A drawer, simply defined, is a box within a box.
This bigs the question then, “Why two?” We tend to think that if a little is good….a lot must be better. While this isn’t always the case, it definitely is for a humidor. Having two boxes means that there is more Spanish Cedar, and therefore, more moisture holding and stabilization capability. It’s the kind of math I’m most comfortable with…the logical kind.
All wood, by its very nature, is porous. It expands and contracts as it breathes in or breathes out the ambient moisture in its surroundings. Spanish Cedar has long been considered the wood of choice for humidors because of its relative stability in this process, especially as compared with other wood species. Along with its capacity to retain this moisture for long periods, Spanish Cedar’s aroma has come to be appreciated as highly complimentary to that of our smoking tobaccos. Nearly any fine cigar brand you can name who ships its cigar in wooden boxes, uses Spanish Cedar to make them. And so does Benchmark.
Every Benchmark Humidor made is comprised of a Spanish Cedar enclosure for the tobaccos.
The functions and decorations above and beyond that are ancillary to the central function of the Spanish Cedar core. Most simply stated, The Benchmark Cigar Drawer is a box within a box. Both boxes will expand and contract in response to the ambient moisture, and the smaller box cannot be allowed to expand so much that it will not fit easily into or be easily removed from the bigger one. A very simple detail, but a very important one, right? Many manufacturers overcome this expansion and contraction dilemma by using paper-thin veneers of Spanish Cedar as the exterior skin of a plywood, building the entire enclosure with little more than these veneers.
In the Benchmark Cigar Drawer, the solid Spanish Cedar drawer, when added to the solid Spanish Cedar humidor, essentially doubles the moisture holding capability of the unit. To account for the expansion and contraction of the cedar, care is taken to lay all of the woodgrain in the same direction, throughout the humidor. That way, not if the wood moves, but WHEN it moves, it all moves together at the same time. If it expands, it all expands the same direction. If it contracts, it all contracts the same direction. If the woods are allowed to move in opposite, or even perpendicular directions, the result is always the same: the wood splits. One piece’s strength of movement will overpower the strength of the other’s, and the weaker piece will give way.
From the dovetail joints on the humidor core box to the finger joints on the inner drawer box, The Benchmark Cigar Drawer is made to last. It has joinery strength where it matters most, grain orientation to accommodate movement, voluminous Spanish Cedar content for long moisture retention and outer beauty to make you the envy of your circle of smoking friends.
— Danny Jackson