I recently got a humi and it is lined w/cedar. It does not smell very well. My other humi has spanish inside & works very well. I wanted a little feedback on this stuff. Does it work well, does it ruin the smell of cigars, etc. Please help.


Thanks,

Woody (Wood-man)

Can you define "it does not smell very well". X

Where did you get this box? If it is aromatic cedar don't put any cigars in there unless you want them to taste like a shoe tree. Are you sure though? Spanish Cedar when freshly cut has a pretty strong smell. It settles down after a while.

the smell is like a stale smell.

this cedar is like a cream color. spanish has reddish tint.

You are the wood-man! I concur with your color assessment. Me, I want the good stuff! Can you replace it easily?

Wood-man --- I'm a little confused.

I have 10 humidors, and every one of them have a 'pinkish cream-colored' spanish cedar in them. The color is very consistant.

My closets, on the other hand, are lines with American Cedar (bad for humi's) ... and it has the beautiful reddish/dark pink swirls going through it, combined with the swirls of the lighter cream color.

I do know that Spanish cedar will vary in color depending on the origin and soil conditions. Generally it has a pinkish to red colored heartwood which darkens with exposure, to either a red-brown or red-purple tone. The sapwood is pink or white. The wood is usually straight grained, but can be interlocked. It has a fine and uniform texture.

Many humidors are lined with Honduran Mahogany, which is a yellow-ish cream color. this is what you may have in yours ...

it's pretty easy to tell the difference... Cedar is easy. It has a VERY strong smell. The shoe tree remark was right on track. Many shoe trees are made of cedar (american) for just this reason. You can go to almost any department store and find some ceder to compare it to. Or probably Home Depot would have regular "cedar" you could sniff. I can't imagine anyone building a humidor out of regular cedar. Where did it come from?

The good news is... you won't have moths in your cigars!

No, Slim is on track. I have heard of Beech being used as well as Honduran Mahogany. I have taken yellowed wood out of some old humidors too. Didn't know what to make of it. I don't like it! But that is mainly because the spanish cedar works so nicely. Maybe it's the glue you're smelling.

I used elmers wood glue in the Ploomidoor. Odorless...

this wood has no grain, it is very smooth. I don,t know what it is. It looks like cardboard, press board, its very weird.

Better safe than sorry.
Don't put any gars in it!

...octo

Spanish cedar has a grain just like Mahogany but is pinkish in color. Cedar that is cream in color is generally aromatic cedar and you don't want that in your humidor. Although, I've seen a picture posted here some time ago with a home made humidor that had chip board cedar closet lining in it. Can't imagine what those cigars taste like now.

Doesn't sound like you have Spanish cedar in yours.

Aromatic Cedar is actually a Juniper and can cause respitory problems.

bud451 --- you state, "Cedar that is cream in color is generally aromatic cedar ... " and that may or may not be true. The sapwood of Spanish Cedar can be pink or white (cream colored), but the heartwood is always a 'bright red' in color. Spanish Cedar, on the other hand, is usually a very light pinkish to cream color ...

A bit of trivia: It is the state tree of Louisiana. In fact the capital city of Louisiana, Baton Rouge is named for the wood. Baton Rouge means "red stick" after the bright red heart wood of red cedar.

Mr.Mean --- you are correct. The botanical name for Aromatic Cedar is Juniperus virginiana ...

Juniperus virginiana commonly known as Eastern red cedar or aromatic red cedar is found in abundance throughout East Texas to Bastrop county. In fact Bastrop county has one of the densest growths of aromatic red cedar in the United States.

Aromatic red cedar is the wood known for its attractive red color and sweet smell. It also has been known for centuries that it has the effect of repelling and killing most insects that might damage cloth goods. It has been used in chests and closets for that very purpose.

Wood-man, If you can, pitch that nasty stuff. Spanish cedar can be bought at any woodworker's supply store. It is not very expensive.

To concur Slim's post, my sister lived in Smithville just outside of Bastrop (great white bass fishing by the way). Her property was covered with stuff.

Yup....you are correct Slim and Mean....I just wanted to keep it short and that's what I meant by using "generally". Love cedar but hate those damed Juniper shrubs.

To me...the grain and density is the give-a-way between the two. I don't need to smell it.

I believe that you can save the humi if you want to. Don't know if it is worth the effort. But you can always buy "Spanish" cedar and line the inside of the humi with it. Not something that I would do....I agree with Slim and Robby on this one. Wait a minute can that be true??? That I agree with both of them in one post....Hmmmmm.

Regards,


B

I better clarify. "Pitch that nasty stuff" refers to the lining. Assuming there is a lining. I think some humidors are made out of the beech or mahogany and veneered or laquered. There is no lining. You can line it with spanish cedar but the smell won't go away. It is probably the glue. I've been seeing a few of these posts lately. Airing it out for a good while may be the ticket. Could be the glue needs to cure properly. Probably some strange mixture from Mexico.