Differences in cedar?

[cckandb24]

Just curious if anyone has knowledge on why spanish cedar is the main wood used inside of a humidor. Here in the states it is more readily available to get regular cedar. Does it hurt to use this none spanish type in my humidor.I also was talking to a guy who builds luxury humidors here in my town and said that he has better results with african mahogany....any thoughts on that also. Thanks

[Tarks]

It is important to note that spanish cedar is neither Spanish nor Cedar and is a very aromatic wood. For this reason I prefer not to use it but just my personal preference. It is commonly used due its availability (grown in South and Central America) and ability to hold moisture and not rot. My preference is mahogany as this type of wood is not as aromatic as spanish cedar.

[cigcars]

...truly learn something new every day and everywhere! And in my beginning days of humidor search and storage conditions I had approached somebody at a Home Depot about the possibility of using those cedar shavings in a storage drawer for a cigar environment. Though the the guy did not strike me as a cigar connoisseur he still shared with me that he didn't believe that was a good idea for the proper storage of my cigars. He said that's an entirely different kind of cedar. Not this stuff, in so many words. What did I know? I was learning!

[Colt45]

It's my understanding that Spanish cedar is a member of the mahogany family. It is different than aromatic cedar - the type used

for closets, cedar chest, etc. Aromatic cedar is not a great choice for humidors.

[cckandb24]

does anyone know why aromatic cedar is not a good choice? is it the smell

[Michel1968]

Some cedars have a very pungent smell, it completely dominates the cigars. Worse, the cigars starting to smell and sometimes taste like the cedar used which is a very bad thing (IMHO - Adorini is notorious for this matter). I believe some producers of 'tabletops' use some kind of cedar essence to enhance the smell even further leaving costumers to think 'Hey this really smells good, imagine my cigars in this box'...

Good cedar to use for a humidor/cabinet is close to odorless and should be somewhat earthy of character in stead of resinous. (there are on-line sources for this cedar, not sure if I can post...?)

[coblos]

The other cedar I assume is Western Red Cedar? The 2 are very different. 1 should never be allowed anywhere near your cigars.

This is Spanish Cedar (Cedrela odorata) from the mahogany family, a tropical / sub tropical hardwood. Not actually a cedar.

It holds more moisture than most woods so is great for humidors

This is Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) A cool climate conifer, soft wood.

Great for cladding, external joinery, and saunas because of it's ability to withstand heat and moisture

It also has a strong odur that couldn't possible improve the taste of your cigars.

[CanuckSARTech]

Coblos hit the nail on the head.

Check out my CanuckSARTech's Custom Humidor Cabinet thread here. It's got a lot of these details. Some is in my initial posts at the top of the first page, while further info is at my update posts on the top of the second page.

I did a fair bit of homework on the cedars and mahoganys and whatnot before I did my cabinet. A lot of your questions should be answered there.

Cheers.

[smokeduck]

Just curious if anyone has knowledge on why spanish cedar is the main wood used inside of a humidor. Here in the states it is more readily available to get regular cedar. Does it hurt to use this none spanish type in my humidor.I also was talking to a guy who builds luxury humidors here in my town and said that he has better results with african mahogany....any thoughts on that also. Thanks

Ladies, Gentlemen, greetings to all.

I've been pondering this question for the last 2 months as cedrela odorata is non existant in my area, I think there have been attempts with other cedrelas (Cedrela guianensis, Cedrela huberi, Cedrela fissilis, Cedrela serrata, Cedrela toona) and other woods (Couratari guianensis, Virola koschnyi, Platanus occidentalis, Sequoia sempervirens). But overall there has been very little serious experimentation, without being much of a specialist, I assume any alternative lining wood would simply have to offer the same advantages as the Spanish Cedar (autoragulates humidity, repels bugs, gives off a pleasant fragrance) without any glaring shortcomings, I even wondered if Cedrela Odorata become the norm simply because cigars are made in Central America (another name for Spanish Cedar is Central American cedar!) . I'm busy closely looking at African teak & Cypress lately...

[coblos]

Ladies, Gentlemen, greetings to all.

I've been pondering this question for the last 2 months as cedrela odorata is non existant in my area, I think there have been attempts with other cedrelas (Cedrela guianensis, Cedrela huberi, Cedrela fissilis, Cedrela serrata, Cedrela toona) and other woods (Couratari guianensis, Virola koschnyi, Platanus occidentalis, Sequoia sempervirens). But overall there has been very little serious experimentation, without being much of a specialist, I assume any alternative lining wood would simply have to offer the same advantages as the Spanish Cedar (autoragulates humidity, repels bugs, gives off a pleasant fragrance) without any glaring shortcomings, I even wondered if Cedrela Odorata become the norm simply because cigars are made in Central America (another name for Spanish Cedar is Central American cedar!) . I'm busy closely looking at African teak & Cypress lately...

I also agree that Spanish Cedar (Cedrela Ordorata) may have become the norm simply because it is common in Central America.

All the Cedrela timbers are going to have similar properties. Although slightly denser I'm considering Australian Red (Cedrela Toona) for my project.

I would be cautious using teak, it is very different a lot denser and oily. Though in saying that I have never worked with it so am no expert (it's very expensive here)

Definitely don't use cypress, although most people like the aroma, from raw timber it is strong and in my opinion would spoil the cigars. Like western Red it's also toxic for some, people often have allergic reactions to the dust when working with it (would probably kill any borers and tobacco beetles though )

[smokeduck]

I also agree that Spanish Cedar (Cedrela Ordorata) may have become the norm simply because it is common in Central America.

All the Cedrela timbers are going to have similar properties. Although slightly denser I'm considering Australian Red (Cedrela Toona) for my project.

I would be cautious using teak, it is very different a lot denser and oily. Though in saying that I have never worked with it so am no expert (it's very expensive here)

Definitely don't use cypress, although most people like the aroma, from raw timber it is strong and in my opinion would spoil the cigars. Like western Red it's also toxic for some, people often have allergic reactions to the dust when working with it (would probably kill any borers and tobacco beetles though )

Thanks for your advice coblos, much appreciated.

I recently found this useful link for all us humidor lining explorers, each tree has an interesting breakdown of specs:

http://www.thewoodexplorer.com/

might help...

[hdryder]

I remember reading somewhere that spanish cedar which is part of the mahogany family also help slow cigar beetles if you are unlucky enough to get an infestation from destroying all your cigars because they dont like it much. Not sure if there is any truth to it or not.

[patterdale82]

Some cedars have a very pungent smell, it completely dominates the cigars. Worse, the cigars starting to smell and sometimes taste like the cedar used which is a very bad thing (IMHO - Adorini is notorious for this matter). I believe some producers of 'tabletops' use some kind of cedar essence to enhance the smell even further leaving costumers to think 'Hey this really smells good, imagine my cigars in this box'...

Good cedar to use for a humidor/cabinet is close to odorless and should be somewhat earthy of character in stead of resinous. (there are on-line sources for this cedar, not sure if I can post...?)

Hi Michel. I've been using an adorini aficiando cabinet humidor for the last 5 months and agree with you that the cedar is far too potent-smelling. All my cigars have started to take on a harsh overly-woody taste that totally dominates the original subtle flavours of the sticks!

Just wondering if you've had the same problem yourself and if so did you manage to get your cigars back to a more standard taste? I've just ordered a themoelectric cooler so i'm hoping after some time they might return to normal in there?

I'm glad to have read your post as i was starting to think it was just me, i mean after paying quite a bit of money for what i thought was a 'quality humidor', i never expected it to ruin my smokes! I'd lusted after the cab for some time and took a while the save the cash for it and although it looks great & keeps a stable humidity, i'd never buy an adorini again!

If i ever purchase a wood humidor again i'd definately want to smell the cedar interior before buying, it's been a bit of a learning curve for me.

[Michel1968]

Hi Michel. I've been using an adorini aficiando cabinet humidor for the last 5 months and agree with you that the cedar is far too potent-smelling. All my cigars have started to take on a harsh overly-woody taste that totally dominates the original subtle flavours of the sticks!

Just wondering if you've had the same problem yourself and if so did you manage to get your cigars back to a more standard taste? I've just ordered a themoelectric cooler so i'm hoping after some time they might return to normal in there?

I'm glad to have read your post as i was starting to think it was just me, i mean after paying quite a bit of money for what i thought was a 'quality humidor', i never expected it to ruin my smokes! I'd lusted after the cab for some time and took a while the save the cash for it and although it looks great & keeps a stable humidity, i'd never buy an adorini again!

If i ever purchase a wood humidor again i'd definately want to smell the cedar interior before buying, it's been a bit of a learning curve for me.

Hi Ferret,

Yes, I did have that problem and was very annoyed about it. Like you I thought I had purchased a quality product which turned out - IMHO - mediocre at best. Yet all is not lost, it's just a matter of not being able to smoke the cigars for about 6 months. That was the time the cigars smelled like cigars again when I transferred everything to a decent cabinet.

[patterdale82]

Thanks for the reply michel, it's a relief that they'll gradually return back to normal! My cooler arrives on mon and i'm looking forward to getting my cigars in there asap.

Thanks for the info!