AGING...A little different approach? or not?

laker1963

This post is actually in another thread regarding aging but because of the way I posted it, it got buried and I doubt anyone will read it or answer my questions so sorry about the double posting. I was considering using the crystal tubadors (with corks) from a box of Astral Grand Reserve 1992 that I have aquired to age some premium cigars in. My thinking was that on top of my humidor that keeping these cigars seperate from each other and other cigars in the humidor would help them from passing flavours between them, as I only want to taste the aged premium without any added flavours from the other cigars kept in the humidor. Would these act as a good barrier so there is no transfer of flavours or volitile oils from one cigar to the next do you think? There are also cedar sleeves inside the tubadors, should I remove them so as not to have an influence from the original Astrals that were kept in them? One more question. How do I determine the RH inside these Crystal Tubadors? Or do I just assume that since it is inside my main Humidor it has the same RH as that environment? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Scrambler

Laker, I believe the general consensus is that keeping the cigars in tubes will actually slow down the aging process significantly. You need air to allow for the tobacco to break down and change.

You don't need to worry much about oils migrating from cigar to cigar, especially if you keep them in the cellophane. I do have one uber-premium cigar thats been in my humi for a couple years thats still in the tube for protection, but the cap is off the tube to allow it to breathe.

laker1963

Scrambler:

Laker, I believe the general consensus is that keeping the cigars in tubes will actually slow down the aging process significantly. You need air to allow for the tobacco to break down and change.

You don't need to worry much about oils migrating from cigar to cigar, especially if you keep them in the cellophane. I do have one uber-premium cigar thats been in my humi for a couple years thats still in the tube for protection, but the cap is off the tube to allow it to breathe.

Really? Thanks for that Scrambler. (shaking my head) learning, learning , learning.

madurofan

Yea I believe most people take the cap off. I don't buy a lot of tubos but the 2 ISOM Montecristos I have have the cap off.

Smoke=Fire

http://www.cigar.com/cs/forums/thread/2560.aspx

Okay, here is the thread discussing this that I remember. I am trying this with the cigars mentioned...I'll tell you in a few years how it turns out

Capt

Just like a cork in a wine bottle, the cork in a tube allows the cigar to breath, but very little. I have some Partagas Decades (never opened) that are in tubes that actually aged tremendously, but almost too much as alot of the flavor seems to have disappeared. I would just leave the cork in.

laker1963

Capt:

Just like a cork in a wine bottle, the cork in a tube allows the cigar to breath, but very little. I have some Partagas Decades (never opened) that are in tubes that actually aged tremendously, but almost too much as alot of the flavor seems to have disappeared. I would just leave the cork in.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWW! And the plot thickens!

kuzi16

madurofan:

Yea I believe most people take the cap off. I don't buy a lot of tubos but the 2 ISOM Montecristos I have have the cap off.

im kind of iffy on the tubo thing now. i used to take the cap off till the cigar hit my RH then put it back on and let it age with the intent for it to be ultra slow (ten years from now it would be AWESOME). before that i was doing what everyone here is doing: just leave it in the tube cap off.
now im going a very different way. I will not buy a cigar in a tube that i plan to age uless i can prove it has never been opened. I leave the cap on and never open it ever. I figure, the intention of the blender and producer was to have it in there with whatever atmosphere for a reason. If they wanted a cigar to be in a box loose and just in cello they woulda done that. tubos are special.

i dont know how much of that is based in reason and logic and how much of that is based in how it makes me feel.

laker1963

kuzi16:

madurofan:

Yea I believe most people take the cap off. I don't buy a lot of tubos but the 2 ISOM Montecristos I have have the cap off.

im kind of iffy on the tubo thing now. i used to take the cap off till the cigar hit my RH then put it back on and let it age with the intent for it to be ultra slow (ten years from now it would be AWESOME). before that i was doing what everyone here is doing: just leave it in the tube cap off.
now im going a very different way. I will not buy a cigar in a tube that i plan to age uless i can prove it has never been opened. I leave the cap on and never open it ever. I figure, the intention of the blender and producer was to have it in there with whatever atmosphere for a reason. If they wanted a cigar to be in a box loose and just in cello they woulda done that. tubos are special.

i dont know how much of that is based in reason and logic and how much of that is based in how it makes me feel.

Thanks very much for all the answers guys. Now I'm really confused. Maybe I'll try both and report on the outcome some time in the future.

Capt

Kuzi, I have a few glass tubed cigars that I aquired from 1996, but since I am at work, I cannot recall what they are or how many I have. They are pre-boom cigars, the price tag I can remember, and they were about 15 apiece. Maybe I'll send someone a few out and the can try them.

j0z3r

I think I see where you are going with your post kuzi, as my thought would be the point of a tubo would be to capture the RH and the atmosphere of when the cigar is freshly rolled and entubed. I'm curious myself to get some premium tubos, maybe even some ISOMs and sit on them for a minimum of 5 years to see how they do in a sealed tubo.