Moving over my cigar collection from tupperware to electric humidor. Pics and review!
I had the chance to review an electric humidor by a brand called Audew, model JC-23C1. Listed specs are as follows:
- Holds 150 cigars
- Temperature can be set between 54-74F (12-24C)
- Cooling via Thermoelectric Technology & Inverter Technology
- Dimensions - 18.00 x 10.00 x 20.00 Inches
- Weight - 25.60 Pounds
When I took the electric humidor out of the box, I first thought it looked like my PC case. The dimensions were almost the same as well. The casing is a nicely coated metal and the front is a beautiful mirrored tempered glass.
https://i.imgur.com/iJCN5RG.jpg
I have a cabinet in which I wanted to house the humidor and the length was literally 1 inch too long and the cabinet doors wouldn't close completely, so I measured out the humidor and actually used a jig saw cutter to cut out the backing so it would fit LOL. I also attached a small LED light lamp on the ceiling of the space super close to the door edge so that when you pull out the cigar trays, it will be extremely clear and bright to see.
I had a bunch of cigars I was willing to move over, some from my current wooden humidor that I stock to smoke immediately and some from my storage which are fail-proof in tupperware with Bovedas. But first I had to season it and really watch the humidity levels because that is what I thought was most fussy, temperature is usually on par with these types of mini coolers.
https://i.imgur.com/bjPMvgH.jpg
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As I wiped down the interior and the wooden spanish cedar shelving, I come across some quality control issues with accidental cuts from the machine saw they used. Not a big deal to me because I do not prioritize this personally, as long as it is sturdy and strong, my cigars would be covering these anyway.
https://i.imgur.com/PYmkYye.jpg
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I seasoned for 2 days with a cup of distilled water and temps set high to create more evaporation, I threw in 2 x 65% Boveda bags. It was time to slowly unload my cigars and continue adjusting for humidification levels.
I actually haven't bought any new cigars in 4-5 years. I decided what I liked back in 2014-2015 and went on a crazy cuban cigar purchase binge. 60% of my cubans are from FoH and 35% from iHavanas and CoH. Before Reddit banned cigar trading I had a great time meeting people on cigars and I was able to procure some more rare cigars. You'll see that in the end I was comfortable even placing those in. The youngest of my cuban batch are 2015 marcas and also picked up some non-cuban full body cigars along the way like Tatuaje and Padron. Here's how the humidor looks stocked now.
https://imgur.com/a/DCSmpiz
https://i.imgur.com/QJTVdsC.jpg
Humidity rose after stocking it full and adding my non-cubans which were sitting in 72% humidity. After a few days I got it settled to these readings. It was also a good time to confirm and re-calibrate all my temp/humidity readers. Setting the humidor temp to 69 causes the upper deck temp readings to show 67 degrees. Slightly inaccurate but honestly I'm happy to see its properly cooling.
It's been 2 weeks of careful monitoring and I must say humidity retention is a non-issue and I am enjoying showing off the electric humidor to my friends and let them pick anything they want to smoke.
Some last thoughts:
The LED inside is not bright because each level of trays will cause a dark shadow below
There is a slight electric hum but its another non-issue, it is not loud and it cools so fast it does not last long
The Spanish Cedar trays that came with the humidor smell wonderful
It truly is a set it and forget it type storage which is literally all you want for cigar storage
