Cigar Storage: 70/70 or fight?

Cigar experts recommend that cigars be stored in a humidor at a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit and a humidity of 70 percent. It's a good recommendation, but it's not written in stone. You may find that you like your cigars a little moister or a little drier. You may also like them a little warmer or cooler, or like every cigar smoker on earth, before the advent of HVAC, you may not have a lot of control over the temperature of your cigars. Think back to some of history's most famous cigar smokers. What temperature was H. L. Mencken's cigar on any given day in Baltimore, a hot and humid town, during the summer? How about Grant's cigars during the Overland Campaign? See what I mean? Today, many of us have the luxury of keeping our cigars in any condition we like, not me though, keeping my house at 70 degrees in the summer would be both wasteful and expensive. In the winter, we turn the thermostat back to the 60's at nighttime and not much warmer in the day - I bet many of you do too. Personally, my cigars taste best right around 70 percent humidity, but hang the temperature. They are, after all, merely cigars.

Pictured: Ulysses S. Grant, with cigar in his mouth, on horseback. C.W. Reed artist. You can purchase a copy of this print from the Library of Congress.