The Aging List

[Isaac]

So I thought I would ask if there has been any type of list/spread sheet for various aging of cigars.  For instance, and this is just throwing out examples..

Cigar                            Optimum Age for smoking

Montecristo 2               2 Years

HUPC                          No age necessary

Partagas Lusi              5 Years

 

 

Might help those that are looking for long term vs immediate rewards when purchasing cigas.  

[prodigy]

I like this idea. I know when you buy from 2424, Rob does a good job of offering his advice on down time. I try to buy a mix of smoke now, wait 6 months to 1 year, and 3+ years. You be reminded me that I'm low on "smoke now" stock!

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[David88]

While I haven't heard of any such list, neither have I looked for one. When a cigar is at its 'optimum' is too subjective a topic to make a general statement as it's due to personal tastes. Some people like cigars fresh, others want a few years while others still want long term aging. 

I have had a lot of cigars where one from the box tastes like it's perfect, then another seems like it will need another 2 - 3 years to smooth out. I buy more than I smoke to give me a selection of aged vs fresh. Although most of the cigars that I have with a decent amount of age on them are those that are more expensive/more elusive to buy (I still can't bring myself to touch my des dieux too often!). 

Most of the fun comes in building these lists yourself. Smoking in the name of research, what better excuse!

[joeypots]

It's really a matter of personal taste. I keep a spread sheet and use Cuban Cigars Website's collection feature to keep track of cigars and how they are progressing. If I know I've got a good box I can easily begin to sample at 5 years. I know, some say to sample earlier and cigars don't need time like they used to, but the cigars I have been buying seem to suit me when they get to that 5 year mark. I saw a post recently where someone suggested PLPCs come around well after  5 years. If a list was posted I'd put my recommend  minimum age  time.

RASS: 5 years 

Siglo III: 5 Years 

Monte #2: 4 Years

And so on

[TheFullMontecristo]

   I sample one stick from every order rott and if i really enjoy the first one I will continue to smoke from that box and won't delay or bother to age. I do find most cigars benefit from at least a few months in the humidor after arrival.

[KnightsAnole]

I believe you are looking for consistency in an innately inconsistent product. I would love to apply some hard and fast rules to Cuban cigars, alas I have yet to find them. As to aging, variable storing conditions make rules like this impossible. It's trial by error..

[Isaac]

8 minutes ago, KnightsAnole said:

I believe you are looking for consistency in an innately inconsistent product. I would love to apply some hard and fast rules to Cuban cigars, alas I have yet to find them. As to aging, variable storing conditions make rules like this impossible. It's trial by error..

Well I'm liking my post to exactly what Rob stated in some 24:24 posts. He often says to paraphrase "these would be best fut away for 2-4 years or. Smoke one now and come back in a year to see the difference"

[HeadInTheClouds]

17 minutes ago, TheFullMontecristo said:

   I sample one stick from every order rott and if i really enjoy the first one I will continue to smoke from that box and won't delay or bother to age. I do find most cigars benefit from at least a few months in the humidor after arrival.

+1 I do this for every order I get. Its either "Hey this is great as is" or "Nap time for 2-3months". I dont have the room to be aging stuff for years.

[ElJavi76]

I just bought tupperdor gear cause I want to age stuff long term. Oh yeah, and cause my coolidor is running out of room. 

I got my stuff on Sunday. Laid cedar inserts down and put humdification in there. I'm at 65%  already. Connie As I bought recently are ready to smoke but I might buy a few more boxes and let them sit untouched for a while. What I like about a tupperdor... You can go with unopened boxes. Coolidor, not so much with trays in there and what not. 

I even like the idea of buying things in pairs. Now n laters?

Cheers men!

[prodigy]

I just bought tupperdor gear cause I want to age stuff long term. Oh yeah, and cause my coolidor is running out of room. 
I got my stuff on Sunday. Laid cedar inserts down and put humdification in there. I'm at 65%  already. Connie As I bought recently are ready to smoke but I might buy a few more boxes and let them sit untouched for a while. What I like about a tupperdor... You can go with unopened boxes. Coolidor, not so much with trays in there and what not. 
I even like the idea of buying things in pairs. Now n laters?
Cheers men!

For the life of me I can not understand what you've just said. You can't put a box of cigars into a cooler, but you can 0ut them into a Tupperware container? Maybe I'm just mis interpreting what you said.

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[shlomo]

Way too many variables to come up with even a halfway standard list.

Buy and smoke. 

No good? Wait a bit, try again.

Good? Smoke sparingly.

Great? Smoke regularly.

And this is ignoring the variables found within each cigar as well as the cigar smoker's recent experience (state of mind, food eaten, time of day, etc...) and environment.

[JohnS]

4 minutes ago, prodigy said:

For the life of me I can not understand what you've just said. You can't put a box of cigars into a cooler, but you can 0ut them into a Tupperware container? Maybe I'm just mis interpreting what you said.

(They) Probably mean that cigars are a little easier to shift or move around in a tupperdor than a coolidor?

Incidentally, tupperdor/coolidor solutions benefit most from cool, dark conditions where temperature is stable, just like traditional humidor storage.

In regards to an aging list, I concur with the sentiment here that such a list is highly subjective and personal. I'd add that, in general, one ages to improve blend (to taste) and this normally takes longer for certain cigars.

[El Presidente]

brad likes his Monte 2 with 10 years down. I like mine with 3-5. Benny Ng 20 years, Domingo Pereira 12 months. 

...that is why it is pretty hard to give absolutes. You can only poll it and take a mean. 

[earthson]

7 hours ago, Isaac said:

HUPC                          No age necessary

 

7 hours ago, David88 said:

While I haven't heard of any such list, neither have I looked for one. When a cigar is at its 'optimum' is too subjective a topic to make a general statement as it's due to personal tastes. Some people like cigars fresh, others want a few years while others still want long term aging. 

Most of the fun comes in building these lists yourself. Smoking in the name of research, what better excuse!

 

Couldn't agree with David more. Couldn't disagree with Isaac's assessment of the HUPC more - I find HUPC a waste with less than 2 years bare minimum (best with 5-7 before intensity starts fading).

It's subjective to taste. The best you can do is see where most people's opinions lie, experiment and perhaps across several boxes, form your own opinion! Happy hunting!

[Isaac]

Just now, earthson said:

 

 

Couldn't agree with David more. Couldn't disagree with Isaac's assessment of the HUPC more - I find HUPC a waste with less than 2 years bare minimum (best with 5-7 before intensity starts fading).

It's subjective to taste. The best you can do is see where most people's opinions lie, experiment and perhaps across several boxes, form your own opinion! Happy hunting!

 

I said those were all expamples and in no way were to be taken literally.  

[earthson]

Right. See my second paragraph.

[Stogieninja]

For the life of me I can not understand what you've just said. You can't put a box of cigars into a cooler, but you can 0ut them into a Tupperware container? Maybe I'm just mis interpreting what you said.

 

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By "cooler" maybe he means a wine cooler filled with with drawers, vs perhaps a large plastic tote?

[prodigy]

By "cooler" maybe he means a wine cooler filled with with drawers, vs perhaps a large plastic tote?

I'm just confused as to how a box of cigars would fit into one and not the other. They are both large, open storage containers. If your storage options don't allow you to put a box of cigars in it, there are lots of cheap and effective ways to get around that. Those methods being the two that he is using, so that's why I'm confused.

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[JR Kipling]

Even preferences in terms of strength vary. Some guys like to smoke em fairly soon for the nic kick, others like to wait for them to mellow a bit.

 

 

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[PigFish]

There are your cigars and everyone else's!

There are your tastes and there is everyone else's...!

There will be your list, and there will be everyone else's...

I don't know how many times I have written that there are no hard and fast rules about cigars. There are tastes, yours, mine and others, and there are certainly generalities, again filtered by one or more person's tastes.

Forget the rules guys! Okay, I say store a little dryer. That is a general practice of most seasoned smokers. But who needs a friggin' guide??? "How to be a Cuban cigar smoker in 5 easy lessons." Be your own guide! There really is no one out there that has tastes superior to your own. Buy what you like. Smoke what you like. Smoke what you like when you like to smoke it.

Aging guidelines, my opinion, a load of crap!

Smoke what you like today. Tomorrow may never come.

Cheers! -Piggy

[ElJavi76]

3 hours ago, prodigy said:

For the life of me I can not understand what you've just said. You can't put a box of cigars into a cooler, but you can 0ut them into a Tupperware container? Maybe I'm just mis interpreting what you said.

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All I'm suggesting is you can add SLBs and Dress Boxes directly into a tupperdor and stack them up. My coolidor has racks and on those racks I have cedar trays. You can get a little more vertical in a tupperdor, but I'm sure there are folks who pull out the racks and use that bottom space as they wish. 

Attached is a pic of my coolidor from months ago before I really stacked it full. Not much room in there to add say an SLB of CoRo's. However, in a tupperdor you've got freedom to stack vertically. I don't know many people who have coolidors and don't use the drawers like you see below. 

The intent of my comment was to say I can buy boxes to age and never even open them... Stash them in tupperdor and have space to stack them as tall as my container allows. Didn't mean to throw any curve balls.

Cheers

[Hurltim]

Use Rob's Suggestions as a guide to start, and then let your tastebuds adjust accordingly. That's pretty much what I did.

I have a 7 year old box of HUPC's that I can't keep my hands off of and I know, KNOW they can age another 5+. What I need is another 7 year old box... AND a 12 YO box. LOL!

The same goes for my HUPC  '14's. Just friggin tasty. No knees, no elbows, vibrant and tasty so they get smoked!

I have buddies that don't even think of touching Cohibas for at least three years. 

To each his own  

[FatPete]

9 hours ago, earthson said:

 

 

Couldn't agree with David more. Couldn't disagree with Isaac's assessment of the HUPC more - I find HUPC a waste with less than 2 years bare minimum (best with 5-7 before intensity starts fading).

It's subjective to taste. The best you can do is see where most people's opinions lie, experiment and perhaps across several boxes, form your own opinion! Happy hunting!

That's my experience too with HUPC.?

[prodigy]

All I'm suggesting is you can add SLBs and Dress Boxes directly into a tupperdor and stack them up. My coolidor has racks and on those racks I have cedar trays. You can get a little more vertical in a tupperdor, but I'm sure there are folks who pull out the racks and use that bottom space as they wish. 
Attached is a pic of my coolidor from months ago before I really stacked it full. Not much room in there to add say an SLB of CoRo's. However, in a tupperdor you've got freedom to stack vertically. I don't know many people who have coolidors and don't use the drawers like you see below. 
The intent of my comment was to say I can buy boxes to age and never even open them... Stash them in tupperdor and have space to stack them as tall as my container allows. Didn't mean to throw any curve balls.
Cheers

Now I know why i was confused. That's not a coolidor, that's a wineador. Thanks for clarifying.

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[ElJavi76]

2 hours ago, prodigy said:

Now I know why i was confused. That's not a coolidor, that's a wineador. Thanks for clarifying.

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The confusion was mine in terminology. I googled coolidor... I see the wineador disparity. Thanks for the clarification. 

Cheers