Best sticks for aging?

The Sniper

Here is the weekend question for everyone... in your opinion and experience, which sticks benefit most from aging? Are there particular lines or brands or wrappers that you have found that really improve with age, and if so how long did you age them for?

lcpleel

i think every OpusX and Diamond Crowns should sleep a little. Most of my OpusX (any size) will get atleast a couple years on them before smoking and the Diamond Crowns (any size) get around 12 months.

YankeeMan

I've only had mine for a short time, but Alex says the Diesel Unlimited ages well. I have them sleeping restfully.

jship079

A good rule of thumb is the stronger the cigar the better it will age

stephen_hannibal

I try aging at least one of everything.

The Sniper

YankeeMan:

I've only had mine for a short time, but Alex says the Diesel Unlimited ages well. I have them sleeping restfully.

See, this is where some of my confusion comes in Chief... the Diesel Unlimiteds were just released a couple weeks ago werent they? So how can we know if they age well or not?

jship079:

A good rule of thumb is the stronger the cigar the better it will age

Or is THIS why Alex said what he said? And if THATS true, is it pointless to try aging mild sticks, such as connecticuts?

The Sniper

stephen_hannibal:

I try aging at least one of everything.

Cool Stephen - so what sticks have you had good success with? How long have you aged them for?

Thanks for the input fellas, keep it coming!

wwhwang

I'm not sure if it's true, but I hear aging connies for a loooong time only makes it less flavorful as there's not that many oils in connies anyway. I usually hear that sticks with a lot of oils or ligero age well like Ruination or an oily Camacho Triple Maduro.

Hays

wwhwang:

I'm not sure if it's true, but I hear aging connies for a loooong time only makes it less flavorful as there's not that many oils in connies anyway. I usually hear that sticks with a lot of oils or ligero age well like Ruination or an oily Camacho Triple Maduro.

This is generally my belief, and to what's been said about connies...yeah, as a general rule of thumb, these are not the most prime candidates for aging.

Rob1110

The general rule of thumb is to age stronger, more oily cigars to allow the oils in the different levels of tobacco (filler, binder, wrapper) to comingle or "marry," allowing a more even distribution of flavors. It will tame a strong, slightly harsh cigar (not a crappy harsh, but just strong and slightly young tasting - ie - opus), therefore may actually take away from the flavors of an already mild cigar.

It also all depends on your definition of "age." Some people let a cigar sit for 6 months to a year and think it's well aged. Others will look at 3 -5 years minimum.

This is why I now have two aging humidors. One for short term aging (1-3 years) and one for long term aging (3+ years).

bigharpoon

Strong, oily cigars age well for sure, as do cigars with complex flavors that could use a little smoothing out. It's sorta like spaghetti sauce: lots of ingredients and the sauce will do better with time; simple recipes (like milds) and over time the flavors will wash out.

My aging humi is full of Oliva V, MOW Ruination, LHCOF, Camacho, etc. I keep it closer to 70 RH to speed the process along a litte. When I pull one for smoking I put it into my normal humi and let it re-acclimate to 63 RH before lighting.

stephen_hannibal

The Sniper:

stephen_hannibal:

I try aging at least one of everything.

Cool Stephen - so what sticks have you had good success with? How long have you aged them for?

Thanks for the input fellas, keep it coming!

So far the the 5 Vegas Series A, Oliva Serie V, ITSFPB, Gurkha Blue Steel, and A. Fernandez Sumatras have turned out really well. Big difference in the flavor profile.

Nick2021

Rob1110:

The general rule of thumb is to age stronger, more oily cigars to allow the oils in the different levels of tobacco (filler, binder, wrapper) to comingle or "marry," allowing a more even distribution of flavors. It will tame a strong, slightly harsh cigar (not a crappy harsh, but just strong and slightly young tasting - ie - opus), therefore may actually take away from the flavors of an already mild cigar.

It also all depends on your definition of "age." Some people let a cigar sit for 6 months to a year and think it's well aged. Others will look at 3 -5 years minimum.

This is why I now have two aging humidors. One for short term aging (1-3 years) and one for long term aging (3+ years).

X2, I hear this a lot.

kuzi16

here is a link from 08 (well aged) about age and rest in very general terms: CLICK

most find that a stronger cigar will stand up to age better.
due to the nature of what aging does, the mild cigars just lose too much.

Jetmech_63

inteRESTing....HA. So if conny's dont age well, how can macanudo justify their vintage line which i think is wrapper in all conny wrappers. Aside from the vintage 97 maduro (which if you havent seen, go click on "brands" and check it out. Stainless steel band, pretty pimp, reaonable price....i see a few of these in my future). But back to the conny's, i had a few conny's i had for 2 years(unintentional, jst forgot about them) and they got just kinda bland. I have a few Verdadero's aging just because i'm curious and bored but this is one of the things that kept me from buying the Mac vintage sampler....which had cigars in it from the mid 1980's.

kuzi16

Jetmech_63:

inteRESTing....HA. So if conny's dont age well, how can macanudo justify their vintage line which i think is wrapper in all conny wrappers. Aside from the vintage 97 maduro (which if you havent seen, go click on "brands" and check it out. Stainless steel band, pretty pimp, reaonable price....i see a few of these in my future). But back to the conny's, i had a few conny's i had for 2 years(unintentional, jst forgot about them) and they got just kinda bland. I have a few Verdadero's aging just because i'm curious and bored but this is one of the things that kept me from buying the Mac vintage sampler....which had cigars in it from the mid 1980's.

Macanudo is known for very mild cigars. if thats their market, they dont need to justify. they have an EXTREMELY mild and smooth cigar.

stephen_hannibal

I'm going to ad the ITC10th anniversary to this list.
They're much better and smoother with age.

KCW

The only sticks I have any age on (1+ years) is the Gurkha Legend Perfecto: I can say they are definitely "better". Camacho Corojo LTD. Diploma: Much "better". I mean these are the only ones that have sat in MY humi for more than a year. I have some GOF's & Opus X's that are 2006's. They have been in my Humi for about 9 mos. A 2006 Cameroon La Aurora that has been in MY Humi for 3 Mos. And some "Southern" cigars (Hoyo's w/ Connie. wrapper) for a couple of years that seem the same as when I got them.

Schrooz

Would aging cure a tight draw on a cigar? I got some LHC oscuro fuertes on a daily deal and they are tight. The sticks are hard like bricks I would have thought they were extruded by a machine of some sort. The one I lit gave hardly any smoke but seemed to burn well. Kind of bummed me off though because I really wait to pull the trigger on the daily deals. I am abandoning the rest in my humi for a while to see what happens.

Russ55

Schrooz:

Would aging cure a tight draw on a cigar? I got some LHC oscuro fuertes on a daily deal and they are tight. The sticks are hard like bricks I would have thought they were extruded by a machine of some sort. The one I lit gave hardly any smoke but seemed to burn well. Kind of bummed me off though because I really wait to pull the trigger on the daily deals. I am abandoning the rest in my humi for a while to see what happens.

It can, but not always. Sometimes they just wrap them too tight.

Hayblet

C.com's Cuban Label and Gurkha Centurian get pretty good with age.

stephen_hannibal

Hayblet:

C.com's Cuban Label and Gurkha Centurian get pretty good with age.

This is good to know 'cause I love both those sticks.

jship079

Jetmech_63:

inteRESTing....HA. So if conny's dont age well, how can macanudo justify their vintage line which i think is wrapper in all conny wrappers. Aside from the vintage 97 maduro (which if you havent seen, go click on "brands" and check it out. Stainless steel band, pretty pimp, reaonable price....i see a few of these in my future). But back to the conny's, i had a few conny's i had for 2 years(unintentional, jst forgot about them) and they got just kinda bland. I have a few Verdadero's aging just because i'm curious and bored but this is one of the things that kept me from buying the Mac vintage sampler....which had cigars in it from the mid 1980's.

One of the big things with this is that the vintage is the bumper crop they had that year. Those cigar have not been rolled and sitting that long. So they can use blending to help the flavors to stand up some when they are ready to roll the next batch

Russ55

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet or not, but Camacho Triple Maduros are great for aging.

Sol1821

i found the gurkha Turk to be a lot nicer after a year

Krieg

The Sniper:

YankeeMan:

I've only had mine for a short time, but Alex says the Diesel Unlimited ages well. I have them sleeping restfully.

See, this is where some of my confusion comes in Chief... the Diesel Unlimiteds were just released a couple weeks ago werent they? So how can we know if they age well or not?

jship079:

A good rule of thumb is the stronger the cigar the better it will age

Or is THIS why Alex said what he said? And if THATS true, is it pointless to try aging mild sticks, such as connecticuts?

I don't think it's useless aging Connecticuts. However, you shouldn't expect a whole lotta change with the cigar. That being said, I had a RP Vintage 99 that I took the wrapper off and aged a few years, it picked up a very nice cedar note, from the humi no doubt and just turned into a very nice, creamy, buttery smoke.
I also believe that maduros age very well, I have had some RP OWR 2nds that I've been aging now a for a couple of years and I smoke one every now and then to see how they're coming along...Very nice indeed.

bacon.jay

sol1821:

i found the gurkha Turk to be a lot nicer after a year

I agree with you sol, I think a lot of the connies that aren't necessarily known for being "super creamy" benefit greatly from a year in the humi. The Turk is a great example, as is the RP Connecticut, Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur, AVO, CAO Gold, and even the 5 Vegas Gold.

A good year on these connies takes that slight "sharp edge" off of them, although much longer than that and the flavors do start to diminish as others have said here. Your post reminded me of the RP Connecticut I smoked just the other day that I'd gotten in late spring/summer of '09 and let me tell you, it was awesome!

bigharpoon

bacon.jay:

sol1821:

i found the gurkha Turk to be a lot nicer after a year

I agree with you sol, I think a lot of the connies that aren't necessarily known for being "super creamy" benefit greatly from a year in the humi. The Turk is a great example, as is the RP Connecticut, Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur, AVO, CAO Gold, and even the 5 Vegas Gold.

A good year on these connies takes that slight "sharp edge" off of them, although much longer than that and the flavors do start to diminish as others have said here. Your post reminded me of the RP Connecticut I smoked just the other day that I'd gotten in late spring/summer of '09 and let me tell you, it was awesome!

I just ordered a bunch of excaliburs and plan on putting most of them on hold until late next summer at which point they will have almost a year on them. Yummm...