Cigars for INFO

[CgarDan]

I am really serious about starting to age cigars. Therefore an ongoing contest.

Every week someone will get a CgarDan Fun Pack™ of cigars as long as they post aging info in this thread

1) week begins on Sat and ends the following Fri

2) if more than one person posts info in a certain week I will select who made most interesting contribution ( never posted cigar, quality of info etc ) and send that person the prize. If only one person posts in a week that person gets the prize. No one posts no prizes.

3) Info must include the cigar description ( name, size, etc, for ISOMs box date is highly preffered for both aged and non aged versions ) ; how long it was aged ( min of 1 year ); how did the cigar chage from aging ( for good or bad, this is the most important part so provide as much info as you can) and whatever else you think is usefull

4) You should have at least 200 posts or be a member of this board for at least half a year so I know I am not getting the info from some newbie who just moved on to the real thing from those flavored stciks

5) I would like these to be your own observations not those of your friends with exception made for people like cgargirl who work in the business and I know they have experience to back up someone elses story.

I REALLY HOPE YOU FOGs WILL PARTICIPATE PLEASE PLEASE SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Thanks

Dan

[bigpoppapuff]

ahem...."fun-pack" is trademarked......

[Baron Porthos]

Get a big cooler, buy a pound of beads I prefer 65%. Clean cooler and absorb smell with baking soda. line with spanish cedar slats from cigar boxes. place distilled water in an open container on the bottom place 1/2 lb of beads in another container. Allow beads to absorb moisture. Remove distilled water source. Place boxes in cooler close lid check periodically for bead condition per manufacterer.

For singles I prefer real humidors. I like to lay some churchills evenly spaced and without cello perpendicular to the direction I will lay the other sizes. Put down a layer of cigars with no cellophane. Then another set of churchills. etc. allows air flow .

Turn the cigars periodically to prevent damage and flat spots.

Don't smoke them for x amount of time. With boxes smoke one every six months or so and keep a journal about development from aging.

I'm a newbie with a lot of potential and posts. Just started aging boxes. AVO Maduro robusto, Private Stock Maduro robusto , Torano Exodus 1959 Perfecto.
ISOM's are illegal so I have none.
Lots of singles in two box humidors, boxes in a footlocker humidor. Life is good.

[CgarDan]

ahem...."fun-pack" is trademarked......

You are right Sir .........please post some on topic info.... or else......

[CgarDan]

Get a big cooler, buy a pound of beads I prefer 65%. Clean cooler and absorb smell with baking soda. line with spanish cedar slats from cigar boxes. place distilled water in an open container on the bottom place 1/2 lb of beads in another container. Allow beads to absorb moisture. Remove distilled water source. Place boxes in cooler close lid check periodically for bead condition per manufacterer.

For singles I prefer real humidors. I like to lay some churchills evenly spaced and without cello perpendicular to the direction I will lay the other sizes. Put down a layer of cigars with no cellophane. Then another set of churchills. etc. allows air flow .

Turn the cigars periodically to prevent damage and flat spots.

Don't smoke them for x amount of time. With boxes smoke one every six months or so and keep a journal about development from aging.

I'm a newbie with a lot of potential and posts. Just started aging boxes. AVO Maduro robusto, Private Stock Maduro robusto , Torano Exodus 1959 Perfecto.
ISOM's are illegal so I have none.
Lots of singles in two box humidors, boxes in a footlocker humidor. Life is good.

This all good info but what I am looking for is answers to # 3 !!!!!!

[drew_goring]

I happen to have Siglo IVs from both Jun '01, and Dec '05.

Maybe this weekend or next I will have to have one of each and compare the flavor profiles.

[BigMacFU]

Sorry to post-pad, but that's funny Syd!!!

ahem...."fun-pack" is trademarked......

[basil]

Dan, here is a page that is interesting. I found some of the info about aging to be very general, but there are a few specifics in this article.

I have very little that is more than 2 years old; for me, "aged" is over a year. I know that the PD4s are great right out of a box that has a date of 12 months or less (dates stamped are package dates), and that if you wait too long, they'll turn "sick". However, they don't do it all at once. Light one at 20 months, and the flavor will change as you smoke it, some of of it having gone sick and some of it still being the wonderful flavor when they were 2 months out.

On domestics, some tobaccos are aged meticulously, in controlled processes, before they are ever made into cigars. Like Padron '26's. Can't really improve on these, I don't think. The only 26 I ever had that could've been aged was a 35 - it was punched and became tarry (probably because it was punched). I've smoked '26's up to a year after buying them - they are just as good if not better right out of the store.

I figure there are few specifics because opinions on flavor can be very subjective. I'm going to ask around - I've been curious too about which ones age best and which ones really don't benefit. I've always heard isom's for sure. Except for the PD4s.

[CgarDan]

Great start so far I will name the winner for this week either on the weekend or Monday ( will most likelly be traveling this weekend ).

Keep the info coming !!!

And a bonus quetion for this week

How can I find out the date when the cigar was produced if its not an ISOM assuming I have the oroginal box will that help ?

[basil]

Also, the Oliva site recommends their new Special S line be aged 5 years.

They also have this:

Recommended Aging
High Primes (Thicker Wrappers) Maduro/Habano/Corojo/Habano 2000/Criollo/Sumatra/3-7 years

2-3 Primes (Medium Wrappers) Low Primes/Ecuador Connecticut/2-5 years

1st Cut (Thinner Wrappers) USA Connecticut/Cameroon/1-4 years.

These last three lines have been the closest thing to "rule of thumb" that I've seen. However, a dollar says someone, beginning with manufacturers, all the way to consumers, will have a rule for their line, EL, personal fav, or something, that will cut right across these recommendations.

[CgarDan]

Great start every one keep the info coming along

Week one winner is Basil Pm me your addy thanks

[basil]

Hell yeah - awesome. I'm still waiting to hear back from a friend who may know more about aging.
pm sent

[brian]

August 1, 2006

by Nick Perdomo

Recently I was asked about my view of the aging process. Keep in mind that humidor aging, or proper storage and humidity for finished cigars, differs from the process of aging tobacco prior to making cigars. Humidor aging is what I'm talking about here.

Well, lets start. The first thing about properly aging your cigars is to ensure your cigars utilize fine tobaccos in the blend, including a high quality binder and wrapper. For instance if you and I were going to cook up some great steaks - bear with me on this explanation - and you had the super duper $4,000 grill, extra virgin olive oil, the very best sea salt, and the finest ground pepper, but you bought a steak at the local supermarket that has been there for who knows how long. But I have my $50 charcoal grill with my trusty Perdomo salt and pepper shaker, yet I buy the finest cut of beef at Stock Yard steaks in Chicago....guess which one is going to be better. Naturally, my steak is going to kick ass. The very same is true on humidor aging of your cigars. If your cigar was made poorly with substandard fillers, binder and a so-so wrapper and you put it in the finest CI humidor with a perfect 65% humidity and you age it in this great humidor for one or two years - you know what you have? That's right: a one to two year old, awful cigar. Garbage in, garbage out.

Nick's personal humidor at work

Make sure your humidor has a nice seal. The inside should be lined with fine Spanish cedar and your humidification unit moistened with distilled water as needed. Now season the humidor. What I mean by that is, dampen a cloth and wipe down all the cedar inside. The cedar will turn a darker color of course because it is wet. Close the humidor for about three hours. When you open it again, the Spanish cedar will have absorbed all of the water and the humidification device will humidify the cigars correctly. Now the kicker: put in good cigars (most of the time Perdomo cigars of course) in your humidor. The best cigars for aging are those with medium to full flavors and a nice aroma. These types of cigars are most receptive for aging, and after six months they are often enhanced dramatically. Personally, I believe if you let them age for over two years they often start to lose their flavor and aroma.

Okay, I must go now my thumbs are sore from typing.

Until next time,
Nick

Link to actual article: http://www.cigarsinternational.com/html/perdomoBlog.asp

[cls515]

Keep in mind a lot of the cigars are older batches, meaning they were produced say in 04 and have just been sitting in retailers humidors.

[TheSilentChamber]

"Cigar" in "CgarDan" is misspelled. Perhaps if you were aged in a box for a year, you would indeed be differnt, possably with more time in the box you would start to produce plume or bloom- but this is not certain at this time. One question everyone will ask is "should I age CgarDan in or out of the cellophane- and this is a humdinger as many cannot agree, but overall everyone knows it really does not matter. If we were to be taking CgarDan out of the humidor and moving him around quiet frequently I would opt to keep the cello on to protect CgarDan. To find the box code on CgarDan you usually have to rummage though his things till you find some sort of Identification, unlike cubans CgarDan does not have a difinative place that the date code will allways be, sometimes it can be in his wallet, in the console of his car, even on the dresser at home. CgarDan comes only in one size and vinage, as well as wrapper- but I hear the longer you age CgarDan, these things can change in perportion, texture, and even color. Overall, I do not know if I prefer aged CgarDan over fresh CgarDan strait out of the box, its ultimatly a matter of personal opinion.

[CgarDan]

Hell yeah - awesome. I'm still waiting to hear back from a friend who may know more about aging.
pm sent

Ted package is on the way DC # 0306 0320 0003 9159 2421

[CgarDan]

"Cigar" in "CgarDan" is misspelled. Perhaps if you were aged in a box for a year, you would indeed be differnt, possably with more time in the box you would start to produce plume or bloom- but this is not certain at this time. One question everyone will ask is "should I age CgarDan in or out of the cellophane- and this is a humdinger as many cannot agree, but overall everyone knows it really does not matter. If we were to be taking CgarDan out of the humidor and moving him around quiet frequently I would opt to keep the cello on to protect CgarDan. To find the box code on CgarDan you usually have to rummage though his things till you find some sort of Identification, unlike cubans CgarDan does not have a difinative place that the date code will allways be, sometimes it can be in his wallet, in the console of his car, even on the dresser at home. CgarDan comes only in one size and vinage, as well as wrapper- but I hear the longer you age CgarDan, these things can change in perportion, texture, and even color. Overall, I do not know if I prefer aged CgarDan over fresh CgarDan strait out of the box, its ultimatly a matter of personal opinion.

Interesting and a bit scary at the same time ... sort of twilight zone like

[CgarDan]

Week 2 winner is Brian. Pm me your addy thanks

[brian]

Cool PM sent, thanks.

[brian]

Someone told me that Tatuaje puts dates on their boxes.
I'll keep you posted if I hear of any other nonISOMs that put the production date on their boxes.
Gran Habanos now have date stamped boxes I have been told.

Also this came up I thought interesting:
"Isom's have a boxing date,not a rolled date. If you really want to split hairs, the date on the box is when it was placed in a box, not when it was rolled."

Great start so far I will name the winner for this week either on the weekend or Monday ( will most likelly be traveling this weekend ).

Keep the info coming !!!

And a bonus quetion for this week

How can I find out the date when the cigar was produced if its not an ISOM assuming I have the oroginal box will that help ?