Spanish cedar is the wood that gives cigar boxes their familiar smell. The cigar trade adopted Cedrela (often Cedrela odorata), which is not a true cedar but a tropical hardwood in the mahogany family, because it absorbs moisture, releases it again, and adds a pleasant aroma to the inside of a humidor. Most wooden humidors and many empty branded cigar boxes are lined with it or made from it.
Short glossary entry: spanish cedar. This chapter explains in more detail why the wood is used. Storage practice: Humidor (storage). Preparing new wood: how to season a humidor.
Moisture buffering
Dry tobacco cracks. Wet tobacco draws poorly and can grow mold. Cedar helps keep the humidity in between: it absorbs extra moisture and releases it when the air inside the box becomes dry. This only works after the wood itself has been seasoned. New, kiln-dried lining will draw moisture out of the first cigars you put in it, so season it first; see the seasoning guide.
Other woods can be used to make a box, but few combine the same ease of working, aroma, and ability to absorb and release moisture. That combination made Cedrela the standard lining.
Aroma: an advantage and a concern
Spanish cedar has the smell most people associate with cigars, and many smokers like it. Some long-term collectors do not. They believe the wood can affect the flavor of delicate wrappers over the years, so they prefer neutral linings or use Spanish cedar more sparingly. Both views are a matter of preference, not a rule. For a desktop humidor and for empty display boxes, cedar remains the usual and appropriate choice.
The empty boxes in the shop are often made of this wood: empty cigar boxes.
Buying with cedar in mind
When you shop for humidors, look for a genuine cedar lining. Close-up photos of the wood tell you more than descriptive words do. Travel cases may have little or no cedar and rely on a good seal and a humidity pack instead; see travel humidors. Generally they are short-term storage tools.
On this site
Term: spanish cedar. Related storage terms: humidor, seasoning a humidor, relative humidity. Buying: humidor buying guide. How tobacco is dried and cured before it reaches a box: how cigars are made.
Smoke Rings does not sell tobacco. For the cigars themselves, our sponsor AbsoluteCigars.com is your best source; cedar helps keep them in good condition.
Sources: Botanical identity of Spanish cedar (Cedrela) as used in the cigar trade; common lining and seasoning practice; collector debate on cedar aroma for long aging.