Aging

[toasty]

Ok, I'm new to the cigar scene. I've heard all about how you should age your cigars to get the most out of them. How do you know how long to age them before they start taking a turn downward? What is the benefits of aging? This is my first post here by the way...and YES I did search. : P

[bigpoppapuff]

it's up to you,......there are some who say "the cigar i buy today is one i'll enjoy 6 months from now"......the time can be changed as you desire.....i have a good friend who buys huge amounts of cubans...he'll smoke one from the box and put the others away for years....

...others may chime in with their thoughts....

[ggiese]

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...

[toasty]

Awesome thanks for the great heads up. Do all cigars go through the same processes of fermentation? I live in Miami, and believe it or not...I haven't been able to find a Cuban yet...well, Cigar atleast. Well, long ashes to you all.

[ggiese]

Awesome thanks for the great heads up. Do all cigars go through the same processes of fermentation? I live in Miami, and believe it or not...I haven't been able to find a Cuban yet...well, Cigar atleast. Well, long ashes to you all.

The US factory in Miami that was making "Cuban" cigars was recently busted.... Dried up all the "Cuban" cigars down there for a while...

Be careful with what you may get on the streets... There are a ton of counterfeit Cubans out there...

[prophetic_joe]

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...

Damn right George. I do have some that have been resting in my humi for quite a few months now though, considering I only smoke 1 a week that's not saying a whole lot. There an Opus in my Humi that's been there since October, I'm trying hard to keep it for a couple years.

I like to let my cigars sit in the humi for a couple of months though if I can help it.

[Lopaka]

Patience is the key to aging Cigars. Most of us don't have patience. If you are trying to age smokes and just keep grabbing them before they get a small amount of age on them, something you my want to try is making a coolerdor just for aging. Get a digital hygrometer that has the sensor in the cooler and the reader outside the cooler. So the only time you open the cooler is when you have to refill the humidifier. Then have a large Humi to grab smokes from. When you’ve aged the smokes long enough, just transfer them to your humi and enjoy.










Of course, if you really think this works, I’ve got ocean front property in Arizona…