Time and again, 16-18 °C is recommended as the optimum storage temperature. While one may still almost reach such values in winter, these are hardly achievable in summer. The solution for some cigar smokers: you put the cigars in a humidor with cooling function. In most cases, these are very simple wine climate cabinets that are rudimentarily converted into a humidor.

What effect does the temperature have on the maturation of a cigar?<h/1>

If the cigar is stored open and surrounded by fresh air, the ammonia notes will be gone after a few months and after 2-3 years the cigar can smell flat. The bouquet has virtually evaporated into the surrounding air. To prevent this, one uses a humidor.
However, not the temperature, but the amount of fresh air the cigar is exposed to and the relative humidity are the really relevant influences. The temperature is only a relative factor that is used to calculate the relative humidity. Therefore, we recommend storing cigars as much as possible in boxes, cellophane or tubo as shipped. Open storage is of course also no problem and is also carried out, for example, in cigar stores. However, such cigars should be smoked over time. For periods longer than 2 years, i.e. about 5 years or even 10 years, storage in box, cello or tubo is recommended.

Answer to the above question: Even higher temperatures are not a problem, if they do not start abruptly. The relative humidity remains the same. Abrupt onset would be, for example, positioning a humidor in the blazing sun. From approx. 20°C, the temperature can increase to values >50°C. In addition, please reduce the humidity in summer a little to about 65%, so that the cigar does not become soft.

For the purchase of cigar refrigerators, that is, a cigar humidor with temperature control, this means accordingly that such are superfluous. This is more a nice gimmick than a necessity.

Does a low temperature affect the risk of mold? <h/1>

The answer to this question is easy to reproduce: when does a piece of bread become moldy? The fastest way for a piece of bread to go moldy is in the refrigerator. In a bread box at room temperature, on the other hand, mold is unlikely to occur. The bread will dry out at most. Other foods would wither. It is hardly possible to create mold on cigars at temperatures above 22°C. So to anyone who wants to store his cigars as safely as possible and cools them down to do so, we have to say that he is exposing his cigars to an unnecessary risk. At more than 22°C you will need permanent values of > 75% relative humidity to produce mold.
You can already tell from this: When it comes to a real mold infestation, a lot must have gone wrong in the storage over a longer period of time. Our separate FAQ on the subject explains this in more detail. If mold actually grows on the cigar, it is almost always Erotium, a non-toxin forming fungus that grows in any bed mattress and in any environment with a relative humidity of more than 60 percent. On the cigar, this fungus grows only superficially on the wrapper, is completely harmless, and can easily be mistaken for cigar blossom. If this fungal growth appears on the cigar, simply wipe it off.

About the problem: Relative humidity states that cool air can store fewer water particles than warm air. So a chilled cigar must absorb more water than a cigar stored at room temperature. Now humidity is necessary nutrient condition for fungus growth.
Low temperature and constantly high humidity increase the risk of mold accordingly. As long as it is only the Eurotium, it is harmless. Other fungal species (Aspergillus flavus), however, should not be grown. Exactly this danger exists however and in itself also only, if one stores in such a way cooled. Note: Please do not confuse mushrooms with cigar blossom, which occurs increasingly in the summer months and is a harmless sign of maturity. It occurs in both warm and cold storage.

Does coolness protect against cigar bugs?<h/1>

The short answer is no. There are several classic harmless "problems" that are really just noticeables with no effect. Eurotium mold (wicker-like fibers on the cigar) Plum mite (small, white dots running around on the cigar) Cigar bloom (white, mostly dot-like efflorescence) Unfortunately, the cigar beetle is a real problem.
The beetle larvae perforate the cigars by eating tunnels into the cigar. The little animals are not poisonous. But they can destroy the cigar comparable to the bark beetle in trees. Should you find a cigar with a circular passage, this was probably a beetle. The solution for cigar beetle infestation: freeze the cigars in the icebox for several days at a minimum of -30 to -40 ° C. The freezing process must start quickly, as cigar beetles can adapt surprisingly well to slow-onset coolness. So do not perform a gradual freeze from 9°C to 0°C to - 10°C to -40°C. The beetles will probably survive it and lay new larvae as soon as it warms up again. Answer to the question: The 10°C in a cigar fridge is of no use except to latently harden the beetles against freezing.

Conclusion: Is refrigerated cigar storage and the use of a cigar refrigerator worth it? <h/1>

The answer is almost always "no". Only if a constant climate is necessary for many years (decades), such a solution may be appropriate. In practice, we have not encountered any case in about 20 years where this would have been the case. Exceptions may be non-air-conditioned rooms in desert areas, which are exposed to the changing temperatures between day and night. However, such rooms almost always have air conditioning and even extremely stable values.
Anyone who wants to store cigars of correspondingly high quality for 30 years usually invests a correspondingly large amount of effort in the project. Here, too, solutions other than a wine climate control cabinet are then the obvious choice. Query: What happens if such a product should be defective after a few years of continuous operation?
Then you have cigars inside with too much water content, which are heated in an enclosed space. They will sweat and you will have unintentionally stored your cigars in a greenhouse. Therefore: moderate temperatures make sense when storing cigars, too much variation is never good, but you will hardly need a refrigerator. (Our customers come from all parts of the world. From Australia to Siberia, from Norway to South Africa).