Vintage cigars. Is the juice worth the squeeze?

[El Presidente]

Vintage.....say 15 years +

When you have been around this hobby for a while, you are going to have the opportunity to smoke a few vintage cigars be they direct purchase, trade or gracious gift. 

Which of the poll oprions most closely mirrors your overall experience? 

 

[LLC]

Any vintage cigars I smoke are from my own stash of cigars I purchased. I went with generally blown away. Of course not always but generally. It may be because a lot of the boxes I put away years ago I had some from and they were great at the time and I felt would age well. I did that enough in the early days to be able to benefit from it now and for years to come. 

[ha_banos]

He said it there. Age your own.

[HarveyBoulevard]

I have traded off anything over 8 years except for my two daughter's birthday boxes.  Generally not impressed but then again what would I expect from a goat's palate.  I'm happy between 3-5.  Not worth the coin for me to smoke or keep 'vintage'.

[Chibearsv]

I really like the funky earthy flavors I’ve had from vintage cigars. I don’t if that’s due to the age or the blend that was used but it’s something I rarely get in younger cigars. 

[Corylax18]

I've had some absolutely stunning aged cigars. Some Davidoff's from the late 80s, 1952 partagas, a number of cigars from the 70s. All have been in that "blown away good" category. But, most of those where gifted or through trades. I don't regularly feel the need to spend the extra $$$ that's associated with cigars that old. 

In general I agree that aging your own is the way to go. But we really dont know how more modern cigars will age, different tobacco strains, different leaf prep, different customer tastes. The cigars we're getting today just arent the same as the stuff from 20+ years ago. 

I do have some 15-20 year old cigars that I've beena aging for years now and in general they have not let me down. Although, as LLC mentioned, I've already smoked from most of the boxes and guessed they would be good candidates. 

[ha_banos]

I'm not up to speed with post Havana2000. But a lot of stuff post 2000 has been standing up very well. From 5 years up to 20. Holds up to 50, 40, 30 years examples nicely. I'm not smoking many pre 2000 cigars. But I've had a good few and have some stewing still. All in all I think the futures fine.

[BossHogg]

I've have some that are out right amazing, others that are just ok. 

But I will always agree with the 5-8 year mark.

[Lamboinee]

1 hour ago, HarveyBoulevard said:

traded off anything over 8 years

But did the cigars get better over the course of that 8years? Or did they stay the same/similar as when you bought them? I have little experience with 15+ vintage smokes. Right now, I'm still trying to learn whether there is a

 reasonable expectation of improvement over 3-15 years. If there is an expectation of improvement, then Ill figure out how much improvement there could be and what I might be willing to pay for it.... My experiment should be done in about 40 years, so my work is solely for the betterment of future generations. God bless me.  

[targa88]

For the most part I have stuck with cigars that I have purchased - young and have now aged.

There seems to be a ubiquitous window of opportunity for some sticks. Flavour profile evolving and improving for the most part.

That being said it has been a mixed bag - not so much in "bad" cigars but more like they are fading away. No progression / evolution beyond the 15 year mark.

I would only say that through the vagaries of harvest/production, etc....I have not experience beyond 25 year old cigars. 

[PigFish]

Aging is coincidental to hoarding. I did not vote.

I am blown away by cigars that I am blown away by, and frankly, how well it was made and vitola have everything to do with it, and age, very little. If the Diplomaticos #1 were still made, I would not have to hoard a cashe of them.

If you did not hoard Coronas, Lonsdale and Marevas you don't have many to smoke now.

-the Pig

[HarveyBoulevard]

16 minutes ago, Lamboinee said:

But did the cigars get better over the course of that 8years? Or did they stay the same/similar as when you bought them? I have little experience with 15+ vintage smokes. Right now, I'm still trying to learn whether there is a

 reasonable expectation of improvement over 3-15 years. If there is an expectation of improvement, then Ill figure out how much improvement there could be and what I might be willing to pay for it.... My experiment should be done in about 40 years, so my work is solely for the betterment of future generations. God bless me.  

I find that they start to go downhill for my palate once they get to 10 years and some even before then. Aged cigars are not my preference.

[Lamboinee]

1 minute ago, PigFish said:

Aging is coincidental to hoarding. I

So, you say there is no benefit to aging? 

I agree that the aging concept plays nicely with my compulsion to buy cigars which is probably stage 1 hoarding. I also fear that the "cigars aren't what they used to be when I was younger and they cost $15" is just my pathetic version of my dad tolling the virtues of dirt roads, leaded gas, steal bodies cars, and Ronald Reagan. I'm also prepared to accept that aging is overated, inconsequential, or exists on some kind of spectrum relative to space and with too many variables to comprehend.... But I can't get rid of the thought that my gut says that there is at least some objective benefit to aging in some way if even just to let the cigar farts dissipate or the humidity acclimate. Morpheus, I need a red pill please. 

[Lamboinee]

4 minutes ago, HarveyBoulevard said:

Aged cigars are not my preference.

So, no preference whatsoever between a 2 year old cc and a 7 year old cc regardless of brand/crop year? Just pick em based on how good they look and feel at time of purchase and smoke em when you want em? I can get down with that I suppose. Especially since I question the reliability of many age statements from a company that rarely makes substantive statements about actually aging and tobacco composition and  also issues release dates that seem to be off by at least 1-2 years. 

[sjbliven]

I went with mixed bag. I have found that cigars that I have held (provided they were good 20 years ago) have been intoxicating to me. I have not had the same results from vintage cigars that I have procured recently. Obviously storage is a huge factor, and admittedly, it’s possible that I have been gifted, purchased or otherwise acquired cigars that weren’t as old as advertised. Fortunately, I have examples from both sources to continue the experiment with!

I will say that to me a vintage cigar, when good, is an unmatched experience.

[HarveyBoulevard]

9 minutes ago, Lamboinee said:

So, no preference whatsoever between a 2 year old cc and a 7 year old cc regardless of brand/crop year? Just pick em based on how good they look and feel at time of purchase and smoke em when you want em? I can get down with that I suppose. Especially since I question the reliability of many age statements from a company that rarely makes substantive statements about actually aging and tobacco composition and  also issues release dates that seem to be off by at least 1-2 years. 

That sums it up perfectly. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I like clean aftertaste of vintage cigars and "another thing going" flavor that comes with time.  That being said, I like punchy cigars with a 2 month old box code too.  I wouldn't pay a premium for vintage cigars for what they go for today.  Just don't care enough.  Would rather have two current box code boxes than one 20 year old box.

[Puros Y Vino]

"Nothing ventured nothing gained". I took this approach to vintage cigars. Around 2010/11 I was actively hunting some down.  I've had some great luck with them. I got to smoke various Cuban Davidoff's.  Habanos from the 1940's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's.  Clear Havanas from 1925, 1930, 1935, 1944, 1951, 1954.  I have one Clear Havana from 1910 I have yet to sample. Some 1974/75 SIr Winstons I grabbed were all 100 solid points each. There is a real finesse to an aged/vintage cigar.  A 1970 Davidoff No1 is still my all-time best cigar thus far. Some of the sticks cost me big bucks then.  TBH, far cheaper than any new stock today.  Some were absolute bargains.  I'm probably done chasing them now. Given the price increases and competition for older boxes.  I've also been able to sock away boxes from when I first started smoking and now those are "vintage".  So, I've got a lot of old cigars to still choose from.  For me, it has been worth the effort and money. 

[benfica_77]

Have had limited experience with 15+ ....just some Fonseca's from a box dated 1987. I was shocked on how much body and flavour they still had. It gives me hope that boxes i'm aging now will be able to hold for some time so I don't need to rush smoking them. 

I'm curious for the gents here that have aged their own 15+ .....how many were from boxes that were vacuum sealed and how did those cigars smoke? 

[Islandboy]

39 minutes ago, Puros Y Vino said:

There is a real finesse to an aged/vintage cigar. 

This is exactly my summary lately with my limited breadth of experiences, almost all of which have come fairly recently. I’m doing my best to age my own, and reaping the benefits now that I can regularly pull a 5-7 year old cigar out of my humidor. But the 15-20 year old cigars I’ve had the opportunity to smoke lately are having a profound effect on my smoking experiences. Not only has there been a consistent next-level finesse and refinement of flavors that I’m coming to really appreciate, they’ve also been the finest performing cigars I’ve ever had. I’m definitely mostly blown away.

[Tdm_86]

It’s been a mixed bag for me.

Since I hoard my own cigars, I don’t buy them with age as they’ll get there on their own. I just don’t care enough, the gains are usually incremental if there are gains at all. With most cigars, I’m happiest between ROTT and 8 years. After that, to me, they’re sometimes different but not necessarily better. 
Most of the approximately 50 old (30+ yr old) cigars I’ve had ranged from good to bad, but nothing truly extraordinary. Many were lackluster, a few were very good but objectively not that special. For the premium that usually comes with them, I’m not interested.

That being said, the absolute best cigars I’ve ever had were a Davidoff 80 aniversario that was very kindly gifted to me (I was born in ‘86, birthyear cigar and all) / a Davidoff No. 1 that I was told was from the mid 70s and a Bolivar Churchill from a tubo that was supposedly from the early ‘90s. I smoked those all fairly recently, so between 30 and 45 yrs old at the time of smoking. 

[anacostiakat]

Fortunate enough to in many cases adhere to the two box rule.  Typically if the fresh box was good then I stashed the other.  So in many cases I ended up with cigars I liked that actually benefitted from ageing.  Sadly, that strtegery would bust the budget today.  Heh.  I do occasionally try to grab a box I can afford that has some age on it.  Have been pretty lucky on the small number of ones I was able to get.

[Boxer31]

Finally got to try one of the 1992 PG private reserve Churchills picked up over the holidays. One of the best NC I can remember. Made  me think of earlier Sir Win had many years ago.   I was lucky enough to try some older aged Cubans when I was younger with my grandfather and uncles (but was too dumb and not refined enough to really appreciate).   Have to wait a few more years for some of mine to get there,  but why wait if they are enjoyable now light ‘em up. 

[Capn_Jackson]

I have had one cigar that was 73 years old, and it was astounding how good it tasted. I have another in my humidor, from the same member, which I think is nearly as old. Can’t remember the date on that one, have to look. Had some others that were twenty years or more aged, and I have never been let down. I currently have some that I purchased with a few years on them, which now have many more years of age just because I like to rotate around my stock. Sometimes I’ll go through a phase of focusing on one particular stick every other day or so, and let the sleeping smokes lie down a while longer. I’ve done this many times before and realized one day that I hadn’t smoked a particular stick in over a year, unintentionally. Aging as a consequence, sort of.

[PigFish]

Can we blend this thread with the vacuum thread so that the two groups can have it out????

 I want to see which ‘believers’ have the most powerful fan base! -lol