Cigar Czars

 

Review of Audew JC-23C1
Thermoelectric Cigar Cabinet
Electronic Cigar Cooler Humidor

By: Dr. Mitch Fadem
Rating: 4.5 Stars Out of 5

Wow! That name is a mouthful and the title is the last time I will refer to it with all those words.  Some people call them Wineadors because they look like a wine fridge. Some companies have even redesigned their wine fridges to be humidors. Others call them Cooladors but I’m just going to refer to it as my ‘cool humidor’.  The manufacturer does have a shortened version, Audew 150, meaning it holds 150 cigars.  They have another larger model for 250 cigars but this review is about the smaller one. I thought the name was an attempt at giving the humidor a quasi-French name. But, the entire company is called Audew and they make a lot of things (you can check them out on Amazon). There is a similar sounding word in French, ‘adieu’ which means goodbye or literally means ‘to God’ and was part of the phrase ‘a dieu vous commant’, I command you to God’, the French version of ‘God be with you’. The word adieu was adopted into the English language back in the 1300’s. Today people use it if they want to sound ‘boujee’, a shortened version of bourgeois referring to middle class people who have materialistic values and aspire to rise to the upper class.  Sorry, I am drifting far afield of my review.So, what are the specs on this Audew 150?

It will hold 150 sticks, has a temperature adjustment from 54F to 74F, a good seal when it is closed, solid cedar shelves and a drawer, a decorative analog hygrometer, tinted glass in the door to keep out UV light and a LED light at the top. There is also a plastic reservoir you can put distilled water in for humidification.I made a list of positives and negatives (for some people), here they are:

Positives - Basically What I Like About It.

  1. Excellent temperature control with a nice wide range. I like this because Las Vegas gets really hot and I won’t have to worry about my cigars getting too hot.
  2. The drawer and shelves are solid cedar.
  3. It is the smallest cigar cooler of its type on the market at only 10” wide, 20” deep and 18” high.
  4. The seal on the door is excellent for keeping the temperature and humidity constant.
  5. The tinted UV protective glass door.
  6. It is extremely quiet. I don’t think it makes any noise at all. Of course I’m 70 and my hearing is not the best, but my wife told me it’s very quiet.
  7. It is all black. I don’t like the ones with chrome.8. Price…it costs just under $200.

Negatives - What I Don’t Like.

  1. The decorative analog hygrometer is useless but it looks nice.  I bought a bluetooth temperature and humidity device (Govee, on Amazon for $15) and monitor it from my smartphone.  It also tracks and records the fluctuations if there are any, for days, weeks, months. They do have a WiFi version for $36 but I couldn’t see the purpose of having that feature.
  2. Some people like to look at their cigars so the tinted glass may be something you won’t like. I didn’t care either way.
  3. The door needs to be open a little wider than others on the market but not a lot, and is it worth spending twice as much for this feature? I don’t think so.
  4. The humidification is just a plastic rectangle shaped container to put water in. I chose to get a humidification device from the Oshkosh Humidor Company. It works well, no moving parts means it’s not electric so you don’t have wires sticking out of the door.
  5. The LED light in the top of the humidor is totally useless but at night if you put it on in the dark it lights up the inside and looks cool.

Now That We Got Through All That, How Does It Work?

The directions say to fill up the water reservoir, set the temperature at 70F and leave it for 3 day without opening so the cedar has a chance to fully season and for the humidity to reach 10% higher than you want to keep it at.  I used a few 80% Boveda packs and my Oshkosh device. After 3 days the humidity was up to 76%.  I put cigars in it and then checked the Govee readout on my phone. Opening the door, choosing a cigar and closing the door which took a couple of minutes, the humidity dropped by 10% (to 66%) and the temperature went up a few degrees. After closing the door, I watch the Govee device humidity and temperature readings. The temperature went back down to the setting in about 20 seconds and the humidity went back up to 76% in 5 minutes.  Keep in mind the humidity in Las Vegas was 10%.

Now that everything seems to be working I will take out the Boveda packs and see how the Oshkosh maintains the humidity.  In my old, 20 cigar humidor it was always around 80% but that old humidor was lined with fake cedar, not even a veneer, more like cedar contact paper.

Value?

The bottom line is that this ‘cool’ humidor was rated best value by several review sites and by Tim at CigarsDailyPlus.com.  I think it is a great value especially in the dry, hot Southwestern part of the US.  My total investment was $198 for Audew 150, $15 for the Govee Bluetooth temperature and humidity monitor and $20 for the Boveda packs (all came with free shipping). I set it up on my desk and I still have plenty of room for my computer, lamp and space for a few other things.

Outside Links:

Electronic Cigar Cooler Humidor
(Replacement Model now on Amazon.com)

Govee Hygrometer Thermometer
(Amazon.com)

Tim’s Video Review from Cigars Daily

Oshkosh Humidor Company

 



Audew Cigar Humidor
Audew 150 Cooler Humidor








Audew Cigar Humidor
Audew 150 Open








Govee Display
Govee Display on Phone

CigarCzars.com