Every aficionado has their preferred time for enjoying a smoke but it's hard to beat smoking a choice cigar at the end of a long day. In the evening, the trusty flavors and complexities of a favorite brand can work wonders to clear the mind and erase stress. After picking a choice smoke, you roll the cigar between your fingers and focus on the texture of the wrapper. You think about the long, careful process that brought this hand-rolled work of art to your humidor. Leaves were grown under a hot, tropical sun, picked by hand, and allowed to ferment. When ready, they were blended with other tobacco that went through a similar process or were used on their own to provide the filler and wrapper for your cigar.
You cut the end off of the cigar and light it with the steady flame from a butane torch lighter. As you draw on the cigar, you enjoy and meditate on the smoke that fills the mouth. The cigar meets your expectations both in terms of taste and ability to clear the mind. Any difficulties and challenges can be reevaluated to come up with solutions that work. The successes of the day pass through your mind and give you reassurance.
Is the evening your favorite time for enjoying good cigars? If not, when do you most enjoy a high quality smoke?
Proper maintenance of your humidor is critical for storing your cigars. The smokes that you treasure need to be kept at just the right levels of moisture and temperature. Lower the temperature and they might dry out. Raise the temperature too much and tobacco beetles can hatch and eat their way through your precious collection in a matter of days. The right amount of moisture is especially important because it determines how well your cigars age. Too little humidity and the tobacco leaves can dry out and crack. Too much and you cigars can become sopping wet. Neither extreme is preferred so you have to take steps to keep the moisture in your cigar storage system at around 70%.
Maintaining the correct degree of humidity when storing cigars has come a long way from just putting a small bowl of water in a cedar box and periodically checking the cigars to see if they feel "right". One of the quickest and easiest ways to maintain that magic 70% humidity mark doesn't actually use plain, liquid H2O. The crystal humidifier solution from Thompson Cigars is a gel that maintains moisture at 70%. All you need to do is pour it into the humidifier, wait a few hours, and then put it into your cigar storage system. It will automatically humidify the air to 70% as long as you keep putting the gel into your humidifier. Find solution for your humidifier and all of your smoking needs at Thompson Cigars today.
Cigar storage can be a tricky business. It's usually easy as enjoying a Casa Magna but various factors can present serious challenges to any humidor. If you reside where the weather is cold and dry, you might end up fighting to keep that air moisture reading at 70%. If you happen to live in an area that is warm and humid all of the time, maintaining humidity in your cigar storage area won't be the problem. Instead, you will be doing your best to keep your precious smokes from soaking up water from the air. However, even if you don't live in a place that experiences either extreme, maintaining the right amount of moisture can still be problematic.
To maintain the correct amount of humidity for storing cigars, you have to first and foremost have a precise reading of the moisture within your cigar storage device. You will get the most accurate measurements from digital humidifiers and this is why those devices are a must for every aficionado. Use a digital humidifier in your cigar storage area and you will know what the moisture content is at a glance. Set the device to 70% and it should do a good job at keeping your cigars at 70% humidity no matter where you live.
It sounds like something from the future but electronic cigarettes have actually been with us for several decades. Far from being virtual in nature, electronic cigarettes are metal devices that usually look like a regular cigarette but lack the smoke and tar. When you take a puff on an electronic cigarette, you breathe in nothing more than water vapor and a bit of nicotine. The people who smoke them are:
People who want to quit smoking cigarettes: These clever little devices help you quit smoking regular cigarettes by providing that much needed dose of nicotine.
Folks who want to smoke in non-smoking areas: The smokeless nature of electronic cigarettes means that you can use them in just about any non-smoking area. There may be places that insist on refusing to let you use them but they are in the minority and simply in the wrong because it is not against the law to smoke electronic cigarettes in most non-smoking areas.
People who enjoy smoking without the smoke: Although this seems counter-intuitive, a lot of people who are hooked on cigarettes actually don't like the smoke. While aficionados who partake in a classic Casa Magna or quality Gispert Cigars do so to enjoy the smoke, people who smoke cigarettes are usually lighting up because they want the nicotine.
Smoking cigars is an endeavor that is best done on its own time. Some tightly rolled cigars take longer to smoke than others and most cigars are going to last for at least 40 minutes. Of course it all depends on how fast you smoke them but racing to finish a cigar is a sad fate for any hand-rolled smoke. It defeats the purpose of sitting back and enjoying the cigar in the first place so you are just better off waiting for a time to properly and thoroughly enjoy a quality smoke.
Nevertheless, some aficionados can barely find the time to enjoy cigars in this manner. Work, travel, and other duties make it difficult to even find just one extra hour a month that can be dedicated to smoking cigars. Such cigar loving jet-setters have to make do with the time they have but they shouldn't need to give up cigar smoking. There is an easy solution to such time constraints and it's called the "cigarillo". These are basically miniature cigars that are suitable for a quick smoke. Like other cigars, they should be stored in a humidor but you don't need a good, solid hour to smoke them. Their size means that you can enjoy them for half the time or less without feeling like you need to smoke them as fast as possible.
Find several brands of quality smokes at Thompson Cigars today.
I understand why some people are looking for the cheapest option to store their cigars, going with plastic humidors or trying to use Tupperware to create something capable of cigar storage on their own. It doesn't take much research on the Internet to find homemade remedies that the advocates swear can do the job as well as anything commercially available. Particularly for casual smokers this can seem like a fine option, especially if money is tight around the holidays and they don't smoke cigars enough to consider other storage solutions.
But while I am rarely judgmental, I have to say that those people are flat-out wrong.
The problem is that premium cigars become worthless if they aren't stores properly. It doesn't make any sense to me that someone would choose to spend the money on something that is truly exceptional, and then try to avoid the moderate expense of a cigar humidor to store them in. As my grandmother would say, that's penny-wise and pound foolish.
So if you are a new or infrequent cigar smoker, my biggest piece of advice is to invest in a cigar humidor. It doesn't have to cost a lot of money, it is easy to maintain, and it will help keep those prized cigars fresh until you are ready to smoke. Is that something you really want to trust to a homemade concoction with blueprints from some random website?
A lot of you probably got a new humidor over the holidays. Those are great gifts to get because they're both useful and exciting. Who doesn't like opening a package that contains a new cigar humidor -- after all, it's an excuse to buy more cigars!
Maintaining that humidor is not as exciting. Nobody buys humidor accessories as presents, unless they are specifically requested. And yet, if you want to make sure those quality cigars stay protected, they could be the most important purchase anyone could make.
The Thompson Humidor Accessory Kit can help make sure all of those new humidors and cigars stay in top shape. It comes with the famous Thompson Water Gel, packed in small dispensing jars. Leave a jar open in the humidor, and it will activate humidity as required -- and only as required. Because of that, it should last for at least 90 days before needing recharging -- which can be done with another squirt of the included Thompson solution.
It's a very easy way to make sure everything is working as directed in your cigar humidor, and since you very likely didn't receive anything like this in December it's smart to add one of these Thompson Humidor Accessory Kits to your first post-holiday order. Otherwise, a lot of those cigars you did get as gifts may be dry and stale by the time you get around to smoking them.
If you're getting a new cigar humidor, one thing you'll want to do before you proceed to load it with your cigars is to season it. That will ensure that the humidor is prepared to do its job of keeping your cigars stored at the proper temperature and humidity levels.
Here's one quick and easy way of accomplishing this. Get some distilled water on a cloth or sponge and wipe down the ceder lining, as well as any trays that may be included. Make sure the sponge or cloth isn't too wet -- you're looking to pick up any dust or dirt in the cedar, not give it a bath!
Once that's done, place the sponge or cloth on top of a plastic bag (making sure it is not directly touching the wood). Fill the humidification device as directed (it will ask for either distilled water or a specified humidifying solution). Then close the humidor, leaving the sponge or cloth inside, and let it settle for 24 hours.
The next day, repeat the wipedown process but remove the sponge or cloth, and close the humidor. Again, wait 24 hours. Catch up on your cigar blog entries during that downtime.
The following day, open the humidor and check it out. If the cedar isn't damp and the humidity isn't lower than 72 degrees, your humidor is ready for your cigars. If not, repeat the wipedown process for a third time, and try again the following day.
Thompson Cigar has a lot of fun stuff to buy. I could and do spend hours looking through the various premium cigars and cigar accessories, and dream about who I can convince to buy me something off of my wish list for the holidays this December.
But not everything a cigar smoker needs is something flashy. Sometimes, you just need the gear to maintain the items you already have, or repair something that needs some tender loving care. That's why the Thompson homepage has that Humidor accessories section.
OK, so nobody is asking Santa Claus for Thompson Solution Plus humidifier gel. Everyone would rather get cigars. But if you've ever had to deal with an over-saturated humidor, this is what you need to reactivate it to make sure those cigars are protected. And when that humidor needs a humidifier, the La Veil DCH 210 humidifier gets the job done in a user-friendly, low-maintenance way that anyone can appreciate.
There are numerous other accessories available at Thompson Cigar that will keep your humidors running at the right temperature with minimal fuss. Because what's the point of taking advantage of those great cigar deals if you don't have all that you need to take care of them once they arrive?
We've all been in a situation where we've had to buy a high-pressure gift for someone. It could be a boss, an in-law, or anyone else we need to impress. That can turn the gift-giving process into something more stressful and unpleasant than a root canal.
When I'm faced with that situation with someone who loves cigars, I have an easy solution. Go to the Top Cigars of 2009 page, pick one, and send it on its way.
That works for me on a number of levels. It shows that I know my cigars, since anyone who gets them and follows the cigar community at all will recognize them from the year-end top 10 lists. It ensures that they get a quality smoke. And particularly for people I know less well, or someone I haven't had a chance to share many cigars with, it gives me more peace of mind than giving one of my personal favorites would. I may not know whether the box of CAO LX2 Toro Natural cigars I'm giving is exactly what the recipient would have ordered, but I am 100% sure that it will be recognized and appreciated, and won't get buried in a spare humidor and forgotten. That makes it a lot easier to do my shopping, which is always a plus.
This heavy duty cigar humidifier is for those of you who have taken your passion for fine cigars to the next level, both in the quantity of cigars you keep and the quality of cigar humidification that you demand. If you have a large humidor, than quit tinkering with those little humidifiers and humidifier solution. You need something bigger and better that can upkeep a humidor the size of yours.
Cigar Oasis has three different sizes to accommodate the large humidor, the huge humidor, and the gigantic humidor.
This nifty little Xikar humidifier is made specifically for those cigar lovers out there who fill their humidors to maximum capacity and no longer have enough room for the rather inconveniently shaped standard humidifier.
You see, for this cylindrical humidifier, all you need is room for a single cigar, because that's more or less the size of this convenient cigar humidification device.
This "Drymistat" humidifier will keep up to 75 or more cigars at the proper humidity. If you want more options I suggest using TCC Humidifier Solution as that will do the trick as well.
Simply throw this cigar-sized humidifier in with the rest of your cigars, and you'll have an optimum humidity for months.
Cigar lovers, have you recently purchased a new humidor and aren't sure how to prepare it for your cigars or get it to the correct humidity? Well then, you've come to the right place! Let Thompson Cigar's cigar expert, Al Remp, show you the right way to prep your humidor. Learn how to get the most use out of your humidor and make sure your cigars are in the best shape possible!
A humidor is the best place to keep cigars. If you are a smoker who is serious about cigars, nothing can beat a humidor. However, if you are an occasional smoker who doesn't want to spend the money on a humidor but would rather buy more cigars with that money, a normal every day jar is a great way to keep your tobacco at the right humidity. As long as it is air-tight, I highly suggest using a jar to keep cigars moist. You can get Thompson's Wonder Gel and Solution to go in the jar to keep them in good condition. It's not a must, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get a hygrometer to keep the humidity level in check.
Then if the day comes that you become a cigar aficionado, I'd start looking at a humidor to purchase. Thompson Cigar carries a wide selection of humidors on their website, www.thompsoncigar.com.
No experienced cigar smoker wants to be surprised by the initial taste of a dry, stale cigar from his humidor. Thompson Cigar has researched and designed our own special crystals and humidifying solution specifically designed to keep this misfortune from occurring.
Many other products will work too hard, causing your cigars to become too wet or even grow fungus. But our product will never get ahead of itself. Probably the best feature of the crystals is that they emit moisture only when needed, which keeps your humidor at the perfect humidity level of 70%. After you add the solution to the crystals, the crystals will last 90 days before requiring a recharge. Apart from the cigars themselves, this is the most important asset of your humidor.
Consider which package to purchase based on the size of your humidor:
The Crystal Humidifier is the perfect way to protect your cigars not only from dryness, but also from becoming too wet. All things considered, it could improve the taste and enjoyment of your cigars significantly.
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Every aficionado has their preferred time for enjoying a smoke but it's hard to beat smoking a choice cigar at the end of a long day. In the evening, the trusty flavors and complexities of a favorite brand can work wonders to clear the mind and erase stress. After picking a choice smoke, you roll the cigar between your fingers and focus on the texture of the wrapper. You think about the long, careful process that brought this hand-rolled work of art to your humidor. Leaves were grown under a hot, tropical sun, picked by hand, and allowed to ferment. When ready, they were blended with other tobacco that went through a similar process or were used on their own to provide the filler and wrapper for your cigar.
This nifty little 
A humidor is the best place to keep cigars. If you are a smoker who is serious about cigars, nothing can beat a humidor. However, if you are an occasional smoker who doesn't want to spend the money on a humidor but would rather buy more cigars with that money, a normal every day jar is a great way to keep your tobacco at the right humidity. As long as it is air-tight, I highly suggest using a jar to keep cigars moist. You can get 
