A home cigar collection means a quality smoke is always within arm's reach. You can stock up on your favorite brands in bulk, offer a stick to visiting friends and family, or age your collection for a unique vintage flavor experience.
Once you've been smoking for a while, you've probably found a few favorites. In this guide, we'll look at some of the reasons to start building a cigar collection box and how to store your sticks so you can smoke them in their prime.
Why start a cigar collection?
There are plenty of reasons to start a home cigar collection. Financially, it makes good sense to buy in bulk, especially if you usually smoke the same cigars over and over. A box of 25 or more should see you through a few weeks or months, depending on how often you smoke.
If you have friends who smoke, the contents of your cigar collection box can be a great conversation starter. Share your sticks around at your next poker night or cookout; your friends should (hopefully) repay the favor next time they host.
Ultimately though, it's about exploration. Your cigar collection can include all kinds of vitolas and wrapper types, different brands and master tobacconists, and a mix of different strengths and flavor profiles as you continue to learn what you like best.
Selecting your first cigars
You may be tempted to start with a box of 100 premium handmade cigars from a top brand or boutique, and it can be a good option to start your cigar collection. You'll get great value for money. With most of the seriously good studios, you really can't go wrong.
But if you're not ready to go all-in, start with singles and samplers. Cigar samplers give you a selection of sticks from one or more manufacturers. They may have something in common or deliberately different so you get a broader experience.
The key to a good cigar collection, though, is to know what you like. Keep a journal of the cigars you try. Write down tasting notes, rate the sticks out of 10, or use some other measure to designate your favorites.
You might also want to take photos of cigars you like (BEFORE you smoke it, if it's a single!) Upload them to the cloud, put the cigar name and date in the filename, and you'll have a visual reminder to go alongside your journal notes.
Organizing and storing your collection
Storage is a big part of building a cigar collection. As your home cigar collection grows, you'll need somewhere to store the sticks you're not ready to smoke yet. A good cigar humidor will be one of your best purchases here, as it means your stogies should always be ready to smoke. If you've ever tried to light up a newly delivered cigar only to find it dried out by the desiccants in the packaging, you'll appreciate the benefits of popping it into a humidor for a few days first.
If you don't know what to go for, choose a Spanish cedar humidor, which is generally thought of as the best option to develop your cigars' flavor profiles during storage.
If you want a good-sized cigar collection, you might need more than one humidor. You'll come to learn the effects of temperature and humidity on different types of cigar, and you might want to keep some a little drier than others.
Cataloging and inventory tips
During storage, your cigars will continue to evolve. Tobacco is a natural product, and in the right conditions, it will ferment and lose a little harshness. Aging cigars is an art form in and of itself and worth exploring as you become more experienced.
A separate cigar collection box for strong blends is a great idea if you don't want them to influence the flavor of the rest of your collection. If you live in a dry climate, a cigar humidifier can also help to keep the humidity level high enough — around 65 - 70% — during storage.
Keep your collection organized and count how many of each cigar you have left. For example, if you have a cigar you smoke once a week, a box of 25 will last about six months. But you'll probably want to stock up before you're down to your last few sticks, so the new delivery can acclimatize to your humidor and be ready for smoking when you run out of the previous batch.
Introducing limited editions
Limited edition cigars can bring something new into your collection or put a fresh spin on a brand you love to smoke. Save them for special occasions and celebrations, or just make them a part of your regular routine. After all, it’s good to treat yourself.
Great limited editions like Romeo y Julieta Eternal Toro and H. Upmann 180th Anniversary Churchill can be a real showstopper. Just consider keeping a secret cigar collection box well away from your main stash so your friends don't expect you to share your limited editions!
