Spanish cedar vs Brazilian rosewood

[SammyO]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to get some opinions... My humidor is made from Spanish cedar. Never had an issue with it, works wonders but have my eye on a bigger humidor which is made from Brazilian rosewood. I’ve done some research and found that people tend to go with the cedar. Is there that much of a difference between the two? 

[HoyoFan]

Might be that the humidor is made of rosewood but the lining is still cedar. My understanding is that spanish cedar is best at retaining humidity and people like the smell as a by-product.

[Puros Y Vino]

1 minute ago, HoyoFan said:

Might be that the humidor is made of rosewood but the lining is still cedar. My understanding is that spanish cedar is best at retaining humidity and people like the smell as a by-product.

"Spanish Cedar" is used in cigar storage mostly due to it's aroma not being too overpowering.  It is also rot and termite resistant.  It is more important on the inside of a humidor vs the outside of course.

[Stump89]

Brazilian Rosewood is generally used as a finishing wood because the figuring in the grain is gorgeous.  I have seen many guitars with tops made from it, and they are beautiful.  While the humidor might have the rosewood finish, it's probably still lined with Spanish cedar.  I've also read that Brazilian Rosewood is a very fragrant wood with an almost floral aroma, which might not be the best for cigar storage.

[Kitchen]

Some rosewoods are poisonous, like Cocobolo, so I would assume that the interior would have to be lined with Spanish Cedar to prevent the cigars from being contaminated. 

With that being said, and in the case of Cocobolo, the reason some rosewoods are poisonous is due to the extremely high resin content of the wood.  This makes it impossible for it to be lit on fire or rot, and it can not be eaten by bugs.  So it would be a good choice for the exterior.  However, this aspect also makes it nearly impossible to glue anything too, even on the end grain.  So the joints will need to be interlocking to ensure a proper seal (if it's not just a veneer). 

[Steven J]

I was reading tonight that rosewood exterior works when it's has dovetail joints. As we know nowadays, you don't get detail like that unless it's custom built. In time, rosewood separates at the corners.

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[Fugu]

As prior posters have said, if it reads "rosewood" or "palisander humidor", that wood will most likey be used as veneer for outer decoration (corpus usually from MDF, lining cedro). But due to the highly endangered status of Brazilian rosewood and the environmental impact coming along with its exploitation in Brazil, I personally would be highly reserved against supporting its use today. At least for a humidor where it is not needed (from a technical perspective, different to e.g. instrument making).