Paint the picture of the flavour profile of vintage cigars.

[El Presidente]

Love them, hate them, indifferent to them, vintage cigars have a unique flavour patina. The flavours vary from cigar to cigar certainly but there is a similarity to the delivery..or is there.

When approaching the smoking of a vintage cigar (let's say 15 years +) do you smoke it differently? a different mindset?.

... is it simply that we slow down and pay far more attention to them that accentuates (for better or worse) the experience.

If you could describe to someone in a few words to a sentence what the "vintage smoking experience" is...what would it be? What do you chase in terms of experience?

For myself I certainly slow down the smoking of a vintage cigar. The slower the better.

Razor sharp burn accompanied by razor sharp flavours (in that they are clearly defined).The flavours may not be strong but you can tease each one of them out as if your palate had a microscope.

Mind you I have had plenty of tasteless duds over the years. Cardboard nothingness at their best.

Your experiences?

[Puros Y Vino]

I've had some interesting vintage smokes. I definitely smoke them slowly and pair them with nothing but flat or sparkling water to keep the palate clean.

I've noted the following tasting experiences.

• Mustiness. Not necessarily bad but it does rear it's head when it comes to old cigars.
• Lemon zest. I'm talking a clear, distinct lemon citrus flavour. No mistake about it.
• Mint. I get this on vintage cigars a lot. Very enjoyable.
• Soap. A waxy, soapy flavour seems to be a hallmark of older cigars.
• Nutmeg. Another staple.
• Cinnamon. With a hint of cedar and possibly what I believe to be the dissipation of the cedar aromas over time on the cigars.
• Dry mouth feel, like the finish of a dry white wine.

[Yagermeister]

I definitely agree with the lemon zest and mint qualities. Two unique flavors that I have only found in vintage cigars.

[PapaDisco]

My limited experience is that the biggest thing missing is that all-to-common damp leather flavor, which is just fine by me. I also agree that the drier, more herbal flavors come to the fore, and that the sticks are somewhat easier to 'over smoke', even though they're kept at the same conditions as fresher cigars. My 15 y.o. cigars also seem to be more temperamental when traveling, requiring more downtime to settle in.

[Rye]

I fully agree with citrus zest, mint, & soap in many, but I find I can sum it up as most vintage cigars have a very tea like quality for me. I know that's fairly broad as well, but many give me very specific green tea, orange pekoe, or herbal tea qualities and flavours.

Now I only wish I had the extensive stock and knowledge to be able to best pair a vintage cigar and it's perfect tea companion

[finecigar]

with vintage and pre embargo cigars I usually reserve to smoke only in the morning while I haven't had anything to eat and only water or tea to drink along with. I definitely take it slow, relax my mind and retrohale every other puff. Typically I will spend a good 80-90 minutes just on a petit corona if it's vintage so that I can spend time understanding the layers of flavors. I don't like to smoke vintage cigars around other people or in a public setting because too many distractions will take away from the cigar experience. It's kind of like laying back in a hammock and reading a special book... Vintage cigars help me to reflect on myself, a cigar of heritage, and thoughtfully spend time appreciating flavors... This is if the cigar is good and aged well. But like you said, there's plenty of crap, plain dry cardboard.

[Troels]

Good: you have to pay attention to whats there, and at best it can be great, complex and refined

Bad: the soapy and musty aspect can often be too dominant

Overall im not much into cigars with much more than five years of age. Had great except from the rule though. Coros, cazadores, lgc and cuaba piramides

[StingMeadery]

A great Vintage smoke to me is the ultimate paradox ...a symphony of complexity, in a word "everything" yet nothing....with a smattering of dusty library.

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[joeypots]

I smoked an '85 HU SW in 2010.

I don't have notes and I'm not one to tease out different flavors. It was good. Smooth and creamy with mild toasted tobacco in spades. It was one dimensional, meaning it did not evolve, except to gain a little strength. One thing. An aged cigar has a ash that is considerably thinner than the cigar. On the 47rg Julieta #2 it looked like the ash was about 45RG at most!

[TomF]

Here is a little story for you.

In 2003 a friend gave me a present of 2 3-packs of Monte #2 's that he had smuggled back from Montreal. They were packed inside a Fuente cigar box upon which he had inscribed a birthday wish. Somehow that box wound up under some books on a shelf in my bedroom, out of my humidor, and was misplaced and forgotten there...until recently.

One day my bride came downstairs after a cleanup spree in the bedrooms and handed me this box with the Monte 2's in it. When I opened it there were 4 left, one from one of the packs and the other pack was unopened. The one in the open pack was in awful shape. The wrapper was cracked and it was basically disintegrating, but showed no signs of mold or beetles. It was warped and peeling though, so I chucked it. The other three in the unopened pack were undamaged and although they appeared to be dried out they actually looked pretty good. Now I have always been taught that once cigars are allowed to dry out completely they are forevermore worthless and should be discarded. But these looked nice so I decided to put them in my humidor, separate from other cigars, to see what would happen. I just couldn't bring myself to destroy them, and boy am I glad I didn't.

When I can I smoke outside and I usually discard my nubs and butts around the yard plants and rose bushes to discourage insects and vermin. This morning my wife said that it was good, and to continue doing so. I told her she could have the old dried out cigars if she wanted to cut them up and spread around, and i went down to get out the Monte 2's. They had been in there for a couple of months and when I took them out and looked at them they looked great. The wrappers had become silky smooth and the cigars were nicely pliable with good firmness. I figured I better at least try one before giving them up to the garden so I lit one up.

Holy Moly! It tasted great! The burn was as perfect as I have ever had on a cigar. Seriously, I'm not an expert and although I've been smoking for many years I don't have any experience, with old cigars but this was one of the best cigars I'd ever had. It was full of flavor, salty, sweet, floral twang, it was all there, smooth as butter and smooth as silk through the nose, like a cigarette. The smoke just got creamier and smoother as it burned down. Just beautiful. The aroma off the nub was truly amazing! The nub was burning my lips but there was not even a sign of bitterness. Unfortunately the other two turned out to be not so good, flavorless and harsh, but that one. Wow...what happened there?!?

[CanuckSARTech]

Don't know if this was mentioned or not yet, but perfume. Fine, fragrant, light and airy perfume - like the classic stuff, not the overbearing stuff of recent years. I always seem to get that in some manner or another in decently aged cigars.