Buying aged cigars


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Depends-are you talking about aged from a vendor or P2P? I've bought from both and will only buy from established members and I've managed to pock up some nice stock with 5-15 years of age on them over the past 2-3 years. I generally won't pay a hige premium for vintage and it's nice to have a source where you can pick up aged stock that is the same price as fresh stock.

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Recently paid a bit of a (approximately 15%) premium for a box of 2002 SLR Lonsdales as the inventory was down to a handful and it was from a decent vendor.  The cigars taste great.  It was the first time ever for me, buying anything aged.  Generally speaking it is not a good buy and not worth the extra coin for me.  

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I like the mellowed flavors and smoothness of aged cigars so I buy them.  I have not buying cigars long enough to have my own aged stock.  I am happy with most of my aged purchases which are all from online vendors because that has been my only source so far.  I'm sure as I continue on through the sport of cigars other opportunities will arise and I will explore those as well.  Some aged stock comes without a premium but most will cost a couple dollars more per stick.   

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Never chased vintage cigars .

always aged my own .

now I get the last laugh ... Most of the "aged" stuff from vendors is 10 or 15 years younger than the stuff I am smoking . Private deals are different but I don't do that either .

patience ... In the long run ... More satisfying than instant gratification .

derrek 

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1 hour ago, Notsocleaver said:

Buying some aged stock is kinda a rite of passage when it comes to Cuban cigars. The progression I've observed goes something like this:

Buy a box of something and really like it -> Buy an aged box and like it even more -> buy a bunch of high quality boxes to lay down yourself

A lot of guys are already well past stage 3 and will tell you to save your money and skip the intermediate step. I don't think you can know if you like aged cigars without trying them and I don't think waiting around for 5+ years to find out is a good idea either.

I agree with this but feel it's important to also understand that the older a cigar, the more unknown variables exist.

Taking your thought train could lead you to the conclusion a marca isn't worth aging (and depending on cost, you might have priced out a larger sampling - wide enough to get a good read).

In regards to all things cigar, patience, diligence, objectiveness & adaptive response are huge.

Figure out best you can what you want to do based on information you can gather, implement, observe outcome and continue towards YOUR goal.

The hole is only as deep as you are willing to admit it is.  I am of the belief that I'm a coin and the well is without end.

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Agreed with that. It's why it's important to constantly sample a box over years to see how they evolve. After several years of doing this and many more boxes, you'll eventually smoke a young cigar and say, wow, I bet this will age really well. Then go buy half a dozen boxes and lay them down.

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I stay away from aged because of risk potential. Never know if someone had a humidor issue where they let them get too dry, bug infestation, high rate of construction issues etc and trying to comp their loss by dumping them at a high markup. Just too much can be wrong with those sticks. 

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11 hours ago, JohnS said:

It depends on what is on offer. I'm much more inclined to be tempted by discontinued aged stock  such as Trinidad Robusto Extras or Diplomáticos No 4's and 5's. 

The only Robusto Extras that I see are $40-45 per stick. Hard to justify

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My stock ages because I buy more than I smoke.  As derrek pointed out, you will only have to wait a while before your aged is older than many vendors aged.

If you prefer aged smokes and just cannot wait, then spend the money.  

If you see a box and they look amazing and you can afford them, then buy them.  I am not sure you can go wrong.  If you decide you don't like them (flavor profile vs. poor quality-it is sh**ty to trade poor quality) there is always someone who will want to trade for them.

 

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@topdiesel sums it up for me pretty well. Buy about triple what you can smoke and you'll have a ton of aged stock in a few years. I've purchased Vintage collection stock before and have had good and bad experiences. Overall, I prefer to age my own.

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Thanks for all the input guys. I've been at this cigar thing for about 8 years. 6 of those years have all been cc. I'd like to think I have a good stash going, probably around 500 cigars give or take. About a year ago I got really into chasing regional cigars for some reason (Instagram). And what I've learned from this is, regional cigars are a gimmick most of the time and I do t like to waste money on them anymore. Are some amazing and I'm glad I have them... Hell yes, especially the 2 slbs of Ramon allones ciestiales finos I've gone through, or the Canadian Vegas I am starting to love. But then there are the britanicas or the Swiss perfectos that don't come close. I paid like 30 dollars a stick for those bolivars... Crazy. 

 

My point being, I'm focusing solely on regular production from here on. Not forever and im not going to say if something pops up I have to have that I won't change my mind on a whim. Basically I can focus my money on building a great collection for the future but I'm not sure what I will really like with age. So I think I will do as some suggested and try some aged cigars here and there and focus on aging my own.

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Depends on the marca. I like hoyo & upmann and both marcas need a couple of years. Would pay a bit more for aged ones but gladly i can get boxes with 3+ years at regular(low) price in the czech republic and then there are not far from their prime(5-6). Didnt enjoy the real old cigars(10y+) i had, too subtle in flavor. Stronger marcas like bolivar & montecristo are best within the first 3y anyway imo.

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Buying aged cigars has been hit and miss for me. I had some ones buying moderately aged (5 years) from a reputable vendor at a premium of 12-15%. I've also found 2-3 year old stock at vendors from time to time, and bought at retail without premium. I did try some 10 YO stock from one vendor and was disappointed. Unfortunately, I have also bought aged cigars from individuals that were disappointing and quite possibly fake.

   

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3 hours ago, Sophistic said:

Depends on the marca. I like hoyo & upmann and both marcas need a couple of years. Would pay a bit more for aged ones but gladly i can get boxes with 3+ years at regular(low) price in the czech republic and then there are not far from their prime(5-6). Didnt enjoy the real old cigars(10y+) i had, too subtle in flavor. Stronger marcas like bolivar & montecristo are best within the first 3y anyway imo.

Some marcas age better I suppose. But I've almost always found 3-5 years never hurts and almost always improves the balance and flavor of just about every cuban cigar I've tried. I've also successfully aged some of my stock for well over 10 years, and almost every one has been outstanding... one such example I posted a review on is the Punch Monaraca tube, a near perfect score in my experience, and another is a Punch RS#12, a heck of a cigar. I also have some 2001 Partagas ELs, and they are smoking quite delicious at this point, but I would say they have faded slightly in flavor but improved in balance at the same time, so I'm quite pleased with them.

Having said that though, I think aging beyond 5 years is not going to make much difference in the overall flavor. The difference between 5, 10 and 15 years of aging is minimal compared to the difference between a 6 month and 5 year aged vitola. 

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Nothing wrong with purchasing aged stock. And simply the only way to access discontinued stock if you didn't jump on the train at times of production.

But: Carefully assess quality and provenance, and critically, really critically decide on "your" personal valuation of said sticks. Always a good reference point for me is considering, would I buy that cigar over another current production box of, let's say Sir Winstons, Connie A, Sig IV, CCE etc, or even a few more boxes of my beloved BCJ for laying down. That always helps me in a kind of groundtruthing - and more often than not I turn out giving it a pass.... :lol:

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I've been looking for younger aged stock (1-4 years) in CC's that I have tried and liked so far just to get a bit ahead of the aging curve and not spend the coin for vintage stock. I don't see myself aging much more that 4 years but of course, that may change by not being able to smoke all the boxes I buy. :)

Where it gets scary for me is looking at aged boxes of say an Espy. 5-8 years and almost 700 a box. Flying blind on something like that is a lot more daunting than say a <$300 box of 4 year old HDM Epi's.

I have yet to convince myself to pull the trigger on something like an aged box of Coro's or Espy's.

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I don't buy aged stock but I do use a vendor that will give me an inventory list with box code and date listed. This allows me to pick cigars that have some box age and get a head start on something I want to lay down. 

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