Aged Cubans

[Edicion]

Whatever chemical reaction happens (for better lack of terminology) when aging cigars with anything from a few months to a few years to get rid of that "young" harshness is worth waiting for and doing in my opinion. 

[smbauerllc]

Whatever chemical reaction happens (for better lack of terminology) when aging cigars with anything from a few months to a few years to get rid of that "young" harshness is worth waiting for and doing in my opinion. 

I have been smoking only 2019 and 2020's and haven't personally found any to be harsh, but I just quit cigarettes yesterday, so i know that they deaden ones palate, so things may change for me once i have been off the cancer sticks for a while.

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[joeypots]

I found that too much moisture  accounts for much of the harshness in a young cigar. So if one buys boxes and stores them in a cabinet humidor it may take a while to acclimate the cigar to an acceptable RH.  I think Rob wrote that he classifies cigars less than 2 years of box age as fresh, 2-5 years as rested, 5+ as aged. Or something close to that. I agree with it. Lots of CCs can be very good fresh but time can give the cigars a complexity of flavor that will set the Cuban Cigar experience apart. I think Monte Cristo, Bolivar,  and Cohiba benefit enormously from time, coming into their own at 5 years and going much there after. With other marcas I've found that different vitolas are more or less susceptible to the benefits of time. My.02$

[smbauerllc]

I found that too much moisture  accounts for much of the harshness in a young cigar. So if one buys boxes and stores them in a cabinet humidor it may take a while to acclimate the cigar to an acceptable RH.  I think Rob wrote that he classifies cigars less than 2 years of box age as fresh, 2-5 years as rested, 5+ as aged. Or something close to that. I agree with it. Lots of CCs can be very good fresh but time can give the cigars a complexity of flavor that will set the Cuban Cigar experience apart. I think Monte Cristo, Bolivar,  and Cohiba benefit enormously from time, coming into their own at 5 years and going much there after. With other marcas I've found that different vitolas are more or less susceptible to the benefits of time. My.02$

Yeah, I do believe that most vendors keep their products at a higher rh than most of us smokers do, so I always let mine rest and acclimate for about a month before smoking.
The exception was a BCJ i smoked the other day after only a week and it was quite bitter for some reason and missing the typical bolivar flavor.
Not sure if it was still over humidified or was just a dud.

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[ZigZauer]

I am missing the point of the question.


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[Nino]

On 4/18/2021 at 8:27 PM, gojira said:

So how long does aged mean? My guess is that aged means a few years to a lot of forum members. To me aged means at least 10 years, vintage over 20 years although I like to think that vintage cigars are cigars from before 2000. Cigars that have up to 5 years on them are young IMHO. 5 to 10 years they are on their way to become aged cigars and most smoke very well.

I like to sample a cigar fresh (up to 6 months after the boxing date) and do not touch most cigars from then on until they have 3 years of age. They are a few exceptions such as the Trinidad Media Luna, I smoked a SEP 19 the other day and was surprised by how good it was. I start to like my cigars from 3 years on, the flavors are less muted and they start to become a little more complex. Once they reach 5 or 6 years of age they start to hit my sweet spot, the older the cigar gets the more I like it. The best cigars that I have smoked had at least 13 or 14 years on them. Some have lost a bit of their strength but I find that the flavors are more pronounced and that they really shine in complexity. Others remain strong (Punch Ninfas and some BCG that I have for example).

But we all have different tastes and this is only my smoking preference and not advice at all. Most of my stash is still not aged so I cherish the cigars that have more than 10 or 12 years on them and don't smoke them as often as I'd like to.

I partially agree with you, good comments, but you set the bar a bit high - I believe 5 years is a good starting point nowadays.

But agree on your general timetable after 5-6 years of age. Merci !

[gojira]

3 minutes ago, Nino said:

I partially agree with you, good comments, but you set the bar a bit high - I believe 5 years is a good starting point nowadays.

But agree on your general timetable after 5-6 years of age. Merci !

Danke! 🙂

[Edicion]

10 hours ago, smbauerllc said:

I have been smoking only 2019 and 2020's and haven't personally found any to be harsh, but I just quit cigarettes yesterday, so i know that they deaden ones palate, so things may change for me once i have been off the cancer sticks for a while.

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Congrats on quitting smoking. 

The harshness may be less or more perceived but especially when comparing a fresh/young cigar it can be very obvious. 

Congrats on quitting smoking