You're cutting a Lancero you cellared two years ago and you can't remember whether it's the San Cristóbal 2021 or the Padrón 2022. Both are in there somewhere. You know the ring gauge is different but you can't recall which is which, and the bands are off both of them because you bought them loose at an event. You smoke the wrong one.
When the Humidor Outgrows Your Memory
A humidor with thirty sticks is a pleasure. One with three hundred is an inventory problem you haven't admitted to yourself yet. The moment you stop being able to answer "what's in there, and how much is it worth" in under ten seconds, you've crossed the line from collector to hoarder — and the only way back is structure.
The real loss isn't the occasional wrong smoke. It's the cellaring decisions you make without data. You buy another box of Robustos because you think you're running low, and then discover you have forty-seven sitting in the back drawer from the last trade. You age a vitola past its window because you lost track of when you put it in. You underprice a lot at a trade event because you're guessing at your per-stick cost.
Date Cellared Is the Field You're Not Using
Most collectors log Brand and Shape and leave it there. The fields that actually change what you do are Year and Date Cellared — and they're doing different jobs.
Year is the production date, a property of the cigar. Date Cellared is a property of your relationship with it. A 2019 Nicaraguan puro that you bought fresh in 2019 and one you acquired at auction in 2023 from a mature lot have identical Years but completely different aging trajectories inside your box. If you're pulling the 2019 acquisition in 2024 expecting five-year-aged character, you're going to be disappointed — it's only had one year in your humidity.
The Wrapper, Binder, and Filler fields are where the construction logic lives. A Connecticut wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler is a different smoke than a Habano wrapper over the same construction, and both will age differently. If you're making rotation decisions — which sticks to smoke now, which to hold — the leaf breakdown is the actual input, not the brand name.
Pulling the Right Stick at 9 PM on a Friday
You've got company coming. You want something in the 54-ring range, around six inches, with an Ecuadorian wrapper, that's been resting long enough to be ready but hasn't peaked. You have 200 entries. Without filters, you're pulling out every tray and squinting at bands.
With Shape filtered to Toro and Gordo, wrapper field containing "Ecuador," Date Cellared older than eighteen months, and Rating above 7 — you're looking at four entries. The Total Value calculated field means you also know exactly what that smoke costs you before you clip it.
That's the database working. The "# of Boxes" calc — sticks divided by cigars per box — tells you whether you're holding positions or working through singles. It's a small field. It changes how you think about purchasing.