We get this question often enough to post about it: “Should I keep my cigars in my humidor in their sleeves or not?”

There’s no right or wrong answer here.  Just a couple of things to be aware of.  These might help make your decision for you.

1. Most of the plastic sleeves are not air-tight, so they can be placed in your humidor and will make use of the humidity.  Some sleeves are even perforated for this purpose.  But be aware that because of this, if a sleeved cigar is not placed in a humidified environment, it will loose it’s humidity in a day or so.

2. Make a note of how you use your humidor.  Do you store cigars for smoking at home or for smoking when you’re out.  If you’re smoking most of your cigars at home, I would recommend taking them out of their sleeves.  This will ensure that your cigars maintain the full effect of the humidor and they will also benefit from the Spanish Cedar that your humidor is made of.  If you use your humidor to store you smokes for outings like golf days, trips to the beach, or travelling you might want to leave the sleeves on.  You never know when you’ll be smoking them and the sleeves will help retain the humidity.

3. If you are concerned about protecting your cigars from anything other than drying out, then leave the sleeves on.  Such concerns can be infestation, mold or crushing.

Hopefully these tips will help you make your decision!