Long Term Aging Opinion

[moryc]

I searched through the forums quite a bit and found numerous discussions regarding this topic.  Everyone has their opinion and what they like with x amount of years of aging.  I'm looking to put down 4 boxes of current, regular production cigars and what is generally available for 19 years +.  Why 19 years?  My son was born in November of 2021 and I would like to put down boxes from his birth month (if I can source them) that hopefully we can smoke together when he becomes of legal smoking age (maybe a little earlier than that).  

Which cigars, in your opinion, have enough fuel to age for this long. Based on what I have been reading, my short list so far is:

BBF

Magnum 46

Juan Lopez Seleccion No. 2 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Monterey]

I have no input on the cigars, as I have never aged a box for 19 years.  However, I'm been experimenting with vacuum sealing and the difference it helps in slowing down aging.  So far with about 6 years in, I notice a huge difference in boxes vacuum sealed for 6 years and those that weren't.   I have boxes now that will go 20+ years, all vacuum sealed.

So whatever you choose, you may consider vacuum sealing the box for best results.

[DaBoot]

Age what you like to smoke… I would put the classics that I know will still be in production in 20 years, bbf, D4, 

[dominattorney]

54 minutes ago, moryc said:

I searched through the forums quite a bit and found numerous discussions regarding this topic.  Everyone has their opinion and what they like with x amount of years of aging.  I'm looking to put down 4 boxes of current, regular production cigars and what is generally available for 19 years +.  Why 19 years?  My son was born in November of 2021 and I would like to put down boxes from his birth month (if I can source them) that hopefully we can smoke together when he becomes of legal smoking age (maybe a little earlier than that).  

Which cigars, in your opinion, have enough fuel to age for this long. Based on what I have been reading, my short list so far is:

BBF

Magnum 46

Juan Lopez Seleccion No. 2 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Partagas lusitanias 

Or RJ cazadores

Probably even punch punch from that time period. 

[tjkoala]

I would also consider what kind of cigar an 18 year old would want to sit and smoke. Choosing a marathon stick would probably be a bit much for a noobie to cigars. I'd think that putting away a box as a wedding gift may be a more appropriate situation as I know I wouldn't fully appreciate a gift like this at 18.

[SCgarman]

31 minutes ago, tjkoala said:

I would also consider what kind of cigar an 18 year old would want to sit and smoke. Choosing a marathon stick would probably be a bit much for a noobie to cigars. I'd think that putting away a box as a wedding gift may be a more appropriate situation as I know I wouldn't fully appreciate a gift like this at 18.

I would seriously consider that the son may NOT even have any interest in cigars. What if he is totally against tobacco products? That will certainly be his choice as an adult to make. What if the OP is no longer alive in 20 odd years from now? Life happens and unfortunately sometimes an early demise from this life as we all have seen from the sudden death of a prominent forum member here. I am not a glass half empty person by purpose, but sometimes making plans for 20 years down the road as far as a cigar hobby goes needs to be questioned as to whether these types of plans are feasible with all the variables that can alter the outcome. 

[moryc]

53 minutes ago, tjkoala said:

I would also consider what kind of cigar an 18 year old would want to sit and smoke. Choosing a marathon stick would probably be a bit much for a noobie to cigars. I'd think that putting away a box as a wedding gift may be a more appropriate situation as I know I wouldn't fully appreciate a gift like this at 18.

I'm not planning for this to be a gift.  I'm planning to offer and if he has interest that awesome, if not I'm not going to cry about it and just smoke them.  I had my first cigar at 15, with my uncle.  I was very interested after that.

[tjkoala]

8 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

 but sometimes making plans for 20 years down the road as far as a cigar hobby goes needs to be questioned as to whether these types of plans are feasible with all the variables that can alter the outcome. 

I would agree with you here. I think maybe having a box in your collection where you hope to share one with your boy when he turns 18 is totally different than buying him a box to have when he's 18. I smoked my first cigar when I turned 18 and it really took about a decade until I was actually smoking them on a regular occasion. By that point a box my dad would have gotten me would be almost 30 years old and most likely past it's prime and there's a 0% chance I would've kept it in good condition while I was in my college years. 

Cigars aren't different than any other hobby, you certainly hope to enjoy your interests with your kid but there's a big chance that just because you love golf doesn't mean your kid won't absolutely hate golf and they're only doing it to make you happy. 

[MrBirdman]

3 hours ago, Monterey said:

So far with about 6 years in, I notice a huge difference in boxes vacuum sealed for 6 years and those that weren't.

Do you vac them with a Boveda? Planning to vac some old boxes and curious.

[Puros Y Vino]

7 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

I would seriously consider that the son may NOT even have any interest in cigars. What if he is totally against tobacco products? That will certainly be his choice as an adult to make. What if the OP is no longer alive in 20 odd years from now? Life happens and unfortunately sometimes an early demise from this life as we all have seen from the sudden death of a prominent forum member here. I am not a glass half empty person by purpose, but sometimes making plans for 20 years down the road as far as a cigar hobby goes needs to be questioned as to whether these types of plans are feasible with all the variables that can alter the outcome. 

I know several people who have laid down boxes for their sons/daughters. I think it's with the express "hope" that they may partake in the hobby.  If not, the parent can enjoy them as a memento on every birthday or save them for a wedding gift, etc.  If you can keep your dirty mitts off them and won't miss them, setting aside cigars for a decade or two is not a bad idea.  Just lay down cigars that are on the medium/bold side of things for best results.  Lots of good suggestions thus far.  I'll chime in with the following cigars that I know are good for 20+years.

Cohiba Lancero / Esplendido and CCE.  Punch DC. Lusitanias.  PSD4.  Monte 4.  RyJ Cazadores, Churchills.

[tjkoala]

3 minutes ago, moryc said:

I'm not planning for this to be a gift.  I'm planning to offer and if he has interest that awesome, if not I'm not going to cry about it and just smoke them.  I had my first cigar at 15, with my uncle.  I was very interested after that.

Fair enough, I interpreted it as buying your son a nice sports car for his 16th birthday rather than letting your son drive your nice sports car for his 16th birthday.

[moryc]

12 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

I would seriously consider that the son may NOT even have any interest in cigars. What if he is totally against tobacco products? That will certainly be his choice as an adult to make. What if the OP is no longer alive in 20 odd years from now? Life happens and unfortunately sometimes an early demise from this life as we all have seen from the sudden death of a prominent forum member here. I am not a glass half empty person by purpose, but sometimes making plans for 20 years down the road as far as a cigar hobby goes needs to be questioned as to whether these types of plans are feasible with all the variables that can alter the outcome. 

I definitely considered that he will not be interested.  If he is not, I'm just going to smoke them myself.  Of course life might happen and I might not be alive then, but I don't believe that's the right outlook to have on life.  We could have a full blown nuclear war next week and pretty much the whole humanity will be gone in 2 years.  That doesn't mean we need to stop making plans for life.  Its not a big financial strain and if nothing comes of it, it is not a big deal.

[GoodStix]

@morycas you said there are lots of different opinions.  I'll just share another approach for you to consider.

Many believe most CCs (certainly not all) are arguably best in the 5-8 year range.  Given this, I didn't lay down boxes of cigars to enjoy with my sons when they came of age.  Instead, I laid down a few good bottles of vintage port (Graham's, Taylor Fladgate) and Sauternes.  VP arguably needs about 17 years to hit its stride (see Vintage Port Site, and again opinions vary).  Sauternes with 10+ years is also excellent with cigars.  Today, my adult sons and I enjoy mature port and wine with our 5-year old CCs.  Just a thought.

Wish you many great years with your son 🙂

[Riverstyx]

I bought my son a box of CoRos with his birth month.  I know they're pricy now but I can only imagine what they will be worth in 20 years.  Cohibas will likely increase in value and have a high likelihood of being marketable in the future.  I view it as a gift - if he doesn't want them, he'll likely be able to sell them (hopefully not for meth).  

A buddy of mine got my son an 18-year old bottle of scotch to age for the next 18 years as well.  It's even inscribed with a thoughtful message on the bottle.  

[Monterey]

3 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

Do you vac them with a Boveda? Planning to vac some old boxes and curious.

 

6 hours ago, therealrsr said:

I am interested in your experience at 6 years, can you expand upon the huge difference?  I have never used vacuum sealing on cigars except involving trades.

So I have hundreds of boxes vacuum sealed.  No, I don't put a boveda pack in.  My current process is to let the cigar age for 1 year normally, 3 months if I got an older box.  I do it to let some aging, rh equilibrium  and those initial raw flavors to dissipate.  At that point, my box is rock solid at 65% (experimenting going a tad lower as well).  I vacuum seal it up at just the moment before the box crushing happens.. You can allow some air if you would like (most probably do), I just try to get as much out as possible.  I've gotten good at when to stop, it takes a bit of practice.   I wisely decided this back when I was going to Cuba a lot in 2016-late 2019.  I must have known what was going to happen!

Initial tests were done on non-cubans as I find that they don't age well.  So many wonderful non-cubans were flavorless 2-3 years later.  After 5 years I opened up my non-cubans and it was a success.  The smell when you cut open that bag.  In my mind, the cigars were just stewing in that!  They seem to have blended and evolved without losing their intensity.  Given that I started this in 2016, my experience is only 6 years, though I know others here have been doing this for a lot longer and can speak to it.  But from what I learned from them all is that I should expect some good results.

Just thinking about all those late 2018 boxes to late 2021's waiting for me for the next 20+ years.  I just bought a box of CORO here this week that I won't get to until the year 2050   Assuming I'm still alive.

I also have a vacuum sealed cigar selection in my freezer for the past 3 years.  But that is an experiment/chat planned for another time.

[Babalouie]

i did something similar when my niece was born 8 years ago.  got a box of BPC, HUPC and QdO Coronas with her birth month and year.  the intention was not really to hold onto them for her to smoke down the line, but for me to have every year around her birthday and watch them evolve has she evolves.  with 3 boxes there will be plenty left by the time she is of age to decide to partake or not, yet with how tobacco is viewed i doubt that she will try one, at least not without her mother killing me shortly thereafter.  that gives me 75 birthdays and milestones of hers to be able to enjoy them and think fondly of her.

the thing i missed doing that probably would have been better as a gift for her was to pick up a case of wine from a good vintage that could be gifted on her 21st birthday.  instead, im now looking for a solid vintage of port that i can pick up and stash away.

[dicko]

I would buy a box of cohiba for this purpose perhaps a cab of DCs of any marca

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[BrightonCorgi]

I've been vacuum sealing boxes for a few years now.  Ran out of room in the Aristocrat.  My cellar humidified and can actually go beyond 70% RH.  I put new boxes into my Aristocrat to acclimate for a few weeks and then vacuum seal before it get snug.  I've only checked one box I sealed (Noella's) to see if things are ok and they were.

It's nice to offer that experience and with amazing cigars when the time comes!

20 years from now, cigars could be highly illegal and contraband.  Our social score could be negatively impacted by being near cigars....  I hope not, but that's they way we are letting our world go.

[Bijan]

My experience with aged cigars is most cigars are not so different at 15 years. But at 20+ years there is generally a larger noticeable difference. To me they smoke fine, but they are different.

The most important thing will be good and stable storage conditions.

To answer your question as to specific cigars, the ones you listed are good. As well as any Cohibas. Never a bad idea to go with one of your personal favourites regardless of aging potential though.

[BrightonCorgi]

Imagine how much a box of 20 year old Esplendido's will be worth in 20 years? 

Any guesses?

[RDB]

If I was putting a few boxes away for 20 years, I’d try and do some dark and oily Cohibas, some Lusitanias (and maybe Shorts), some PLPC, and some Monte 2s. The specific boxes would be important: oily and pungent is the charm. Cohiba would surely be a good investment if they end up being sold.

[joeypots]

Sir Winston

MC Especial and Especial #2

Just about any Cohiba.

Aging is simple. Cuban cigars change and blossom over time but eventually expire if exposed to air too much. So put them away and don't fuss with them. I don't shrink wrap. I use this plastic wrap type stuff that's used to hold stuff together for shipping.

 

[Hammer Smokin']

21 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Imagine how much a box of 20 year old Esplendido's will be worth in 20 years? 

Any guesses?

Much less than you think. 

This is a cryptic comment, but I'd wager many of those who are purchasing today at ridiculous prices won't be around. Kids aren't smoking. 

I highly suspect that a 20 year old box of Espies will be worth more in 2022 than a 20 year old box of Espies in 2042. 

Cigars are only going to keep their value for the next 15 or so years, then we'll see a sharp decline. (unless there is a big swing in public opinion around tobacco). 

[havanaclub]

On 3/20/2022 at 6:33 AM, BrightonCorgi said:

Imagine how much a box of 20 year old Esplendido's will be worth in 20 years? 
Any guesses?

10k


I have thought about vacuum sealing but I don’t have one.
What I have done is wrapped a box of Coro (when they were 389 clearance) and some RA 2011 EL for my sons birth year in some WAX paper to try and slow the aging. I saw some old vintage CC with wax paper so I thought I would try.

Wish I bought more Coro at those prices


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[Monterey]

5 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

Much less than you think. 

This is a cryptic comment, but I'd wager many of those who are purchasing today at ridiculous prices won't be around. Kids aren't smoking. 

I highly suspect that a 20 year old box of Espies will be worth more in 2022 than a 20 year old box of Espies in 2042. 

Cigars are only going to keep their value for the next 15 or so years, then we'll see a sharp decline. (unless there is a big swing in public opinion around tobacco). 

They have been saying that for decades.

The cigar boom has screwed more to the younger crowd in numbers not seen before.  Go to any facebook or reddit cigar group to see that.  I swear, every time I go to the cigar lounge the clientele is getting younger and younger.  Cigar lounges 20 years ago were people in their 50's+  Now it is people in there 20's and 30's.  Record cigars sales (just announced on CA) only further prove that.

Though at some point. like New Zealand phasing out smoking, that your statement may be true, it just is further off than that.  Though I'm sure places like Canada will be next.