How to tell what cigars to lay down and age

[Briand]

Thanks for the advice guys. A lot of really helpful info and some real ****** bags .

[LGC]

Everyone thinks that they have the secret answer, but nobody does. No matter if the advice is coming from someone with 20,000 cigars, an owner of cigar shops, someone with 500 special edition humidors, etc... it's always an opinion, not fact. Take everyone's advice with a grain of salt.

Some points to remember:

Try lots of vitolas

Smoke different sizes across the brands

Don't judge by one or two samples

Buy and smoke what you like

Try to smoke without preconceived notions

Older is not always better

Taste is highly subjective

Sample your stock as regularly as you can

If the box taste good to you, just smoke them

You never know exactly when a box will peak

Cigars are for smoking, not stroking

Cigars are expensive, but extremely inconsistent

Don't depend on consistency, even in the same box

Just enjoy the journey and learning experience

At the end of the day, tobacco is just fermented, rolled up leaves

It's okay to take cigars seriously, but not yourself

[Reevzy]

I've never had any luck in aging cigars, the longest a box that has stayed with me is a few months and I've only been smoking cigars for a year and a bit

The only way I've figured out how to do it is to buy waaay more boxes than you need (or can afford sadly) and make sure you ramp it up a bit as your coming into winter so your not outside smoking on lovely warm sunny days so much.

And buy a cab of something, I just bought a cab of PLPC's and I guarantee you won't smoke them in a weekend!

[Troels]

There seems to be different associations to aging - some think six month to a year, while other think a cigar need five to ten year to qualify as an aged cigar, others again yet longer.

If you look around at what has been written om the site for the last year or two youll see a consensus that a number of cigars change over time in way that is specific to the marca. Weather you like a partagas short punchy as when young or you want it smoother as they become is a personal preference I guess.

Rass and pl pc is, beside cohiba, some of the cigars that is often said to benefit a lot from 3-5 years rest

[joeypots]

I can tell you about some cigars from experience.

RASS- a cab of 2006 got good in 2012. Fantastic cigars. Everyone who was gifted one loved it.

Esplendito- A box of 2001 became good at 5 years. They were tight and needed to be smoked at 60% rh.

PLPC - 2 Cabs of 2004 needed more than 5 years to become fantastic. They were very fresh and moist when I got them and took a long time to dry out and loose that wet harshness. They were lip burners when young. They have been fantastic and i dread seeing the last few go.

Siglo VI- 2004s took forever to come around. At about 7 years that smooth creamy thing appeared and now they are great cigars if a bit fat for my liking.

BCG- 2006 needed five years to smooth out. They are still knock out cigars not to be smoked on an empty stomach.

MAG 46- 2005 never came around

Partagas Lusitania- 2002 were approachable young but the benefit of 5 years was so great that they disappeared pretty fast.

RASCC- 2006, I think, took forever to come around and were so tight young that they were unsmokeable. I wouldn't buy more.

Cohiba Lancero-2001. I got these in 2006. Not a bad stick in the box.

Bolivar Gold Medal-2006? Fantastic at 5 years.

BCE- I smoked loads of these. All I can say is that I miss them and can not bring myself to crack a 2006 cab I have. The ones I smoked came to me with a few years on them and I couldn't resist them.

Your results may vary.

After 2006 something changed and cigars became approachable young or younger.

MC #2-2006 at 5 years I used these in a blind tasting swap and it was the best cigar out of 10. No one guessed it was a MC#2. They did loose their punch a bit soon there after but they were really good if a bit mellow.

Last note, The MC Especials are fantastic cigars but I have never smoked one that wasn't rough unless it had 5 years on it and my money says they can go for years and years with proper storage.

That's a bit of my experience. Do not let my wife see this post. They used to call Cuban cigars the dark side for a reason. I have spent loads of money on cigars and skiing, the rest I wasted.

[davidl]

I can tell you about some cigars from experience.

RASS- a cab of 2006 got good in 2012. Fantastic cigars. Everyone who was gifted one loved it.

Esplendito- A box of 2001 became good at 5 years. They were tight and needed to be smoked at 60% rh.

PLPC - 2 Cabs of 2004 needed more than 5 years to become fantastic. They were very fresh and moist when I got them and took a long time to dry out and loose that wet harshness. They were lip burners when young. They have been fantastic and i dread seeing the last few go.

Siglo VI- 2004s took forever to come around. At about 7 years that smooth creamy thing appeared and now they are great cigars if a bit fat for my liking.

BCG- 2006 needed five years to smooth out. They are still knock out cigars not to be smoked on an empty stomach.

MAG 46- 2005 never came around

Partagas Lusitania- 2002 were approachable young but the benefit of 5 years was so great that they disappeared pretty fast.

RASCC- 2006, I think, took forever to come around and were so tight young that they were unsmokeable. I wouldn't buy more.

Cohiba Lancero-2001. I got these in 2006. Not a bad stick in the box.

Bolivar Gold Medal-2006? Fantastic at 5 years.

BCE- I smoked loads of these. All I can say is that I miss them and can not bring myself to crack a 2006 cab I have. The ones I smoked came to me with a few years on them and I couldn't resist them.

Your results may vary.

After 2006 something changed and cigars became approachable young or younger.

MC #2-2006 at 5 years I used these in a blind tasting swap and it was the best cigar out of 10. No one guessed it was a MC#2. They did loose their punch a bit soon there after but they were really good if a bit mellow.

Last note, The MC Especials are fantastic cigars but I have never smoked one that wasn't rough unless it had 5 years on it and my money says they can go for years and years with proper storage.

That's a bit of my experience. Do not let my wife see this post. They used to call Cuban cigars the dark side for a reason. I have spent loads of money on cigars and skiing, the rest I wasted.

Fantastic summary. A lot of great info and experience distilled

[earthson]

No and no.

I wonder who could have told you that? The two assertions are not only false, they show a complete lack of understanding and experience

Wow. This is incredibly rude.

[PigFish]

Everyone thinks that they have the secret answer, but nobody does. No matter if the advice is coming from someone with 20,000 cigars, an owner of cigar shops, someone with 500 special edition humidors, etc... it's always an opinion, not fact. Take everyone's advice with a grain of salt.

Some points to remember:

Try lots of vitolas

Smoke different sizes across the brands

Don't judge by one or two samples

Buy and smoke what you like

Try to smoke without preconceived notions

Older is not always better

Taste is highly subjective

Sample your stock as regularly as you can

If the box taste good to you, just smoke them

You never know exactly when a box will peak

Cigars are for smoking, not stroking

Cigars are expensive, but extremely inconsistent

Don't depend on consistency, even in the same box

Just enjoy the journey and learning experience

At the end of the day, tobacco is just fermented, rolled up leaves

It's okay to take cigars seriously, but not yourself

…pure friggin' poetry (I mean that in a good way).

When I don't pick one of the other 24 in a box, I have decided to age those! In other words, an aging cigar is one that I did not choose to smoke today!!!

Nice post Brandon! -

[PigFish]

Wow. This is incredibly rude.

You know mate, my amigo here 'Smalls,' may have a lot of differences in opinion with me, but that does not mean that a man, or a woman with a strong opinion, expressed in a forthright manner is necessarily rude.

There are still some of us around here who are passionate, albeit opinionated about the cigars that we smoke and opine. It is easy to see where we stand because we stand up and tell others, sometimes without salt or sugar.

Funny, some looking for rudeness find it. While others see useful information delivered without a lot of prose… Don't choose what you see on my account, please, but do yourself a favor and look twice for content and you may just be surprised to see it instead of the rudeness…

Cheers! -Piggy

[Smallclub]

Wow. This is incredibly rude.

Rude for who? For Cigar Journal? Who cares?

[TheGipper]

Another thought on deciding what to age...

I bought quite a few RA898 and Punch SS2 when they were being discontinued - with the idea that I loved both of these cigars and wanted to have some of my favorites to smoke in future years.

Now I see auction prices on those that make me glad I bought them for a different reason. They turned out to be great investments. So I have a pleasant dilemma - smoke 'em for myself or sell them at a nice return such that I can fund a lot of other stuff that I might like just as much or more.

Same for the early ELs (especially the Cohiba ELs). They have appreciated nicely - only my small cap momentum portfolio has beat the annualized return on those. The ELs have done way better return-wise than my real estate, the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index over the same time frame.

So all things being equal, maybe put away rare / limited / discontinued stuff over still in production / non-limited stuff.

[mk05]

I think the biggest problem is it may take 10 years to really know what you really like!!! And in my case its all discontinued now!!! But you can't go wrong with Cohiba, Partagas!!!

My list would be:

ERDM

PL

RA

LGC

All the perfumy cigars can be yours.

[Havanaaddict]

All the perfumy cigars can be yours.

You are to kind!!!

[Stogiedude3]

Another thought on deciding what to age...

I bought quite a few RA898 and Punch SS2 when they were being discontinued - with the idea that I loved both of these cigars and wanted to have some of my favorites to smoke in future years.

Now I see auction prices on those that make me glad I bought them for a different reason. They turned out to be great investments. So I have a pleasant dilemma - smoke 'em for myself or sell them at a nice return such that I can fund a lot of other stuff that I might like just as much or more.

Same for the early ELs (especially the Cohiba ELs). They have appreciated nicely - only my small cap momentum portfolio has beat the annualized return on those. The ELs have done way better return-wise than my real estate, the S&P 500, the Dow, and the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index over the same time frame.

So all things being equal, maybe put away rare / limited / discontinued stuff over still in production / non-limited stuff.

Ha Ha! Love it.