Aging

Don't quote me, but I think it can be both. I know on the Cusano 18, its the wrappers that are that old. Mostly it is the tobacco, not the finished product.

I am with Cappy on this! In most cases when a manufacturer states the product is aged 18 years for example as is with the cusano 18 and the Gurkha legend, it is not talking about the finished product being put to age for that amount of time, but the tobacco leaves, usually the wrapper leaves. I believe the cusano and gurkha binder and filler are actually not as old, but the are aged I want to say around 7 years?

I know plenty of folks here have more info, so I will leave it to them, but when seeing an advertised aged cigar like the c18 it speaks to the wrapper age and not the finished product.

Almost all the time when a mfg talks about the age of a cigar it is about the age of the tobacco being used in the cigar. No one is aging cigars for 10- 20 years, they couldn't afford to.

Some mfgs do age their cigars for a year. Opus X are aged for a year as are Jr Ultimates.

I posted this under cigar tobacco thread but think it applies here.

There are 3 fermintations. Fermintation 1: is in the curing barn when the leaves are hung. At this time the leaves turn from green to brown. It usually takes 30 days. From there they are sorted and stacked. The stacks are kept at precise temperatures. When a stack reaches just over 100 degrees, it is flipped. (note it is not uncommon for tobacco to simply combust if the temperature is not regulated during fermentation) the prices gives off heat. This process can take any amount of time. Usually anywhere from 3 months to a year but in some cases longer. The final fermentation begins with the leaves are then sprayed to make them playable for rolling. After they are rolled they need to sit for a minimum of 30 days before being sold. Most factories give them 90 days and some 6 months. Most tobacco aging occurs betwen the second and their fermentation. After the third fermentation, the cigars enter the maturation process.

And as I anticipated, the man with the first hand knowledge bangs it home!

Thanks for that description Alex.