Oxidation of Cigars??

[Merovius]

For the sake of more specifically answering your question, I'll assume everything else is perfect, in terms of storage and simply impose a glass prophylaxis and light. Different types as well as intensities of light cause the acceleration of oxidation. That's right, I said "acceleration", since you can never totally avoid it. It's just a natural process, just as free radicals in our bodies cause us to oxidize. I digress...

Anyway, as far as the visual ques, the wrapper will appear flatter in appearance, since the oils have oxidized and lost their luster. The wrapper will have also lost color and become lighter. Since the RH is still where it needs to be, you won't notice any loss of elasticity, nor have any burn issues, as these are products of moisture content. Depending on the extent, you'll definitely experience a dramatic loss in flavor. The natural flavors of the wrapper, which makes up the vast majority of the flavor profile, will have diminished. In extreme cases, it's like smoking a cigar with no flavor, rather like a very mild cigarette. Not nice.

It takes surprisingly less time than people think for this to happen. It also takes a lot less light than most people would think. Personally, I wouldn't store cigars under glass for any more than a few weeks and even that assumes no direct light.

Don you have 2 wineadors...

[Herf N Turf]

Don you have 2 wineadors...

And, your point?

[Schatzman]

And, your point?

Don't they have glass doors?

[Herf N Turf]

Don't they have glass doors?

Well, that's what I was assuming @Merovius was getting at. Indeed it's got a glass door, but it's heavily smoked and a UV filtering element. The cigars are either inside boxes or in deep shelves, so they're not exposed to light. The light inside is disabled and it sits in the darkest room in the house, which is VERY dark. Most of the shelves also have cedar spills covering them. They're not for light, but rather environmental baffles, but they also likely help prevent any light penetration.