How to Store Cigars

Hold cigars at 65–70% relative humidity and a temperature near 70°F (21°C). At that balance the wrapper stays elastic, the oils that carry flavor stay intact, and the cigar burns the way its maker intended.

The traditional "70/70" target — 70% humidity at 70°F — is easy to remember and it works. Many seasoned smokers now prefer something a bit drier, around 62–67%, for a few practical reasons. A firmer cigar burns more evenly and is less prone to a soft, plugged draw. Lower humidity also cuts mold risk, which becomes real above roughly 75%. Thick wrappers like Maduros are often said to smoke better closer to 65%.

There's no single perfect number. Anywhere in the 65–70% band is safe, so pick a point and keep it stable. See our full cigar humidity guide for how temperature and humidity interact.

A seasoned humidor is the gold standard for cigar storage — a sealed box, usually lined with Spanish cedar, that holds a steady 65–70%. Before you put a single cigar inside, you have to season it; skip that step and the dry wood will pull moisture out of your cigars faster than any pack can replace it.

Follow these steps to set up a new humidor:

1. Calibrate your hygrometer. Confirm it reads accurately before you trust it. An uncalibrated gauge can be off by 5–10%, which means you're flying blind.
2. Season the cedar. Place a humidity source inside — an 84% Boveda seasoning pack is the easiest option — and close the lid.
3. Wait. Let the humidor sit 3–7 days. The cedar slowly absorbs moisture until the interior holds steady.
4. Swap to a storage pack. Once humidity stabilizes, swap the seasoning pack for a 69% or 65% maintenance pack.
5. Add your cigars. Load them in and give them a few days to acclimate before you smoke.

You can speed things up by wiping the cedar with a barely damp cloth, but never soak the wood or let cigars touch standing water. See our picks for the best cigar humidors if you're buying your first one, and our humidor accessories & supplies guide for the packs, hygrometer, and seasoning kit that keep it running.

No humidor? You don't need one right away. A sealed container and a humidity pack gets you most of the way there.

The two most popular DIY options are the tupperdor — an airtight Tupperware container with a humidity pack dropped inside — and the coolerdor, which is a clean cooler with several packs. Both seal well, and a coolerdor's thick walls make it surprisingly good for large collections. Neither is a compromise; plenty of serious collectors store thousands of cigars in them. Wondering how they stack up against a traditional humidor? See our tupperdor vs humidor comparison for a direct cost-and-capability breakdown.

A glass mason jar works on the same principle as a tupperdor, pairing an airtight container with a properly sized humidity pack to keep relative humidity stable. A quart-sized jar typically fits two to four cigars depending on ring gauge, making it best for a tiny stash or temporary storage. Because sealed glass traps moisture tightly with little air volume to buffer swings, check the cigars regularly so they do not get spongy from excess humidity.

Cigars sold in metal or glass tubes need the same attention, since a tube is rarely airtight on its own. A tube slows moisture loss for a few days, but long-term storage requires a humidor or jar. Take off or loosen the cap when placing a tubed cigar into storage so humidified air can reach the wrapper.

When you have nothing — no pack, no box — your options are temporary at best. A zip bag with a Boveda pack buys you two to four weeks. A zip bag alone slows moisture loss for about a week. The cellophane sleeve a cigar ships in helps for a few hours, not days. These slow drying; they can't replace what's already lost.

For a deeper look at how long each method holds, see how long do cigars last.

Don't put cigars in the fridge. A refrigerator runs at 30–40% humidity — less than half what cigars need — and it pulls moisture out fast, cracking the wrapper and stripping flavor. Cigars also absorb odors, and food smells from a fridge will permanently taint the tobacco. Opening and closing the door adds temperature cycling on top of all that.

The one exception is using a freezer to kill a tobacco-beetle infestation, which is a careful, deliberate process with precise thaw times — not something you do casually. For everyday storage, room temperature in a sealed, humidity-controlled container is always the answer.

Method	How it works	Effort	Longevity
Seasoned humidor	Cedar box + maintenance pack at 65–70%	Medium setup, low upkeep	Years (can improve)
Tupperdor	Airtight container + Boveda pack	Low	Months to years
Coolerdor	Cooler + several packs	Low	Months to years
Zip bag + Boveda	Sealed bag + one pack	Very low	2–4 weeks
Zip bag alone	Sealed bag, no pack	Very low	~1 week
Cellophane only	Factory sleeve	None	A day or two

The closer a method holds 65–70% humidity, the longer your cigars stay fresh. Everything else is a tradeoff between cost and convenience. If a cigar develops a white, dusty coating after time in storage, don't assume the worst before checking our plume-vs-mold identification guide — the two look similar but one is harmless and the other means the cigar is done.

You had time for half a cigar. Now what? The honest answer to how to store a used cigar is: usually, you don't. A partially-smoked cigar loses most of its character within hours, and the residual tars in the leaf make relighting harsh. Two exceptions and one workable approach.

The exceptions where saving works:

1. You're relighting within the next hour. The cigar hasn't cooled enough for the oils to turn. Let it go out on its own (don't stub it), then relight after a hard blow through the head to clear stale smoke.
2. You're saving the ashy foot to smoke the top half tomorrow. Fresh cut the burnt end off cleanly with a sharp guillotine after the cigar has cooled. Store the cut cigar in the humidor overnight. The next day, retoast and light as a fresh smoke. This works better than trying to relight the actual half-smoked stick.

Cigar storage tips for partial cigars: Never store a lit or recently-lit cigar in a humidor with fresh cigars — the residual smoke will taint the whole box. A cigar storage fridge or standalone Tupperware with Boveda works for the same-day save. Never store a partial cigar in a plastic bag with air; the tars intensify.

The best practice is simply to pick a shorter format when you know your time is limited. See our cigar sizes guide for what fits in a 30-minute window — a Corona or Robusto Corona is often the right choice over a Toro when you know you can't sit for 90 minutes.

It all comes down to one rule: hold cigars at 65–70% humidity and around 70°F. A seasoned humidor does it best, but a tupperdor or coolerdor with a Boveda pack gets you 95% of the way there for far less money. Whatever you choose, use a hygrometer so you're measuring, not guessing — and never use the fridge. The Humidor Tracker can remind you before your packs run dry and log how long each cigar has been resting. The same Boveda humidity system also works for cannabis storage — see Boveda for weed for the right RH target if that applies to you.