Der Humidor by Marc André Century Centurion

Nearly every time I review a humidor, there’s at least a pair of comments complaining about the same thing: why do you review humidors that are made of MDF?

The reason, of course, is that most humidors are made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and so it is—regardless of price point—going to happen. There’s a small but seemingly growing number of humidor companies that say they don’t use MDF; however, they aren’t the humidors you are likely to see for sale in shops in the U.S. After seeing these comments regularly show up, I decided to make a greater effort to try to review some of those humidors. Far and away, the most complicated of those reviews is this humidor.

About Der Humidor

Der Humidor by Marc André is a German company that specializes in all things humidors. It started in 1998, originally as a business that sold products for those interested in making or upgrading their own humidors. To this day, it still sells things like Spanish cedar for those who are interested. In 2006, the company introduced its Century line of humidors. It has since gone on to add more products and today encompasses basically the full range of humidor and humidor accessories. It sells humidors of all sizes—travel humidors to desktop humidors, cabinets and custom installs—as well as humidifiers, hygrometers and more.

The company prides itself on not selling “Presspappe-Humidore,” German for “cardboard humidors.” That’s a reference to MDF, a material that is used in everything from home construction to furniture to, yes, humidors. MDF is a hybrid between paper and wood, made mostly of wood fibers but with glue and water added to help bind it. There are many advantages to MDF: it’s less apt to change due to temperature and humidity, and—most importantly—it’s cheaper than solid wood. All of those things apply to humidors, which is why MDF is so ubiquitous. But, as our comments section and Marc André’s business prove, some people want solid wood.

What Is It?

This humidor, listed on the company’s website as the CENTURY CENTURION Santos Palisander, is a very large desktop model that is a bit different from any other humidor I’ve reviewed on the site.

The Century Centurion model is currently offered in 22 different wood finishes, a half-dozen stone finishes, and four glass-top versions. All of them are the same dimensions and rated at holding 250 cigars.

Each humidor is made in Germany out of different solid woods. Interestingly, while Spanish cedar is used for many parts of the humidor, the tray is made of mahogany, because the company says that there is a risk of having loose cigars come in contact with Spanish cedar and getting damaged via sap leaking.

The humidor comes with two different types of 12mm tall wooden pegs. Some of them have small magnets on the end, these are designed to go on the bottom. The pegs are used to help separate loose cigars inside the humidor. When organized properly, this can look very cool. There’s another type of peg that has a small rubber o-ring on the bottom. These are designed to go in the tray, which has 272 circular openings for both the pegs and air flow. The concept is exactly the same: move the pegs as you need.

How Much Does It Cost?

€1,995, which is $2,325 as of Oct. 15, 2025.

However, that’s not what we paid.

We purchased the humidor in March 2023 for €1,302.95. Shortly thereafter, the company emailed customers without outstanding orders a lengthy message—in German—that documented various delays it was having with its humidifiers. The issues were a combination of the COVID-19 era supply chain issues and some regulatory problems that were all resulting in a shortage of humidifiers. There were three options:

1. I could cancel the order.
2. I could get the humidor as I ordered it.
3. I could wait and pay more for an upgraded version that came with the MACHT electronic humidifier, which is offered today for €599. Marc André offered to allow me to upgrade for €300, which is a little bit less than the current price delta between the humidifier I thought I was getting and the upgraded version.

All told, we ended up spending right around €1,750 for the humidor.

A Brief Note to Americans

Before ordering, I contacted the company to ask if it would ship to the U.S. and was told no.

Clearly, it’s possible to get the humidor to the U.S., but it wasn’t a one-click thing and it’s only gotten a lot more difficult. If you are in the United States—without a foreign address—and interested in purchasing a humidor from Marc André, here’s what you should expect:

• The Communication Will Be in German — I’d email in English, and they’d almost always reply in German. The manual was also in German, though the electronic humidifier’s menu can be displayed in English.
• You Will Need a Foreign Address — I purchased the humidor and had it shipped to a parcel forwarding service in Germany, which stored the humidor for a couple of days and then sent the humidor to me in the U.S., all for a fee. Marc André ended up shipping the purchase in two packages, probably due to the humidifier situation described above. All told, the parcel forwarding added another €149.
• Tariffs & Such — Given the tariffs and the lack of official shipping, you should understand that you are making two separate transactions and that if something goes wrong with the second shipping (the delivery to the U.S.), Marc André shouldn’t be expected to do much about it.
• The Plug — You will need to purchase a Europlug converter to power the unit.

What’s Included?

• The humidor
• Removable tray
• A key
• Two styles of 12mm pegs
• MACHT humidifier
• Instruction manuals

How Large Is It?

• The outside of the humidor measures 19.375 inches x 14.25 x 8.375
• The inside of the humidor measures 16.75 inches x 12.4375 x 7.25

It is rated to hold 250 cigars and has an interior volume of 1510.39 cubic inches.

The MACHT Humidifier

It stands for Marc André Cigar Humidifying Technology. 

The MACHT Humidifier is a two-piece design. There are two equal-sized aluminum pieces that are each about 5 1/4 inches long and attach to the back of the humidor via four pre-installed magnets. On the left is the reservoir, which holds a small piece of foam that is dampened and holds the moisture that is used for humification. While I thought we were moving away from foam in humidifiers, Marc André says it was chosen because it can be inexpensively replaced after a few years. In addition, there are five horizontal openings that run across. It comes with silicone plugs that can be placed inside to cover up the openings. This allows you to better control where the humidity goes.

The right piece is the more interesting, as it packs the controllers, sensor, fans, a small screen, three buttons for controlling the unit, and pretty much every other part of the system. The humidifier has a battery, though I only used it when plugged into the wall. The humidor comes with professionally installed wiring, called the PowerTube, and you could even ship the company a humidor you already own, and Marc André will install this for free.

Marc André says he wanted to bring the precision of electronic humidifiers that are available to cabinet humidors to smaller containers like this one, so he developed the MACHT system. A front-mounted sensor measures the air every 10 seconds, and the humidifier will run accordingly. However, there are options to adjust just about every part of this process, including how long the fans run for by default, how long the fans are required to stay off in between run time, an option for air circulation mode where the fans run without adding any additional humidity, low power mode, and even an option for configuring the humidifier to act as a dehumidifier. The humidifier has a very loud and persistent alarm that will notify you when it needs to be refilled or if it loses power.

And for those wondering, like the wooden box itself, it is made in Germany.

Even after more than two years, I’m unsure which side of the line to stand on the MACHT. At the time of this writing, it would cost $700 as a standalone unit, a very high price for a unit that still uses foam. More to the point, I don’t know how much all of this precision matters, and Marc André seems to be aware of that, saying that users who want to save money can go with its less expensive HYDROCASE, which costs less than half the price. However, I can’t imagine owning this humidor without it. The MACHT humidifier is a key, but maybe not necessary, part of explaining why this humidor is different. And so, I end up here with a cop-out: I wouldn’t recommend a standalone MACHT for your existing humidor, but I would recommend it—as it is here—as part of a new humidor purchase.

Good thing for my indeciveness: you no longer have the option of ordering this particular model without the MACHT.

HALFWHEEL’S HUMIDOR TESTING PROCESS (2022 REVISION)

In 2022, I updated the testing procedures used for humidors. Each humidor goes through a standardized testing process for seasoning, use with Boveda packs, use with the included humidifier and a test in a dry cabinet to evaluate the seal.

Measurements are taken via a scale, two SensorPush devices and a moisture meter.

Ideally, each humidor follows this standardized process:

1. Boveda seasoning packs for 14 days (Weigh before and after, use a moisture meter before and after.)
2. Boveda packs for 13 weeks (Weigh before and after, measure with moisture meter after.)
3. (Optional Reseasoning)
4. Included humidifier for eight weeks (Optional refill at 28 days, measure with a moisture meter after.)
5. (Optional Reseasoning)
6. Two weeks inside the dry cabinet. (Measure with a moisture meter after.)

During each of these steps—with the exception of the optional refill during the included humidifier part—the humidors are closed. The only times a humidor is opened are when I’m moving from one step to another and need to switch out the humidification elements and when I use the moisture meter. In addition, the humidors are pretty much empty during these tests. Inside are the two SensorPush devices, the humidification element(s) and the included drawers, but no cigars or anything else.

Per Boveda, I’m told that for every 200 cubic inches of volume, you should use one 60-gram pack and round up to the nearest 200 cubic inches.

It has a volume of 1510.39 cubic inches, meaning Boveda recommends eight 60-gram packs, though it appears I only used six packs. I’m unsure what happened there.

SEASONING

This is one of those humidors that didn’t seem to need seasoning, or at least not much. After less than a week, the air in the humidor was above 80 percent relative humidity. Perhaps more telling are the moisture meter readings, which showed just a .25 percent jump in moisture content.

BOVEDA

While I appear to have only used six seasoning packs, I put eight 69 percent packs in for this test, and as you can see, that might not have been enough, as it started to trail off in the second half of the test.

What I find to be most interesting is that the moisture meter readings continued to drop:

• Average Before Seasoning — 6.74 percent
• Average Post-Seasoning/Before Boveda Test — 6.99 percent
• Average Post Boveda Test/Before Included Humidifier — 6.36 percent
• Average Post Included Humidifier Test — 6.13 percent

To me, this suggests two things: one, when this humidor is empty, the amount of wood requires a lot of humidification power; two, the humidor showed up ready to go.

INCLUDED HUMIDIFIER

The reason why this review took so long was mostly due to the above chart. I wasn’t in the habit of looking at the numbers when I checked on the humidifier midway through. It didn’t seem to be having any issues, so I didn’t do anything.

A few weeks later, the unit was beeping that it needed to be refilled. I wasn’t sure what to do about this, but the beeping was so persistent that I needed to at least turn that off, and if I was going to open the humidor, I figured I might as well refill it. But this test data doesn’t look great, and I suspect it’s more a result of my lack of experience with the MACHT system and not refilling more frequently. Since the test has wrapped up, the humidor has stayed within a four percent range, though the gradual decline happens unless I’m refilling the unit every 4-6 weeks.

DRY CABINET

You might be confused about what to make of the trend line, but if you look at the vertical axis, you’ll see the variance after the start is less than 1 percent RH—awesome performance.

The Good

• It’s a Really Impressive Humidor — Compared to the mainstays of luxury humidors sold in America—think Davidoff, Elie Bleu, Prometheus—this humidor really shines on the inside. Upon opening it or even seeing the pictures, you can quickly see multiple features and design choices that are not present on most of its competitors. Not only that, as evidenced above, they work. Over the last two years, the humidor has shifted ever so slightly. It’s only noticeable when I run my hand down the front face, where I can feel that the front-center part of the lid section is protruding slightly outward. However, it’s slight and not something I can even see in person.
• I Like the Look — Because of the matte finish, it doesn’t scream luxury in the same way that many other humidors do, but subtle luxury is in right now, or at least was. It’s the type of product that was thought about a lot and then executed very well. There are so many large and small tweaks, but for example, this is a rare instance when—depending on the angle—it can be very difficult to figure out where the humidor opens, as there’s barely a visible line of separation. For those wondering, I chose this finish because it matches the look of a classic Eames Lounge chair.

• The Peg System is Genius — While I don’t think this would be necessary on smaller humidors, for a humidor of this size, having the ability to endlessly customize the layout of the bottom and have a near infinite amount of options in the tray is so much better than the friction fit dividers that most desktop humidors use.
• It Can Hold Multiple Boxes of Cigars, As & More — The size of this humidor means that most cigar boxes can be stored inside, the 9-inch+ long A vitola will easily fit and yes, even a Femur can be safely stored inside.
• More Thought Has Been Given to Humidification Than in Most Humidors — It’s obvious that this humidor was designed by someone who has a passion for humidifying cigars. A very long list of small things show this, such as: the offset nature of the back, placing the humidifier as low as possible, the silicone plugs on the vents, fan circulation options. That’s just one area of the humidor.
• The Humidifier is Impressive — See above for my thoughts on this. It’s pricey, but impressive.
• The Humidor Comes With Detailed Instructions — I received more instructions than I’ve ever received with a humidor purchase. Yes, a lot of it was in German, but between what is sent with the purchase and what’s on the company’s website, there’s a comprehensive amount of documentation. It’s one of the things that should come with the price premium and I appreciate it.

The Bad

• It’s Awkwardly Large — If you are considering buying a desktop humidor of this size, you first must figure out where it is going to go. It’s very large when closed, but opening it up requires significantly more space. I’d recommend going beyond just measuring out a potential space for a humidor of this size, I’d get some cardboard boxes to try to visualize just how large this will be. You’ll then need to add at least 21 inches of height and another four inches of depth to accommodate the open humidor. Quite frankly, this size of humidor is not for most.
• The Humidifier Sometimes is Uncooperative — As shown on the video, sometimes the Alarm Off button on the humidifier is unresponsive.
• The Complications of Buying This as an American — The largest moment of pause about whether to buy this humidor was dealing with the aforementioned lack of direct shipping to the U.S. and therefore, the potential for something to go very wrong in transit. Fortunately, your smartphone has access to awesome translation apps, but it’s still difficult to recommend ordering this as an American.

The Competition

I’m unfamiliar with any desktop humidors of a similar size that are offered for sale in the U.S., though I have seen similarly-sized models in Europe. Based on my experience, Waxing Moon—a Minnesota-based custom humidor company—is probably the closest comparison. It offers some humidors that measure 19.5 inches x 12 x 8, which is about as close to the Century Centurion’s dimensions that I’ve found. Furthermore, Waxing Moon is one of the other companies that uses only hardwoods and not MDF. Its large humidors start at $700 but can be customized to be more than $1,000, though probably not $2,000 unless you are going with exotic woods. The largest difference is the humidification system: by default, Waxing Moon does not include one and instead includes holders for Boveda packs.

I’d be happy ordering a second humidor from either company, but I’d give the edge to the Marc André model. In my review of a Waxing Moon humidor, I had issues with the solid woods shifting, making the humidor difficult to open.

Additional Competitors

• Prometheus Platinum 150/200 Series ($1,995/2,495) — Both of these are smaller humidors than the Marc André, but are probably the most direct competitors in the luxury humidor space. I think the Prometheus humidor is a great unit, but your dollar (or euro) is going to go much further with the Marc André: it’s much larger, much more flexible and has electronic humidification. I think it’s an easy enough choice to go with the German brand over the French-made Prometheus.
• Savoy Executive Santos Rosewood Large ($600) — If you want a humidor that looks similar on the outside but doesn’t cost as much, Ashton’s Savoy brand offers a great option. This humidor is smaller (17 x 12 x 7.5) and almost certainly uses MDF inside, but I’ve been using a smaller Savoy Executive for more than a decade and the performance continues to be awesome. Both humidors are easy to recommend, but the Savoy can be found for less than $500, and at that price, the Marc André is not worth more than four times the price.
• Avallo 1000/1200/2000 ($949+) — Tennessee-based Avallo has been selling cabinet humidors for as long as I’ve been smoking cigars. These are some of the company’s smaller end table models, not direct competitors in terms of the format, but similar in terms of price and capacity. I’ve not used an Avallo, so I can’t make a recommendation here.

While this list is short, you have a lot more options. Most of the companies that offer solid wood humidors are not like Marc André. Instead, they are more like Waxing Moon: small operations—probably a single person—that specialize in making custom humidors, not offering standard models.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. I don’t know if this is the very best desktop humidor sold today, but if someone asked me to enter a single humidor into some sort of competition, this is the best answer I could come up with. More than anything else, the thing that stands out to me is that this was designed by someone who clearly cares about the act of storing cigars. As evidenced in so many places of the humidor: Marc André looked at what was deemed standard and acceptable and then asked, “is there a better way?” As the company is even willing to acknowledge, it’s unclear if all of this better is going to make a difference for some people. However, if you want to know what happens when a humidor geek makes a humidor, this is it.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.