Non Cubans

[Shatner's Bassoon]

I hope this is OK to post here, but I’ve been given a few NCs and would appreciate some expert advice. I’ve only smoked a couple of NCs before and wasn’t too keen (they seemed very nicotine-heavy) but would like to give these a fair crack of the whip. I’m going to put them in a tupperdor at 69rh (unless otherwise advised). Anything else to think about? Do they need to acclimatise/do they need dry boxing etc?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[WABOOM]

Do you usually keep CC's at 69%? I would recommend NCs at 65%. And I would also let them rest for a month or more.

[ElLoboLoco]

That is not much to go on.

NC is a big big world of cigars with all sorts of ranges. 
 A Macanudo is a 180 degree turn from a Nicaraguan puro loaded with Ligero.

[djrey]

I store all my cigars (CC and NC) at 64%. They all smoke very well there for me. No need for dry boxing. What are the cigars? That will help determine whether you maybe should put some age on them or not. 

[Cairo]

19 minutes ago, WABOOM said:

Do you usually keep CC's at 69%? I would recommend NCs at 65%. And I would also let them rest for a month or more.

Agreed.

The reason you want them to rest is to let the humidity (usually kept around 70% by NC vendors) stabilize at the lower level.    My rule of thumb is one week for one percent, so that would be a five week wait to get from 70% to 65%, and then a couple of more weeks to let them stabilize at the lower level.

Some of the heavy ligero NCs do best sitting for a year or so imho--that seems to get some of the "bite" out of them--my experience is the really strong NCs are the ones that age nicely--I have a bunch of ten year old plus NCs that are much more enjoyable now than when I first purchased them.

[Shatner's Bassoon]

Thanks very much, everyone. These are from a friend of a friend, and there are - in my understanding - some Oliva, some My Father, and a couple of Davidoff. Probably no more than a dozen in total, but I’d like to give them a proper try. There are probably a couple more, but I can’t be more specific at the moment, as useless as that is. @WABOOM I keep my Cubans at 65, and would be very pleased if I could keep the NCs at the same level. The reason I asked about 69rh is that seems to be the received wisdom according to a good number of other, probably less well-informed, sources. 
 

@djrey, if I could keep them at the same level as my Cubans that would be perfect. I could store them I the desktop rather than the tupperdor. As for aging, I’m afraid I can’t be more helpful than the incomplete list above, but can’t imagine aging would do any harm. I always thought a benefit of NCs was that they were smokeable fresh?

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the lack of information.

[ElLoboLoco]

Some are smokable fresh but some require time, so many blenders and manufacturers with different methods. 

[djrey]

NC are good to go ROTT however time helps to meld the flavors together and smooth out rough spots. It can tame the pepper and spice and take away some nicotine punch. There are blends I smoke but fresh and with 6-8 years on them. Both great just different.

My advice would be age the My Father. Regardless of the blend the Garcia’s cigars always have a pepper punch and generally quite a bit more nicotine than CC. Put 2 years for maximum enjoyment, however it’ll certainly smoke fine now. 

Give Davidoff a few weeks and light up. Their blends are almost always quite light. 

The Oliva comes down to the blend. Some are heavy others are medium. If it’s a Serie V you may want to give it a year. 

[Lomey]

I keep mine between 63-65%. Makes them less harsh. I usually let then rest for at least a month. 3 or more months is ideal.

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[WABOOM]

The Oliva comes down to the blend. Some are heavy others are medium. If it’s a Serie V you may want to give it a year. 

In my opinion and experience, almost all Nicaraguans benefit greatly with more than a year of rest. And when it comes to Oliva I think Serie O, G, and V definitely get better after a good nap. I've had O's go from one dimensional pepper bombs to complex refined enjoyment. Masters Blend 3 is good fresh and doesn't get any better with age.

[djrey]

15 hours ago, WABOOM said:

 

 

In my opinion and experience, almost all Nicaraguans benefit greatly with more than a year of rest. And when it comes to Oliva I think Serie O, G, and V definitely get better after a good nap. I've had O's go from one dimensional pepper bombs to complex refined enjoyment. Masters Blend 3 is good fresh and doesn't get any better with age.

 

Yeah I totally agree. I can’t think of any cigar that (brands that I buy) doesn’t benefit from some napping. My Tatuaje stash in particular goes back to 2013 and they are great! 

[Tdm_86]

I keep my NC’s at 63-64% RH, same as my CC’s. Basically, I treat a cigar like a cigar and they all smoke great for me at that humidity level. 
Let them rest for a while and try some. The Davidoffs are hard to not like, every Davidoff I’ve had has been of impeccable quality and construction. The others you got, you might love right now or maybe you’ll decide they need rest 

[Bagman]

On 7/24/2020 at 11:05 AM, djrey said:

 

My advice would be age the My Father. Regardless of the blend the Garcia’s cigars always have a pepper punch and generally quite a bit more nicotine than CC. Put 2 years

The head guy at My Father repeatedly tells people to not age their cigars.  They release them when they are at their best.  I agree.  I had a box of them and they started out great and have gone down hill since.  Smoke them within a year max.

[djrey]

1 hour ago, Monterey said:

The head guy at My Father repeatedly tells people to not age their cigars.  They release them when they are at their best.  I agree.  I had a box of them and they started out great and have gone down hill since.  Smoke them within a year max.

I put forth the time frame cause the OP stated he didn’t like the strength of some of the NC he has had. The mellowing down you mentioned is exactly why I recommended he let them sit.