Which NCs are best for aging?

I have found that Magic Mountains benefit greatly from a year. In addition, Onyx and Remedios also do well aged in the box. I will put a 1 year old Remedios toro up against an Indian Super Fuerte Maduro Toro and they are very close in taste and appearance.
 
A few notes to add:

If you are starting out, it is tempting to buy cheapo cigars and hold on to them thinking they'll smooth out or something... Do not waste your time, the longer they sit, the more refined your pallette become; the less you'll want to to smoke the "Thompson 2nd's you got in a bundle". These cigars will just take up needless room and expense to your hobby.

I am not saying that only Davidoff's should be considered, but if it's crappy tasting now, it will also be to some degree in the future for sure. There are a lot of well priced cigars that are worthy of storing.

If money is a consideration, go for Coronas instead of large formats. Be paitent until sales come around. Most cigars manufacturers have a range; AF has Hemingway and Don Carlos instead of Opus X... Any B&M worth your business should give you a box discount on buying an open box. Open boxes give you the cigars and the box, withou having to buy all 25.
 
mosesbotbol said:
A few notes to add:

If you are starting out, it is tempting to buy cheapo cigars and hold on to them thinking they'll smooth out or something... Do not waste your time, the longer they sit, the more refined your pallette become; the less you'll want to to smoke the "Thompson 2nd's you got in a bundle". These cigars will just take up needless room and expense to your hobby.

I am not saying that only Davidoff's should be considered, but if it's crappy tasting now, it will also be to some degree in the future for sure. There are a lot of well priced cigars that are worthy of storing.

If money is a consideration, go for Coronas instead of large formats. Be paitent until sales come around. Most cigars manufacturers have a range; AF has Hemingway and Don Carlos instead of Opus X... Any B&M worth your business should give you a box discount on buying an open box. Open boxes give you the cigars and the box, withou having to buy all 25.
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good tip on the open box... never thought of that. Sometimes I want a box price and a good amount of smokes but not all 25... i like the way you think
 
Depending on the cigar I think you will experience some really excellent changes over time. Habana Leon are really worth aging big time. Buy a box of those and stash them. The afore mentioned Fuente line has many good candidates. Don't ignore CAO though. I would definitely add to the list a box of CAO Brazilia Gol. Yumm-E.

Something I've not seen yet. The Joya De Nicaragua. Man do they have flavor. The box I'm working through now is 3 or more years old.... I believe.

I also subscribe to th aging of domestics being value add. If stored properly I don;t see many of the good cigars out there regardless of strength losing from the experience. Allowing those cigars time to marry is a very good thing.
 
mosesbotbol said:
A few notes to add:

If you are starting out, it is tempting to buy cheapo cigars and hold on to them thinking they'll smooth out or something... Do not waste your time, the longer they sit, the more refined your pallette become; the less you'll want to to smoke the "Thompson 2nd's you got in a bundle". These cigars will just take up needless room and expense to your hobby.

I am not saying that only Davidoff's should be considered, but if it's crappy tasting now, it will also be to some degree in the future for sure. There are a lot of well priced cigars that are worthy of storing.

If money is a consideration, go for Coronas instead of large formats. Be paitent until sales come around. Most cigars manufacturers have a range; AF has Hemingway and Don Carlos instead of Opus X... Any B&M worth your business should give you a box discount on buying an open box. Open boxes give you the cigars and the box, withou having to buy all 25.
Click to expand...

Moses, this is the best advice I have seen yet on aging NC's, and it is one every new smoker and new coolerdor owner should note. The worst thing one can do is get a coolerdor and buy every cheap box on cbid to fill the vessel.

An RP second will never age as well as an RP Old World Reserve, nor will a bunch of Fuente curly heads age to become an OpusX. If one is going to take their time, effort, and coolerdor real estate to age cigars, age PREMIUM sticks. Age sticks that are medium to full bodied and made with premium tobaccos. Aging a cheap, mild cigar will just yield a cheap, mild, aged cigar two years down the road.

If cost is a factor, just buy the smaller RG's. A box of Padron 1926 #35's is a heck of a lot cheaper than a box of Padron 1926 #1's and probably has equal aging potential. Smaller RG's also take up less space in the coolerdor.

Here are some NC brands that I would consider great candidates for aging:
-Pepin cigars, especially the Miami Tatuajes and Blue Labels
-Padron Anniversario 1964 and 1926 series
-Arturo Fuente Hemingways, Don Carlos, OpusX, Anejo, ForbiddenX
-Ashton VSG and ESG
-JdN Antano 1970
Im sure there are others, but you get where I am going with this.

Maduros are not as good of an aging candidate as natural wrappers. Maduros tend to be more sensitive to mold and can actually lose flavor over time.

FREEZE, FREEZE, FREEZE ALL CIGARS that you are planning to age. The last thing you want to find when opening the coolerdor after a couple months is a massive infestation of beetles. Every candidate for aging should be unconditionally frozen.

Use a P-touch or similar marking mechanism to label the boxes with dates. Very few NC cigars are dated. Dont use a permanent marker as the fumes will linger in the coolerdor long after the box is placed in and stink up the cigars.

Lastly, dont be afraid to open a box and smoke one once in a while!!! This will help determine how the cigars are responding to aging, and how the flavors marry over time.
 
omowasu said:
Moses, this is the best advice I have seen yet on aging NC's, and it is one every new smoker and new coolerdor owner should note. The worst thing one can do is get a coolerdor and buy every cheap box on cbid to fill the vessel.

An RP second will never age as well as an RP Old World Reserve, nor will a bunch of Fuente curly heads age to become an OpusX. If one is going to take their time, effort, and coolerdor real estate to age cigars, age PREMIUM sticks. Age sticks that are medium to full bodied and made with premium tobaccos. Aging a cheap, mild cigar will just yield a cheap, mild, aged cigar two years down the road.

If cost is a factor, just buy the smaller RG's. A box of Padron 1926 #35's is a heck of a lot cheaper than a box of Padron 1926 #1's and probably has equal aging potential. Smaller RG's also take up less space in the coolerdor.

Here are some NC brands that I would consider great candidates for aging:
-Pepin cigars, especially the Miami Tatuajes and Blue Labels
-Padron Anniversario 1964 and 1926 series
-Arturo Fuente Hemingways, Don Carlos, OpusX, Anejo, ForbiddenX
-Ashton VSG and ESG
-JdN Antano 1970
Im sure there are others, but you get where I am going with this.

Maduros are not as good of an aging candidate as natural wrappers. Maduros tend to be more sensitive to mold and can actually lose flavor over time.

FREEZE, FREEZE, FREEZE ALL CIGARS that you are planning to age. The last thing you want to find when opening the coolerdor after a couple months is a massive infestation of beetles. Every candidate for aging should be unconditionally frozen.

Use a P-touch or similar marking mechanism to label the boxes with dates. Very few NC cigars are dated. Dont use a permanent marker as the fumes will linger in the coolerdor long after the box is placed in and stink up the cigars.

Lastly, dont be afraid to open a box and smoke one once in a while!!! This will help determine how the cigars are responding to aging, and how the flavors marry over time.
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Everything above is great advice. I think one should take a cigar out everything three to five months to see where its is going. Maybe you will like it at 18 months maybe at 25. Very good advice in this thread......
 
I'm not sure if these are NC but when I hear aging, I think of Ashton VSG and Tatuaje or just about any from Don Pepin Garcia.
 
I think that you should pick several smokes that you like and just start aging them, A ten pack of each would be good. Smoke one of each every six months or so and review each in a thread and afte each revie compare it with your previous one. Really expensive or cheap doesn't matter as long as they are smokes that you already like. It's like wine or cheese, they just get better with age but if you start with crap then you will just have aged crap in a few years.
 
Rock Star said:
:tpd: Opus sux young but after 3 to 5 years it gets really good and 10 years its a Very good smoke..just ask Catfish Mark..He hated Opus til he smoked an original release dc that Navydoc gave him and i watched that boy saver every inch of that smoke..
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Isn't that the truth Freddy! I was drooling like a fool over that stick. It had to have been one of the top 3 NCs that I've ever smoked. Man that thing was good. In fact I remember reluctantly letting a couple of other people have a puff, but I quickly took it back...:r . As far as the young ones, well I'll still pass them over for something else. But ones with several years of age are excellent. Thanks again Paul!
 
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