The advantages of a Hidden Humidor

I find that the best place to put your humidor is somewhere you don’t visit too often as you forget about the bounty of cigars that it contains.

As I visit a lot of the London Cigar stores and terraces while researching updates for the London Cigar Guide I am often tempted to add a few sticks to my stash. I have also been lucky enough to visit Havana a few times in the last couple of years and as a cigar lover it is almost criminal not to bring your minimum allowance of 50 cigars back.

The cigar stores in London tend to hold far more aged stock than the Havana cigar stores. This is mainly because of the turnover of the stores due to the high volume of tourists and cigar lovers. You really have to know where to look and be prepared to smoke the less popular sizes of cigars to find something interesting and with some serious age on it in Havana.

In Havana many of the stores have their own rollers and each roller has his or her own blend and specialty. With access to the finest Cuban leaf and usually with huge experience, a job as a roller in a Havana Cigar store is an extremely good job for a roller, the cigars they produce are exceptional. 

Santos hard at work in Havana

For me Santos has the blend that suits my taste. It’s smooth and mild to medium and that suits my taste perfectly.

On my last trip to Havana I popped in to see Santos on my first day and ordered up 25 lanceros and they have been sitting in my humidor ever since. I have a friend who gets a bundle or two every trip and has been aging these cigars for years, smoking them with 4 or 5 years age. For me I had totally forgotten about my Lanceros, the best way I think, so I was unhappy to be reminded about them by a Facebook post and now they are calling me from my hidden humidor.

I fear that an evening of ‘quality control’ smoking is beckoning me and once I have started work on my meager bundle of custom rolled lanceros I worry that I won't be able to stop my self finishing them off. The one advantage is that a lancero demands some time to smoke and it would be just plain wrong to leave one half smoked.

If you are heading for London and you want to find London’s cigar stores and cigar terraces the London Cigar Guide app will help you in your quest for quality Cuban cigars.