EAR: They aren't coming good Johnny.

[El Presidente]

EAR= Email Assistance Required. 

 

"Rob I know the forum members have noticed Cuban cigars can turn around in 2 years 3 years 4 years +

While some on FOH say that a dog rocket is a dog rocket forever, others have seen ugly duckling experiences turn into swans with proper aging. 

My question is does the same concept work with Non Cuban cigars? You and others have proven for me that the Fabrica 5 line improves dramatically with 6 months age. However they were never bad to start with. What I am asking is if you have a bad Non Cuban, will age help it come good? What has been members experience? I have plenty of unpalatable NC boxes that I am losing hope on. Thank you for all you and the team do."

 

Over to you good people 

[BrightonCorgi]

Depends on why it is bad to start with. Very few NCs are meant for any significant aging. Which is fine. No need to build big reserve. Just go buy more. 

[Li Bai]

In my experience, no amount of time will turn a bad cigar into a good one. But then again, one should define "bad" to be more precise.

I believe the same rule applies to cigars and people in general, or as Georges Brassens said it so wonderfully, "Le temps ne fait rien à l'affaire..."

[tbelle7]

45 minutes ago, Li Bai said:

In my experience, no amount of time will turn a bad cigar into a good one.

Accurate.

[canadianbeaver]

One collector’s dog rocket is another collector’s dog show winner.

I cite the RA Extra 2011.

For a NC I would cite Padron thousands series with a nom nom nom.

CB😊♥️

[Cigar Surgeon]

I have for sure encountered NCs where our review take was that it shipped too soon in order to make a deadline.  6 - 8 months later the cigar is markedly improved.  Will another 1 to 2 years further improve the profile? In my experience, probably not.

[JDoughty]

There's not a one size fits all answer to this. Some NCs do age nicely. I consider the Liga Privada T52 and H99 unpalatable to my taste when fresh, harsh and unbalanced, but delicious in 3-5 years. I pulled an 8 year T52 that was sublime. It depends on the individual blend. Some off flavors do age into better ones, though many if not most do not. A young cigar from a blend with solid backbone can definitely shed any ammonia and smooth over rough edges, showing more nuance and subtlety. The Padron 0000 series and 1926 is another I like to age. I would not consider them bad blends at all to start with, though. LFDs are also good candidates to sit around awhile IMO, especially the Andalusian Bull. Tasty fresh, superb with age. 

[Chas.Alpha]

 I think beauty actually is in the eye of the beholder. Take the PLPC. I bought a couple of cabs of those on the promise from the merchant that they would transform themselves around the 5 year mark. I trust this merchant and his experience carries weight with me. Damn! I loved those things fresh. 30 days down and they were glorious. I moseyed my way through 3/4 of a cab, supplementing my daily BPC, Party Shorts and RASCC. And suddenly, 4.75 years went by…

The merchant was true to his word. Those magnificent, mongrel PLPCs were gone forever. In their place was a caramel, sweet confectionery monstrosity. If I wanted a candy bar, I’d have walked up to the 5&Dime. Yuck! The same thing happened to the Montecarlos. I could not trade them away fast enough.

Long and short; do NC cigars transform with age? In my experience, yes. Do they get better? I still have 8-10 of those PLPCs from the first cab that I’d gladly trade you for an original valve cover gasket from an AMC Pacer. ☮️

[zacca]

Personal opinion, but I think the key is to be able to differentiate classifying a cigar as “young” or “bad”. If you have a half decent palate, you should be able to detect youth and have a rough idea of what kind of evolution may await. Bad is bad though. Totally different situation entirely.  

[Chas.Alpha]

1 hour ago, zacca said:

Personal opinion, but I think the key is to be able to differentiate classifying a cigar as “young” or “bad”. If you have a half decent palate, you should be able to detect youth and have a rough idea of what kind of evolution may await. Bad is bad though. Totally different situation entirely.  

I was an early admirer of the AF Hemingway series. I have found that they have improved with age. Not dramatic swings, just slight subtle changes, most for the better.

CAH

[BrightonCorgi]

14 hours ago, Chas.Alpha said:

I was an early admirer of the AF Hemingway series. I have found that they have improved with age. Not dramatic swings, just slight subtle changes, most for the better.

CAH

One of the few exceptions to NCs and aging. Is it the Cameroon wrapper that takes well to aging?

[JDoughty]

Davidoff's take on the subject. 

[HoyoFan]

I agree with the sentiment here. Different NC brands respond differently to age. I will say two things:

1. Most Nicaraguan tobacco that is heavy in pepper and strength tends to mellow out with time. Slowly.

2. Padron Thousand Maduros are the under the radar cigar for aging. I treat these like Cubans. Buy a box and don’t touch it for a year plus. Afterwards, they begin to blossom. And at the retail price, it’s a relative bargain. If you don’t mind waiting.

[zacca]

12 hours ago, JDoughty said:

Davidoff's take on the subject. 

Some good info there, but one area where he is objectively incorrect is when he says you will get an ongoing fermentation and that process never stops. It isn’t an ongoing process. Fermentation is microbial driven and generates heat. What’s actually occurring is more akin to wine aging than fermentation - oxidation, polymerization of compounds, ammonia release, integration of flavors. 

A more correct statement would be “chemical changes continue after fermentation is complete”.

[ha_banos]

I go back to an example. I bought a fiver of well-aged Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 1 (1993) back in 2018 and smoked them one by one not too far apart. They were from a single cab. Two were lovely examples, two were quite bland. One was gifted away and I'm waiting to hear still. So in this example, it's all a bit inconsistent. So no promises, no expectations. But on the whole, positive. They do change but how is no guarantee. I don't have much experience with NC. But the Desnudo Canonazo is way nicer and mellow-er after 2+ years thankfully!

[loose_axle]

Had a 2019 Davidoff Late Hour Churchill the other night. Absolutely blew away the flavours compared to how they were in the first year of smoking. Heavy dark chocolate, espresso, cream, baking spices - I'm definitely in the camp of age does not hurt (in fact helps) certain NC cigars. 

[LordAnubis]

A lot of NCs are marketed as “the finest 10 year aged tobacco”. And if there’s any truth to that then surely if it’s not good after 10 years then there’s no hope?

I would be curious to understand if my perception is correct though? Cuban tobacco doesn’t get any general ageing from what I understand, maybe 3-6 months from rolling to boxing if that. And so some ageing would no doubt be an improvement.

Anyone know if my perception is a true overview in that most NCs tend to use some form of purposely aged tobacco? 

[loose_axle]

1 hour ago, LordAnubis said:

A lot of NCs are marketed as “the finest 10 year aged tobacco”. And if there’s any truth to that then surely if it’s not good after 10 years then there’s no hope?

I would be curious to understand if my perception is correct though? Cuban tobacco doesn’t get any general ageing from what I understand, maybe 3-6 months from rolling to boxing if that. And so some ageing would no doubt be an improvement.

Anyone know if my perception is a true overview in that most NCs tend to use some form of purposely aged tobacco? 

Yeah a lot of NCs often state - blend of 4, 6 and 8 year old tobaccos or words to that effect. But then I wonder if its like some wines where they've been aged for 3-5 years before release but you still sometimes have to wait another 8 minimum to get to where you want to be with them. 

[NYGuido]

On 3/27/2026 at 11:58 PM, Chas.Alpha said:

 I think beauty actually is in the eye of the beholder. Take the PLPC. I bought a couple of cabs of those on the promise from the merchant that they would transform themselves around the 5 year mark. I trust this merchant and his experience carries weight with me. Damn! I loved those things fresh. 30 days down and they were glorious. I moseyed my way through 3/4 of a cab, supplementing my daily BPC, Party Shorts and RASCC. And suddenly, 4.75 years went by…

The merchant was true to his word. Those magnificent, mongrel PLPCs were gone forever. In their place was a caramel, sweet confectionery monstrosity. If I wanted a candy bar, I’d have walked up to the 5&Dime. Yuck! The same thing happened to the Montecarlos. I could not trade them away fast enough.

Long and short; do NC cigars transform with age? In my experience, yes. Do they get better? I still have 8-10 of those PLPCs from the first cab that I’d gladly trade you for an original valve cover gasket from an AMC Pacer. ☮️

I’ll trade you new ones for the candy bar ones! Ha!

[Chas.Alpha]

34 minutes ago, NYGuido said:

I’ll trade you new ones for the candy bar ones! Ha!

I sent three of these dreadful things FOC to another member, so he may have 1st trader rights. I’ll count what’s left when I get home this evening. 👍