Today, July 22nd, is the 3rd annual “Smoke a JJ for JJ day.” Jerry from The Stogie Review would appreciate if you would take a moment and smoke a Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ in remembrance of his son. JJ was born on this day three years ago, and died of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) only 3.5 months into his life.

My pal Barry at acigarsmoker.com is also holding a fundraiser. Barry runs a great cigar review site and is going above and beyond. Go HERE to find out more.

It is that simple. Just sit back, relax, enjoy life and enjoy the smoke.

There were plenty of sponsors who donated cigars for everyone. The Dona Flor guys Tom (Left) and Dana (right) were there with their new Fogo line of cigars. They were more then generous with the freebies and got into the spirit of things all day.

Our local Perdomo rep John (below, 3rd from the right) gave away posters and cigar after cigar.

And it didn’t stop there. Alec Bradley, Ashton, CAO, Camacho, JC Newman, LaFlor Dominicana, General Cigar Co., Oliveros and Gurkha all donated cigars and swag. There was so much stuff to give away that Ed had to hold raffles about two times an hour.

Ed kept food stocked throughout the day, and the cigars never stopped. So make sure to pay Ed a visit next time you are in the area. I haven’t broken out an amazing slide show in awhile. So here it is:

Matt, Reg, and I took a little trip to Bonita Springs to visit the Bonita Smoke Shop. This is about a two hour drive from my house. Just as we suspected, we were greeted with a spectacular staff and a great selection of cigars and accessories.

An added bonus was Luis J. Falto, President of the La Garita Cigar Company was there as well. He was very helpful and knowledgeable about cigars and his brand. I had never heard of this boutique brand before. The cigars were very good, and I’ll be looking out for more.

Do yourself a favor and visit the Bonita Smoke Shop. It is a perfect example of how a great cigar shop is ran. If you are too far away to visit, then go online. I have found their prices to be very competitive.

This short 3 minute video is a walk through. It was filmed right after the shop closed. The vast selection of cigars can’t really be conveyed in this video, but you’ll get the idea.

This article is just a review of the humidor itself. I will post a follow up which will cover seasoning the humidor, calibrating the hygrometer, and humidification methods. Stay tuned for that article.

First let’s cover the specs:

Price: $276.00

Lifetime Warranty

Capacity – 75 cigars

Finish – multiple lacquer finish in black with tobacco leaf design on lid

Felt bottom

“Ribtech” ventilation ribbed liner

Hidden metal plate under the wood veneer to hang hygrometer and humidifier in the lid

24k gold plated quadrant hinges

Dimensions (exterior) – Length-24cm. Width-29cm. Height-12cm.

In the box – A humidor guide book, analog hygrometer, gold plated acryl polymer based

Humidifier, 4 dividers with label clips, 100ml bottle of distilled water.

Construction:

I examined the exterior finish and it was virtually flawless. The tobacco leaf design against the ultra shiny black finish looks great. Pictures don’t do it justice. The felt bottom means you can store this on a delicate surface without worry of scratching your furniture.

Opening the lid, you see a quality cedar liner that is ribbed for ventilation. This design is claimed to increase air flow. The concept makes sense as you can see in the picture below.

The liner has a little bit of play, which I assume is to compensate for expansion and contraction from the tropical environment that we need for cigar storage.

The lid has a piece of metal hidden underneath the wooden liner. This makes hanging a hygrometer and humidifier a snap. No Velcro or adhesives needed here.

While we are looking at the lid, check out the hinges. They are plated with 24k gold and are solidly mounted with no play or flimsiness.

When I let the lid drop from open to closed, there was a nice “Woosh” sound and the lid would gently settle to a very tight seal. If it were a leaky lid, it would have simply slammed shut.

The liner protrudes from the humidor and fits perfectly into the lid. Overall this thing is build to tight tolerances. Construction is top notch.

There is no cigar tray for a multi tier style humidor. Instead, included are four dividers that slide into the ribbed interior. Plastic clips can be used for labeling and organizing as well.

Accessories:

The Sorrente comes an analog hygrometer and humidification device. Both attach to the lid via magnets thanks to the hidden metal plate in the lid of the humidor.

The hygrometer is fairly accurate, but I prefer a digital unit. I found that the analog unit was accurate but only within a small range of humidity variations.

The humidifier uses distilled water, and has adjustable vents. While I found it to be easy to use, my personal choice is beads from Heartfelt Industries. There are plenty of choices for humidification. I’ve tried a few that you can read about here.

Finally… Besides a small bottle of distilled water, there is a humidor guide book included. It covers various topics from humidor construction, storing cigars, humidor seasoning, to issues like mold, tobacco beetles, and reviving dry cigars. It is a fairly thorough book.

In addition to the book, a comprehensive website covers various humidor and cigar topics.

If you have read this far, you get the idea that I love this humidor. So to be fair, let’s cover the cons:

They say this is a 75 count humidor. Obviously if you store a bunch of Toro’s or Churchill’s, you won’t be fitting that many cigars in to the Sorrente.

There is no tray, so organizing cigars can be tough. The dividers help, but nothing beats a tray for multi-level storage.

I’m sure you noticed the price. For it’s smaller size, this is a top dollar humidor in my book. But in all fairness, the construction is top notch.

I am not a fan of analog hygrometers or the adjustable humidifier (even though it looks great). That’s an easy fix with some humidity beads or gel.

Conclusion:

I hope this doesn’t sound like a commercial, but… Wow this is now my favorite humidor. The construction is top notch. It is easily the most well built humidor in my collection. In the looks department, it is great. I have it in the living room sitting on the coffee table. It just looks good no matter where you put it. More importantly, it maintains humidity with a good seal and no leaks. If high end humidors are in your budget, I would suggest considering the Sorrente Deluxe. There are various other styles from Adorini that may fit your style as well. Check them out over at Humidor Discount.

Unfortunately, towards the end of March 2010, the lighter sprung a leak and wouldn’t hold fuel anymore. I admit, I was bummed and a little angry. I babied this thing, and even kept it in the free sheath Xikar sends you if you register your product on their website.

I figured it was time to test Xikar’s warranty again via their mail in option. While I was at it, I figured I’d send my Xi MTX Multi-Tool for sharpening. I used it for a couple years straight, and it was getting dull. This is to be expected from any cigar cutter as time goes on.

Per the instructions on their website, I packed my items in a padded envelope, along with a short letter containing my contact information and description of why I sent them back. I opted to add delivery confirmation (per their suggestion) for a few cents more. I spent less then $3.00 in shipping.

My envelope was shipped on March 31st, 2010. It sat at a “Soft Facility” in Kansas City, MO from April 3rd until it arrived at Xikar on the 14th. If there is a next time, I’ll chose priority mail!

On April 20th, a replacement Axia lighter and Multi-Tool were at my door. Despite the shipping delay, I had my items back within the 3 week time frame Xikar gives for warranty service.

So once again Xikar made good on their warranty. I didn’t expect anything different. The point of this article was to demonstrate how easy it is to get them to honor their lifetime guarantee. You just have to ask, it’s basically that easy. I was lost without my multi-tool, and like I said, I was a bit annoyed about the lighter blowing up. Time will tell how the lighter holds up to regular use. I have complete confidence in the scissors though.