Handmade cigars produced outside of Cuba almost always are properly aged BEFORE they're shipped. Which means - once you get them out of the box they should smoke nice. I've had a few that were "young" tasting, but that is the exception to the rule. And you'll even see a few "special" cigars that have already been extensively aged before they were introduced into the market (e.g. Partagas Decadas).

Cuban cigars, on the other hand, are not aged nearly as long as their non-Cuban counterparts. Some are (e.g. the Cohiba - which is triple fermented), but most are not. Some really like the "raw" taste of a newer Cuban.

Min Ron Nee, the well recognized expert on Cuban cigars, talks about four stages of fermentation in Cuban cigars. The first stage is called the "sick" period. Typically you can tell this because of a fairly noticeable ammonia smell. Those cigars DEFINITELY need to be aged or they do not taste all that great.

Then there are 1st, 2nd and 3rd Fermentations. All in all, the 3rd fermentation is well over 25 years. Min Ron Nee says that each fermentation causes different characteristics for the cigars. Most have "favorite" maturation stages for individual cigars which are comparable to taste preferences for an off the shelf cigar.

Certainly age does wonders for ANY cigar - and properly stored it would take DECADES to to reach the 3rd Maturation stage. I've seen very smokeable and very good 50+ year old cigars. Again, the key is to properly maintain them during that 50 year period - because if they dry out and lose their oils, they are nothing but a very bad tasting cigarette - harsh and nasty.

Min Ron Nee suggests that ALL Cuban cigars should be aged at least 3-5 years. There is no doubt that Cuban cigars that are over 5 years old are some of the best cigars I've ever smoked - pretty much universally. And I have to say, I've been gifted some non-Cuban's with more than 5 years worth of age on them and they are very nice as well...

The problem I have (and probably most everyone else) is that I really hate to age ANY cigar because I really like to smoke them...