Cigar Press – When did you guys first meet?

Tim Swail – Sean and I first met in College.  We went to Bethel University together back in the late 80s.  We’ve been friends for a while.  We originally met each other from the hockey program.

CP – Have you always been a fan of cigars, or is it something that you guys came to love?

Sean Knutsen – Both of us smoked cigars in college but it was more like Swisher Sweets and things like that.  We never really smoked together though.  It wasn’t until after college that we started getting into premium cigars.

CP – Is that what led you to the idea of making a two-way humidification device in the beginning?

TS – I was actually listening to a radio show on a local political station here in Minneapolis.  They were interviewing a guy who was making small portable humidors out of his woodworking shop.  They were made out of exotic wood and had a very unique look and feel to them.  They would hold anywhere from two to six cigars.  So I heard this guy being interviewed on the radio, but I didn’t catch his name.  So I called the station and asked who the humidor guy was. I was interested in learning more about what he had.  When I learned who he was I called Sean and told him that I got this guys contact information. I told Sean that I had talked to him briefly and that I was going to go check out his products and shop and he should go with.  That was pretty much the starting point when we met this guy, whose name was David and was building humidors.  Around that time he started building some prototypes on how to regulate humidity, outside of the normal one-way systems that were out there like foam and gels.  He wanted a different way to do it.  Our relationship built from there.  He entrusted a friend who was recently retired from General Mills and was one of their senior food formulation chemists.

CP – It must have been hard to think of something that could work as a two-way humidification system.  So it was a collaborative effort?

SK – Well to be clear, the guy who built us a humidor, David, having a humidifier was not his goal or in his plans in the least.  It just so happened that he built these really cool pocket humidors as well as larger ones.  The products on the market just didn’t work for him.  They didn’t work because he was so precise with his humidors, if there were peaks and valleys in humidity there would be problems with the seals of the humidor lid, or the slide top on some of his humidor styles wouldn’t have worked properly.  He had geometric issues with his humidors if the humidity wasn’t at a constant.  He just so happened to be sharing this at church with his friend who happened to be a Senior Chemist at General Mills.  That’s Dr. Al Saari.  He said well yeah, there is a well known scientific principle of saturated salt solutions.  And he said that he thought he could make it work.  He said with the salt solutions you don’t have to worry about the peaks and valleys that wreak havoc on your humidors.  So Al recruited his friend and colleague at General Mills who also just retired.  He was a Senior Packaging Engineer. So we had a Senior Chemist and Senior Packaging Engineer from General Mills.  Those are the two skill sets that are required to make our product.  You have a salt solution which is just water and salt, and then you need to enclose that so that it can be useful for a portable application.  So yes our product is complex, and yes it’s hard to make.  It’s just based off of a well known scientific principle.  There is nothing earth shattering about that.  They’ve been using our technology for well over a hundred years in labs to create chambers that can create humidity to a very specific point.  That’s always been used.  Other technologies, such as different films, were never available to make this application portable.  So Bob Esse came into the picture.  The long and short of it is that he found a membrane that is a hyper filtration membrane that holds liquid on the inside.  So no liquid or constituents of any kind can come through that except water vapor.  As the water comes through the membrane, it’s actually purified.  The purity that you get from a Boveda is more pure than the most sophisticated drinking systems.  So the excess salt crystals in a salt solution will absorb any excess humidity to maintain a pre-determined level.

CP – How can you determine what the different humidity levels will be?

SK – There are thousands of different salts in the world, thousands of different combinations of salts you can use.  We use various salts and combinations.  Some of them are published and some are proprietary to us in order to create very specific levels of humidity.  So table salt, which is sodium chloride, maintains a 75% relative humidity level.  So our Boveda 75% is simply using sodium chloride.  We use other salts to reach other levels.  They all actually maintain humidity plus or minus a few tenths of a point of humidity, if the container was perfect, of course. Most humidors and guitar cases aren’t perfect containers so they may not maintain to a tenth of a point because of loss of humidity through the walls or the case, or whatever it may be.

CP – We still find bags of cigars that we packed away seven or eight years ago, and I can still find Humidipaks (now Boveda) that work like the day we threw them in the bags.  

SK – Those happen to be plus or minus a tenth of a point.  They never lose very much moisture when you’re using a bag with a high moisture barrier.  They will last and last and last.

CP – We have been a fan for a long time, and swear by your product.  We know you now as Boveda which has been for some time, but you were Humidipak before.  What made you decide to switch it up?

SK – We came out with Boveda in ’04 or ’05.  We always had the humidor bag and were always called Humidipak.  One of the Humidipak issues we had was that the name is so generic. There were all kinds of products that start with “Humi.”  Being in the category of humidity, it makes sense.  We thought it was a clever name.  It was humidity in a pack, so Humidipak.  People would know exactly what we do.  The problem with that is that there is Humipouch, Humipack, Humipuck, and etcetera.  It’s very easy for a consumer to mix them up.  It’s also very easy for a competitor to ride our coattails even if their product is completely different.  We also had a blue water drop, which we thought was brilliant.  We had something to do with water so a water drop makes a lot of sense.  A lot of people started coming up with a different version of a water drop with different looking arrows.  Bottom line is that it diluted our brand and then our brand wasn’t strong enough.  People would butcher our name, even family members.  Humi this and Humi that, it was terrible.  So when we decided to go after the desktop humidor market we wanted to come out with another brand name that was more discreet and could stand out on its own and not be easily copied.  We needed something that could carry more weight and be stronger from a long term point of view.  Tim actually found the name in a Spanish language book, looking for the name “vault.”  We create this perfect aging environment, like a vault for cigars.  So we thought that was clever.  The cigars are cradled in the perfect amount of humidity all the time. We could care less, by the way, if people care about the meaning.  What is important to us is that it stands out and is discreet.  When we came out with Boveda, it really started to catch on and became stronger than Humidipak.  In 2010, we decided to drop Humidipak and go with Boveda for everything.  It was one of the best decisions we’ve made.  We changed the water drop to a “B” and kept the two arrows which indicate the two-way humidity aspect of our product. 

CP – Can you explain why consistency in humidity is important for cigars?

SK – The oils and the sugars in the tobaccos of the cigar develop over time because the humidity isn’t fluctuating.  We’re not losing the oils, so they are allowed to develop into pleasing flavors.   The tobaccos or blend of a cigar can marry more effectively.  So Boveda was the name that meant vault.

CP – You have worked with some amazing cigar companies.  What have you learned about cigars and your own personal tastes towards cigars?

SK – One thing that I think is very important that we learned is that with every slight variation in humidity, there is noticeable difference in the moisture content that can, in some blends, influence the taste of that cigar.  There is a universal; around 69% is good for just about everything.  You’ll be fine if you go with 69% for all cigars.  Some cigars can’t handle 65% and at the same time some cigars can’t handle 70% or 72%.  A Cameroon wrapper, like the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos, that tobacco needs more humidity to have the same amount of moisture content in it as say a cigar with Connecticut Broadleaf or a Fuente Fuente Opus X, which is ideal at 65% relative humidity.  We work with many companies and sample everything through taste tests to determine what is ideal for every specific cigar.  So we do taste a lot of cigars.  I think our palates are very diverse, just like it would be with food.  I tend to gravitate, Tim and I both do, to more fuller bodied cigars, but they have to have balance.  We also enjoy mild cigars as well when they are blended right.

CP – I wrote an editor’s note about the importance of humidity and the environment people enjoy cigars in and how much it can influence the cigar itself and the overall experience of that cigar.  The environment and humidity are such important aspects to consider when picking out a cigar to enjoy. 

SK – There are two things to that.  First the amount of moisture that’s in that tobacco, believe it or not, will affect the temperature of the burn as well.  If it’s too hot you’ll lose some of the flavors and nuances that it’s supposed to have. You do want a cooler burn and the moisture content directly influences that.   The second role that the moisture content really plays is in the mouth-feel as well.  It will affect how you will taste some of the oils and sugars on the surface of the tobacco and how they feel in the mouth.

TS – When we were doing our deal with Fuente back in 2000-2001, one of the topics that was brought up was the question “Why do my cigars taste different in the Dominican than they do when you get them stateside?”  People wouldeven say that.  There is some mystique to that, everything is going to smoke better when you’re in the Dominican Republic, the motherland of a lot of these cigars, than they will on your porch at home. But there is a lot of truth to that.  Things do change.  One of the beauties that Carlito Fuente liked, and his slogan is even on the packs we make for him, “Capturing the perfect climate of Chateau de la Fuente.”  The goal is to bring that perfect environment all the way through the distribution process.  So when the cigars are packaged in the Dominican Republic for Fuente products they all receive a Boveda pack.  Then they go through the whole shipping and distribution process until the moment of truth when a customer gets to enjoy that cigar.  Carlito wanted the cigars to be protected, pristine and delivered in a way that it should be, which is in perfect humidity condition according to his rigorous standards.

CP – It’s such a fool proof method.  The way you explained it is perfect.  If you don’t have some sort of protection, the cigars are left to the conditions of the road through the shipping process.  As if heat isn’t a bad enough issue to worry about, why bother worrying about humidity? 

TS – We do offer that magic pill.  Boveda adds a lot of benefits to that cigar box and all other cigar packaging.  Our list of customers is extensive Fuente, Padron, Tatuaje, La Flor Dominicana, EPC, Rocky Patel, Perdomo, CLE, Quesada, Nat Sherman, Matilde, PDR, Oliva, AJ Fernandez, CAO, Torano, Altadis, and General Cigars.

CP – So although Boveda has its origins in cigars, Boveda packs are made for all sorts of products.  How challenging was it for you to come up with specific relative humidity levels for each?   Did you work with specific people in each industry?

SK – We do a lot of research.  We have a full functioning, highly capable research and development department.  It’s headed by Bob Esse.  He is very highly regarded in his field.  He happens to be in the packaging hall of fame.  Our Sr. Chemists old boss was also a chemist for General Mills, but also in the pharmaceutical industry as well.  We also have other contracted consultants. When we enter a market, yes we do talk to people specific in those industries.  Just like we did taste tests with Carlito Fuente, General Cigar, and so on.  We do that in other industries to evaluate what the ideal moisture content is for whatever product we’re trying to protect.  A lot of times this isn’t even done in certain industries.  Look at the cannabis industry; nothing was being done for that.  We’ve done a lot of the work.  We pioneered it.  It wasn’t done in the cigar industry either; we pioneered in there as well.  It did actually exist in the music industry.  A lot of it was done by Taylor guitars.  They’re into it and were the pioneers as far as knowing about the importance of moisture content in wooden instruments.  Then again we’ve also brought some more research to the table.

TS – We’ve brought in marketable products to many different industries.  Take the music industry for example.  They know that wood needs to be in that 50% relative humidity level.  But they had years and years of challenges trying to figure out how to take care of it.  The number one reason that guitars are in for service is because of humidity issues; whether too much or too little.  A lot of expensive instruments have been diminished in value due to a crack or a split.  We’ve brought stability to that market as well as the others.  In the herbal market, through efforts from us and outside help, that is how 62% was determined.  The outside help would evaluate the various humidity levels we supplied and then use their professional expertise to come up with the right level.   For the medical cannabis industry 62% was determined to be the best.  In that market it’s crucial to keep humidity levels.  Not only from a flavor stand point and being able to deliver the proper amount of medicine but it’s also for the weight transaction.  Moisture lost is money lost.

CP – Besides humidity control, you also offer a humidor seasoning kit, hydrometer calibration kit and now actual humidors as well.  

TS – Yes we have an 84% RH product for “seasoning” humidors and a One-Step Calibration Kit for calibrating hygrometers. Again, these products were not on the market, prior to Boveda inventing them.  Recently we’ve ventured into humidors, giving unique and fool proof storing options for the cigar smoker. Our products are not just for consumers, we help the entire industry all the way from the cigar makers, distributors and retailers for all kinds of uses and applications.

CP – Boveda has definitely grown over the years with a wide range of humidification options and products.  It’s what we use and trust. 

TS – Boveda’s growth has been fun. Our very first product in 1997 was The Humidor Bag, which is a 6 to 12 month maintenance-free portable humidor, giving great versatility to cigar smokers who need to store cigars outside of traditional wooden desktop humidors.  We progressed in to offering Boveda the first 2-way humidity control for tradition humidors, our precision allows customers to choose their RH level, 62, 65, 69, 72, or 75%, that has never available to cigar smokers. Cigar folks have preferences depending on geographical conditions, personal preference, and as mentioned earlier, the types of tobacco they smoke. So regardless what type or quality of humidor they have, where they live, or what kinds of cigars they smoke, Boveda has a product that will work perfectly for them.

Originally published in Volume 9 Issue 3