Your favourite cigar to age?

[Anth87]

Hi all,

On this magnificent forum we all talk about certain cigars that are great for ageing (assuming good box construction etc - an aged **** is still a ****)

I'm having a JL #2 from May 14 which is superb and thinking about leaving the box alone as this will only get better

Which brings me to my question - assuming it's a good box , what is your favourite cigar to lay down that has "legs"?

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[Fuzz]

HdM Des Dieux.

[Bolismoker]

Don't think I can pick one. Hard to beat a CORO with 5+ years, LGC age beautifully as well, QDO seem to get better and better as well

[JohnS]

Cohiba or Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo series.

[Fugu]

Ask yourself what you like and start from there. The ones that age well need not necessarily be your favourites (e.g. an aged DD can be quite demanding in its woody complexity, don't always long for that).

That said, with smokes you like it is always worth trying to age them - just a bit or a bit more. Matter of personal preference.

I wouldn't be able to name one marca that wouldn't have cigars with the potential to age.

[JohnS]

5 minutes ago, Fugu said:

I wouldn't be able to name one marca that wouldn't have cigars with the potential to age.

Of course that's true. One thing that is not mentioned often enough is how important it is to periodically smoke through your boxes to guage when they are at their peak, because there is a point where cigars can start to become muted and flavourless.

[Fugu]

Absolutely, John, it's a matter of time scales, storage conditions and - not least - personal taste preferences.

You can only find out for yourself, that's why I find it so difficult to make a general statement here.

 

You know, there is a considerable number of members amongst us who consider aging as rather being complete hocuspocus. I would never say they are wrong, they just have different preferences / a different palate.

[losttrailer]

3 hours ago, Fugu said:

I wouldn't be able to name one marca that wouldn't have cigars with the potential to age.

Guantanamera . . . oh, and maybe Flor de Cano ( regulars )

Edited June 18, 2016 by losttrailer

[semifan1]

4 hours ago, JohnS said:

Cohiba or Hoyo de Monterrey Le Hoyo series.

I have some Cohiba's with some age and would agree with this. The other that I have liked with age is my H upmann Royal Robustos that are coming around now.

 

[joeypots]

When we talk about aging it isn't so much about what you age. Most Cuban cigars in my experience benefit from a few years. What cigars won't I touch with less than five years from box date, the time I start to think of them as aged? That's a better question to ask me. Used to be Cohiba and Bolivar. Lately it's all changed, or so I read. Only you can tell what you really like. Those BCG Rob put on 24/24 look like they will be OMG in 6 or 8 years.

[Fugu]

8 hours ago, losttrailer said:

Guantanamera . . . oh, and maybe Flor de Cano ( regulars )

Find me among those few who have actually been smoking Guantanameras...

You may be laughing but even those, as well as the Canos can profit from a few years of decent down time.

[joeruby]

Cohiba sigloVI and Partagas Lusitanias

To be smoked at special times

[Troels]

Upmann mag 46 with 3-5 years is spot on for me.

I havent appriciated cigars with 10+ years as much. 

Trinidad Reyes with 5-6 years is great too 

[QuaiDorkay]

QDO everything.   Longer the better.  

[ThePolskiOgorki]

On June 18, 2016 at 0:21 AM, Anth87 said:

I'm having a JL #2 from May 14 which is superb and thinking about leaving the box alone as this will only get better

You won't go wrong here. The best aged cigar and maybe the best cigar I ever smoked was a JL Sel#2. It was in 2015 and it was from 2008. 

[RijkdeGooier]

Maybe we should define aged versus rested first?

As I was taught, aged would be 10 years plus, everything else would be considered rested. 

[FLB03TT]

Outside of always buying aged Cuban cigars, which is not generally realistic it seems that one's storage capacity/consumption rate is integral to answering this question. Additionally, some like 'em young and mongrel while others prefer differing amounts of age depending on individual preference and marca characteristics. For me I don't smoke anthing before there first birthday. After that many CCs are reasonably good. Give any stick another year or two and they will usually improve, assuming you're not a hardcover re lover of the mongrel. Most R.E.s and L.E.s require three to four years or more to get their shit together. Certain regular production marca- PL, comes to mind, require two to three years to become approachable, with four to five years they're starting to get good. des deaux need close to a decade to shine.

Interestingly, as I write this I'm smoking one of the only non Cuban that I enjoy and the only NC box I own. It's a Pardon Anniversario 1964 Torpedo Natural. I received this box a couple of months ago and my understanding is that they came directly from Padron. There's a small piece of paper in th box showing a box date of July 2009. As much as people like to slam NCs, Padron's practice of aging their premium lines for a considerable amount of time before release is a clear improvement over Habanos S.A.'s approach.

[treberty]

PLPC and Cazzies come to mind... 5-10 yrs. Or any DC.

[earthson]

Any of the Ramon Allones (Minuto, robusto, prominente), any of the Por Larranaga (especially the PC), and Trinidad have all worked wonders when aged for me.  Generally, if it tastes too young when I receive it, it tends to age the best.

[HoyoFan]

Hey guys, had somewhat of a tangent question, hope you don't mind. When you say you want to give a cigar a year, are you going off of the box date or the day it dropped into your humi. For example, I just got in a box of Monte #2 with a box date of May '15. Given that that's more than a year, I'm wondering if I can smoke them this summer (once they've acclimated to my humi from their journey).

[JohnS]

7 hours ago, PadronFan said:

Hey guys, had somewhat of a tangent question, hope you don't mind. When you say you want to give a cigar a year, are you going off of the box date or the day it dropped into your humi. For example, I just got in a box of Monte #2 with a box date of May '15. Given that that's more than a year, I'm wondering if I can smoke them this summer (once they've acclimated to my humi from their journey).

Common consensus on this issue, and I'm summarising the popular view, is that a newly acquired box of cigars is acclimatised in your humidor setup for 30 days. Resting cigars for 12 months is recommended if you want to enjoy subtle flavour changes, as by that time these may come into play, depending on the cigar, and this would be 12 months from the box date. Of course, this is all subjective, I personally like to sample a box every 3-6 months until I feel that the cigars are smoking well and have 'peaked' for my liking.

[planetary]

In my humidor tracking spreadsheet, I keep track of arrival dates.  If a box is within 30 days of arrival, it's red (don't touch), if between 30 and 60, it's yellow (maybe try one).  After 60, it's acclimated, and I only consider the cigar's properties, including it's box date age.

On the topics of (1) how long to wait until you smoke a cigar, and (2) improvement over age ("legs") I am going back through all the FOH video reviews and breaking out comments to this effect.  I am finding that more recent cigars don't get many "wait X years before smoking them" comments (though they still happen), and that the age-ability of LE cigars is often questioned.

Also, as a rule, I don't see a lot of comments on the long-term aging potential of Montecristo -- though I'm sure there are exceptions.

[earthson]

1 hour ago, planetary said:

In my humidor tracking spreadsheet, I keep track of arrival dates.  If a box is within 30 days of arrival, it's red (don't touch), if between 30 and 60, it's yellow (maybe try one).  After 60, it's acclimated, and I only consider the cigar's properties, including it's box date age.

 

Ha!  Sounds like my coolerdor spreadsheet, except you didn't mention the green shading for boxes that are smoking a dream!  I also include columns for general notes, last visit, when to visit again and the source.

Several notes for Rob's "seconds" boxes actually simply say "Holy shit!" and the row is colored green!  Had some excellent scores there recently.

[Eric E]

My cigars age by default.  I can't smoke them fast enough because of the variety I purchase (that variety tends to be of sizes, not marcas).  In my experience, it is a crap shoot. Not only that, but it also depends on your personal preference.  Some people (myself included), like the mellow, subtle flavors of aged cigars.  Others like the stronger profiles with flavors that pop out as the cigar is smoked.  As taste is subjective, there is no right answer. 

I have some great cigars with over a decade of being in my humidor.  I also have some boxes that have died a slow aging death that are now flavorless and so dull I don't even want to pull one out of the box.  Some that have aged great are HdM des Dieux, Monte Esp 1, VR Famosos, Partagas 8-9-8, and all my ERDMs.  Some that never made it include VR Don Alejandro, Bolivar Inmensas and PSD4s.  The Don Alejandros really disappointed me, because I love VR line, and I had such high hopes for them.

I will leave one final thought: I have never, and I do mean never, smoked an aged 8-9-8 that didn't blow me away.  I have no idea what it is about them, but they just seem to keep holding on for as long as I hold on to them. 

[jfire]

@Eric E what years are the aged out D4s?

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