About Aging

[samb]

Due to my current budget I cant afford to buy multiple boxes of cigars in order to let one age and the other be smoked now. I also only smoke maybe 5 cigars a week, plus or minus depending on the weather. Anyway I would like to have some aged cigars to enjoy at a later time. I have come up with this plan:

• Ask the good folks at the Czar what is smoking good 'right now'.
  
• Take them up on their recommendation and get boxes.
  
• Take 'x' number of cigars out of that box and place the singles in a singles humi that I have.
  
• Smoke the remaining stock from the boxes purchased at that time.
  
• Keep note of singles to age and after a good amount of time, smoke them and enjoy.
  

I thought about keeping track of the aging singles by taping a little piece of paper with the box date written on it to the cigar band, will the paper or ink affect the taste/aroma of the cigars?

Also, is it a bad idea to mix and match singles in a humi when aging them?

And, last but not least, does this sound like a pretty good way to make a start in my collection and the aging process, or am I just doing some wishful thinking ?

Any and all thoughts, comments, and critisicism are welcome. Thanks, Im ready to learn more about my habit in hopes of making it more of a hobby .

[semery74]

The basic idea to expanding your collection is to buy faster or more than you consume. Don't be afraid to try everything. The expeience is never a waste of money.

[aavkk]

Samb, I haven't been Smoking for long enough to say for sure but it seems cabs are best for aging cigars, better than dress boxes and certainly better that out in the open in a singles drawer. Wilkey can explain much more eloquently than I but having as little airflow to the cigars is ideal for a few reasons.

1. It limits the change in temp and humidity and ideal aging requires as little change as possible.

2. The limited airflow slows down the fermentation process which many old timers will say results in a more beautifully aged product. You can't rush the hands of time so to speak.

If I were you depending on storage space get several different size empty cabs of 50 and place the cigars you which to age inside these. Place the cedar sheet over the cigars and then the spare space you have left, fill with simple bubble wrap and seal that baby up.

As for documenting what cigars are what in the spare cabs, I would simply write what the contents are on the outside of the cab, for example if you have 6 different kinds of cigars in a given cab just write 1-6 and the name and box code of the marca and vitola. I am lucky that many of my favorite cigars are presented in cabs of either 25 or 50, I prefer 50 cabs because I wil get to see how the cigar evolves and develops over the years. I buy Dress boxes only when I have to. There is something really masculine about a wheel of 50 cigars with just a ribbon, preferrably with no bands-old school.

[Kangaroo495]

Alternatively, you can buy already aged cigars from Czar's.

[Colt45]

Perhaps the easiest way to age cigars is to not have access to them, as with the online locker.

[BossHogg]

Samb, Aavkk has some great advice. Cabs are the best for aging IMO. The only thing I would try differently would be if you had to have singles stored in SLB's, I would try to get some empty 10 boxes... that way you could store the same marca in the same box. Or, I would take half of a 25 cab out and put them in the single trays and place bubble wrap in the rest of the cab for aging (like aavkk said). The cigars in your singles tray would be the best candidate for smoking due to the increase air contact with the cigars.

Ideally, maybe you could just buy two 50 cabs of the same marca and smoke one now and try your best to not touch the other one for many years.

Hopefully you will find something that works for you.

Curt

[PigFish]

I myself don't intentionally age cigars. I hoard cigars! I can't really think of another term for it as I am not really a collector of cigars either. I purchase cigars to smoke. I smoke what is good whenever I want it. I suggest you do the same. Cigars I am hoarding age as a consequence of not smoking them. I therefore get to smoke some aged cigars.

There is no proof that there is or has been a golden age for cigars. There are folks who like what was once made better than now and those who think that what is made now is better than before. It is somewhat of a stalemate if I ignore my own opinion and simply view it from the outside. I do believe there has been a trend to make cigars better, at least for the past several years and much of what is being rolled today is better than what appears to have been made during some of the problem years before. That is of course my opinion when I consider a few factors but that is just my opinion and it does not encompass the entire state of affairs of the Cuban cigar.

No one really knows how or why cigars age, which ones will be good or bad, better or worse. We can all speculate about it and do. We can use common sense approaches and do. One can claim anything he wants but can prove nothing! As a result I suggest you smoke the best cigars you have in your possession now, live now, enjoy now and think about tomorrow when it comes.

You simply should view some things in life, like cigars, sometimes as a part of life's enjoyment and not as a singular aspect of it. Like many things, cigar smoking is a part of your life now and you should enjoy it while you can. I mean what good is it to amass cigars and just die! What good is it to work overtime though your kids childhood just so they can hole up in a room and play with a toy you bought them instead of with you?

Having survived a heart attack last year... I know a little about what I am talking about. My cardiologist would prefer I did not smoke. Your cardiologist would say the same. So what do you do about that when the time comes?

In a grand scheme cigars should provide some pleasure to the man who bought them for his enjoyment, whatever that enjoyment may be. If that enjoyment comes to you by aging your cigars so be it. Like I said previously, for me the pleasure comes from smoking them, not aging them. I like knowing that I have cigars to smoke tomorrow, but I like better knowing that I have a good cigar to enjoy today. As a result, having a good cigar today is worth more than saving a good cigar for tomorrow! -Piggy

[thechenman]

While I am one of those Cuban cigar smokers who prefers aged cigars, they are expensive...therefore I choose to age my own. I buy boxes both for consumption and for storage in Czar's Online Humidor. As you pointed out, not everyone is able to do this. But, not every Cuban cigar you smoke needs to be an aged cigar. As you also pointed out, many are smoking fine in the here and now. My suggestion would be to save up and put a few boxes or cabs in the Online Humidor as your finances allow, even if it is only one dress box a year. Having Czar hold it keeps you from raiding it...and will allow you to enjoy some fine cigars down the road.

Piggy as usual has posted some wise words as well. If you don't have the financial flexibility to age cigars, don't sweat it...in time as you accumulate them, you will find that you have created your own little stash. And as time passes that stash will automatically grow. However, don't restrict yourself. Oftentimes so many of us save that special cigar for a special ocassion that we may never live to see. If there is something you want to try, a cigar you have never smoked before...enjoy it now, because tomorrow...you may not get the opportunity.

[samb]

I myself don't intentionally age cigars. I hoard cigars! I can't really think of another term for it as I am not really a collector of cigars either. I purchase cigars to smoke. I smoke what is good whenever I want it. I suggest you do the same. Cigars I am hoarding age as a consequence of not smoking them. I therefore get to smoke some aged cigars.

There is no proof that there is or has been a golden age for cigars. There are folks who like what was once made better than now and those who think that what is made now is better than before. It is somewhat of a stalemate if I ignore my own opinion and simply view it from the outside. I do believe there has been a trend to make cigars better, at least for the past several years and much of what is being rolled today is better than what appears to have been made during some of the problem years before. That is of course my opinion when I consider a few factors but that is just my opinion and it does not encompass the entire state of affairs of the Cuban cigar.

No one really knows how or why cigars age, which ones will be good or bad, better or worse. We can all speculate about it and do. We can use common sense approaches and do. One can claim anything he wants but can prove nothing! As a result I suggest you smoke the best cigars you have in your possession now, live now, enjoy now and think about tomorrow when it comes.

You simply should view some things in life, like cigars, sometimes as a part of life's enjoyment and not as a singular aspect of it. Like many things, cigar smoking is a part of your life now and you should enjoy it while you can. I mean what good is it to amass cigars and just die! What good is it to work overtime though your kids childhood just so they can hole up in a room and play with a toy you bought them instead of with you?

Having survived a heart attack last year... I know a little about what I am talking about. My cardiologist would prefer I did not smoke. Your cardiologist would say the same. So what do you do about that when the time comes?

In a grand scheme cigars should provide some pleasure to the man who bought them for his enjoyment, whatever that enjoyment may be. If that enjoyment comes to you by aging your cigars so be it. Like I said previously, for me the pleasure comes from smoking them, not aging them. I like knowing that I have cigars to smoke tomorrow, but I like better knowing that I have a good cigar to enjoy today. As a result, having a good cigar today is worth more than saving a good cigar for tomorrow! -Piggy

WOW!!! Ya know, its kinda weird actually hearing it from somebody that I dont actually know, but I think your exactly right. Im goin to mortuary school right now and Im only 21, but as read about and study and experience death, you really are right. I think sometimes I forget that life can end at any time. Piggy, youve opened my eyes and reminded me what this hobby is all about, enjoyment!! Its about liking what you smoke and finding contentment in the pleasure of a fine cigar. Yeah, as I need to buy more boxes, I will slowly accumulate my own aged stock of cigars, but your right, if Im not here to enjoy them, what difference does it make? None. Your insight is very wise!!!! Maybe for me its not just about aging cigars, but about the events that transpire in my own personal life? Thanks for the reply Piggy!!

[Geo17pip]

Why not just keep the aging cigars in their original boxes that way you dont have to tape paper on the cigar with the date on it. Plus i think the cigars will age better in their boxes and not in the singles draw. I would keep the cigars that you are going to enjoy now in the singles draw.

[thechenman]

Why not just keep the aging cigars in their original boxes that way you dont have to tape paper on the cigar with the date on it. Plus i think the cigars will age better in their boxes and not in the singles draw. I would keep the cigars that you are going to enjoy now in the singles draw.

I think that Samb may be space constrained. Another reason to use the Online Humidor System.

[samb]

Why not just keep the aging cigars in their original boxes that way you dont have to tape paper on the cigar with the date on it. Plus i think the cigars will age better in their boxes and not in the singles draw. I would keep the cigars that you are going to enjoy now in the singles draw.

I think that Samb may be space constrained. Another reason to use the Online Humidor System.

Yep, I only have a 12 bottle wineador and my current budget will allow either an additional wine fridge or more boxes of habanos. I would prefer to have more cigars than an extra wine fridge. Come closer to Christmas and I may consider the the online humidor. I think it has great advantages to it. But I dont know if I really smoke enough cigars to justify using it.

[Taino]

To me the most important part when I have a budget is to share with fellow members... please pm for my shipping address when boxes are ready...

[jquest63]

Sounds like as a good a plan as any. Buy cabinets where you can for aging and singles, 5 or 10 packs for smoking immediately. The challenge will be to manage the temptation to smoke your reserve before they're ready. If you like me you'll be sharing smokes with friends and family.