3 Best Cigar Cooler Humidors (Cooledors for All Budgets)

If you’ve been smoking cigars for a couple of years, you might figure that you’ve cracked humidification with your wooden box or acrylic jar.

But there are levels to this stuff. Enter, the cigar cooler humidor.

These cigar coolers go by many names – wineador, refigador, cooledor – but they all do the same thing. They’re basically a humidity-controlled fridge for your stogies.

There are two main elements that set the best cigar cooler humidor apart from your standard humidors:

Temperature regulation:

• With a regular humidor, the temperature is dictated by how warm or cool the ambient environment is. 
• It’s best to store cigars at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Whether you live in California or Alaska, that’s not always going to be possible without spending a bomb on your AC. It’s easier to regulate a box than a house.

General reliability/accuracy:

• It’s basically impossible to get a better seal than a fridge door, so you can trust a cooledor to retain the correct humidity.
• Cigar cooler humidors distribute the air evenly with a built-in fan, maintaining perfect conditions for all your smokes.

So if you want to step up your cigar storage game, it’s time to invest in a cooledor to last. 

In terms of storage, I’d recommend taking your current collection size and doubling it so you have room to grow into. These products are an investment, and you don’t want to have to buy another in a year’s time.

So, here are my top picks for the best cigar cooler humidors today.

The Best Cooledors on the Market Today

NeedOne Electric Cooler Cabinet Humidor – Best Cooledor Overall

I have the NeedOne Cooler Cabinet Humidor, which has shelves made out of Spanish cedar that produce a beautiful, classic aroma.

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It has a fan that keeps the humidity and distribution nice and consistent throughout the whole cooler, with space for 150 cigars.

This cigar cooler humidor looks beautiful and high-end, and always gets attention when I have guests over. It’s really easy to examine your collection through the glass, and the premium look makes it a feature piece of my living room rather than just a practical object.

You control it through a touchpad that’s super-easy to use, and it runs incredibly quietly – which is more than can be said for some cooledors. It sounds about as loud as a laptop, to give you some idea.

So if you’re looking for a zero-compromise humidor investment that is built to last, this is what I’d recommend.

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Schmécké 400 Cigar Cooler Humidor – Best Cooledor for Large Collections

If you’ve got a larger collection of cigars to keep cool, this is the pick for you.

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The Schmecke has space for up to 400 Churchill-sized cigars, which is more than enough for me at the moment – but who knows in the future.

According to a reviewer, it has a whisper-quiet cooling system that circulates air consistently and uniformly.

I really like the look of the tinted glass door and cool interior lighting, and will definitely keep this cigar cooler humidor on my radar if I need to expand out of my NeedOne.

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NewAir 840 Count Electronic Cigar Cooler and Humidor – Best Luxury Cooledor

There’s no way around it – this cooledor is a flex. You probably don’t need the NewAir 840 unless you’re balling, but if you are, it’s a showpiece cigar cooler humidor that will wow your guests.

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Each Spanish cedar draw is lit by tasteful LED lights, with a cutaway front that lets you admire your stogies without opening the door and interfering with their environment.

With huge sizes available, you can collect to your heart’s content and know you’ll always have space – meaning you can always have the perfect cigar on hand for any occasion.

It’s a premium product with a premium price tag, but if money was no object, this is the cooledor I’d furnish my bachelor pad with.

Why is a Cooledor Better Than a Humidor?

Cigar cooler humidors are a step up in terms of price, but if you want the perfect conditions for more expensive cigars, you’ll need a unit like this with temperature regulation.

With options that aren’t temperature controlled, your cigar’s temperature is basically dictated by how warm the ambient environment is.

For example, if you keep your smokes at the office, you could be exposing your smokes to temperature shock whenever the AC goes off over the weekend.

With a regular humidor, the only way to maintain optimal conditions as the seasons change is by spending a fortune on AC or central heating.

Cooledors help you around this by keeping things nice and chill – and the best ones have the ability to lightly heat cigars in the winter, too.

Sure, it’s a more expensive option, but it will give you total peace of mind about your smokes. Definitely worth the investment if you have a lot of money tied up in your collection.

What to Look for in a Cigar Cooler Humidor

The Seal

A tight seal is the most important aspect of retaining humidity, and you don’t get a better seal than a refrigerator door.

For maximum efficiency, pick a cooledor with a seal with as few seams as possible. Complex cigar cooler humidor with many doors and drawers may look cool, but they just represent more cracks for temperature and humidity to escape through

If you notice your humidity and temperature are inconsistent when you set up the humidor, the seal is the first thing you should check. Don’t attempt a DIY fix, just send it back to the manufacturer and ask them for a replacement.

Fan

Most good-quality cigar cooler humidor come with a built-in fan to evenly distribute temperature and humidity across the unit. This is very important for maintaining the quality of your smokes – you don’t want to have to rotate your cigars around the cooledor every few days.

It’s always a good idea to read reviews or observe a live cooledor in the store to see how loud the fan is. Most cigar cooler humidor fans are about as loud as a mini-fridge or laptop computer, so you won’t be able to hear them unless you’re up close.

Cedar

Cigars can adopt the aroma of their environment, so Spanish cedar is used as a pleasant, relatively neutral backdrop for most humidors. It’s a classic scent that aficionados around the world love.

Most cooledors will use cedar or cedar-lined shelves, with the rest of the unit made from a combination of metals and plastics.

Therefore, some cheaper cigar cooler humidor can arrive from the factory with a slightly plasticky smell that will bleed into your cigars over time and influence the taste. So before you rip up your receipt, open up the cooledor and check whether you smell cedar or plastic.

Storage space

Cooledors come in a variety of sizes, from 100 cigar units all the way up to walk-in rooms!

It’s a personal choice as to what will work best for you, but I always think it’s best to slightly overestimate in an investment like this. You want to leave yourself a bit of room for your collection to grow, rather than having to buy another cooledor a year down the track.

Aesthetic

Call me shallow, but looks matter. I like to go for cigar cooler humidors that are a hybrid of classic and modern. Give me the traditional cedar shelves, but throw a touchpad on the door for good measure.

As an electronic unit, you’ll find that cooledors tend to look more futuristic than regular wooden humidors across the board. But premium brands like NeedOne and NewAir still provide a level of attention to detail that pays homage to the humidors that came before them.

If you enjoyed this article, check out our other cigar-related articles.

• Best Torch Lighters for Cigars
• Best Portable Humidor To Preserve Your Cigars While Travelling
• Best Digital Hygrometers for Humidors

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What’s Changed?

We updated this guide in January 2024 to reflect the most recent pricing information.