aging cigars

Cigars are a lot like wine: given the correct conditions the flavors in the cigar will mature and evolve. Hang around here long enough and you'll see reports of people who try a stick and hate it, let the same one sit for a few weeks, months, etc . . . and it's an entirely different animal.

You do need a humidor of some type (either bought or homemade i.e. a tupperdor or igloodor) to provide the correct environment. Don't even think about the fridge unless you're prepping them to be frozen to kill off any bugs.
-D

I'd like to add -(IMHO) aging is years
resting is weeks/months

Cigars do have a point beyond which age no longer helps.
Stronger cigars can be aged longer.
Age will mellow/smooth out a cigar.
You have to train your taste buds to learn the truth!


I had a 30+ year old cigar a week ago that was amazing!

I'm always curious about figures like that though. Does that mean humidor aged or factory aged? For instance how the Cusano 18 is aged 18 years before circulation.

once again, only 1/3 of the c18 filler is aged 18 years.

Learn something new everyday. But still, 30 years???

I have an old stick from 1921 still fresh enough to smoke. It was machine made though

Aging is great, but be warned, some cigars age better then others. Here is what I have found.

Good Aging:
Almost All Cubans with few exceptions
Diploma
Graycliff
Gurkha Legend & Regent
Davidoff Millenium
Padron Anniversary
OpusX
La Gloria Cubana Series R
Fuetne Anejo
Oliva Master Blends
Oliva O Maduro
Sol Cubano Maduro
La Aurora 100 Anos (these suckers take a long time)
Joya de Nic Antano
C10 By Cusano or the Cusano Hermanos Vintage (have not tried the corojo)
Camacho Corojo

Bad Aging:
Ashton VSG
Helix (just kidding)
Fuente Gran Reserve
Cuesta Rey
CAO Cameroon
CAO Italia
Torano Reserva
Torano 1916
Cohiba Red Dot
La Fontana
Montecristo
Romeo y Julieta

Great List Mac!! You hit almost all of my current list in age, though I also have some RP Edge and RP Vintage 1990's aging to see how they turn out. They have 10 months on them as we speak.

As a side note, this is a topic that is brought up by many new folk to the hobbie, so, do a search of the archives for threads on this...There should be Tons!!

I have a lot of OLD smokes , I do age a lot of my cigars, at one point I never smoked a cigar till it had a minium of 2 years in my humi, but as time pushed on & I got a bit older & was smoking more than I was buying, the age factor got a lot shorter, a 2 year supply of Don carlos III wastaking up a lot of room, being that I smoked about a box a month, I had storage space problems, but about 18 months ago I did sell off a lot of my stock & paid off my home , I was facing some surgery & didnt want my wife to worry about the house, so it is all paid now, & I am starting to refill my stocks , I do have 3 Hoya #55's left over from my wedding back in 1970, & a few Pre Castro Cubans , Monte #4's & some other coronas , I enjoy smoking the old stuff when I can & them smoke a brand new fresh rolled of the same cigar, what a difference , the age adds so much to the smoke, mellow & smooooooooth, just like a Babes behind !!!
Enjoy, Vince

The 18 year old Olor tobacco is now closer to 20 years old. It was factory aged in bails. I would say they only box age the actual cigars after being rolled less then 6 months.

On a side note, I am going to cry when they run out of that tobacco. I heard that there will be no more C10 come June 2006.

Yes, typically cigars have a prime and it varies box to box. The key is to age a box and after a year or so try one from in every few months. Once it is where you like, plow through the sucker.

It is like boiling noodles. Everyone likes them at a different texture and you keep pulling out a noodle every few minutes until they are to your liking. Then you take the pot off the stove.

In this regard I believe we are talking about age since it was finished being rolled/Boxed.
There are cigars that have aged tobacco, done before rolling.
There have been experiments in Cuba with blending these aged tobaccos, time will tell how aging the cigars does.

It is the blending of the oils in the cigar & how they mix that
changes the sublte flavors!