Box Position Experiment: Do Cigars From the Center and Edge Age Differently?
Open a box of 25 identical cigars.
They were made to the same specification. They have spent years inside the same box. They have experienced the same humidor.
But they have not occupied the same position.
Some sit against Spanish cedar.
Others are surrounded almost completely by other cigars.
Some occupy corners. Others live in the center of the box.
Could those tiny differences eventually create different cigars?
What You'll Learn
- Why box position is an interesting cigar-aging variable.
- How moisture moves through tobacco over time.
- Why cedar contact and air exposure deserve investigation.
- How to design a multi-year center-versus-edge experiment.
- Why rotating cigars during the study would ruin the test.
The Hypothesis
Imagine a traditional box arranged in rows.
Label the cigars:
C = CENTER
E = EDGE
K = CORNER
The center cigar is surrounded mostly by tobacco.
An edge cigar has greater proximity to the cedar wall and potentially the small airspace around the perimeter.
A corner cigar has even more boundary contact.
That gives us a simple hypothesis:
Position inside the box might create slightly different microenvironments during long-term storage.
Whether those differences become large enough to measure or taste is the experiment.
Why Moisture Makes This Interesting
Tobacco is hygroscopic.
It exchanges moisture with the surrounding environment and moves toward equilibrium with that environment over time.
But equilibrium does not mean every point inside a system responds at exactly the same instant.
Moisture must move through physical materials.
Inside a tightly packed cigar box, that means the path between the surrounding air and an individual cigar is not identical for every position.
Think About the Center Cigar
A cigar buried in the center may be surrounded on several sides by other cigars.
Any environmental change outside the box therefore has to propagate through the box environment and surrounding hygroscopic materials before the center cigar fully responds.
This raises an interesting possibility:
Could the cigars around it act as a moisture buffer?
Possible.
Proven?
Not without measurement.
Now Think About the Edge
An edge cigar occupies a different physical environment.
Depending on box construction, it may have:
- Greater proximity to Spanish cedar
- Greater proximity to perimeter airspace
- Less surrounding tobacco on one side
- A different pathway for moisture exchange
None of these automatically means the cigar ages faster or better.
They simply make its position physically different.
Then There Is Spanish Cedar
Cedar is not merely decorative packaging.
Wood itself is hygroscopic, meaning it exchanges moisture with surrounding air.
That gives the cigar box another moisture-responsive material alongside the tobacco.
A cigar sitting directly beside cedar therefore occupies a different boundary condition from one surrounded almost entirely by other cigars.
The interesting question is whether years of that difference create anything measurable.
Could Aroma Transfer Differ Too?
Moisture is only one possibility.
Tobacco and cedar both contain volatile aromatic compounds.
During long-term enclosed storage, aroma compounds can move through the headspace and interact with surrounding materials.
That creates another hypothesis:
Does greater cedar proximity eventually produce a detectable sensory difference?
Again, do not assume that it does.
Test it.
The Experiment Needs Years, Not Weeks
This is not a seven-day test.
Use multiple unopened or carefully controlled boxes of identical cigars from the El Septimo cigar collection.
El Septimo Dubai currently describes its portfolio as handmade using long-filler tobaccos.
Establish checkpoints such as:
DAY 0 → 3 MONTHS → 6 MONTHS → 12 MONTHS → 24 MONTHS → 36 MONTHS
The longer the experiment continues, the more interesting the question becomes.
Do Not Use One Cigar Per Position
One center cigar and one edge cigar prove almost nothing.
Handmade cigars naturally contain some cigar-to-cigar variation.
The experiment therefore needs multiple boxes and multiple cigars representing each position.
For example:
| Group | Position | Replicates |
|---|---|---|
| C | Center | [N] |
| E | Edge | [N] |
| K | Corner | [N] |
More replication makes it easier to distinguish a position effect from ordinary handmade variation.
Record the Starting Mass
Before aging begins, weigh every experimental cigar individually using a precision scale.
Assign each one an identification code.
Record:
- Initial mass
- Exact box position
- Ring gauge
- Length
- Cold-draw resistance
- Visible construction observations
Now you have a baseline.
Control the Humidor Aggressively
If the cabinet itself has major temperature or humidity gradients, the experiment becomes much harder to interpret.
The boxes should therefore remain in a stable storage environment with independent temperature and RH logging.
El Septimo Dubai currently offers both desktop humidors and larger electronic humidors.
For a serious multi-year experiment, data logging matters more than simply reading one hygrometer occasionally.
Do Not Rotate the Cigars
Collectors sometimes rotate cigars or boxes in an attempt to equalize storage conditions.
For this experiment, that would destroy the variable we are trying to study.
The center cigar must remain a center cigar.
The edge cigar must remain an edge cigar.
Every position should be mapped and preserved.
Do Not Keep Opening the Experimental Box
Repeatedly opening the same box introduces another problem.
Every opening changes the immediate environment and disturbs the aging system.
A stronger design would use separate matched boxes for different checkpoints.
For example:
BOX A → 6 MONTH TEST
BOX B → 12 MONTH TEST
BOX C → 24 MONTH TEST
BOX D → 36 MONTH TEST
Each box remains undisturbed until its assigned endpoint.
What Should We Measure?
| Measurement | Center | Edge | Corner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mass change | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
| Draw resistance | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
| Burn rate | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
| Relights | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
| Aroma intensity | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
| Blind preference | [RESULT] | [RESULT] | [RESULT] |
The Tasting Must Be Blind
This part is essential.
Remove the bands and replace them with randomized codes.
The smoker should not know whether the cigar came from the center, edge or corner.
Otherwise expectations can influence the tasting.
Ask tasters to evaluate:
- Cold aroma
- Cold draw
- Combustion stability
- Smoke texture
- Aroma clarity
- Flavor progression
- Overall preference
What Would Actually Count as Evidence?
One spectacular center cigar proves nothing.
One disappointing edge cigar proves nothing.
The interesting result would be a pattern repeated across multiple boxes.
For example, if center cigars consistently showed different mass change, draw characteristics or blind sensory scores across several boxes, then box position would become a variable worth investigating further.
If no meaningful pattern appears, that result is equally valuable.
The experiment might demonstrate that position matters less than cigar smokers imagine.
Could the Entire Box Eventually Equalize?
Absolutely possible.
Given enough time in a stable environment, moisture exchange may reduce small initial differences between positions.
That gives us two competing hypotheses:
HYPOTHESIS A: Edge and center positions create persistent differences.
HYPOTHESIS B: The box gradually approaches equilibrium and position becomes insignificant.
That tension is what makes the experiment interesting.
The Dubai Factor
Dubai makes long-term storage particularly interesting because the external environment can be dramatically different from the controlled environment protecting the cigars.
A serious aging collection therefore depends on the stability of the humidor rather than simply the conditions outside it.
El Septimo Dubai currently lists climate-controlled cabinets with integrated temperature and humidity management, including Raching systems intended for larger collections.
Explore Long-Term Cigar Storage in Dubai
Step 1: Select identical cigars from the El Septimo cigar collection for a controlled box-aging experiment.
Step 2: Explore cigar humidors in Dubai, including desktop and climate-controlled options designed for larger collections. The current range includes Raching, Afidano, Maccarrone and other storage systems.
Final Thoughts
We often talk about a cigar box as though every cigar inside experiences exactly the same environment.
At the macro level, they do.
At the microscopic level, their surroundings are not identical.
One touches cedar.
One sits beside an airspace.
One is surrounded almost entirely by other cigars.
Does that difference matter after three months?
Probably difficult to detect.
After three years?
That is a much more interesting question.
And until we run the experiment, the correct answer is not center or edge.
It is: measure it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do cigars in the center of a box age differently?
It is physically plausible that different positions experience slightly different moisture, air and cedar-contact conditions, but a meaningful long-term sensory difference should be demonstrated experimentally rather than assumed.
Should I rotate cigars inside their box?
There is no reason to adopt rotation solely because of this hypothesis. In a controlled box-position experiment, rotation should specifically be avoided because it removes the positional variable.
Does Spanish cedar affect cigar aging?
Spanish cedar is traditionally used for cigar storage and is itself hygroscopic. Proximity to cedar is therefore a reasonable variable to investigate in a long-term aging study.
How long should a box-position experiment run?
Multiple checkpoints are preferable. Six months, one year, two years and three years would reveal whether any position effect emerges, disappears or strengthens over time.
What is the best way to compare center and edge cigars?
Use multiple identical boxes, preserve each cigar's position, log storage conditions, measure physical characteristics and conduct randomized blind tastings at predetermined checkpoints.
For adults 21+. Please enjoy responsibly.
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