aging? really?

L

Legend

ChestBeater
I know a lot of people here swear by "aging" a cigar. 6 months a year. "this cigar is really good with 6 months in the humi"

I wonder how much of this is psychological? My experience is "aging" mellows a cigar. A bit. I see it working on say fresh rolled by perdomo. But for the most part cigars are aged prior to selling.

Can aging take a yard gar and make it good? Take a dog rocket and make it ok?

I have yet to see it.
 
I don't think aging really benefits NC's, with the exception of Opus. Habanos on the other hand really benefit from proper aging. :2
 
I regularly get new NC's that are wet, loaded with ammonia, and smell like a cow's ass.
After a short time in the humi (a few months to a year) they air out and get right.
I don't really consider that "aging", it's more like critical care.
When I think of aging, I think in the terms of years. After three or four years I'd consider a cigar "aged". I have lots of cigars that have been sitting around for a year just because I haven't gotten a chance to smoke them. I'm certainly not "aging" them, I'm just trying to find time to smoke them. :tu
 
shilala said:
I regularly get new NC's that are wet, loaded with ammonia, and smell like a cow's ass.
After a short time in the humi (a few months to a year) they air out and get right.
I don't really consider that "aging", it's more like critical care.
When I think of aging, I think in the terms of years. After three or four years I'd consider a cigar "aged". I have lots of cigars that have been sitting around for a year just because I haven't gotten a chance to smoke them. I'm certainly not "aging" them, I'm just trying to find time to smoke them. :tu
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:tpd: Exactly, I don't consider anything under 3-5 years aging. More like resting. I have cigars that I bought 2-3 years ago and just like I quoted, I don't consider them to be aging but resting until I find time to smoke them.
 
shilala said:
I regularly get new NC's that are wet, loaded with ammonia, and smell like a cow's ass.
After a short time in the humi (a few months to a year) they air out and get right.
I don't really consider that "aging", it's more like critical care.
Click to expand...
shilala, what would you consider some NCs that simply must be aged...no questions asked?
 
shilala said:
I regularly get new NC's that are wet, loaded with ammonia, and smell like a cow's ass.
After a short time in the humi (a few months to a year) they air out and get right.
I don't really consider that "aging", it's more like critical care.
When I think of aging, I think in the terms of years. After three or four years I'd consider a cigar "aged". I have lots of cigars that have been sitting around for a year just because I haven't gotten a chance to smoke them. I'm certainly not "aging" them, I'm just trying to find time to smoke them. :tu
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I agree, aging takes the ammoniated smell out of fresher cigars that either contain undercured tobacco or in premiums that are just simply too young. Some cigars, i've noticed, hit their prime earlier than others like some wines. Take a beautiful Bordeaux wine. It might be great for 50 years and then hit a point when it will decline. I have noticed that I have had some cigars fresh, the same one 6 months later and another a year later and have had 3 different opinions of the smoke.
 
madurolover said:
A lot of people feel that Tatuaje would just get better with age. I couldn't tell you if this is so or not because I never keep them long enough to find out.
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They do, as do most Pepins. I rarely smoke a Pepin until they have been in the humidor 4-6 months or from box date. The flavors really balance out. I bought some Blue Label Preferidos back in June and they were tough to smoke rott but I had one recently to see how they were coming along and it has gotten much, much better.

I have some 3-4 year old Padrons and Torano's that have become really, really good. A different flavor than when new. More refined, if you will. I am not a fan of the RP Edge but I found one in the bottom of the humidor that was a little over a year old and I smoked and really enjoyed it. It was much different than when fresh. I think if you like a cigar to start with you will enjoy it, perhaps more, if it has some time under it's belt.

Nobody has to believe me, try it for yourself.

:2
 
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I've been wanting to post a thread about this ammonia thing for awhile but I figure I'll just ask you guys here since you've touched upon it. I thought I was crazy when I experienced a strange 'minty' taste while smoking several different cigars. I realized that this 'minty' taste is probably more of an 'ammonia' taste; I think.

I hope I can describe this accurately (and it's not just with one cigar). I was recently smoking a cigar that had a very nice first 1/3. Further into the cigar, I'd noticed the taste change, experience some burn issues, even out the burn with the lighter, deal with the cigar going out on me, blowing the stale smoke through the cigar, relighting and trying to enjoy the rest. But as I'd continue, this strange, I guess 'ammonia-like' taste would persist through the entire cigar.

What the hell is going on here?

It's not the ligher, I'm using a Xikar torch with Lava butane (supposed to be the cleanest).

I don't think it's the humidity in the humidor, although I'm not positive.

Help me Club Stogie, you're my only hope.
 
NCRadioMan said:
They do, as do most Pepins. I rarely smoke a Pepin until they have been in the humidor 4-6 months or from box date. The flavors really balance out. I bought some Blue Label Preferidos back in June and they were tough to smoke rott but I had one recently to see how they were coming along and it has gotten much, much better.

I have some 3-4 year old Padrons and Torano's that have become really, really good. A different flavor than when new. More refined, if you will. I am not a fan of the RP Edge but I found one in the bottom of the humidor that was a little over a year old and I smoked and really enjoyed it. It was much different than when fresh. I think if you like a cigar to start with, you will enjoy it, perhaps more, if it has some time under it's belt.

Nobody has to believe me, try it for yourself.


:2
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To add to your point, I recently had an Opus X given to me by a friend that has smoked them as his go to for quite a while now.
The last one I had with him nearly knocked me on my butt.
This one had about 2 yrs on it and I truly enjoyed it.
I never really like the Opus X before that.
I have to admit I really enjoyed this one.
It was considerably toned down from what I recall them being.
 
mrreindeer said:
I've been wanting to post a thread about this ammonia thing for awhile but I figure I'll just ask you guys here since you've touched upon it. I thought I was crazy when I experienced a strange 'minty' taste while smoking several different cigars. I realized that this 'minty' taste is probably more of an 'ammonia' taste; I think.

I hope I can describe this accurately (and it's not just with one cigar). I was recently smoking a cigar that had a very nice first 1/3. Further into the cigar, I'd noticed the taste change, experience some burn issues, even out the burn with the lighter, deal with the cigar going out on me, blowing the stale smoke through the cigar, relighting and trying to enjoy the rest. But as I'd continue, this strange, I guess 'ammonia-like' taste would persist through the entire cigar.

What the hell is going on here?

It's not the ligher, I'm using a Xikar torch with Lava butane (supposed to be the cleanest).

I don't think it's the humidity in the humidor, although I'm not positive.

Help me Club Stogie, you're my only hope.
Click to expand...

How old were the smokes? Anyway, to help a fellow gorilla out, I've included this link which I think will be helpful in shedding some light on the aging process.

http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/webapp/images/stories/cigarprimer/primer5storage90207.pdf
 
I think of 'aging' as letting the oils come out and allowing the cigar to bloom. Once this is done I think that the cigar has gotten rid of all the 'freshness' (mellows out)and at this point will not 'age' any longer(or better) and it won't start to decline from there. For some cigars, this is done prior to assembly, for others this may take 5 years of humidor time. As for any differences in variation that people report, I think its just part of the variation from cigar to cigar within a certain lot of cigars that you naturally get with different lots of tobacco. Variations in that tobacco used for that cigar may be due to the fact that it is grown ten feet further away then the tobacco used for this cigar type of deal. Call it 'Micro-environmental' variations if you will.
 
There are some cigars that are certainly more appealing after sitting for a few months 5 Vegas Series A, for example. I've never had a cigar stay more than a year so I guess I won't know.
 
don't you think some of this is still personal taste? i've had a few tatuajes that i have kept down for a little over a year, some of which were the reserva noellas. when they were fresh they were really flavorful powerhouses. now, they have "mellowed" and while full flavored, they don't have the same power as before. for my personal taste, i liked the freshies best.
if i recall, pepin did a little discourse here while back on cigars being ready to be smoked when they are rolled????
 
scottw said:
Did you check the link? Were you able to open it ok?
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Yeah, thank you. The sticks I mentioned having a strange taste midway through didn't have any ammonia or 'strang minty' smell at all before lighting. With others, I've had no issue whatsoever. I don't get it.
 
hdroadking said:
don't you think some of this is still personal taste?
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Ding ding ding! That is the most important factor. :tu Along the same note, I like fresher cuban Bolivar's better than aged ones.

Pepin just explained that cuba makes cigars to be smoked immediatly. As do most, if not all, manufacturers.

I find it fun to experiment.
 
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