Avallo Humidor Review

[Nico]

I wish we could get those kind of humidors in Europe. Looks great!

Tell me about it! The humidor market here in Europe is embarrassing.

[StogieSteve23]

18 hours ago, thebigdog said:

How much would you estimate the humidor weighs?  You mentioned that you and the delivery driver moved it inside, how much of the packaging did you remove prior to taking it inside (if any)?

It weights just under 400lbs. I think 376 to be exact. We removed all the packaging.  Here is a pic of the aftermath. It came on a pallet very well wrapped and secured. 

13 hours ago, Connoisseur Kim said:

That's absolute ass kicking cigar cabinet @StogieSteve23! Wish I have dat cabinet in my house hehe 😂.

BTW, did you season that cabinet by setting 65/65?

Thanks Kimster. No seasoning necessary. The only thing I had to do was plug it in, set the temp and humidity then let it run for the rest of the day, checking periodically. Tried it for several hours with no water in the canisters, then added water to one, ran a few more hours the added water to another can after seeing it not getting to the humidity I was looking for. Currently I only have water in two of the four canisters. It’s holding temp/humidity very nicely. 

6 hours ago, Homer said:

I wish we could get those kind of humidors in Europe. Looks great!

I’m sorry to hear that! Hopefully someone will step up and start making something similar over there. 

[Connoisseur Kim]

11 hours ago, StogieSteve23 said:

Thanks Kimster. No seasoning necessary. The only thing I had to do was plug it in, set the temp and humidity then let it run for the rest of the day, checking periodically. Tried it for several hours with no water in the canisters, then added water to one, ran a few more hours the added water to another can after seeing it not getting to the humidity I was looking for. Currently I only have water in two of the four canisters. It’s holding temp/humidity very nicely. 

Thanks Steve! I thought seasoning is necessary for Avallo Cabinets hehe. Hope that Raching ones doesn't require seasoning as well 😃.

[RichG]

On 4/10/2021 at 7:11 PM, StogieSteve23 said:

I promised you some pics and my update on first impressions of the unit once it was running for a bit and all my sticks were transferred over.  I placed the order for my DDD+ Cooled on April 1, 2020 and it arrived to my house via freight service on April 8, 2021.  It was only in transit for 2 days after being shipped on April 6th, so coming from Nashville area to West Palm Beach area in Florida, I was very surprised at the speed of shipping.  It arrived via RL Carriers on a 53' tractor trailer with lift gate.  Not having the luxury of a garage to move the unit into and it arriving at 11am, I ended up offering the driver $50 to help me unpack the cabinet and get it into my condo.  Even with a hand truck that I borrowed from work, I never would have been able to get it in my condo by myself.  I lucked out with a good, competent driver who was willing to help in a pinch.  

First Impressions & Pros:  Love the unit. Upon unwrapping the cabinet from the excellent packing job Matt did (see pic of how it was packed/shipped below), I opened the doors and was hit in the face by a beautiful but not overwhelming cedar smell. I personally like the smell but I know some people aren't the biggest of fans.  It looks great like a beautiful sleek piece of furniture. My fiancé wouldn't allow any glass on the front so the "messy boxes" could be seen.  This was totally fine with me, plus there is less temperature/humidity fluctuation when you eliminate the glass and have solid doors. It doesn't feel flimsy or cheap at all but rather sturdy and "complete" if you will..  I also paid a little extra to have Matt put casters on it, so even when full, its very easy to move around on our wood floor. 

I added one extra cooler and two additional sets of fans than what it comes with since I was worried about the south Florida summer weather.  I plugged the unit in after getting it into the house, programed the temp/humidity and let it run for most of the day before adding any water into the cans.  Each humidity canister can be plugged in on its own so you can use all, one, two, etc.. Matt mentioned that because of my geographic location and constant relative humidity, let the unit run for most of the day with no water in the humidity canisters and see what happens.  Long story short on here, I ended up filling two (one top left and the other bottom right) to reach the humidity I was looking for.  I tried it with one first then did the second.  The Accumonitor system is great.  Super easy to use and very self explainable.  4 screens which show humidity set point, actual humidity, temp set point and actual temp.  There is also a separate control for the fans which you can adjust each set of fans on their own.  So, in my case, I have 4 sets of fans throughout the cabinet going top to bottom. You set each pair of fans for how long you want them to run per hour.  

I woke up on Friday morning, checked the temp/humidity levels and they were pretty much where I wanted them.  I went to work for half the day, came home and spent hours putting my stash into the cabinet.  The hardware is great with heavy duty magnets and soft closing sliders on the shelves.  I love the black/grey color and the brushed stainless door pulls. 

Cons: The unit is certainly noisier than I thought it would be or hope for, but its only when the coolers and running.  The singles drawer is smaller than I would like and also not as deep as it shows in the pictures on the Avallo website.  My opinion if I knew then what I know now, I would have asked for a deeper drawer or a second one below to be installed.  Much like an air conditioner, there is a condensate line on this unit to drain excess moisture generated by the coolers.  A small hose runs from the back and needs to be put into a recepticle for the water to drain into.  Not a big deal at all, but somewhat of an annoyance having to remember to check on the fluid levels and empty whatever has dripped out.  The amount of moisture will also depend on what conditions you're trying to keep the unit at and what your climate is based on geographic location.  

Overall, I'm very impressed with it and think it was well worth the wait.  Here are some pictures of unit. 

 

Thanks for the detailed review, and it looks even better all loaded up. I saw you had a Boveda and some beads in there, are you still using these as a supplement to the built in system, or was this temporary?

[StogieSteve23]

On 4/13/2021 at 8:40 AM, RichG-LI-NY said:

Thanks for the detailed review, and it looks even better all loaded up. I saw you had a Boveda and some beads in there, are you still using these as a supplement to the built in system, or was this temporary?

Honestly, I just threw the one large 320g boveda I had left and the beads in to see what happened.  Hasn't effected the humidity at all in a negative way, so I left them in there for the time being. 

It has now been running and filled for over a month, with both humidity/temp holding steady at 65/68. Haven't needed to fill up the other two canisters at this point in time and due to the year round humid climate here in south Florida, I don't think I'll have to.  

Side note, I got a nice email from Matt yesterday after I sent him a thank you/cabinet update message and he mentioned that my DDD+ Cooled is one of the last cabinets of that size he will be doing.  He said it's a little too labor intensive and shipping costs/risk of damage during shipment are too great.  Extremely happy I put the order in when I did, but I'll reiterate that his product and professionalism are second to none (except maybe Bob's cabinets, but I have no knowledge of his units). 

 

[RicoIsHere]

Interesting, the Avallo humidification system is better than the Aristocrat. I'm in the market for a humi system for my built in,  and I'll have to look at those. 

[Eric05]

Update, I have gotten rid of my unit. And now in cooler's. Nothing wrong with it. But designed something different from someone else. Once its completed I will again post pictures. It's smaller then my Triple D from Matt. Bigger then my original Aristocrat. Timeline should be 4-6 weeks. 

 

On 5/25/2021 at 10:21 AM, RicoIsHere said:

Interesting, the Avallo humidification system is better than the Aristocrat. I'm in the market for a humi system for my built in,  and I'll have to look at those. 

The one thing I found I didn't like about Matt's from owning it for awhile. The cans, you have to Velcro them down. I had a situation were I opened and pulled the draw and the can came out with it. Spilled all the distilled water over my cigars. Big clean up. I was pissed!

 

On 5/19/2021 at 2:08 PM, StogieSteve23 said:

Honestly, I just threw the one large 320g boveda I had left and the beads in to see what happened.  Hasn't effected the humidity at all in a negative way, so I left them in there for the time being. 

It has now been running and filled for over a month, with both humidity/temp holding steady at 65/68. Haven't needed to fill up the other two canisters at this point in time and due to the year round humid climate here in south Florida, I don't think I'll have to.  

Side note, I got a nice email from Matt yesterday after I sent him a thank you/cabinet update message and he mentioned that my DDD+ Cooled is one of the last cabinets of that size he will be doing.  He said it's a little too labor intensive and shipping costs/risk of damage during shipment are too great.  Extremely happy I put the order in when I did, but I'll reiterate that his product and professionalism are second to none (except maybe Bob's cabinets, but I have no knowledge of his units). 

 

I think he is just too overwhelmed. He doesn't have a good system for building them. I can see why Bob went out of building business. But in no way it should take 9 months to get one done. It's too much stress. 

[RicoIsHere]

47 minutes ago, Eric05 said:

The one thing I found I didn't like about Matt's from owning it for awhile. The cans, you have to Velcro them down. I had a situation were I opened and pulled the draw and the can came out with it. Spilled all the distilled water over my cigars. Big clean up. I was pissed!

I did speak with Matt a few weeks ago and he referred me to Aristocrat since all I want is the Thermal cooler. Great guy!!!

[Tstew75]

On 4/5/2021 at 5:43 PM, StogieSteve23 said:

First time jumping on the forum in a few weeks.  Funny enough, I just paid Matt for the remainder of my unit and he shipped it out this afternoon.  I should have it on Thursday.  

I thought I was going to receive it about a month ago, but he had some family stuff come up along with both he and his wife contracting pneumonia. Ordered it April 1, 2020 so it was exactly 12 months for completion, despite him saying 8-10 months production time.  

He's a one man shop, so I didn't push too much.  Traded emails about a dozen times over the year and is great about giving you your deposit back come time for you to purchase the finished unit and not wanting it (I still wanted it haha..). 

Here are a few pics of the cabinet just before completion.  I will post more when it arrives later this week. 

 

The exact cabinet I'm ordering soon. Love the modern look & lack of glass. Perfect

[StogieSteve23]

On 7/1/2021 at 4:15 PM, Eric05 said:

Update, I have gotten rid of my unit. And now in cooler's. Nothing wrong with it. But designed something different from someone else. Once its completed I will again post pictures. It's smaller then my Triple D from Matt. Bigger then my original Aristocrat. Timeline should be 4-6 weeks. 

 

The one thing I found I didn't like about Matt's from owning it for awhile. The cans, you have to Velcro them down. I had a situation were I opened and pulled the draw and the can came out with it. Spilled all the distilled water over my cigars. Big clean up. I was pissed!

 

I think he is just too overwhelmed. He doesn't have a good system for building them. I can see why Bob went out of building business. But in no way it should take 9 months to get one done. It's too much stress. 

I don’t have an issue with the cans because I live in a climate that has a constant high relative humidity year round. I can see how that would have been a little bit of an issue though. 
 

Regarding his production time, it seemed like one of the best options at the time for me. Beautiful piece, custom made to my specs, etc… He’s a one man shop working on almost a dozen custom units, if not more. I wanted the cabinet but good things come to those who wait. 

On 7/1/2021 at 5:05 PM, RicoIsHere said:

I did speak with Matt a few weeks ago and he referred me to Aristocrat since all I want is the Thermal cooler. Great guy!!!

He’s a good dude. 

10 hours ago, Tstew75 said:

The exact cabinet I'm ordering soon. Love the modern look & lack of glass. Perfect

Thanks, Todd. Love the one I have. Hopefully you can order it soon if you haven’t already. He said he’s not building many more or the larger onesies 

[StressedDad25]

Just read through this thread again. It reminded me why it convinced me to order an Avallo myself the last time i read it. This week is a year since i put down my 1/3 deposit on a cooled DDD.  He had quoted 7-8 months but he was set back with covid and other illness. Hoping to hear from Matt soon that its ready to ship. 

[Eric05]

18 hours ago, StressedDad25 said:

Just read through this thread again. It reminded me why it convinced me to order an Avallo myself the last time i read it. This week is a year since i put down my 1/3 deposit on a cooled DDD.  He had quoted 7-8 months but he was set back with covid and other illness. Hoping to hear from Matt soon that its ready to ship. 

Crazy that its been a year. 

[Tstew75]

Finally got my DDD on order....washed black/grey, glass delete, non-cooled (not really needed in the NW), extra fans, fan timer, pull-out shelf upgrades, nickel pulls. Will take 8-10 months to get to me. Excited!

[Eric05]

On 8/15/2021 at 4:39 AM, Tstew75 said:

Finally got my DDD on order....washed black/grey, glass delete, non-cooled (not really needed in the NW), extra fans, fan timer, pull-out shelf upgrades, nickel pulls. Will take 8-10 months to get to me. Excited!

Good luck, I am thinking it will be over a year till you get it. 

[Tstew75]

On 8/16/2021 at 1:48 PM, Eric05 said:

Good luck, I am thinking it will be over a year till you get it. 

The owner says 8-10mo, but I'm in no hurry at all.  Quality sometimes takes time.

[StogieSteve23]

On 8/19/2021 at 11:32 AM, Tstew75 said:

The owner says 8-10mo, but I'm in no hurry at all.  Quality sometimes takes time.

He told me it was 8-10 months but ended up being a year and one week.  Certainly worth the wait.  

[benfica_77]

I ordered in early Jan the Avallo 2000 cooled. He just told me 3ish weeks for it to be done. Sounds by the time it shipped it will be 11months I have a feeling. So ya, a year seems realistic especially for a bigger humidor. 

[Lfhard]

On 9/11/2021 at 10:03 AM, benfica_77 said:

I ordered in early Jan the Avallo 2000 cooled. He just told me 3ish weeks for it to be done. Sounds by the time it shipped it will be 11months I have a feeling. So ya, a year seems realistic especially for a bigger humidor. 

You should keep us updated when you get your cooled Avallo 2000. I was thinking of getting that exact one. I was just curious as to if the 1 thermoelectric cooling fan will keep that big cabinet cooled or if it will be constantly running. Very interested in your review of it. Will help me with my decision. 

[moellert]

1.5 years into my 2000 Cooled I’m wishing I got something bigger. I’m 80% full and with another couple of orders from Neptune I’ll be out of space. Already measuring for a second cooled humidor from Matt in my home office. Thinking a low sideboard sized cabinet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[benfica_77]

1 hour ago, Lfhard said:

You should keep us updated when you get your cooled Avallo 2000. I was thinking of getting that exact one. I was just curious as to if the 1 thermoelectric cooling fan will keep that big cabinet cooled or if it will be constantly running. Very interested in your review of it. Will help me with my decision. 

The thermoelectric fan will go as required to keep the humidor at the desired temperature which is usually a just below room temperature. So it will go off periodically won't be on all the time. That's my understanding. 

As an overall update I've been a bit frustrated by the communication from Matt since approximately September. I ordered in January of 2021 and didn't email him asking for an update for months. He had said it would take 8-10 months. In September he indicated that it would be ready in 3 weeks giver or take. Well nothing and I have a feeling it's not even remotely close to being ready. From speaking to people it's taking at least one year before getting their humidor shipped and sometimes longer. So be prepared for a very long wait. Now when I ask for an update he says he will give me one the following week and never does. I don't want to rush him but he should be straight with his clients on what's going on. Definitely has been a frustrating process these past couple of months.  

[Eric05]

3 minutes ago, benfica_77 said:

The thermoelectric fan will go as required to keep the humidor at the desired temperature which is usually a just below room temperature. So it will go off periodically won't be on all the time. That's my understanding. 

As an overall update I've been a bit frustrated by the communication from Matt since approximately September. I ordered in January of 2021 and didn't email him asking for an update for months. He had said it would take 8-10 months. In September he indicated that it would be ready in 3 weeks giver or take. Well nothing and I have a feeling it's not even remotely close to being ready. From speaking to people it's taking at least one year before getting their humidor shipped and sometimes longer. So be prepared for a very long wait. Now when I ask for an update he says he will give me one the following week and never does. I don't want to rush him but he should be straight with his clients on what's going on. Definitely has been a frustrating process these past couple of months.  

I think everyone has experienced that. I think he is too over whelmed with orders. If you see my other post I ordered another unit, which I believe is much nicer and done in a quarter of the time. Also shipped from UK to USA

[StressedDad25]

He is running behind. Going on 16 months for me and still waiting.  But he did send me a picture a couple weeks ago with most of the cabinet finished. 

[Eric05]

18 hours ago, StressedDad25 said:

He is running behind. Going on 16 months for me and still waiting.  But he did send me a picture a couple weeks ago with most of the cabinet finished. 

INSANE!!

[benfica_77]

On 11/10/2021 at 9:45 PM, StressedDad25 said:

He is running behind. Going on 16 months for me and still waiting.  But he did send me a picture a couple weeks ago with most of the cabinet finished. 

Ooof that's rough. What model did you order? I think he's seriously bag logged on the  DDD / larger cabinets. The medium to smaller ones he's moving faster on them. Mine was built in roughly 11 months from the day I ordered it. 

I got notification that my humidor is ready, here is a photo. It should have been shipped out either today or tomorrow to family in Nevada and then I have to navigate it Canada. He wouldn't ship it directly to Canada. 

Fingers crossed I can get it home before Xmas. 

 

[Fsonicsmith]

Two weeks ago I took delivery of a 2000 that I had ordered in July. I am very happy. Mine has all the extras Matt recommends-two extra canisters, two extra fans, full pull out drawers, top loose cigar drawer. I did not bother Matt often but I never had a problem with prompt communication. Shipping was fantastic-DHL communicated very professionally and even volunteered to tote it up my fifty foot concrete driveway to the house. Matt does an excellent job preparing it for shipping so that it won't be damaged en route. Not surprisingly mine is already 95% full after my collection previously kept in three four foot long coolerdors were evacuated into the 2000. That is not a knock. It tells me that I have enough cigars. With the escalation in prices coupled with less variation of cubans being offered this whole project gives me a lot of satisfaction. 

What got me into cigars again a few years back is my love of BBQ. A custom smoker begged for an outdoor pavilion with an outdoor TV and stereo system and furniture which in turn begged for cigars to smoke while the meat is being smoked. I am stoked for Spring in the Midwest.