So, I have a cigar question..

[W.B.]

I've heard some people will put their cigar in the freezer for a relatively short period of time if the draw is too tight in place of dry boxing. Kind of a quick fix.

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a way to accelerate aging?

 

[bigbill72]

How long in the freezer Warren? I have never heard of that. I wonder if it works

 

[Jfire]

I believe it's 30 mins. But I'm not 100% plenty have tried it and say it works great.

 

[W.B.]

Iirc, 20 -30 minutes. Though I haven't tried that method yet.

Edit: Ditto

 

[bigbill72]

I believe it's 30 mins. But I'm not 100% plenty have tried it and say it works great.

Thanks I'll have to try it

 

[bdc30]

hmm, i've not heard of that but interested to see if it turns out to be true

 

[CigaRamento]

I've read that you can place it in the fridge to loosen the draw, but I've never tried it. I'm just too lazy to mess with plugged sticks. If one is plugged, I just toss it and light up a new one.

To address your question, I'm willing to bet that there are many opinions on the aging process. I'm interested to see what people say on whether or not you can speed it up.
To all the nerds out there, the only way that I know of includes getting inside a rocket and traveling at a speed close to the speed of light haha.

 

[W.B.]

In continuing to try to find info on this I found this, coincidentally also freezing.

FREEZE CIGARS FOR A MONTH
I got this info from a fellow forum member that a very well known cigar aficionado freezes his cigars for a month and says that it makes the cigars taste like they were aged for 4 years the regular way. That seems very counterintuitive, especially considering what I've written above. But like I asked of you in the beginning, I'll keep an opened mind... Considering the source of this information and if the messenger related it faithfully and didn't invent it himself to prank me or others, it's something worth trying.

Linky...
http://cigaromania.blogspot.com/2011/10/cigar-aging-experiment.html?m=1

I'll give it a go soon, and see about the results.

 

[Mossome]

I've read that you can place it in the fridge to loosen the draw, but I've never tried it. I'm just too lazy to mess with plugged sticks. If one is plugged, I just toss it and light up a new one.

To address your question, I'm willing to bet that there are many opinions on the aging process. I'm interested to see what people say on whether or not you can speed it up.
To all the nerds out there, the only way that I know of includes getting inside a rocket and traveling at a speed close to the speed of light haha.

Unfortunately, that would slow the aging progress. I guess you could travel in the rocket and when you returned your cigars would have aged more than you would have perceived time to have passed. Of course, you would need someone you relied on to maintain the cigars in your absence.

 

[D Quintero]

I've read from a translated spanish habanos website about successful accelerated oven aging. Only works with your fresher / harsh i.e. < @1yo cc's .
Basically iirc , placing a few smokes at a time in a glass jar w/screw top metal lid , and cookin'em for 30 mins. at 175• degrees . Then immediately removing smokes from the jar & created condensate . Allow a cool down at room temp for a couple hours.
Purportedly duplicating @ a 3-4 year effect . Ymmv

Thanks !

 

[CigaRamento]

Unfortunately, that would slow the aging progress. I guess you could travel in the rocket and when you returned your cigars would have aged more than you would have perceived time to have passed. Of course, you would need someone you relied on to maintain the cigars in your absence.

When I said getting in a rocket, I meant the person not the sticks lol.

 

[Cigary43]

Contrary to prevailing opinions the aging process is all about fermentation. Some manufacturers will use alcohol to try and accelerate aging. I've read about this topic for a long time and regardless of what some will say that freezing, alcohol, etc. enhances the process is wishful thinking. There is a reason why the Top Brands age their tobacco over years because there isn't a shortcut....if these other ideas actually worked don't you think that every Manufacturer would be riding this horse all the way to the finish line? Nothing takes the place of keeping the tobacco in the correct environment...patience is key and "accelerating" the aging process doesn't have merit....as much as it is like a lot of stories we hear but for some the only way to understand this is to try it at home in a controlled environment with a cigar you're intimately acquainted with.

 

[Nacho Daddy]

"I was wondering if anyone has heard of a way to accelerate aging?"
store your cigars in cab style boxes,so that plenty of air can reach them.it allows young sticks to breath and mature more quickly,and I have found it can accelerate ageing for fresh cigars.
Six or seven months ago I purchased 3 bundles of fresh customs,which I mixed together with some 15 year old sticks.
So far the customs have not gone thru a sick period,and are still smoking like fresh customs.
Everyone who has had these customs has said they would be unsmokable from two months old until nearly a year old.
I have tried a lot of things in the 40+ plus years I have enjoyed cigars,these work best for me.........

 

[Jfire]

Contrary to prevailing opinions the aging process is all about fermentation. Some manufacturers will use alcohol to try and accelerate aging. I've read about this topic for a long time and regardless of what some will say that freezing, alcohol, etc. enhances the process is wishful thinking. There is a reason why the Top Brands age their tobacco over years because there isn't a shortcut....if these other ideas actually worked don't you think that every Manufacturer would be riding this horse all the way to the finish line? Nothing takes the place of keeping the tobacco in the correct environment...patience is key and "accelerating" the aging process doesn't have merit....as much as it is like a lot of stories we hear but for some the only way to understand this is to try it at home in a controlled environment with a cigar you're intimately acquainted with.

Pepin cooks his semi raw tobacco in stacked Pilones in a Heated walk in room to accelerate fermentation. Iirc the temp was hot as balls when we were all in the room.

 

[hdroadglide]

what jfire said. they monitor temp daily on the pilones and turn them when they reach a desired temperature. and it is indeed VERY warm

 

[Bruce T.]

what jfire said. they monitor temp daily on the pilones and turn them when they reach a desired temperature. and it is indeed VERY warm

I think this is referring to the original fermentation that all tobacco must go through before it can be made into cigars. It is usually done using the natural heat generated by the leaves being piled up and the resulting chemical process that happens, but the process can be accelerated by supplying external heat. This would be a more expensive process but possibly easier to control as the fermentation process is crucial to to the quality of the final product.

Regarding accelerated "aging", I don't see how freezing could have any affect but stranger things have happened. I can understand that heating cigars in a sealed environment (glass jars) may help. I don't know how much of the aging process is actually very slow, long term fermentation. Unfortunately, my pallet is not refined enough to do a comparison. I'll leave that to others.

Bruce.

 

[SurpriseMVP]

Warren,
1. I have tried the freezer trick on a tight cigar. It worked but dunno why. Some scientist type dude had a theory as why it works but couldn't prove anything trying to test it. A cigar that had been frozen for 20 minutes actually weighed more than it did before freezing so no water was actually removed. I'm not a scientist, just a smoker who will try something new.
2. My guess on accelerating aging would be to have as much airflow as possible in your storage situation. I never tried to accelerate anything, but have stacks of boxes wrapped in wax paper to prevent airflow and the possibility of aging quicker. Lots of 2013 stuff were great fresh and I want to keep them that way. Once again, I have no proof, I just like to smoke.

 

[Bruce T.]

Here's a guess. Maybe if you freeze a cigar the water crystals expand and therefore loosen the leaf.
Since the moisture is actually in the leaf and not between them I don't think this makes sense but I'm just spitballing here.

 

[Sydgar]

Hmmmmm. I'll try this. I hate throwing out great cigars because of bad draw.

 

[Sydgar]

As for aging. What do you mean accelerate? What time frame are we talking about here?