EAR: Ageing

[El Presidente]

EAR = email assistance required

 

"Thank you for your response Rob. Guantanamera wasn't really the answer I was looking for. If I had to wrap up this diatribe it would be along the lines of which Cuban cigars have no real ageing abiilty? Rephrasing again, which Cuban cigars in your opinion and taste actually go backward from the 3 to 5 yr mark?"

 

Over to you good folk. 

[El Presidente]

All Cuban cigars will age. It is whether you enjoy the end destination. 

 

• I think Most Monte in general go to a realm of taste after 5 years that I prefer less. The Montecristo Especial is an exception.  Throw in the A there as well. 
• SLR Regios at 3-5 to me are superior to 5-10+
• BBF at 5 for me is far better than 15. 

 

For me at least, not too many. 

 

[GP012]

I haven't smoked enough of a specific vitola over a wide range of years to make any definitive statements, but I'm the opposite with Monte. I've never been a fresh Monte smoker, but 5-7+ seems to be where I start to gravitate towards it. I have 2018 Especiales No 2 that turned a corner in the last year and are now excellent. 2013 Double Edmundos, 2015 Medio Coronas, all amazing for the last year plus.

What remains to be determined is how all of the new releases & recent regular production cigars that are smoking excellent right now will be in 3, 5 or 10 years. Is that a factor of the blending or the quality of tobacco? Will these be the backwards example the writer is referencing?

How does each individual's palate factor into this as well? My tastes have changed significantly over 20 years of smoking. What about palate fatigue? I ripped through a box and change of '21 PL Picadores last winter/early spring. I recently dipped into the box again only to be disappointed. Did I overdo it, or are they hitting that dip much later than they used to?  

 

[NSXCIGAR]

Cigars that are worse at 3-5 years than at 1-3 years? Don't think that's a thing unless you prefer a tannic, rustic character that might ease up in a few years (which is getting harder to find over the last 20 years). 

[PigFish]

I have unicorn horns and bear gallbladders for sale. They age wonderfully and have fantastic resale value. I am out of gorilla paws at the moment, they definitely can travel forward or backward depending on if you put one in the toilet and flush it either in the northern or southern hemisphere. It would depend on if the gorilla was right or left 'pawed' however.

-the Pig

[zeedubbya]

[Contraversial opinion/statements about to be made, fair warning]

No one here could tell the difference blind between a 3 year old cigar and a 5 year old cigar.  If you think you can you are lying to yourself.  

It is 2024? Ok, I pull a Tubos from 2019 and a Tubos from 2021, and hand them to you. Even if you’ve smoked 1,000s of the cigar (let’s say a CORO for sake of argument), you aren’t going to be able to discern 2 years of age. No chance at all. NO ONE. Ok, let’s flip it. I pull 2 CORO from 2021 and hand to you right now, and say— smoke this now and in 2 years smoke the other one. Still Nope. You will not be able to tell the difference and if you say you can you are lying to yourself. You WILL notice a difference, 100%, I am sure. BUT the cigars are color sorted, it’s not the age! Inside your box of cigars are differences-possible HUGE differences. Why? The difference in tobacco grown, harvesting, and blend and roller, and all the other factors which go into the bundle of dead leaves. 2 years means nothing. 10, yeah maybe so.  5, maybe but probably not. Let me retract just a bit. Maybe, just maybe, if you took El Prez and lined up 2019-2023 JLS2 in front of him he could set them back down in the correct year, but… well let’s just say it’d be interesting to see how it went. Aging marries the flavors together and generally speaking makes the cigars taste better. 3 or 5 isn’t gonna change much, if anything.  
 

NOW, a caveat...I am sure @Ken Gargett knows some people in the wine world who can pick out a Grand Echazeaux or Richebourg (I don’t even know if I am saying the right words here), and tell you the vintage…but those people are very, very few and far between, I am sure.  

**Oh and @PigFish love your little “diatribe”…I seem to recall Ken telling a little story a while back about a [redacted] restaurant and a bear paw.. 🤔 …maybe he will re-tell that story to us again!  

[Ken Gargett]

6 hours ago, zeedubbya said:

[Contraversial opinion/statements about to be made, fair warning]

No one here could tell the difference blind between a 3 year old cigar and a 5 year old cigar.  If you think you can you are lying to yourself.  

It is 2024? Ok, I pull a Tubos from 2019 and a Tubos from 2021, and hand them to you. Even if you’ve smoked 1,000s of the cigar (let’s say a CORO for sake of argument), you aren’t going to be able to discern 2 years of age. No chance at all. NO ONE. Ok, let’s flip it. I pull 2 CORO from 2021 and hand to you right now, and say— smoke this now and in 2 years smoke the other one. Still Nope. You will not be able to tell the difference and if you say you can you are lying to yourself. You WILL notice a difference, 100%, I am sure. BUT the cigars are color sorted, it’s not the age! Inside your box of cigars are differences-possible HUGE differences. Why? The difference in tobacco grown, harvesting, and blend and roller, and all the other factors which go into the bundle of dead leaves. 2 years means nothing. 10, yeah maybe so.  5, maybe but probably not. Let me retract just a bit. Maybe, just maybe, if you took El Prez and lined up 2019-2023 JLS2 in front of him he could set them back down in the correct year, but… well let’s just say it’d be interesting to see how it went. Aging marries the flavors together and generally speaking makes the cigars taste better. 3 or 5 isn’t gonna change much, if anything.  
 

NOW, a caveat...I am sure @Ken Gargett knows some people in the wine world who can pick out a Grand Echazeaux or Richebourg (I don’t even know if I am saying the right words here), and tell you the vintage…but those people are very, very few and far between, I am sure.  

**Oh and @PigFish love your little “diatribe”…I seem to recall Ken telling a little story a while back about a [redacted] restaurant and a bear paw.. 🤔 …maybe he will re-tell that story to us again!  

restaurant in ho chi minh city. a while back. long story. will try and remember to tell it next video. 

a lot of people in the wine game can pick certain differences but when you get down to the minutiae, it gets very tough. there are some stars. a woman in brizzy is the best i have ever seen but she is champers only. will tell you the base vintage for an NV, which villages, which other vintages and so on. she is truly incredible. plenty of other really good tasters around but it is amazing how many are quickly exposed when put to the test. 

[PigFish]

… Raise your hand if you can tell coke from Pepsi? Great, now you have the same skill set as most cigar smokers.

Note for future. Good cigars don’t taste anything like Coke or Pepsi…

I happen to believe the most consistent Cuban cigar is the Partagas Chicos. I happen to like their taste. I know that they are Partagas Chicos due to my uncanny ability to take note of how they look, taste and observe the box that they come out of. Aged Partagas Chicos still taste the same as not so aged Partagas Chicos. Better yet they look the same and come from the same box!!!🤔

I agree. I have ‘badass’ cigar skills….🤪

[zeedubbya]

8 hours ago, PigFish said:

… Raise your hand if you can tell coke from Pepsi? Great, now you have the same skill set as most cigar smokers.

Note for future. Good cigars don’t taste anything like Coke or Pepsi…

I happen to believe the most consistent Cuban cigar is the Partagas Chicos. I happen to like their taste. I know that they are Partagas Chicos due to my uncanny ability to take note of how they look, taste and observe the box that they come out of. Aged Partagas Chicos still taste the same as not so aged Partagas Chicos. Better yet they look the same and come from the same box!!!🤔

I agree. I have ‘badass’ cigar skills….🤪

I didn’t realize you were such a connoisseur Mr. Pig!  🤣-  just realized…and I am ashamed to say, I don’t think I’ve ever tried a Partagas Chicos. Time to change that methinks.