Aging Cigars

[Str8BlkCoffee]

I have a question pertaining to storage of Cigars. I often hear of people telling others to let them "breathe" when aging. Is this primarily due to the releasing of ammonia as the tobacco ages?

In the pipe world they would rather have the tobacco remain unopened/sealed for as much time as possible to allow the tobacco to age and further ferment. Virginia tobaccos actually begin to show crystals as the sugar content comes to the surface. There are tins of old 20+ year old tobacco that have swollen with "goodness" and they sell for hundreds of dollars for a few ounces. 

Renowned pipe tobacco blender Greg Pease had this to say:

"Once the seal of the tin is broken, the delicate balance present in that little ecosystem is permanently altered. You can't go back! So, once that tin is open, either smoke its contents fairly quickly, or transfer it to air-tight containers, like bail-top canning jars. The aging process from this point on will be different, but the tobacco will remain in fine condition for your enjoyment as long as it's kept in good condition. (The plastic lids on my tins will keep the tobacco in find shape for anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months, depending on the ambient temperature and humidity. Just keep an eye on it!) This is the reason, by the way, that I cellar 2-oz tins, rather than the 8-oz ones. Once I open that tin, I want to smoke its contents as quickly as possible to get the maximum enjoyment from my years of patience. It's like a fine wine - cellar it for a long time, but drink it fairly quickly."

Is this partly why some like Tubos for long term storage? The micro-anaerobic environment helps the tobacco develop in flavor as well as the physical protection afforded by the storage in the aluminum tube. The same with Cabs vs other methods of packaging? 

 

[CaptainQuintero]

  The consensus that I've been exposed to has always been to keep cigars sealed up as much as possible and tubes/cabs etc give the best results.

  Possibly decades ago when cigars arrived from Cuba stinking from the ammonia and needed a couple of years or more just to get rid of that they might have been stored differently, but that's getting back into the 70's/80's at least.

  There is a lot of information knocking around from the old days, like licking a cigar (They used to be covered in a funny coating) that doesn't apply anymore.

[NSXCIGAR]

General opinion is that less ambient air provides for a longer aging process but better long-term results. More ambient air produces quicker results at the expense of long-term results. By long-term it's usually assumed 10+ years.

[Ryan]

Somebody, who had been aging cigars much longer than me, once told me "That nice smell you get when you open a box of aged cigars doesn't go back in the box when you close it."

To me that makes sense, something has to be leaving those cigars, or their immediate environment, to give you that smell. I keep boxes closed and in ziplock bags for aging.

Ammonia off cigars on the shelves is rarer now than it was 15-20 years ago. Maybe the cigars are spending longer in the "Escaparate" in the factory than they did then. I have noticed a slight uptick in ammonia from fresh boxed cigars in the last 3-4 years. That will dissipate eventually though.