Vigilant Humidor Review

[PrairieSmoke]

Vigilant Inc - Armoire 2000 Traditional

 

 

I had been dreaming of an heirloom grade humidor for years, but the cost of entry was always daunting. I received a gift this past year with the stipulation I spend it on something I wouldn't normally be able to purchase. It only took a split second for me to start looking at cabinet humidors.

I had initially wanted to get an Aristocrat, but Bob shut down his business. Then I had plans to construct my own with a cabinet maker neighbor, but that turned out to be more complicated and time-consuming than I could handle. That pretty much left me with Avallo and Vigilant unless I wanted to look at the Quality Importers stuff. The guy at Avallo never returned my phone calls so that made Vigilant the easy choice! 

Ordering Process:

The folks over at vigilant are consummate professionals. This did not feel like a fly-by-night operation. They were great communicators, efficient, and best of all....actually on time with their estimates.

I decided on the Armoire 2000 for a few reasons: capacity and budget. Vigilant can do a complete custom job for you if you wanted, but you will probably double the price of their existing models. The Armoire 2000 is not cooled, which might be a problem in some contexts. I'm keeping this cabinet in my basement which should remain between 60-70 degrees year-round, so it wasn't a real concern or an essential expense.

Avg. Cigar Capacities: 2000
Dimension: 38"w x 60"h x 25.5"d
Weight: 345lbs

The Cabinet:

Vigilant is known for being on the more expensive side. However, I can now say from experience that the value is there. The cabinet is expertly crafted and rock solid. At 345 lbs of solid wood, this thing was an absolute beast to get down the steps, but there is no doubt in my mind that this piece was built to outlast me.

Fit and finish are flawless across all areas of the unit. The door and locking mechanism are tight and feel secure.

 

The shelving is adjustable to suit your spacing needs. The shelves themselves stop short of the back wall by a good 4-5" to allow maximum air movement behind your boxes. This does reduce the number of cigars that could potentially fit in the unit, but my experience thus far makes me think the air movement it provides is worth the loss of space. Depending on the box shape the shelves can stack 2 rows deep.

The pull out draw feels very solid and rolls in and out smoothly. There are more adjustable dividers included that I am not using currently.

 

Humidification:

I upgraded to the guardian digital unit. It uses a 1.5-gallon reservoir that feeds a wick which has air drawn threw by a top fan. The fan is not loud, but you can hear a slight hum when it's on with the door closed. There is an RH sensor attached to the center of the back wall of the humidor. So far I have been very happy with the unit. 

Conclusion:

I'm totally satisfied with this humidor. I think I have around 1700 cigars in the humidor right now and there is definitely room to squeeze more in. If you are in the market for an heirloom-quality humidor I would wholeheartedly recommend Vigilant. They were a pleasure to deal with and this unit is probably the finest piece of furniture in my home!

1-Year UPDATE:

I wanted to take a moment to update everyone on how the unit has performed in its first year of use.

I can honestly say that my expectations have been exceeded with this humidor. Everything I said about the quality of the build still stands. It holds its RH like a champ. For years I had to obsess over keeping my collection properly humidified, but this has been set-and-forget.

Summer in the Midwest means high RH so I simply take out the guardian reservoir and leave a few Boveda (the big packs) to keep the RH right where I want it. You could leave the humidifier in if you empty the water. 

 

 

[irratebass]

Congrats man, she's a beaut!

[PrairieSmoke]

Thanks! Hope this review is helpful for people. It was pretty difficult to find reviews on Vigilant humidors when I was researching. 

[Cold Smoke]

I'm jealous.

[Puros Y Vino]

I've been eyeing one of these for quite some time too.  I think there used to be a "3000" version.  Congrats on your purchase.

[RichUK]

Great write up. I was swapping emails with them this week for a 2,000 count Vault.

[PrairieSmoke]

4 hours ago, RichUK said:

Great write up. I was swapping emails with them this week for a 2,000 count Vault.

I looked hard at those! They seem like a great option. ?

[RichUK]

6 hours ago, PrairieSmoke said:

I looked hard at those! They seem like a great option. ?

They do, so far they have been super helpful. A bit more complex as it will be overseas shipping and then I need to get it upstairs to my office. But hopefully it will be something that one day my son will have, so needs to be the right purchase.

[PrairieSmoke]

11 hours ago, RichUK said:

They do, so far they have been super helpful. A bit more complex as it will be overseas shipping and then I need to get it upstairs to my office. But hopefully it will be something that one day my son will have, so needs to be the right purchase.

My thoughts exactly. I have 3 boys though so I might have problems. ?

[RichUK]

12 hours ago, PrairieSmoke said:

My thoughts exactly. I have 3 boys though so I might have problems. ?

Ah, yes, I can see where that might be an issue!

Out of interest, what were the timescales between order and delivery?

[PrairieSmoke]

3 hours ago, RichUK said:

Ah, yes, I can see where that might be an issue!

Out of interest, what were the timescales between order and delivery?

Ordered around Christmas and received end of Feb. 

[RichUK]

Got my quote through, pricing was about where I expected it to be. But the shipping was hefty, so with the added import charges, it is about $6k more than I expected. It will look absolutely lovely though, quite the decision.

[PrairieSmoke]

On 4/18/2020 at 2:29 AM, RichUK said:

Got my quote through, pricing was about where I expected it to be. But the shipping was hefty, so with the added import charges, it is about $6k more than I expected. It will look absolutely lovely though, quite the decision.

Too bad about those increased charges! ?

Let me know if you go through with it. Is there anything comparable in the UK?

[Puros Y Vino]

37 minutes ago, PrairieSmoke said:

Too bad about those increased charges! ?

Let me know if you go through with it. Is there anything comparable in the UK?

There is this in the UK. More for wine but I can't see why they couldn't be used a humidors as well.

https://www.spiralcellars.co.uk/

[RichUK]

10 hours ago, PrairieSmoke said:

Too bad about those increased charges! ?

Let me know if you go through with it. Is there anything comparable in the UK?

I am going to have a chat with a cabinet maker over here and see what his pricing is like. A little while ago, I imported a fibreglass hard top for my race car from the US, whilst I got a good price I had forgotten that we may import charges and VAT on the total price including packaging & shipping. It almost doubled the cost, which was a shock at the time, so I am slightly more cautious nowadays.

[Thirds]

Stumbled on your review here.  No need to reply back from my question last night.  Thanks. 

[PrairieSmoke]

Images fixed here. Previous links had broken. I also added an update after 1 year with the unit. 

[glaesthetic]

Looks great.  What finish did you go with?  Looks like cherry?

[PrairieSmoke]

3 hours ago, glaesthetic said:

Looks great.  What finish did you go with?  Looks like cherry?

Thanks! It’s actually the Chestnut stain with lacquer, but there are certainly some cherry tones to it.