Aging NC's

[jeffturneraz]

I just read a really interesting thread from early 2006

http://www.botl.org/community/forums/showthread.php/6526-Aging?highlight=aging+cigars

....and it seems like some of the guys on here were just sort of scratching the surface on aging NC's.

If you don't feel like reading the link, they were basically trying to discuss and figure out why CCs were so perfect for aging, but it was more rare to hear NCs talked about in this way...because after all, as the O.P. says, it's all tobacco so technically shouldn't NCs age well also?

So, here we are almost exactly 8 years to the day that this thread was started, and my question is to all of you BOTL veterans and even just long time smokers in general...


...what has time shown you?

Were these guys, and I know some of you are still here, correct in assuming that it was the boom of the full bodied NCs on the market that led to better aging of NCs?

Also, I was told to age my Anejo's, my Opus...did anyone ever discover any other particular NCs that lend themselves to age like the 2 I just mentioned?

Most of what I gathered in my short time here is that a lot of the NCs are the best at about a year or so then they start going downhill after that.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dave]

I am no expert. Not even close. But, it is my belief that the tobacco in non-Cuban cigars is generally aged to the blenders' desired cigar BEFORE rolling. That is less often the case with Cuban tobacco. My experience has been that the only non-Cuban cigars that I thought benefit from aging are usually cheaper cigars that can lose their sharpness with some nap time. Very few of the non-Cuban cigars that I enjoy now are better after 6 months or a year or more. Most often, I'm kicking myself for not having smoked them earlier. They certainly do change, as Cubans do. Just that it is rarely for the better....to me.

 

[jeffturneraz]

I am no expert. Not even close. But, it is my belief that the tobacco in non-Cuban cigars is generally aged to the blenders' desired cigar BEFORE rolling.

Interesting, yeah that is what they were saying in this thread.

Also that since NCs weren't as "rare", they weren't treated as special as CCs, so when you got a NC you were less likely to really hold onto it since you could just go to the store and get another one.

I guess when I think of LE's though, like for instance my all-time favorite since I started is the Tat JV13.

I grabbed a few of those to hold onto, for special occassions, but sadly, it sucks knowing that the cigar may taste like crap if I hold onto them for too long.

 

[Kantucky]

This also perplexes me. I've had cc's with 7-8 years of age or more, and I don't think anyone would argue they're better.

I've aged non cc's for 3-4 years with great results, but I've always wanted to know what kind of box I could/should put down for 10 years. Obviously something pretty stout but I've never had a non-cc with that much age so I don't want to waste $ and time.

 

[jeffturneraz]

This also perplexes me. I've had cc's with 7-8 years of age or more, and I don't think anyone would argue they're better.

I've aged non cc's for 3-4 years with great results, but I've always wanted to know what kind of box I could/should put down for 10 years. Obviously something pretty stout but I've never had a non-cc with that much age so I don't want to waste $ and time.

Yeah it is so hard to get a real answer because it's always "well it is what ever tastes good to you" "smoke what YOU like"...

....but then on the same token you will see almost EVERYONE agree that Anejos are excellent with age.

It was explained in the 2006 thread that the CCs had such a high demand that Cubans found it next to impossible to age their tobacco before they rolled it....that they had to roll it as it dried almost.

This was said to be a possible reason that they aged better, because all of the different leaves had a chance to sort of "grow old together" for lack of a better term.

I really think someone should roll and market some NCs specifically towards aging...put a date stamp on them, use a blend that ages well.

I originally thought that when a company produced a cigar, particularly a NC, that does age really well, that it was just a great luck of the draw.

The more I research this, it seems more like they are purposely rolling these cigars to not be aged and to be smoked asap.

Am I off base?

 

[Martin3203]

From my experience, and not because i took the time and patience to do it, the Padron regular line aged awesome. I have some 6000s that i was able to score at the local B&M, the cello was yellow as could be and they are outstanding. Also, I think that the Tatuaje Mummy aged very well. I've only smoked one Opus X with age on it and it was also very good. Lost most of its kick and it was in a blind tasting. I would have never picked out that it was an Opus because it didn't have the same characteristics as one ROTT.

I've smoked other cigars with lighter wrappers such as the Macanudo Vintage 2000 and it tasted like nothing because of the age.

Seems like sticks that are more full bodied or have a certain wrapper age better. Just my 2 cents tho.

 

[txaggie9307]

I believe the Tatuaje Cojonu's age awesome. I love the 2009's with a few years of age on em!

 

[jeffturneraz]

Seems like sticks that are more full bodied or have a certain wrapper age better.

Yeah, I gather that aging always has a mellowing effect...so a cigar that is already light with not much flavor doesn't really have anything there to be mellowed.

The original thread insinuated, and I have also heard from general discussions, that there was a sort of medium-full bodied cigar "boom" here in the states in recent years.

Not sure when but it sounds like it happened in the early 2000s-ish?

 

[StogieNinja]

Honestly, I think it's likely because a lot of the blends we love from NC, the bold, flavorful wrappers and whatnot, are just leaves that smoke better fresh. They may just not ferment as well, where as Cuba has been cultivating leaves that age spectacularly.

It's like grapes for wine vs grapes for grape juice. You use different kinds of grapes to achieve different flavors, and some grapes taste much better fresh than fermented. I think that's the case here. It's not NC vs CC, it's different leaves age differently. That's why Opus suck fresh, and curl your toes after years, but Liga 9's smoke great fresh and aren't nearly as good a few years on.

 

[blessednxs65]

That is a very interesting post. While I concur that NC's are made for smoking right now (or within a relatively short window) they have tremendous aging potential. Once you know your palette you can determine from the first sample from a box to the next 2-3 smoked in three month intervals, what the aging period should be. I know that I have some sticks that I have aged for five years plus which have gotten better over time. It is as you say, in the taste of the smoker.

The problem for some of us is that we pick up something new that all of a sudden becomes our 'go to" at least for a short period of time, all the while picking up more sticks which depending on your storage set up, gets placed on top of the stuff you "shoulda" smoked and hence 5-6 years later you find a Maxx or some other stick(s) you forgot about. You then smoke it only to find that it is meh or you cannot remember the first time so you discount the stick.

Ok, kinda went of the rails there. Bottom line for me, some CC's age better and Opus' always need rest time and NC's are still the sticks of choice.

 

[Jfire]

Many NCs do not age well. Period. It's not a personal taste thing either. Many from this board alone have said that the broadleaf Pete Johnsin and Pepin have been using do not age well. And it's true. Of course someone one will say. Well what about the 2009 Reservas? Well he got lucky with one blend. And it's only been 5 years. And the broadleaf he uses now is not what he used pre 2010. His brown line ages well and IMO so does his reds. (They go from rough to flavor bombs IMO) Other brands like LFD and Opus can also benefit from short term aging. Like 3-5 years. But after 5 years I truly believe guys that have big Nc collection are going to regret them. "I wish I smoked most of this earlier..."
Now here's the kicker. Cubans are smoking much better younger the last few years. BUT. They've been accused of cooking the tobacco and using non Cuban tobacco recently. So no one even knows how's years 2003 and up are even going to age LONG TERM. In fact many on CC forums say stock from 05 06 07 08 is/has for the most part not really aged well. Food for thought.

 

[Cigary43]

I did an experiment for 2 years with NC brands and it was a very good experience. I had already read and heard the debates about NC's and rest or aging. Aging is something that starts with at least 5 years and I don't do NC's when it comes to that kind of aging...maybe with Opus or Anejos but not many others. I bought about 40 different brands and rest them at 30, 60, 90 days all the way to 2 years and came away with some very distinct opinions and passed those on to a lot of BOTL on different Forums who tended to agree with my experiments as I sent a lof of them out for others to try. They were truly amazed at the difference of cigars that were rested as long as a year that became very well balanced. This doesn't mean that everybody walks away with the same opinion it just means that there is a real certainty that profiles do change and for the better.

 

[havana1]

It's been my experience that cigars are like wines, some age better or differently than otheres. Obviously the filler and binder has a lot to do with it but I've noticed that the cigars I have been aging with maduro wrappers tend to age 'better" than a lot of the non maduro. That doesn't mean "natural" wrapped cigars don't age well, however.
I've also noticed that broadleaf seems to age really well. Some of my favorite cigars are aged AF Anejo's.
These are just my observations and YMMV.