CigarBros are a humidor company more well known for their large upright standing humidors designed for retail stores, but in 2023 they decided to enter the consumer market with a personal humidor powered by Boveda. The CigarBros personal humidor powered by Boveda was displayed at PCA 2023 and had this mistique to it being an all black box unlike many other humidors I have seen before. When I picked it up I was absolutely shocked how light it was and learned that it was made from expanded polypropyllene foam or EPP for short which is a unique material used commonly in the food packaging and delivery industry to keep things hot or cold.

Under The Lid

We have to start out by diving a bit deeper into what EPP is and why it might be a good material for a personal desktop humidor. Expanded polypropyllene foam is closed cell foam that has characteristics of being highly durable, lightweight, and a very good thermal insulator due to its low density yet rigid foam cell structure. It has the ability to absorb lots of thermal energy making it a very good passive thermal insulator. It also has almost no odor to it compared to many other foams and plastics in the industry.

• Capacity: Up to 80 cigars (I personally found about 50-60 was most comfortable)
• Weight: 9.7 oz (275 grams) with no boveda pack inside
• Dimensions: H 5.88 inches x D 10 inches x W 14 inches (outside dimensions)
• Humidification: 1 x 60g, 69% Boveda pack
• MSRP: $49.99

The humidor is a simple design with both the lid and the base being made from black EPP. The lid is fully detachable and is lifted off using the notches on each opposite corner and does require two hands because of how tight the lid suctions onto the top. It comes with a single divider if you want to organize your cigars in two sections, and there is a small cutout at the bottom of the humidor so a 60g Boveda pack will sit flush on the bottom.

Performance Notes

The CigarBros personal humidor lists off multiple claims to the product and we will explore if I found them to be true or not. 

Unmatched Insulation/Consistent Temperature Stability: I stored the humidor on the top shelf of a closet away from any major light source, and with the least chance of major fast and intense temperature swings. Within my testing I tracked the maximum, minimum, and average temperatures inside the humidor relative to the ambient temperatures outside the humidor for a two month time period. I found a maximum temperature of 69.8°F, a minimum temperature of 63.9°F, and an average temperature of 66.8°F inside the humidor. The ambient temperature ranges were 71°F to 60°F and an average temperature of 65.5°F. I noticed on the data chart from my Govee that the temperatures would slowly rise and decrease without any major swings even when there were some warmer days or cooler nights. In the end, any passive thermal regulating humidor will eventually take on the ambient temperature of the environment. Overall this data shows relatively good thermal insulation from a passive unit with no active thermal regulation though. 

In terms of RH I ended up using a single 60g 65% Boveda even though the humidor comes with a 69% Boevda. I personally did this because I was planning to smoke a few cigars out of this humidor to see how things performed even after testing RH, and in my relatively high RH environment of Vancouver I need to keep things below 68% or else the cigars tend not to stay lit around the midpoint of the smoking experience due to the cigar becoming too moist. Over the two months there was a maximum RH of 68.8% minimum RH of 66.6%, and an average RH of 66.6%. I opened the humidor about 1 x a week for a bit to check on the cigars and I made sure to take out data of the jump up and down reedings when opening the humidor. The Boveda pack itself felt like it only lost a minimal amount of RH and I had the humidor around 60-80% full of cigars. The seal on the lid was very good and you could feel the suction while removing the it from the baseOverall I think it did a great job with RH insulation and I find most of the time in a relatively air tight container like tupperware the internal RH tends to be 1-3% higher than the inserted Boveda pack. I smoked three cigars from the humidor and none of them had any major burn or draw issues and felt humidified well through the entire cigar. 

Lightweight and Portable: The humidor is definitely very light coming in at 275 grams or 9.7 ounces with no Boveda pack inside. This is much lighter than your average wooden desktop humidor and rivals tupperware or any standard airtight herfadore or travel humidor. The size makes it slightly awkward to use as a daily travel case , but I don’t think that was the intended use with the capacity limit being in the 50+ range. 

Odor-free storage: The humidor opened straight out of the package had very little to no noticeable smell inside. When opening the humidor to check on cigars on a  weekly basis, there was that nice natural tobacco aroma with no plastic smell at all.

Enhanced Durability: EPP is well known for its ability to resist compression and impact. I tried standing on the humidor and I felt very comfortable doing so without fearing that the humidor would break under my weight which is around 180 lbs. I did try to divide my weight evenly over the lid and tried to avoid standing with most of my direct weight into the center of the lid where it is the thinnest and couldn’t possibly cave in with such direct force. I also threw the humidor off the table multiple times onto my laminate kitchen floor. I also dropped it from different held distances onto vinyl flooring and I did not notice any significant dents or damage to the humidor. Over time I expect a material like EPP to last and not degrade that much and although I only did 2 months of testing the humidor seemed to be in perfect shape and exactly the same as the day I received it. Overall I think the humidor is durable.

Effortless Maintenance: I never ended up washing or needing to replace my Boveda pack for humidity but overall the maintenance on this thing is almost none at all. Besides checking your Boveda pack, or if you end up getting a mold outbreak in the unit and need to wash it out, there is almost no maintenance needed like wood humidors with seasoning, or active humidors with filling up water receptacles. 

Moisture Resistant Design: EPP as a material has a very low moisture absorption rate and also a natural ability to resist microbial growth. I never noticed any moist spots on the inside of the humidor or any mold growth, but a 2 month trial period is not a long enough time frame in my opinion to fully test this. 

Smokin Wrap:

This humidor works perfectly for the person who is tired of their cheap desktop humidor not holding humidity well enough, or for the guy who already uses tupperdores and wants something a bit mot beefy. Furthermore, it is a perfect match for someones first humidor or as a gift because it has such an easy set up. The humidor does everything a tupperdore does but with slightly better thermal regulation and a bigger capacity unless you are going into the coolerdore category.

Pros: 

• Lightweight 
• Easy to set up and maintain 
• Good thermal regulation for no active thermal regulating mechanism
• Holds RH consistently 

Cons: 

• You must open the humidor to see your collection 
• Airtight containers should be opened 1-2 x a month to allow fresh air in 
• Plain black is a little boring to look at 

SCORE: 90

Mitchell Santaga – Product Reviews

Mitchell Santaga started his journey into tobacco in 2010 by trying different flavored and machine-made cigars while enjoying a handle of Jack Daniels. Shortly after that he yearned for a more premium experience and dove headfirst into pipe tobacco that his local tobacconist blended, and shortly after started trying premium cigars.