Aging Cigars in the Humidor

R

Robusto Pete

Newbie in the jungle
Well I have a few questions regarding this.

Is one of the diifferences between the premium cigars vs the no name brands the aging/fermentation process?

I know cigars are like wine. They red wines age better than the whites. Likewise, the darker cigars age better than the lighter onces.

So if I was to take a no name stogie, and keep it in the humidor for six months. Would that help the flavor, aroma, etc...?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

-Pete :confused:
 
Yes, the cigar would probably be slightly better as all cigars benefit from aging but, in my opinion, if you start with crap you will end with crap.

Never heard about the darker cigars aging "better" though. :confused:
 
NCRadioMan said:
Yes, the cigar would probably be slightly better as all cigars benefit from aging but, in my opinion, if you start with crap you will end with crap.

Never heard about the darker cigars aging "better" though. :confused:
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Very true. The only NC sticks I've had, that were aged and really seemed to benefit from it, were premium ones like Avo LE and Paul Garmirians. The only effect I ever saw from aging something like a Macanudo was that it grew mold....

And about darker cigars aging better...I've heard that said based on strength, but never on color. Witness that Cuban Cohibas, which generally I would not call "darK", have an established reputation for aging well. And two of the most interesting aged sticks I've tried (a 1935 La Palina and a 1958 HdeM American Market Select) were not dark; indeed they were downright green.

Assuming optimum storage conditions, the raw material and the blending, I suspect, have far more to do with it.
 
In any cigar, the tobacco used in the blend must be carefully and fully cured before it makes the roller's table. If the tobacco is not fully cured, the cigar will never, ever be smokable. Aging, after the cigar is rolled, is measured in years....sometimes decades (!)...rather than months.

Putting a cigar down for a few months may very well improve it...the humidification can become stable for one thing. However, a poor quality cigar made from inferior tobacco will never become good with the passage of time.

The darker cigar wrappers (commonly termed "maduro") are widely varied, often within the same brand of cigar. The cappa (wrapper leaf) will only cure so far and take on so much color and still be usable. While this leaf has different taste profiles than lighter leaf, it isn't inherently 'better' than any other quality wrapper...just different.
 
Robusto Pete said:
Well I have a few questions regarding this.

Is one of the diifferences between the premium cigars vs the no name brands the aging/fermentation process?

I know cigars are like wine. They red wines age better than the whites. Likewise, the darker cigars age better than the lighter onces.

So if I was to take a no name stogie, and keep it in the humidor for six months. Would that help the flavor, aroma, etc...?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

-Pete :confused:
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1. My guess is that the main difference between premium cigars and the others is the initial quality of the tobacco. Like any other agricultural products, there are wide differences in the flavor and characteristics of the tobacco that involve many variables. Aging and fermentation also play a part, as you suspect.

2. That is a bit of knowledge that I do not have. I have never heard that darker cigars age better than others. I have quite a few very light Davidoffs that seem to have aged quite well. I have had maduros that taste like crap after a couple years just like they did when fresh. I think that a cigars ability to age has more to do with who made it and how it was made than its color. Like with wine, not all reds age well.

3. Maybe. Maybe not. Six months is not really aging in most people's books. In fact, depending on the cigar, six months in the humidor could well put it into a "sick period" where the flavor will actually be less enjoyable. On the other hand, I have had fairly inexpensive cigars that did quite will with as little as a few weeks in the humidor.

I don't think that this has as much to do with "aging" as it does with getting the cigar down (or up) to the proper humidity required for enjoyment. Some claim that cigars taste best around 65% or less. I have not found this to be true, but for those who imagine such, getting some brands slowly down to this level could take months, particularly if they were shipped at 72%+. I have received Fuentes that were shipped as high as 75% and were unsmokable. A few months of storage at 70% brought them right down to where they seemed to work just fine. Conversely, I have had cigars given to me at low RH that tasted like dried out crap. A few weeks in my humidor made them quite smokable.

The bottom line is this; a good cigar stored for a while at the proper temperature and humidity for that cigar will not get worse, and may just get better. A cigar that was crap when you got it will just be older, not really any better.
 
punch said:
1. I have received Fuentes that were shipped as high as 75% and were unsmokable.

Punch, I too have received cigars that I questioned their storage conditions. How did you determine that the Fuentes were shipped at 75% humidy?
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punch said:
....The bottom line is this; a good cigar stored for a while at the proper temperature and humidity for that cigar will not get worse, and may just get better. A cigar that was crap when you got it will just be older, not really any better.
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Just for the record, I have bought cigars that were and are crap, but after a year or so in the proper conditions, they became smokable, at the very least, and in some cases, became quite smokable.
 
M1903A1 said:
Very true. The only NC sticks I've had, that were aged and really seemed to benefit from it, were premium ones like Avo LE and Paul Garmirians. The only effect I ever saw from aging something like a Macanudo was that it grew mold....
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Isn't this more a humidity control problem rather than the ability of the cigar to age?

Pepin Blue, Fuente Don Carlos and Hemingways are not considered premiums but they benefit greatly with aging.
 
I've always stuck to the old saying "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

I think the same applies with wines and cigars.

Pete, I live up in Omaha...which B&Ms do you hang out at?

Cheers,
Frank
 
bonggoy said:
Isn't this more a humidity control problem rather than the ability of the cigar to age?

Pepin Blue, Fuente Don Carlos and Hemingways are not considered premiums but they benefit greatly with aging.
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OK, I'll bite. If they are not premiums, what are they? They sure are pricey.
 
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