This week I’m going to talk about something we don’t often talk about here on Stogie Review: humidors. Specifically the Adorini Matera Deluxe humidor which was provided for me to use and review, but first a little about humidors in general.

Over the years my thoughts on humidors has evolved, much like my taste in cigars. The first humidor I ever bought was a Diamond Crown called The Wellington. I loved the way the cedar smelled when I opened the lid, and the glass top was sure to keep me from opening it too often to check on the humidity. And since there was no way I’d ever need to store more than 100 or so cigars at a time, it made sense to get something nice. Of course, I filled it in record time and quickly realized I could not afford to drop $400 (or more) on a new humidor every time I needed one. I’d be bankrupt in less than 6 months. So I experimented with less expensive humidors, and ultimately various forms of air-tight plastic storage like Tupperware and the infamous coolidor.

So what’s my opinion on humidors now? I think the different forms of storage all have their place. For bulk quantity and long term storage, it’s hard to beat something like a coolidor. But when it comes to something you want your significant other to let you keep in the house, it’s worth it to go for quality. I think it makes sense to have both if you have a large collection- a coolidor for volume and aging, and quality humidor for display and rotation. That is unless you can afford a walk-in humidor in your house, in that case, definitely do that.

But back to the humidor at hand- the Adorini Matera Deluxe. It’s a cigar storage option that is lobbying hard to be your choice for the humidor you keep on display in your house. But there’s also a lot going on under the lid, which becomes immediately apparent the moment you open said lid. The walls and floor of the humidor have grooves called “ventilation ribs”. Along with the expected humidifier (acryl polymer), analog hygrometer and keys, there’s also a bunch of cedar dividers of varying sizes, labels and even a bottle of distilled water. My initial response was along the lines of “Wow, this humidor smells nice. Also, comes with a lot of stuff.”

I made use of this Adorini humidor over the course of about three months for mostly short term cigar storage. Some cigars spent almost the entire time in the humidor, others were in one day and out the next. (Many were somewhere in between.) The humidor seemed to serve both “long” term and transient cigars well. Let’s break my experience down into the pros and cons:

Pros

• First and foremost, it holds humidity and has a good seal.
• It’s a nice looking humidor. Better still, it’s a nice smelling humidor.
• The grooves in the floor and walls of the humidor (or “ventilation ribs” or “RibTech”) allow much better air (and humidity) flow throughout the humidor. Absolutely my favorite feature.
• The dividers allow for more customization of how your organize your cigars than is possible with most humidors. And plastic clip-on labels are there in case you’d like to note something about the cigars in a section, the source or date of purchase, for example.
• There’s a big hole (“AirVent” per documentation) in the middle of top tray. On the plus side, this means you can fit a larger humidification unit in the humidor (the Cigar Oasis Excel, for example) and still use the tray.
• The Humidor Guide booklet that comes with humidor is the best documentation I’ve ever seen with any cigar accessory or humidor. It seriously covers everything over the expanse of 23 pages. I feel smarter having read through it.
• The magnetic lid. All solutions for attaching hygrometers and humidifiers to the lid that involve any form of adhesive are doomed to failure and sadness. Magnetism is where it’s at, even if it confuses and angers Insane Clown Posse.
• A bottle of distilled water. It was a thoughtful touch- I can imagine someone opening their humidor and realizing they’re out of distilled water. No problem.

Cons

• There is a little inconsistency in the how well the wooden dividers fit in the various grooves in the humidor.
• There’s a big hole (“AirVent” per documentation) in the middle of top tray. On the bad side, this limits what the number of cigars you can keep in the tray if you’re not using a larger humidifier. (It would be nice to be able to close this gap if not needed.)
• While the documentation indicated the hygrometer was precalibrated, it was way off the mark. This is, of course, a common situation with analog hygrometers, it always pays to double check.
• When moistened, the contents of the acryl polymer humidifier expand and can prevent the vents from closing.

The Verdict
I think the Adorini Matera Deluxe is a great humidor based on my three or so months using it. It quickly replaced a lesser cedar box as my preferred short term storage for cigars, and it made my wife happy because it looks nicer than one it replaced. I mentioned earlier that my favorite feature of the humidor is the grooved walls and floor that allow for a better flow of air and humidity around the cigars, but really my favorite thing about the Adorini Matera Deluxe is that it’s smart. You can tell that a lot of thought went into the product, the grooves are just my favorite indication of that. There’s also the expansive documentation, the dividers and even the the fact that it comes with a bottle of distilled water. Adorini has done the best job I’ve seen so far of making an foolproof humidor. There are cheaper options out there (as of the time of this writing this one sells online for $367) but this one delivers a lot of value for the money.