Premium Monogrammed Glass Top Humidor with Thick Cedar Lining | Easy Humidification System & Digital Hygrometer | Luxury Cigar Storage Case | Perfect for Home, Office, or Gifts (Renzo, Brown)

I got into cigars in a big way years ago. Like many people, I started with a desktop humidor like this one and later graduated to a much larger system with active cooling and humidity control. But every so often I would head to my best friend's house with a couple cigars from my collection in my old desktop unit and gradually he started expressing an interest in starting his own collection. So this year for his birthday I bought him this humidor, seasoned it for him and added about a dozen cigars from my collection as a starter sampler. I also added a three flame torch, a V and straight cutter, and a package of 60 gram Boveda bags. It went over well, and here are the things I think contributed the most to the wow factor:1. The personalized etching. I know that many people frown on glass top humidors with passive humidity control systems, and I tend to agree they don't always function the best, but it's hard to ignore the shear aesthetic value of a glass window with a family name etched into it shadowing down onto the cigars. It just looks classy and sophisticated, and let's face it that is at least part of the fun of getting into fine cigars and liquor. In any case, I seasoned it for a week and it held its humidity nicely the entire time.2. The accessories shelf. Particularly for someone new to the hobby, you might not want all the various tools spread out everywhere; you want a self-contained unit that you can pickup and bring to wherever you are planning to enjoy a cigar with minimal muss and fuss.3. The digital hygrometer. This was a BIG selling point for me as I'm well aware of how utterly useless those analog hygrometers are. In my experience the least accurate digital model is more accurate than the most accurate analog and the first thing I always do with a new humidor is ditch the analog for a digital replacement, so I really appreciated being able to skip that step and have it look fit and trim with the construction of the box.4. The overall construction. As anyone with experience knows, humidors have a wide range in price, even in desktop units. Given that a quality desktop humidor can cost $1000 or more, anything in the ~$100 price range would probably only qualify as a nice entry level model at best. Absolutely nothing wrong with that; there is a strong decreasing return on investment as you climb above that price, with refinements that will likely go unnoticed by most anyway. So what I wanted to see is construction that feels solid, with precision that passes the finger test (run your finger along the edges of the humidor, does it feels smooth and even?), the dollar bill test (is the seal on the lid tight enough to hold a dollar bill?), and smooth action on the hinges (does it wobble and creak when you open and close the lid or silently turn?). This unit feels solid, and the faux walnut finish looks nice, without ripples or chipping or loose edges. In short, I think you could place this on any nice executive desk without it looking at all out of place.My only real gripe with the humidor is in the instructions, where they try and convince the owner that somehow Boveda packs, despite being an industry standard and staple, just don't work with this humidor. This is almost certainly in the service of selling you an ongoing supply of humidor liquid, a high-margin product they push heavily in the product literature. The problem is that liquids alone tend to over humidify a box, and while they do supply a tiny bag of gel beads with the humidor, their humidification system is clearly based upon liquid in a tray which isn't great. I recommended that my friend toss the tray and replace it with Boveda packs which will provide better overall performance, at a rate of one 60 gram bag per 10 cigars, rounding up.So the bottom line is I would absolutely recommend this product to anyone looking for their first humidor or as a gift of same. It provides a handsome looking place to store up to 20 or so cigars (I wouldn't try and cram more in there unless they are smaller cigars) along with the accessories you'll need, and should be able to keep your cigars in fine shape if stored in a temperature controlled environment out of direct sunlight even if you only use it once every couple of months. Anyone who takes a daily cigar or expands to a larger collection, however, may find that keeping the humidity high enough is a challenge for any desktop unit and should consider getting a separate humidor that they can fill the desktop unit from once a week since desktop humidors don't handle frequent access well.