Meet the NewAir Smoker’s Club 250 ct Humidor with Opti-Temp

Wow! 2022 has been the year of awesome humidors. Never has there been a better time to upgrade your cigar storage with electronic humidors to heat and cool your cigars to perfection. And today, to close out 2022, we're going to look at the latest release from NewAir, the NewAir Smoker's Club 250 ct Humidor with Opti-Temp.

unboxing Newair Smoker's Club model # NCH250N201

Before we dive into the NewAir Smoker's Club (it said “Cigar Club” on the box) (model # NCH250N201 if you're searching), let me back up for a minute. NewAir, as a company, has been around for a long time. I've seen their humidors all over the internet, and several friends in the cigar community have one. NewAir is known for making great products but at premium prices. Where other companies might use plastic, NewAir uses stainless steel. And, you typically pay for it.

Today, we're going to see if the NewAir Smoker's Club 250 ct Humidor is worth the price tag. Is it worth $599 to heat, cool, and store your precious premiums?

Let's find out.

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Meet the NewAir Smoker's Club Humidor:

Initial Thoughts

Right out of the box, the NewAir Smoker's Club has a unique look. The white stickers are “vintage graphics that will transport you to the most exclusive cigar lounges” and they're the defining characteristic of this unit. Love'em or hate'em, they're there, and you can't miss them. Personally, I think the graphics are cool and make the Smoker's Club model a conversation piece.

Related: My Wineador/Humidor Conversion

Another thing that I noticed right off the bat was the clear door. We've reviewed two other tabletop (ie sub-300 count humidors) units this year, and both had mirrored doors.

I also like how light the humidor is. The NewAir Smoker's Club weighs just over 30 pounds and is pretty easy to move.

Finally, the controls are easy to use. The power cable is sufficiently long. And the humidor is fairly quiet at 38 dB, but I'm not sure it's the quietest humidor I've tested.

What I Really Liked

Great Shelves

I really liked how smooth the shelves were. A small thing, but the extra few seconds spent sanding the cedar really was noticeable.

The NewAir Smoker's Club shelves also slid in and out very easily. And, because of the grooves in the walls that make up the rails for the shelves and drawer, the shelves and drawer don't fall out.

Additionally, the shelves had the right spacing between slats. Whereas some humidors have shelves with slats that are spaced too far apart (for example, about 38 ring gauge apart), the NewAir's slats are close enough that you won't lose any cigars because they fell through the shelf.

Cool Design

I really like the “vintage graphics” that define the Smoker's Club version of this humidor. They're a conversation piece and they'll definitely invite some questions. Whether you like the graphics or not, this humidor stands out from the others.

Newair Smoker's Club Model NCH250N201

Water Tray

There's also a small tray at the back of the humidor to collect any water that gets pulled out of the humidor when it's cooling. A small touch, but a nice one that hopefully eliminates standing water inside with your cigars.

Temperature Memory

I'm not sure if it's the Opti-Temp feature, better software, or a small memory chip inside the humidor, but the NewAir Smoker's Club remembers the temperature you set it to. That means if you set your humidor to 68 degrees and you lose power, when you get power back, the NewAir will still be set to 68. To test this, I unplugged the humidor from the wall and waited a few seconds before plugging it back in. The system might have a different default if the power goes out for longer than a few seconds, but I didn't wait around that long to find it.

The Door Hinge (MAJOR Selling Point)

Wait, hold the phone! You can get the shelves out of this humidor without opening the door the whole way? YES! Oh my gosh, this tiny thing is a major selling point. On every other humidor we've looked at, you'd have to open the door past 90 degrees before you can slide out the drawers or shelves. That means you can't put those units up against a wall because the door couldn't open all the way. The NewAir Smoker's Club humidor has a great door hinge.

What I Didn’t Love

Wasted Space

A the bottom of the humidor, there's some wasted space. At the very least, space that's not meant for cigars. In all fairness, the only company that's put the rails on the top of the draw so that it's lower is the KingChii 26L. When in the bottom slats, the drawer in the KingChii sits about 1″ from the bottom, maximizing cigar space. Here, on the NewAir, there's about 4″ of wasted space… unless you want to put a box there.

The Lock

I'd prefer a lock that keeps the door closed all the way as opposed to a lock that lets you open the door a fraction. I'm sure there's a reason you might want to open the door a half inch while it's locked, maybe you lost your key, but I don't see the point.

The Dome Light

Cheap dome lights at the top of humidors are pretty standard. However, they're still basically useless. Put anything on the top shelf and nothing else gets lit. I'd much prefer humidor manufacturers run a string of LED lights around the sides, like this. If you want to add LEDs, I've used these.

Final Thoughts

I like the NewAir Smoker's Club 250 ct Humidor with Opti-Temp. I used to think having a humidor that didn't control temperature was okay. But after setting my Nest thermostats to eco-mode to save energy while my cigars roasted and froze, I've come to appreciate why there's value in spending the extra money to get a humidor that'll maintain a consistent temperature. The NewAir Smoker's Club does that.

Once I stick this Govee Hygrometer to the door, so I can monitor the humidor from anywhere, I think this thing will be ready to go.

Model #: NCH250N201
Dimensions: 19.30″ D x 13.60″ W x 18.50″ H
Weight: 32 lbs.
Noise Level: 38 dB
Capacity: 250 cigars
Shelves: 2
Drawers: 1
Temperature Range: 52° – 74° F

I like the NewAir Smoker's Club (model # NCH250N201) and, so far, it seems to be a winner.

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