Question About Aging and Storage

[Killswitch]

Now that I have been reading the board for a few weeks I have seen a lot of comments about "Letting them sit for 2 weeks" or "aging them for a month" or "I won't touch a cigar until it has been in my box for 6 months"

My 1st question is, in general terms, Is there a good guidline on timing that a Cigar should age in my Humidor before I smoke it?

My 2nd question is, what characteristics will a cigar have to let you know it needs some time or will be better with aging?

Thank you all in advance,

 

[cartisdm]

From my personal experience, try a cigar right off the truck. If the flavors are quite what you'd expect, throw it in your humidor for a few weeks then smoke another. I try to let mine sit for a few weeks if possible just to make sure they are back up to par humidity-wise after shipping. I wouldn't call this "aging" as much as "resting."

Other cigars tend to just be better known for the improved quality after a year or two in the humidor, you just have to look around and see what others have found is an appropriate amount of time.

 

[Monsterdg]

I get a lot of my stuff mail order (I live in the sticks in eastern GA). The sticks get over heated from shipping. I first freeze everything for a few days to prevent any beetles.

After that, they go in the humi. I usually try and let them sit for several days/weeks before enjoying, those little guys have been through a lot!

Recently, I started dry boxing before smoking. I have a smaller humi with a very low bovia pack that maintains Rh in the low 60s. I find they smoke better in the humid conditions around here.

 

[GoingPostal]

To answer your first question, no real guideline like daniel said it's "resting" the cigars so they are at your personal preference when you smoke em. Most mail-order cigars are "wet" 70+ RH or if they took long to get to you may be dry. so people let them rest in the humidor, 2 weeks is just a standard most use. If you use the same vendors you'll get a feel for how long you'll need to rest the smokes.

As for the second question, cigar needs time if when you smoke it you get an ammonia taste you get from young tobbacco, aging will usually solve this problem. As for knowing if it will get better with age? Talking with people and your own experience will let you know. For me the Padron X000 line and the Cohiba Red dot line really improve with a year of age on them.

 

[jmatkins]

As stated above, when I buy cigars I try and let them sit for a few weeks due to humidity issues with shipping and most places over humidify cigars(I like mine at 60%). I don't just buy and age cigars I smoke them but the aging can help cigars.

During the cigar boom most cigars I had seemed to have a metalic taste, so letting them sit for a year would help that out. This was due to not aging rolled cigars they just made them and shipped them to the US.
Also say an OPUS can be very strong and spicey so aging them for a year will mellow out the spicey and marry the flavors more in the cigar.
If you can try the following, if you find a box you really love buy 2. Put one down and don't touch it, the other smoke one when you get it and them just one every few months and see what changes you pick up.

I do not have a very good ability to pick up suttle diffrences in the aging process for the most part but but I am getting there. The key is just keep smoking and enjoying!

John

 

[PLUSH]

really, like anything else, it is all personal preference. But as many will say, they like to let the 'rest' for a time (however long that be) to get back to the 'ideal' conditions (once again, this really varies from person to person). Some cigars are great right off the truck (rott), others blossom with some time. It really depends on the cigar and your liking. Buy a box, try one, let em sit for a month, try another, 6months, try another, a year, try another. Compare, make notes and learn from it.

I get a lot of my stuff mail order (I live in the sticks in eastern GA). The sticks get over heated from shipping. I first freeze everything for a few days to prevent any beetles.

There was a thread on here I believe where someone sent a package with a thermostatic transmitter to their phone (or such). It really did not get as 'over heated' as you would think.


Some people freeze (though only if they see signs) others freeze all the time (overkill) and others never freeze and have never had a problem. Also, it has been shown in order to kill larvae our home freezers don't get cold enough. But, I guess it makes some feel good.

 

[Mickeymorris626]

Call me crazy, but I enjoy aging most maduros more than I do naturals. Both cigars typically will improve with age, but in my mind, there’s nothing better than a well aged maduro

Also, anything with a super pepper kick will tend to mellow out and "improve" with a bit of age.

But like others have said, you should let them rest right off the truck to at least get to a stable RH

 

[TravelingJ]

I know I mentioned it just recently in the Undercrown thread. What I was speaking of there, was that I know my travel case is set to the conditions I like. In that thread I had just picked up cigars from a shop that has a higher humidity than I prefer, so I know the cigar will change after it has a few weeks to aclimate in my own case. I once picked up a highly ranked cigar from a shop, and lit it up as soon as I was back out to my truck. I didn't like it at all, and it made for a miserable drive. Two weeks later I decided to 'get rid' of the other one I had bought, and decided it was one of my favorite sticks of the year. I've since bought several more of those, and after letting them sit for 2 weeks, they haven't disappointed yet. That was enough for me to give all new cigars some time to aclimate, regardless of if they were shipped or picked up at a B&M somewhere.

 

[aroma]

Rest everything a month to get to moisture equilibrium in your humidor.

Resting beyond that depends on the particular blend, how long that particular cigar has sat on a manufacturer's, distributor's, and/or retailer's shelf, and your personal taste preferences.

Personally, I hate the ashy / grassy / burning-leaves / campfire-smoke quality that many young cigars have, so I rest all of my cigars.

I haven't smoked enough to have precise notions of how long to rest most blends, but I'm slowly building up my knowledge base. I find "age everything a year" to be a pretty good starting point. If I want to try a new blend, I typically buy from 2 singles up to a 5-pack and smoke the first with 9 to 12 months rest, and then try another one every few months.

 

[Moose]

100% agree

IMHO...

AGING is personal preference...

but...

RESTING is NECESSARY!

When you get cigars shipped to you, they've been through a LOT!

Think about it, really. Even assuming they were being very well stored in a humidified warehouse originally... they went through the following:

 

[NCost]

I typically rest mine 2 weeks minimum before firing one up.

With that said, I also have an Avallo humidor that holds "quite a few" and have boxes of my favorite smokes and still smoke more that I buy at my B/M weekly then I do from my own stash. So mine actually get aged quite well.

 

[Killswitch]

I appreciate all the responses.

2 weeks to rest will work, because had it been longer my next question was going to be "How do you wait so darn long after you get a new shipment to smoke one?" I get a new box and have to take a peak at them at least twice a day.

As for longer than that...personal preferance.

 

[heavyd]

Like mickeymorris mentioned earlier, I find maduros are better after a decent rest period. I notice less benefit from a longer rest period with lighter wrappers like habano