Summary
Characteristics
Type: Desktop humidor;
Capacity: 125 cigars, depending on the vitola.
Key Features: SureSeal technology ensures a flawless seal. One cedar tray and three removable cedar dividers. The surface is scratch resistant. Lock, key, handles, and a plaque that you can engrave.
Manufacturer: Quality Importers Trading Co, Inc.;
Country of Origin: Vietnam;
Dimensions, W/D/H: 13.5/9.5/6.25;
Inner dimensions, W/D/H: 12/8.25/5.8;
Interior and Materials: A wooden construction with a dark maple finish with brass hardware and a Spanish cedar interior;
Lock: Yes;
Drawers: No;
Trays: Yes;
Ventilation: No;
Humidification: Yes, a florists’ foam humidifier;
Hygrometer: Yes, an internal-mounted analog hygrometer.;
Thermometer: Yes, a digital thermo-hygrometer.
Water tank capacity: No water tank included;
Temperature control: No;
Lighting: No;
Noise level: 0 dB;
Power supply: No power source required.
Key Features
The tobacco leaf inlay and maple wood finish are an important part of this humidor’s presentation. It is considered appealing to leaf lovers. OK, it’s beautiful. But just as important as how elegant it looks is how it functions.
This is something for lovers of classic esthetics. The gold-colored hardware is not only a nice detail that contrasts with the dark finish, but also a useful feature. Especially when you need to move the humidor filled with sticks, the handles are a great help. The lock and key will help you keep the contents of the humidor to yourself. And the plaque can be engraved with your name or initials.
The hinges make the humidor open and close smoothly.
There is a cedar tray with a removable divider so you can separate cigars with different flavor profiles. For the bottom, there are two more dividers made of cedar. You can store cigars with five different flavor profiles in the Deauville.
The florist foam humidifier is a green foam that florists use to keep plants moist. In Deauville, it is placed inside a plastic container. In hot, dry weather, you will need to humidify it once a week with a propylene glycol solution or add a 69% Boveda pack.
Pros
- Excellent seal
- Great value for the money: The Deauville stores about a cigar per dollar
- Fascinating classic look
- No power supply is needed
- Convenient handles
- Lock and key to keep your cigars safe
Cons
- Some of the glue seams are visible
- The included humidification system needs to be refilled weekly
- No ventilation system
- The hygrometer is placed inside and you need to open the humidor to check the humidity
Packaging and shipping
The Qulality Importers ships this wooden humidor well packaged. Styrofoam panels surround it in a cardboard box. Let’s hope this is enough to protect the humidor during shipping.
Shipping is free and you have 30 days to return the product if you are not satisfied. You can get a full refund or a replacement product.
Exterior
The Deauville Tobacco Leaf cigar humidor measures 6.25 inches tall, 13.5 inches wide and 9.5 inches deep. The width is listed without the handles.
The exterior is made of natural wood veneer with a high gloss finish.
There is a lock on the front of the humidor. The humidor comes with only one key. You have to be careful not to lose the key or you will lose access to your cigar collection. And on the sides there are metal handles, which are helpful when you want to carry your humidor from one place to another.
Here’s a video showcasing Deauville Tobacco Leaf:
youtube.com/@famoussmokeshop
Interior
The interior of the Deauville humidor is 9 inches wide, 8.25 inches deep, and 5.8 inches high.
The interior is lined up with kiln-dried Spanish cedar. There are two dividers for the bottom section, a cedar tray with another divider.
One of the disadvantages of this humidor is that some of the glue seams between the cedar parts are visible. However, this does not affect the function of the product. It is only an esthetic problem.
This is a small humidor for cigars, and manufacturers prefer humidification methods that do not include a water reservoir. This would take up too much storage space.
The hygrometer is placed inside the humidor and since there is no glass, you will need to open the humidor if you want to check the humidity. It’s an analog hygrometer – beautiful, but a little hard to read.
Setup and Seasoning
Like any other kiln-dried cedar humidor, the Deauville needs to be properly set up before you put your sticks in it. We seasoned it by placing a cup of distilled water on the bottom of the humidor. All the dividers and tray were in the humidor during the process. And the SMARTRO was in the tray, so you could quickly and easily read the levels in the humidor.
For the experiment, we soaked the included humidifier in a 50:50 solution of distilled water and propylene glycol. It takes a minute or two for this floral foam humidifier to saturate with the solution. After that, it is safe to say that it will not lose any more moisture. For our test, we placed the sticks in the tray together with the SMARTRO and stuck the humidifier to the inner part of the lid.
Capacity
You can store about 100 cigars, depending on the vitola. Some say as many as 150. We are sure you can put about 50 Robustos in the Deauville humidor.
Seal
The Deauville desktop cigar humidor has an excellent seal thanks to SureSeal technology and a combination of quadrant hinges on the sides and a piano hinge in the center.
After seasoning the humidor, the cedar coamings fit tightly in the box. This is another reason to season your humidor regularly.
Humidification System
The Deauville is equipped with a humidifier. The humidifier is equipped with a magnetic back and two square magnets with adhesive back. Florist foam is definitely not the perfect humidification system. We would recommend that you switch to another humidification option.
Hygrometer
Yes, there is an analog hygrometer and a magnet with a self-adhesive back. It may not be the ideal hygrometer for humidors; but this hygrometer works well enough to check if your sticks are stored properly.
Thermometer
There is no thermometer in this cigar humidor. So, keep it away from any heat sources.
Thermostat
You cannot regulate the temperature inside the Deauville Tobacco Leaf Inlay humidor, so you need to make sure it’s out of direct sunlight. To prevent mold or tobacco bugs from forming or spoiling the cigars, we placed the humidor on a table in a climate-controlled environment out of direct sunlight.
If you are looking for a humidor with a thermostat, NewAir 250 Count is a great option to consider.
Performance
No noise comes out of the Deauville humidor. This is the advantage of wooden humidors without fans and thermostats.
The initial moisture content of the La Flor Dominicana El Jocko test cigars was 66% RH when we put them in the humidor. We know this is a pretty good moisture content, but as we have noted many times, we want to check the humidor’s ability to maintain a 70% relative humidity content in the stored stogies.
That being said, we had to re-humidify the included humidifier twice during the month of testing. The good news is that it only takes two or three minutes to soak it with a solution of distilled water and propylene glycol. We opened the humidor three times a day to collect enough data and not ruin the internal climate of the humidor. In the graph below, you can see the average of these three results for each day.
During the test month, the humidor maintained humidity very well. Had it not been for the humidifier, the RH level would probably be a straight line. As you can see, the Deauville hygrometer shows a slightly higher humidity level than the SMARTRO control unit. The difference is not too drastic. Fortunately, the humidor box does its job well.
We stored the Deauville Tobacco Leaf Inlay Humidor away from any heat sources. Know that you should not store a humidor near vents, on the mantel of a crackling fireplace, or under direct sunlight. During the test month, the humidor was in a climate-controlled environment without direct sunlight.
La Flor Dominicana El Jocko came out at 70% RH after a month in our wooden humidor. The stogies were in very good condition for smoking. The smoking session lasted about an hour. The smoke that came out of the stogies was opulent and creamy. The flavor and aroma of the stogies were as good as expected.
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FAQ
To activate a humidor, you should clean its interior, if there are any remnants of the manufacturing process. You should season it and then you can put your sticks inside.
No, you should not use tap water in your humidor! Tap water contains minerals and bacteria that can contaminate your cigars with mold. You should only use distilled water or a solution of distilled water and propylene glycol.
It is usually best to sink the humidifier into a container of distilled water or a solution of distilled water and propylene glycol. Then, place the humidifier on a paper towel to absorb the excess water.
It is OK, but the risk of developing mold increases with each percent above 72%.
