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Old 02-02-2004, 05:33 PM   #1
van55
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Virginia
Posts: 873
Cigar Aficionado Rating of Arlin Liss Humidor

In the next to last issue of the magazine, Cigar Aficionado rated a number of humidors by various manufacturers. Arlin Liss submitted a one-of-a-kind, hand-made humidor for review. The rater (Michael Moretti) gave it a "D" rating. Interestingly, Arlin's was the only humidor reviewed that was made by someone who is clearly not a current or prospective CA advertiser.

After the review was published, Arlin retained my legal services to deal with Cigar Aficionado in connection with the damages to his business reputation caused by the following factual misstatements in the review:

1. The humidor is a solid wood product and is not veneered as stated in the review;

2. The humidification system is a three-part system (Cigar Oasis plus Extech Wireless Hygrometer) and not a single unit system. Apparently Cigar Aficionado failed to use the wireless Hygrometer system, as the battery for the transmitter that fits inside the humidor had not been used when the humidor was returned to Mr. Liss.

3. Cigar Aficionado reported that interior seams were separating by the end of testing. When the box was returned to Mr. Liss there was no sign of such separation. I have personally inspected the humidor and seen no sign of separating seams.

4. Cigar Aficionado reported that the humidor “boasted 100-cigar capacity,” whereas Mr. Liss has never stated or estimated a cigar capacity for his humidors, including the one in question.

My two letters to Marvin Shanken calling these matters to his attention have gone unacknoweldged and unanswered.

At my suggestion, Arlin Liss sent the humidor in question to Steve Saka -- a respected expert in cigars and cigar accessories who used to manage the independent "Cigar Nexus" website and who now is employed by J.R.Cigars-- for independent evaluation.

Mr. Saka's review of the humidor is published verbatim below:

"At the request of Arlin Liss, I was asked if I would give one of his custom made humidors a consumer review. I told him I would be willing to provide such a review, but that I would require the use of the humidor for thirty days or longer as I would want to perform a real test rather than just a cursory examination of the unit. Also it was agreed that he would not publish my review in part. He is however welcome to use my entire review as written if he so desires.

"For those of you who may not know who Arlin Liss is, let me give you a brief introduction. Arlin is one of the few craftsmen in the United States who will make a customer a truly custom humidor from the ground up. Not only does his customer select their choice of any wood variety from a traditional Mahogany to any African exotic, but also the hardware and the deisgn elements of their humidor. Arlin creates humidors based on what his customers' desire whether it is an elegant desktop humidor to a freestanding, furniture-sized cigar cabinet.

"Since each piece is individual and unique to a particular customer's taste, it would be unjust of me to be too critical of cosmetic choices, so the bulk of my review is going to center on construction, quality and function. However, I do feel compelled to offer my comments on the aesthetics of the humidor I was sent to review. It is a traditional desktop humidor made from a gorgeous solid burl maple slab that is rich with swirls and grain of honey blonde and gold. With brass hardware and its finely mitered raised top it is quite an eye catching beauty which received numerous comments of praise by guests, cigar-smoking or not, who happened to join me in my den while I had the humidor for testing.

"The construction of the humidor is incredibly solid throughout, with huge slabs of dovetail-jointed burl maple forming the principal construct of the humidor. This is a very weighty box with sharply dovetailed corners and a substantial lid with a solid burl panel inset and a good fit to the base. Opening this lid reveals an exquisitely fitted and mitered Spanish Cedar liner of substantial body, in fact the liner itself is like its own box custom fitted within the maple unit. The inset, heavy brass hinges catch your attention immediately; these hinges are far heavier than any I have seen in any other desktop humidor. Also, included in this humidor are two heavy Spanish Cedar cigar trays which are dovetailed joined featuring a ventilated base and an ample supply of both horizontal and vertical dividers. And finally, the most important detail is the intricate, interlocking design of how the lid's liner meets the base. With almost 1/4" of overlap, this design creates a fantastic seal on the humidor resulting in that tremendously satisfying "whoosh" sound upon opening and closing that is the universal hallmark of a superb quality humidor.

"As for humidificaton, a unit this size would be fine with a passive humidifier; however the unit I was sent came with a Cigar Oasis brand active humidifier installed. I have never used one of these small units before, so this was a first for me. For those not familiar with the Cigar Oasis, it is an enclosed unit that houses a mousture reservoir at its base and a small, near silent electic fan which circulates moist air throughout the humidor when needed based on how you set a relative humidity potentiometer. My initial impression was that its 6' x 2" x 2 3/16" size simply took up too much space within this particular box. Also, I disliked that the humidor's design sllowed for it to only sit in the top tray, requiring the humidor's owner to move it in order to access the bottome cigar tray. And finally, since this is an active unit it requires power which means that there is a cord extendint from the back of unit which not only will require you to place this humidor near an outlet, but also makes it less attractive if you wanted to sit in in a place where the back might be visible like on the corner of a floating desk in an office or den.

"As for functionality, the Cigar Oasis performed marvelously. It did a fantastic job of regulating the relative humidity desired via its potentiometer. I was able to easily set it for a specific relative humidity ranging from 62% - 74%. In short, while I feel the unit is simply too large for this box and I disliked the tray location, I can definitely see its successful application in a significantly larger humidor that had a designated space designed for it along one side. To ensure the humidor's functionality, I also tested it with a traditional Credo-style passive humidifier. The humidor quickly rose to the desired relative humidity and had no difficulty maintaining an excellent stable environment for my cigars. As far as doing what a humidor should do, this one was the equal or better of any that I have used.

"Also packed with the humidor was an ExTech Electronic Hygrometer system that came with two units: one a small remote unit designed to be placed within the humidor and a second base unit designed to place elsewhere outside the box to allow you to remotely monitor the RH within your humidor. The small unit communicates with the base wirelessly so there are no additional cords; however the design of the remote unit is an odd teardrop shape making it difficult to mount within the box, so again it had to be laid in the tray taking up valuable cigar space. As for the remote base, it functioned well allowing you to see the RH within your humidor without lifting the lid and even features user adjustable relative humidity alarms. While the system functioned well and the gizmo-loving geek in me found it "tres cool" it is really unnecessary in my opinion. Personally, I would have preferred a simple electronic hygrometer that could be mounted within the humidor without sacrificing any cigar space.

"In conclusion, while I may feel the humidification and monitoring systems are an overkill for this desktop humidor, both functioned flawlessly. I used the humidor for thirty days straight to hold my daily cigars so I was opening and closing it at least four times each day. And although it was winter, which taxes many humidors' ability to maintain a stable, moist environment, this humidor had no problems whatsoever retaining the desired RH regardless of whether I was using the sophisticated active humidification system or a simple passive one. Although I would have chosen some different design elements if I were having Arlin craft a custom humidor, there is no denying that this one is a strikingly beautiful and capable humidor."

Steve Saka 1/25/04

In my opinion, Cigar Aficionado should be ashamed of the inaccuracies in its review of Arlin Liss's humidor and should conspicuously publish a correction along with a copy of Mr. Saka's independent review.
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