Cooler aging questions


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Hey all! Im hoping to get a little advice on my aging coolers. So I have read through many many posts on aging cigars and using coolers, and because of that, years ago I invested in my first cooler and have added more since. I do have a large mix of NC and CC but I do keep them separate. My NC I smoke daily and feel that outside of some of my cigars (opus x, Davidoff and Padron 1000 series), they typically do not benefit as much as CC do from age. My NC cigars are in a 150qt cooler and then are compartmentalized into smaller tupperware, each with a Boveda. I used to use cedar shelves but they seemed to cause too much fluctuation, so I dumped those and went this route and couldn't be happier.

My CC are in two 150qt coolers and are always full boxes, some are untouched and some I pull cigars out every 6 months or so to see where they are at. I had read and been told by two people that because they are in such a large space it might be worth putting my boxes that I am not going to touch for years into ziploc bags within these coolers. Im wondering if this is worth doing? I have a ton of ziploc bags I bought specifically for new boxes of cigars as they come in, I separate them in a smaller cooler, each in a ziploc bag and let them acclimate with their own Boveda. The reasoning I was given was that restricting the airflow when I get in and out of these coolers may help with the aging process on the boxes Im not touching. What are your opinions? 

I guess some of this might seem like overkill but as we all know this hobby is expensive and with the money I have invested I want my cigars to have the best possible environment for the desired outcome. 

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I have several coolers of CC. They're the smaller, I think around 40 quart, ones that hold about 20 boxes on average. In each, I have a couple of cigar coffins filled with kitty litter, sprinkled with some distilled water. I just tetris the boxes in around the coffins and have found that it holds very steady. I throw an accu rite hygro in each one and check every three months or so, and it's been rock solid for a couple of years now.

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I've heard of wrapping boxes in wax paper to slow the air exchange, and that the slower cigars age by minimizing and managing air exchange, the better they turn out after some indeterminate time...

I'm not that hardcore, and just prefer to let my boxes marinate until I feel like getting to them.

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Temp and humidity the more I ask the more different responses I get, as with everything else I'm sure personal taste plays a large part. My curiosity is about long term aging and short term if different settings are required, the effects ,pros con. In talking with friends smoking same cigars purchased at  similar times , different humidity appears to result in different smoking results. I would love to have others thoughts on temp and humidity.

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Sorry for the long time to respond, been a busy week. So I wont put the cigar boxes into ziplock bags, but there isn't much air exchange or airflow within my coolers or my tupperware for my NC cigars, really only when I open them up. Maybe Ill have to start opening them all up at least once a week or two. With as many cigars as I have they will all have some age on them before I smoke them all so I want to make sure they are in the best environment. I will say my Boveda packs keep it at 64-66% at all times, so no huge fluctuations. Temperature in my house is always 65-70 max. 

As far as my comment on NC not aging well, I think that there are certainly better NCs to age than others. As I stated Padron 1000 series age very well, Opus x are great fresh and aged, God of Fire, etc. Some cigars, are not meant to age though and in most cases already have age on them before they are sold, anything Liga Privada makes is like that. I have a box of Undercrown cigars that were my first box purchase, never smoked any out of the box and forgot about it. I just had some with my brother a week ago and they were not nearly as good as fresh ones. As stated above taste is subjective, but many NCs are made and sold at a flavor profile that the blender intends on you experiencing as sold. 

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This is a good thread, thanks to everyone who contributed. I've been smoking for 15+ years but just recently decided to get serious and get on the CC train. Threads like these are exactly what I need to start educating myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Welcome to the forum gentlemen.

I suppose when someone bottles the 'age agent' and tells me the vapor pressure for it, I will believe some of this aging airflow nonsense.

My advice... Never pick a second rate cigar while you wait for a (presumably) better cigar to age. Life is too short to smoke second rate cigars!

If I had to unwrap my cigars every time I wanted to smoke one, it would drive me nuttier than I am... already...

Temperature and humidity both play a role in PMC (percent moisture content). When you pick settings to store, you are not really choosing 'an rH.' You are choosing a desired PMC. You cannot change one without affecting the other. Many  have written extensively on the topic. You can search Pigfish and PMC or percent moisture content and read a lot about what I have written (for what it is worth) and how it pertains to tobacco, desiccants etc.

Enjoy the forum mates.

Cheers! -the Pig

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PigFish I couldn't agree with you more on the second rate cigars part. I used to sit on cigars that were "special or limited edition" for that right moment. Now I smoke what I am in the mood for, having a Tatuaje TAA 2015 (which I have multiple boxes of), where before I would have sat on them for a very long time since they are such a limited release. Great NC by the way. And honestly the best cigar I have ever had is always the one Im smoking at that moment.. 

I have read so many articles over the years, and generally don't post much anywhere, but I had to ask the questions above because as we know, cigars to anyone who is serious about this hobby are like children lol. I want to make sure they have the best environment possible, that is why I abandoned my humidors 4 years back and went to coolers, the environment is so consistent with Bovedas and the airtight seal. They aren't pretty but its the price I pay to make sure its consistent. 

A secondary question I have to the ones I mentioned above is: I keep hearing that cigars like wine have a downside, as in they peak and then sometimes decline. Im sure this is subjective, but I do have a box of SLR Asia pacificos 09 that just never seemed to hit the spot so to speak. At this point they are just aging in the hopes that they get better. Do you guys think there is a downside on cigars? Or do they "peak" multiple times? I will say they are very smooth, and the flavors are there, but at times they are rough around the edges in my opinion, but the flavors are somewhat light. 

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They do have downtime. The fun part is to find out how long by smoking 1 after every few years. I have a box of H.Upmann Mag46 from 2008. They were light cigars from the beginning. Smoked them throughout the years and bam, last year, they are so complex and some flavors came foward. Took them 8 years to taste awesome!!

 

Same goes for my Cohiba Siglo IV from 2006. They are now perfect after 10 years. On the other hand, my Hoyo Petit Robusto from 2005 can't seem to get better although my 2006 got better with time... go figure...

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Good day guys. truly agree with you and if you do a key word search for pretty much any of Piggy's search you will come back with tons of great advice. I stopped wrapping all in plastic long ago, and if a box came wrapped in lovely paper, but I had no intention of opening it for a long while, I kept it wrapped if I knew and trusted the seller.

Unlike my wonderful fellow members here, I only buy cigars from a couple of vendors who I have bought from for years. I have never been to Cuba and would not buy blindly. Go figure.

CB

 

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I think one must ask ones self... "Is every cigar in a box the same?" Then you can go about life believing in a fallacy.

Instead the curious will acclimatize a whole box of cigars and go about smoking them all. If the box is Cuban and any bit average, one will find all the vacuum periods, and dead spots, alive and lovely cigars in one box... You may just discover that the cigars you though were "sick" were just duds and the lively ones, well they are good no matter the age.

Drawing a conclusion about every cigar, or every cigar in one box by testing one cigar every now and again simply flies in the face of the individuality of the cigar.

While blond jokes can be funny, I can assure you that every 'blond' is not a dope because of the color of his or her hair!!!

Cheers! -Piggy

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Interesting to read this today. I received a PSP box JL1 today. As soon as I removed the paper it arrived in I thought "Well damn, I'm not even gonna smoke these for a year, why not leave it in the paper?"

its not a bag or parchment, but perhaps it would be on the side of restricted airflow debate. I may do that with some I have coming.

then again I could be at deaths door in a month and I know my last thought would likely be "Wish I had tried one of those Siglo V....croak" lol.

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1 hour ago, Jimmy_jack said:

For those in warmer climates, what temp does your cooler stay? I keep my house in the south east US at about 72-74. Will the cooler keep that temp as well? I'm thinking that may be above optimal. My Wineador is 65/65

Do you truly notice any objective difference in the smoking experience when sourcing your cigars from either location? If you do, then one is better than the other. The test is simple.

You live in the south east you say. I would never store cigars a 65F, especially there. You remove a cigar, and it is potentially subject to being doused with water vapor. If your AC is adequate and runs all the time removing the water from the air that is of course a positive. But I see no need to refrigerate cigars far below room temperature (MHO). I am guessing that if I were sampling these cigars, I would find the ones in the cooler, better, unless you keep them extremely wet.

72-74 is not going to damage anyone's cigars. Forcing them to a cold wet state, would make them too damp for my taste, but they are not my cigars...

Cheers! -Piggy

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