If you are in the market for an entry-level desktop humidor—think, a standard-looking humidor between $100-200—there are many options, but most of them look the same. Truth is, a lot of them—regardless of the brand they are sold under—are made at the same factories, oftentimes designed by the same people. A few years ago, I first became aware of a company that seemed to buck that trend, Case Elegance.
While some of Case Elegance’s humidors look quite similar to what you can find from other companies, some of the company’s models are radically different. The company also takes a different approach in trying to address what a consumer would want out of the humidors: there’s a humidification system that is more advanced than the standard fare and many of the company’s models include pull-out drawers in which to store accessories.
WHAT IS IT?
The KOBI is a desktop humidor that is described as being capable of holding 50-80 cigars. The company says that its look was inspired by Japanese pagodas, which explains the 13 horizontal slats that run across its main panels. The top of the humidor is made of glass, while the bottom section is a pull-out drawer.
There are two parts to every humidor: the box and the humidification element. As for the latter, the company calls its humidifier the Hydro Tray. It’s a black plastic tray that has a fully removable cover that reveals four sections. The humidor comes with dry crystals and two different types of humidor solutions. To use the humidification system, you spread the crystals out in the plastic tray and then add the humidor solution. My educated guess is that the crystals are super absorbent polymers, and the solution is some sort of propylene glycol mixture. Neither of these is unique to Case Elegance, but most humidors at this price point will use the vastly inferior florist foam humidification system, so it’s nice to see a much better approach included.
Another unique part is how this is incorporated in the humidor, as there is a false floor at the center with space to put the Hydro Tray. The humidor comes with a wooden cover so that you don’t have to see the plastic.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
$129.99
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
- The Humidor
- A digital hygrometer
- Hydro Tray
- Gel Crystals
- One Bottle of Regular Humidor Solution
- One Bottle of Winter + Dry Climate Humidor Solution
HOW LARGE IS IT?
I measured the outside of the humidor to be 14.4375 x 10.875 x 7.25 inches.
The inside measured at 12.125 x 8.625 x 3.125 inches, for a cubic volume of 326.8 inches. I found the humidor can store around 70 cigars of various sizes ranging from petite coronas to Churchills.
A Brief Note
We purchased two humidors for this review, something we normally do not do. The reason for this is that I wanted to use the humidor as Case Elegance instructs buyers, from seasoning to refilling the Hydro Tray. For better and worse, we have a somewhat detailed testing process—outlined below—that requires humidors to be seasoned in a very specific way.
The first humidor was the one I used how Case Elegance instructs buyers to use, it was purchased in November 2022. That humidor was seasoned using the Case Elegance-recommended wipe-down method: dampen a towel with humidor solution and wipe down the interior wood areas of the humidor. Normally, I do not recommend using this method.
The second humidor, the one that went through the humidor testing procedure, was purchased in February 2023.
HALFWHEEL’S HUMIDOR TESTING PROCESS (2022 REVISION)
Last year, I updated the testing procedures used for humidors. Each humidor goes through a standardized testing process for seasoning, use with Boveda packs, use with the included humidifier and a test in a dry cabinet to evaluate the seal.
Measurements are taken via a scale, two SensorPush devices and a moisture meter.
Ideally, each humidor follows this standardized process:
- Boveda seasoning packs for 14 days (Weigh before and after, use moisture meter before and after.)
- Boveda packs for 13 weeks (Weigh before and after, measure with moisture meter after.)
- (Optional Reseasoning)
- Included humidifier for eight weeks (Optional refill at 28 days, measure with moisture meter after.)
- (Optional Reseasoning)
- Two weeks inside of the dry cabinet. (Measure with moisture meter after.)
During each of these steps—with the exception of the optional refill during the included humidifier part—the humidors are closed. The only times a humidor is opened are when I’m moving from one step to another and need to switch out the humidification elements and when I use the moisture meter. In addition, the humidors are pretty much empty during these tests. Inside are the two SensorPush devices, the humidification element(s) and the included dividers and/or trays, but no cigars or anything else.
Per Boveda, I’m told that for every 200 cubic inches of volume, you should use one 60-gram pack and round up to the nearest 200 cubic inches.
SEASONING
While I would prefer to see the relative humidity get a bit higher, the flatlining in the final 35-40 percent of this test suggested to me that this humidor was good to go.
BOVEDA
Because the Boveda packs (+/- 2 percent) and the Sensor Push devices (+/- 1.5 percent) have accuracy ranges, I’m more concerned with the consistency of these numbers than I am with how close to 69 percent the numbers are.
While I didn’t realize it during this section of testing, I am extremely confident that I now know why this happened. During the next test, I realized that the back left corner of the humidor had separated as you see above, creating a significant gap in the humidor.
Eventually, though well after the Boveda testing, the back right corner came apart in a very similar manner that actually produced an even wider gap.
INCLUDED HUMIDIFIER
On June 20, I began this part of the testing procedure by soaking the included crystals with 50g of the regular humidor solution.
On July 17, I did my halfway check-in and saw a small amount of liquid left in the tray. I added 41g more of the liquid. By this point in the test, the cedar cover that goes on top of the false floor for the Hydro Tray was warped. For reference, 91g of liquid appeared to be about half the bottle of humidor solution.
Some thoughts:
- These numbers look great.
- I think this is a scenario where the outcome is great, but the process is flawed.
- The combination of humidity crystals and the solution probably put off more than 70 percent relative humidity. Barring having defective Boveda packs, I don’t know how to make any sense of the data otherwise.
- The leakage issues are still quite obvious. At this pace, I’d go through more than three bottles of humidity solution per year, probably more once the drier winter months arrived. More to the point, I don’t think refilling the humidor every four or so weeks is what is intended.
DRY CABINET
Given the aforementioned gaps, this is not surprising.
The Good
- This is a Much Better $130 Humidor Than Most — There are some issues, but I feel like they all have to be made with the caveat of: THIS HUMIDOR IS $130. There will be compromises to make a humidor of this size and at this price point. Even with its flaws, this is one of the better-made sub-$150 humidors I’ve seen. Full stop.
- I Think This Could be a Great Gift — While I have some qualms with the humidor, this seems like a great gift for a cigar smoker or even someone who is just getting interested in cigars. It looks and generally feels like it’s a lot more expensive than $130.
- I Love That There’s No Florist Foam — Most humidors at this price point will come with a florist foam humidifier. My advice, throw that humidifier away and get something else. This humidor doesn’t use florist foam and it’s pleasant to see, even more surprising given the price. Credit to Case Elegance for not going to the cheapest possible option and instead including something that is usable, though the company has its own motivations, as it would very much like to sell you a subscription with humidor refills. For some, that subscription service will be a great feature. If you’d like to save money, you can buy super absorbent polymers and propylene glycol solution for less money.
- The Looks Are Great — Case Elegance makes some more traditional-looking humidors and also modern-looking humidors like this. I love the creativity, especially at these prices.
- The Shipping Packaging is Very Nice — At least 10 percent of the humidors I purchase for review arrive damaged. Case Elegance’s shipping packaging is very nice and should reduce many of those issues.
- Detailed Guidance About Storage Capacity — Case Elegance’s product page includes this very helpful table. This is so much better than most companies’ approaches to this.
THE BAD
- This is a Large Humidor That Holds a Medium Amount of Cigars — Because of both the false floor for the humidification system and the accessory tray, this desktop humidor is going to struggle to hold more than 75 normal-sized cigars. To put this in perspective, here’s how it stacks up against some other humidors I’ve reviewed:
- American Chest WoodTop 75 — 643.45 cubic inches of exterior volume, 331.17 interior volume. 51.5 percent usable volume.
- Savoy Marquis Medium — 558.125 cubic inches of 333.4 cubic inches interior volume. 59.7 percent usable volume.
- Diamond Crown Havana Collection Humidor — 696.1 cubic inches of exterior volume, 331.17 cubic inches of interior volume. 47.6 percent usable volume.
- Case Elegance KOBI Humidor — 1,138.3 cubic inches of exterior volume, 326.8 cubic inches of interior volume. 28.7 percent usable volume.
- The Hydro Tray Being at the Bottom is Annoying — While the false floor used to store the Hydro Tray humidifier looks better, not only does it take space away from storing cigars, it ends up being annoying in terms of checking on the crystals and refilling them. In order to do this, you need to remove most of the cigars from the humidor to access the space. Sure, you probably only need to check on it every 30-60 days or so, but having to empty out the humidor each time is annoying and will increase the risk of damaging your cigars.
- Major Separation Issues on One Humidor — As detailed above, there were major separation issues on one of the two humidors. I don’t know why one humidor had these issues while the other one didn’t, but a humidor separation is a catastrophic failure. I’m not a humidor engineer, but it seems like these panels were just glued together, which wasn’t enough.
- Some of Case Elegance’s Marketing Seems Misleading — The following are quotes from the product page that stand out to me as potentially misleading:
- Klaro humidors have more Spanish cedar than any other brand on the market. Spanish cedar keeps away cigar beetles and guarantees your cigars always have the proper humidity. — First, this humidor doesn’t have more Spanish cedar than many other humidors I own. Second, Spanish cedar won’t “guarantee” your cigars are humidified properly.
- Our digital hygrometers are silicone gasket-sealed from front to back and include the most accurate European sensor on the market. — While I don’t know the ins and outs of European sensors, I do know that many lab-grade hygrometers tend to cost more than the price of this humidor. I also found that when placed in the same humidor, the two Case Elegance hygrometers we purchased didn’t produce the same readings.
- Klaro humidors will be the easiest humidor you’ve ever seasoned and maintained. — I don’t know how this is easier than using Boveda or Integra Boost packs or electronic humidification.
THE COMPETITION
If you want a desktop humidor that is going to be as foolproof as possible, I’d recommend a humidor that doesn’t use much wood. Specifically, I’d recommend this Large Acrylic 75-count humidor that was once sold by Boveda. Boveda stopped selling these humidors, but my understanding is that the exact model is now sold by Northwoods Humidor, a retailer. Unfortunately, the largest drawback is that it’s $100 more than the KOBI.
Other Competitors
- Case Elegance Felix Pro Tupperdor Acrylic Humidor ($99) — While I’ve not used this humidor, I’m interested in its unique design and approach. If you want the features of the KOBI but in a different design, Case Elegance sells some other models that appear to be quite similar.
- Savoy Marquis ($115) — While I had issues with visible gaps in that humidor’s seal, I think there’s a good chance that I got a lemon humidor. Ashton sells a lot of these Savoy humidors and they can’t all have gaps. Deciding between the Savoy and the KOBI is probably more a question of what you prioritize: cigar storage efficiency or the drawer for your accessories.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
No.
For nearly every other accessory review published on this site, we purchase and test just one item. Because the second humidor was the one with issues, I’m not sure how fair it is to make the recommendation based on the gap issue. As such, for this section I am ignoring it. My issue with the Case Elegance KOBI is quite simple: space. This is a very large humidor to store 70 cigars, it looks like a box that should be able to store at least 125 cigars. Given that the purpose of a humidor is to store cigars, it’s the deciding factor in whether I’d recommend this humidor. I think there are probably some people who want the accessory drawer, though I imagine most of our readers would rather have the ability to store another 15-20 cigars. If this humidor could store 125 cigars, my recommendation is probably different.