therefore, in the medium and long term, cigars are placed in special devices in which there is no access to air. Either contained in plastic bags with a zip-lock, or in vacuum packaging – in original and closed boxes. Humidity levels remain at 65-70% while temperatures should be from 12 to 18 °C. Only if these conditions are met, cigars can retain the potential for further maturation. In addition, it must be remembered that temperatures up to 18 °C keep away tobacco beetles so both parameters are critical for long periods, i.e. temperature and humidity. All these conditions are exclusively available in automated cigar humidors.

With long-term storage in the range of five to ten years, the goal is to preserve cigars and give them the opportunity to develop. To achieve this, oxygen access is cut with the humidity level dropping within 55-60% and the temperature maintained at 12 to 15 °C.

Similar conditions are needed for collectible storage. Here the goal is correct and careful aging of cigars. Automated humidors are capable of providing and creating such exclusive conditions.