Cigars to sit

[eric1489]

I have been reading a lot lately about aging cigars and things are getting a little cloudy. I read somewhere that the stronger the smoke the quicker it will age and basically these are not a good candidate to age. However people are smoking Vintage Opus. So if I have a box of JDN Atanos......what am I looking at as an ideal age to start tackling them. I also have a box of Camacho Diplomas that I love, but don't want to let them go past their prime. Always reading about vintage Davidoffs. Does the lighter side of the specturm age better over time? Maybe people can list some of their favorites that they have aged so some of the newer folks can get an idea of which ones to be looking out for, or maybe nuances in their smokes that can indicate that a stick is worth sitting down for a while.

Thinking about getting a big ole cooler and setting it up for boxes only to sit for minimum 3-4 years. Looking at picking up some CAO Brazilia, Partagas Black, Diploma, PAMs, LA Pref, and just to have lots of good cheap smokes with some age on them......a few bundles of El Mejor Espresso. Any critiques, criticisms, advice.

Looking forward to the responses,
Eric J.

[Trumpetchris]

If you keep them at an acceptable humidity and temp, they won't go bad. Age away. Try one every 6 months or so, and when you can't imagine them any better, smoke away. I think the idea of "these will sit for 4 years" is not the best. Sometimes a cigar might peak at 2 years or 7 years. Having one at intervals will help you determine when they're good to go.

[tubaman]

Strength has nothing to do with aging potential imo, it's what flavors there are that determine that. There are mild to potent cigars that are great to age, and others that it is a waste of time. To me aging allows the flavors to blend together and come into focus. They were there all of the time, but did not come into their own until aged properly. Think of it in this fashion. You know how when you go to the optometrist and you know you have trouble seeing. The optometrist goes through that series of lenses (which is better, 1 or 2, 3 or 4) I view aging as that series of lenses. Once you get to the correct combination of lenses and comes into focus, remember how clear it is and you think "Wow, I see great!" Well to me, the flavors that are in the cigar are more able to be determined when properly aged. The cobwebs are moved out of the way so to speak so that the true flavors come out. MRN calls these congeners that develop with age, I don't know, but all I know is that the flavors have more focus. How do you develop this sense of difference between flavors a picking them out? Keep smoking and take notes of what you taste. Eventually it will come.

What makes one cigar a candidate for improvement with age and another not a good candidate? Well, if a cigar tastes flat and one dimensional when fresh, it probably isn't going to get a whole lot better with age. If you taste flavors in a young cigar, but can't quite distinquish what they are, that's probably a smoke that will develop into a great smoke down the road. It may be good now, but with a few years on it, look out! One thing to note, the tobacco in NC cigars is aged longer, on the whole, than cuban cigars. This is important to note because NC's are more ready to smoke as soon as you get them, provided they are properly humidified etc. I'm not saying they won't benefit from aging, I'm saying that the cigars are more ready when you first buy them.

[eric1489]

Thanks for the info........what are you guys sitting on right now?

[tubaman]

My desk chair.

[dpricenator]

My desk chair.

Smart Ass:rofl:

[terrantheman]

HA! to funny, great job tubaman I couldn't have described it better myself.

[Volusianator]

My desk chair.
F**k, I honestly just spit coffee on my monitor. That was funny as hell and very unexpected!

[eric1489]

That's nice info! I'll rip some of my chair up in a year and smoke that. :stickbeat

[dpricenator]

That's nice info! I'll rip some of my chair up in a year and smoke that. :stickbeat

:headroll: :headroll: :headroll: I wish I had some info to tell you, my collection is in it's infancy and is all singles right now. Anyone else?

[aleam_38]

eric,

just put away what you like. everybodies tastes are different, what i like and decided to put away to rest may not be what you like. pick a couple of your favs and stick them in the bottom of your humi and in a year or two or however long try one. if you like it then great buy a box or two and let them rest if not try something else until you find what you like with age on it and go from there. My $0.02

[avid toker]

There's no strategy or predictable outcome for aging cigars other than tried, true experience. Storage conditions also play a great deal into the aging of cigars. Some 1-dimensional cigars when fresh can benefit from aging....Opus X is an example. Everything will benefit from age since it gives the tobacco in the cigar time to marry and balance itself out.

I've aged (with great success) Opus X, Anejos, Hemingway's, La Aurora Preferidos, La Luna African Fuertes, CAO Cameroon/Brazilia, HdM Excalibur, Graycliff's and Camacho's for years. In certain cases, spicy cigars became a bit more refined and smooth while non-spicy cigars became more bold and flavorful. It's one big experiment so have fun doing it.

[tubaman]

There's no strategy or predictable outcome for aging cigars other than tried, true experience. Storage conditions also play a great deal into the aging of cigars. Some 1-dimensional cigars when fresh can benefit from aging....Opus X is an example. .

Shane, yes that's true, but I have found that much more often than not they just become aged one dimensional cigars. Opus X is a very good exception to that rule however.

My daddy had a saying that I use quite often. "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit."

[avid toker]

There are a few other 1-dimensional cigars that come to mind that when I aged them, they improved....albeit slightly. While I will agree that really bad cigars may never improve with age, it's all subjective in the end. Nothing will trump aging and experimenting on your own.

Kevin, I just thank god I'm lucky I don't have any 1-dimensional cigars. Although, I do find the new BGM's rather 1-dimensional now but I'm curious what age will do.

[no_substitute]

If you could turn dog rockets into tasty cigars just by aging them for a year, Nestor would be doing it himself and we'd all be buzzing about him, not Pepin