aging? really?

Thanks fellas; I wanted to see what awsmith used himself. I have been thinking about stepping up to beads. I think you just pushed me over the edge so I'll pull the trigger. :gn
 
Rolando said:
No. I never had trouble with the foam or the gel but beads are better. I wasn't badmouthing the system. It is just funny to watch this question get answered because it is like peewee's fun house. 7-8 people will give the exact same response because apparently one person giving it is not good enough then 5 more people will do a :tpd: just to reinforce it.
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I hear the drums......everybody...........RUN.:r :r :r
 
My favorite cigars are rolled fresh for me right from the table. Maybe 10 minutes between being finished and being lit. However the tobacco used in these cigars is already 30 years old.

I've smoked a fresh Opus and an aged Opus and there was quite a difference in the 4 years between them. The aged was actually rather nice but not something really impressive.

Now, I was pleasantly surprised by a Gran Habanos 3 Siglos Gran Corona. After 8 months the first half mellowed out and opened up. The second half was kickass like a fresh one. I really enjoyed the Gran Habanos 3 Siglos with some age on it.
 
:w
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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:tpd: :tpd:

Take a strong peppery cigar and sit it down for a year or two and they tend to mellow out and get more balanced. I LOVE the RP Edge and have about a half box left with over a year of sleep on them and yes to my taste they a 100 times better....Still full bodied but smoother, tastier and without that metalic taste they seem to have when they are fresh..

I've yet to have a premium NC taste worse with some age on it...Not saying it can't happen.....Just has not been my experience and I like em strong!

To each their own!!!
 
I have an alternate theory I'd like to throw out there and see if it hits anyone the right way.

When I get an NC and the taste is off and I think it needs aging is that correct? Supposedly the tobacco in this cigar already has some age on it and it passed a QA so why do I think it is off?

Is it possible that it needs re-aging, or perhaps more accurately, does it need recovery time? Perhaps certain cigars are put into shock during transport from where it was created to the distributor and then out to you. So maybe because cheaper cigars will turn inventory faster they never have time to recover from one trip before getting back on the road again.

Is that why we think most NCs benefit from 6 months to a year but after that is is barely noticeable?
 
Ok seems I hit a nerve.

Now most of those saying aging makes a difference are aging way longer than I would 3 to 4 years.

Now I can see that making a difference. But I still can't see it making a dog rocket something good. However, we have yogar here saying significant aging can make a 1 a 2. Or a 2 a 3 but no one saying aging can turn a good smoke into a top 25 smoke. Personally I don't have the patience for multiple years of aging. Only aged cigars I got are my favorites that I bought in bulk.

So how about it guys. Any personal info that takes a crap cigar and makes it a top cigar?

I don't see it. A good cigar is aged before sold. There is the one fella taling about opus. But I think they're over rated anyway.
 
I have had NCs that were aged by me an additional 5 years. I have some in my humidor right now. I am telling you they taste pretty much like they did 4 years ago. The exception being the medium sticks I have had for that long which now taste like crap. This has led me to form a very important rule about NCs... never get more mediums than I can finish in 2 years. So basically no more boxes.
 
Legend said:
So how about it guys. Any personal info that takes a crap cigar and makes it a top cigar?.
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Doesn't happen. A crap cigar may (or may not) improve with age, but all it will do is become slightly less crappy.

Legend said:
I don't see it. A good cigar is aged before sold.
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If I am understanding you correctly, you are saying that a cigar is not good unless it is aged before it is sold?

There are dozens of examples in Cuba that will refute that, as well as many NCs as well.

If I misunderstood what you were saying, accept my apology and please clarify it for me.
 
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.
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What do you mean by this? I've had a good few of the Pepins and Tats, and they are by far tops among my NC favorites. I've had some Tatuajes with "age" - about a half dozen dispersed throughout a year's time. They did seem a bit smoother, with less initial :gn knock you on your ass bite.

Is this what you're talking about with the Pepins, though? That's one thing I love about his stronger blends, is that hard kick in the ass, something I certainly don't want to lose in its entirety with aging.
 
I will weigh in here for what its worth. Seeing as I have some thoughts on this.

From my perspective and everything that I have read few non cuban cigars will benefit from aging. Now aging should not be confused with resting.

Aging in my opinion is anything in excess of 1 to 1/2 years. Whereas resting is anything from 3 months to that 18 month period.

Anything earlier than 3 months is ROTT (Right Off The Truck) and I typically stay away from anything that young.

So back to aging to me it is exactly like wines. I have had some great current year wines that I find readily drinkable now and enjoy thoroughly. But that does not mean that they won't improve with age. Or change with age not making them significantly better but just different, the nuances that might have been overpowered by a strong oaky taste may now come to the surface.

In my opinion cigars are the same, that great PSD4 that has that strong peppery taste is very good but with some time other flavors may come out to join the experience like caramel or leathery smoothness.

Now the kicker is personal tastes. Does that change make it better or worse, well I suppose it depends on what you like, if the cigar changes in a way you like then it got better, if it loses that flavor or edge that you really enjoyed then it got worse but that does not wholesale mean that aging is good or bad, it comes down to a very personal experience.

I love my cigars to have an abundance of flavors and great draws and too me (READ MY OWN PERSONAL FINDINGS AND PREFERENCE) both these things improve greatly with aging.

But hold it............that isn't the case with all cigars, I have two cigars that I happen to love fresh (within that 3 to 18month range) and find that they don't improve with age. So those sticks do not have a long shelf life in my Vino's.

I smoke from my aging boxes at least once a year, but more likely every 6 months or so, and if they are great its open season, if not then a little more time.

There is no magic potion in this hobby of ours, it is all about experimentation and determining what your preferences are, how do you like to smoke, when do you like to smoke, what do you like most in your cigars. As you learn your own preferences you start to learn how too make sure they are met on a more consistent basis.

Take non cuban cigars for instance. I was never really intrigued by them in the past until I found CS, I had smoked a few that were good but always left me wanting. So I went on a mission to find NC's that I liked and determined what I like about them. In the end I tried over 50 different NC cigars and found that although there are plenty of good ones, none gave me that dollar for dollar comparison to the Cubans that I like. So I stopped smoking NC's and concentrated on learning more about CC and what I liked about them.

Many Gorillas say ya but this is just as good or this is better or man that is just bs. But here is the kicker, it is my opinion of my smoking preferences.......how can it be wrong as it relates to me. Does it mean that all NC's are bad..........nope. Does it mean all CC or great.........nope. It means I have learned and am learning what my likes and dislikes are and how to make sure that each smoking experience is closer to my likes than dislikes.

So for me, aging cigars works for most of my stock and I buy and store accordingly. There are those gorillas out there that likem fresh so thats the route they go, some are in between that. Then there are many many more than are still in the earlier learning stages of their smoking and expanding their horizons.

So the answer to Aging vs Non Agings is absolutely without a doubt. YES and NO.

Sorry for the long winded post. It just went that way.
 
This will be another 45 or 9mm thread...I believe in aging.
It canl take a 2 and bring it to a 8 of 10. I've experienced it.
Tom
 
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