EAR: Long Term ageing of Jose Piedra and Quintero

[El Presidente]

EAR: Long term Ageing of Jose Piedra and Quintero. 

 

" from your experience, can you tell me how Jose Piedra and Quintero age over the mid to long term? I am priced out of the normal Cuban market but I see how many members enjoy JP and Quintero. I would like to lay some down but have no idea if buying to lay down JP Cazadores or Quintero Brevas for 10 years is daft. What would I expect at the end of that time?" 

 

Over to you good people. 

[NSXCIGAR]

Can't speak for Quintero and can only speak for JLP Petit Cetros but I can't tell the difference between fresh and 7+ year old Cetros. 

[MagicalBikeRide]

Similar to above, I’ve had some 5yo+ JLP and couldn’t tell much difference from those with six months down 

[GP012]

I have some '14 Quintero Favoritos that have smoothed out a bit, although I did take them out of the cardboard and into a CoRo SLB on receipt. Maybe there's some Cohiba magic involved. 🤣 

It will be interesting to compare against the '20 A/T's in a few years.

[TacoSauce]

Someone pointed out to me that sticks like JLP and Quintero move at a slower rate than the more premium marcas. So depending on where you are buying from, the sticks you receive might already be aged by a few years. Thus you might not notice much of a difference if you choose to age them even longer.

[westg]

For me Quintero will always be fishing sticks. The wrapper and construction are always solid. The flavour profile works with salty sea air and if you drop one they hold up. I really can't see any potential in aging them I think they are a good to go cigar for the short term. And in the short term it doesn't really matter if they don't deliver they are at the cheap and cheerful line for good reason. 5 to 10 would be a hard labour bread and water sentencing for them. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I don't see any reason not to age either. Worst that can happen is they end up tasting like an old cigar with not much flavor. Another version of Monte Open's. I had 25+ year old Los Statos and they had the fun "old cigar" flavor. I assume similar with these two marcas as well.

[cleelv]

In my experience they can age very well, but can also be inconsistent (Cubans? Inconsistent?) possibly due to the nature of short fill cigars. I have a few boxes of JLP Petit Cazadores (SPA NOV 16) that are the go-to sticks for friends who don't regularly smoke cigars but they will say this is one of the best cigars they've ever had. I initially found them a little harsh, but after 5+ years down some of them were smoking as well as sticks 10x the price point. Dollar for dollar some of the best Cuban sticks money can buy. As in literally, they were $1 USD when I bought them.

[garbandz]

I have had good luck ageing both.

Out of the pack/box and into a cab for a nice nap.

Currently finishing a box of Quintero with around two years on, the difference is easy to taste, when I opened the box they were pretty rank.

Also working on a couple of boxes of Piedra that have been napping for 3 plus years. (in a cab )

It's not as noticeably different from fresh except the construction feels firmer and the burn is better.

Maybe a bit more aromatic.

If these budget cigars are rolled from leftovers from regular production, why would you not expect to have changes in taste with some age?

I have smoked a few Quintero from the 80's that were surprisingly full and very nice, but that strain of tobacco is gone.

Time will tell if the current strain will measure up  it......

[Jamie117]

I got a 2014 box of Quintero Panatelas on BR and they are the best "coffee companion" cigar I've ever had. Probably the most consistent burn I've ever encountered too, and the draw is 90% great

[rascalmonkey]

I had a friend over 10-15 yrs ago who loaded a Quintero Londres with hash + then he passed out before smoking it.

So, I have a stash of these, a dozen or so + since I am not sure which one is booby trapped they are very well-aged  

[trader1974]

For me the JLPs start out decent if I'm lucky but get more bland the longer they are down.  After my last purchase I lost interest in them altogether.  On the other hand, I have had a taste for the Quintero Favoritos and stashed away a couple of boxes to burn through a couple of years back.  After about 6 months I noticed they had become "smoother" lets say.  And after a year down they were still improving.  I liked them quite a bit with a coffee in the morning.

[Mr. Esposito]

Very timely topic for me. I popped the seal on a fiver of JLP Cazadores I obtained in Canada back in 2010 last night. They looked terrible but kept well maintained. It was spectacular. Very, very flavorful ...simple but ever present abundance of fertile earth and fruit. Not complicated just pure. Consistent taste from the foot to the cap. For a heavily aged machine roll, I rank it up there with some top tier aged habanos I've come across. I'm now on the hunt for more with some maturity. 

[NSXCIGAR]

9 hours ago, mr.esposito said:

 ...machine roll...

JLP are hand made.