Wineador trays: Shallow, deep or shelves?

[GolfNut]

OK, so those of you that have done the conversion already, is there anything you wish you'd done differently? When my next order of Spanish cedar shows up, I'll be doing (finally) a set of drawers for my own wine fridge.

I've built a bunch of sets for other guys, and it seems the majority like the deeper drawers, but my thought is ease of access to the cigars. Wouldn't it be better to do multiple single layer drawers than the deeper ones where you've got up to three layers of cigars in each drawer?

Anyone out there wish they had more single drawers? More shelf storage for boxes?

My wife has already told me she wants a single drawer for her smokes, and I know I'd want a single layer for mine, just not sure how to balance it all just yet for not only maximum storage, but also to prevent digging through the drawers for smokes.

Now, here's a set that I did for a BOTL with 1 single drawer.

And then one with only double depth, no singles at all:

I think maybe at least 3 single depth drawers for us would work better, but figured I'd hit up folks that have been using the drawer system for a while and get their thoughts on better storage


Anyone wish they'd done theirs differently?

 

[TravelingJ]

I really didn't end up liking my single drawers at all. It was nice for the first few weeks when you are getting things setup to display, but then when it comes down to being real about your storage, they waste a lot of space.

 

[andy]

seems like single-deep trays are good for display. but like j said, not real effective for storage. especially if you've got boxes like that baller.

 

[slave2theaxe]

I did 2 single and 2 double...
In hindsight I wish I had done 1 single and 3 doubles...I may, in the future, end up buying another double because as it stands I've ALREADY got some storage issues.

 

[GolfNut]

I guess I was thinking not so much display, but the "pull" drawer. In other words, keep a rotation going in the single drawers so that you can easily see what's in there and easy to get to. I get an idea though, it really depends on the size of your collection. With me, I've probably only got maybe 8 boxes to contend with, so not a big deal. However, having a bunch of different singles and having them piled on top of each other, I do a lot of digging, which does end of damaging some wrappers every now and then.

I don't have J's stash size either, and can see where making maximum use of every cubic inch of space would be the smart way to go in that case.

Thanks for the feedback..keep it coming. I received a partial shipment of cedar today with the balance coming Wednesday so should get this done pretty soon.

 

[OB-Left]

I started with three double drawers and two shelves. As soon as the stuff arrived I saw that I really only needed one shelf. After a week of the stuff being in place, I found that the shelf while nice for looks, didn't allow very efficient packing of boxes. Lots of wasted space. I have since dumped the shelves and have 3 more double drawers on order.

 

[TravelingJ]

I don't have a large collection by any means. Its just that a single drawer really gets hard to work with. it's nice to lay them out and all, but as soon as you buy a 5'er, you've used 1/4 of the drawer up.

 

[Jfire]

6 doubles and 2 singles...............

 

[JRL]

I have four drawers and one shelf in mine. The drawers will hold 3 or 4 sticks deep. I wish i would have done 3 drawers and 2 shelves now.

 

[Jwrussell]

I don't have any of the above currently, but I've definitely been thinking about it because while 95%+ of my stash is in original boxes, I'm getting to the point where I'm wasting too much space because most of the boxes are half or more empty. I like the shelves for storage of boxes for aging, but once you start really breaking into the boxes on a regular basis, those drawers have got to come in handy.

All of that being said, I don't think I'd do the single drawer. As has been said, I'm sure it looks AWESOME filled with some nice cigars, but it seems like it would waste too much space. As for a "go to" or "pull" drawer...I really think a small humidor works better for that. In fact, it's been on my mind quite a bit lately that I really need to save up some scratch and pick up a nice custom humidor to store a selection of sticks for smoking while keeping the others in the cooler or Wineador for aging.

A lot of it depends on your collection. If you have a bunch of full boxes, obviously you need the shelves, but as I said, once you start cracking them and really smoking through them, it doesn't take all that long before moving them into a drawer makes more sense storage space-wise.

 

[twenty5]

I had 1 single, 3 doubles and a shelf, now I have 6 doubles. Doubles are the way to go IMO.

 

[hossdawg]

Totally agree with the double drawers except if you wanted to keep some special sticks seperated, one single drawer would give you easier access.

 

[Crypto Sailor]

Having just received some double drawers and a shelf, I'd give up the shelf for another double tray. And then find a way to store the 4-5 boxes I've got!

 

[GolfNut]

Well, after hearing from all of you I think I'll just fill mine with doubles and not even worry about shelves. I don't have a lot of boxes to worry about, none are sealed anyway so I can just move them all into the drawers.

I've got an order to finish up for another set like the first one pictured above and then I'll do mine. Should have pics by Tuesday or Wednesday I hope although now I'm thinking I may trick it out a little with some Lacewood.

 

[orangedog]

Sounds like a decision has been made, but I'll throw my $0.02 in just in case...

Doubles are superior to singles. I started with 2 doubles, a single, and two shelves. I've since ordered another double.

I would keep one shelf in the mix, primarily if you have a box or two or four that you want to try to age. Using a wineador, you can have multiple doubles that hold most of the sticks that you'll cycle through in the next 2 months to 2 years, but if you keep one shelf in there, even for just a narrow spot, you can fit maybe 4 slender boxes in and just let them sit for 2 years or more. Alternatively, you could probably fit some of those boxes in double drawers, but I think if you want to mess with a handful of boxes, one shelf at the least is the way to go.

In hindsight, I wouldn't mess with singles except to have a "show off" drawer that is there to look cool... but that might make one hesitant to pull a cigar from that drawer... and that's not good, right?

 

[GolfNut]

...

I would keep one shelf in the mix, primarily if you have a box or two or four that you want to try to age. ...

Considering my fridge is a compressor unit, the bottom of it has shallow depth and I'll most likely keep that area for box storage.

 

[Craig Mac]

Double Drawers are the way to go IMO. I have 4 Doubles and a shelf and it suits me perfectly for 6-7 boxes and lots of singles. I would guess that by design you would likely get about 2/3 the storage in 2 singles as you would in one double drawer.

 

[Nuckz23]

Double drawers all the way. Thanks again for the drawers Forest! I can store a hell of a lot more this way.

 

[ItalianCustom]

i want to get a set of double drawers for my vinodor.. Right now I have boxes sitting on the wire shelves

 

[Jwrussell]

i want to get a set of double drawers for my vinodor.. Right now I have boxes sitting on the wire shelves

Same here. I went with the wire shelving when I set mine up and it's time to step up to some drawers and cedar shelves.