I was thinking of getting the Montigue. I would be interested in a followup on how it does. Congrats and may you enjoy it for many years!!
well it's doing great - haven't got those pics yet though :sign:
Holds humidity like a champ. here is SoCal we've been having some wild humidity fluctuations...anywhere from 15%-25% for a week or so to 60%-80% for a week or more. I filled it with a pound of 65% beads and it's pretty much full of cigars and the humidity is always at 64%-66%.
It's taken a bit to figure out how I want to use it though. I have about 900 sticks in there and there's room for more with a little finagling. So as a humi it works GREAT!!! :love: But based on using it for a month now here are the things that I would think about and/or like to see changed.....
It sits on the floor with legs that can bring it up a few inches, with a 6" tall drawer at the top. But this thing is 26" deep so the fact that it's on the floor can make reaching into the back/bottom a little tricky. You certainly need to get down on your knees for this. BUT this is pretty much my aging/holding area so i don't get back down there all that often. That bottom area has 2 adjustable shelves so the bottom storage is 24"W x 26"D x 16.5"H. The two shelves give me 3 platforms that are 5.5" tall. Sometimes I wonder about taking out the shelves so i can play a fancier game of box-tetris. :laugh: You could also remove 1 of the shelves and end up with (2) 8" platforms.
It would have really been nice if these shelves had drawer sliders on them. I can't even simply add the sliders because the door opening is narrower that then cabinet interior. Oh well, now that I have my routine it's not a big deal.
The top drawer is a real benefit for this unit. I haven't counted but I'd have to guess it would hold 200 cigars or so. My only disappointment with the drawer is that it is NOT a full reach drawer. The cabinet is 26" deep inside but the drawer is only 16" deep. Now this I could remedy with some new sliders and a few pieces of thin Sp Cedar. But I doubt I'll do it. Likely I will just mount a shelf on the back of the drawer to hold my bead containers...getting them out of the cigar storage area.
Anyway, as you can see I have a few minor gripes, or comments, actually. But this is to be expected when you get "furniture" that you couldn't touch before buying. But overall this thing gets an "A". I would certainly buy it all over again, especially for my usage vs size vs price....it fits my house wonderfully, the wife is happy with it and it seals great. It really is a great looking piece of furniture, which was especially important now since this is the last piece of furniture that got brought into a freshly and totally redone living room. And I must say it's gonna be a great base for my pipe rack too!!!
But alas, it's still not enough. Day 1 I "almost" filled it up with my cigars (not counting the 150ct Indian Tabac desktop humidor). And used 70% beads at first thinking that the Monte would bleed humidity with the drawer and front doors. Boy was I wrong. It stayed right at 70% and I started to notice more burn and draw problems. So now I have converted back to 65% beads in the Monte and it is now plum full almost....and I have moved the 70% beads to the 120qt Tupperdor, which is itself almost full now...again!!. FINALLY lack of space has forced me to get my ordering under control.
Anyway - I'd recommend the Montegue for anyone that has need for a very nice looking endtable humi. It's not an Aristocrat-class work of art but for $500 it's a very good deal, there is nothing "cheap-looking" about it at all and it works wonderfully!!!
