Project aging cigar: COHIBA Behilke 52, 54 and 56
rzaman
Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
I have taken a new project to age certain cigars. We all know that to enjoy a cigar's optimum taste, aging is a great way to go. Today, I have decided to start with Cohiba Behike 52 and 54. The goal is smoke once a month the same cigar from the same box and take notes of the changing flavor, aroma and strength of a cigar
Cohiba Behike 52, number one cigar of 2010. I do not always go with Cigar Afiocinado or other rating organizations top chart but Cohiba Behike is truly one of the top cigar in the world. I will add/edit more information later about the Behike at this section because I left some information in my office
Remember my post "He-Man: The Master of the Cuban cigar"? He is the one who just dropped 4 boxes of Cohiba BHK 52 and one box of BHK 54 this evening. I am still waiting for a box of BHK 56.
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i mean, cigars DO age. and some do age better than others. some age very poorly. it happens. strangely enough, i think that they will age well but i would not have picked them as the cigar to age. the other cigars that you listed in the above quote are not cuban. they tend to age well because of the power. they have room to age well because as essential oils break down, the cigars smooth and mellow. the tobacco marries.
Cuban cigars, even the stronger cuban cigars, are not as strong as the stronger non-cuban cigars. what would be classified as a full bodied for a cuban cigar would be medium or maybe medium-full in the non-cuban world. this leaves less room for age potential.
what usually gives cuban cigars more room and age potential is the process that they are made.
the fermentation tends to be less in those cigars. age in an aging room tends to be less in cuban cigars...
all that leads to good aging in cuban cigars.
The problem i see here is that the Behike is fully fermented, it is aged tobacco before the roll, it is aged in the aging room. maybe this cigar wont age as well as most other cuban cigars. maybe. iduno.
You raised a good logic here about aging. Cuban cigars are not as strong as other non-Cuban but the unique Cuban flavor age well. I had a aged H. Upman Mirables from 1970 from a Spanish cigar collector. man, that was one of the best cigar I have even smoked. Cubans do not use as much as ligeros as some non-Cuban cigars. It is just their style. I do believe aging improve taste for some cigar.
Behike is already aged but they used a lot of Medio Teimpo(top small leaves) which are exposed to the sun light and full of strength. I do believe it will age well. However, you never know. Behike is a non-traditional Cuban Puro. The project started with an experiment and they never thought the response would be so good. The British invested heavily on Behike project. they follow specific guidelines, strict quality control with selected aged tobacco from the Pinar del Rio area. I do agree this is overpriced cigar but unique. Cuba is also experimenting couple other projects. This is a reason, I want to go to Cuba and experience first hand about their newly well managed, well funded cigar industry
I am not into full bodied cigar because sometime it is not easy to enjoy the complexity. I like medium and medium to full bodied cigar with complexity. This is a reason why Nicaraguan cigars are not so popular in Europe where they have the choice to smoke cigar from Cuban to non-Cuban. Opus X is successful because they are mostly medium to full bodied with complex flavor.
On the other hand top Padron line is excellent to age because they are also medium to full bodied. Viaje Oro reserva no.5 is straight full bodied but very complex. This is a unique cigar. the fillers are mostly Nicaraguan but they also blended some Handuran. I am going to add this as part of my aging project as well. I got a full box of this cigar from 2010 realease. They have been already 2-3 years aged. They are already very smooth. However, I want to see how it goes with more aging
I don't know so much about aging but since I had some aged cigar, I found them very enjoyable and end up with this project. in fact, I rarely smoke new released cigar now a days. maybe my palate is changing. Again, I do not know what I am getting into but it would be interesting.
"Long ashes my friends."
These cigars were released on December 2011 in commemoration of Arturo Fuente's 100th Anniversary. There is very little information about the cigar. However, I also heard that this not the only 100th anniversary cigars from Fuente, they are going to release couple other throughout the year of 2012. The cigar has two bands. First as usal Opus X Forbidden band and the second band is very different - number 13 inside a clock. There are many speculation about number 13. ForbiddenX 13 series is grown on a specific 13 acre plot, Carlos Fuente Sr. was born on 13th St, He died at the age of 85. 8+5=13, Arturo Fuente's headquarter at 1310 N. 22nd St. bla bla bla. Arturo Fuente is very creative about setting up attractive stories about some of the cigars. I just hope this is better than a regular Opus X as 100th anniversary cigar. The wrapper is Dominican Rosado- very dark red, much darker than regular Opus X wrapper. The box comes with 13 cigars and I am going to smoke one soon and rest of them are for my aging project.
I am in touch with Fuente to gather more information. I will update more information as soon as I receive something new from them. There was very little knowledge about this cigar when they came to the market and they disappeared within a week. One of my friend just brought this box from Dominican Republic who is friends with Fuente family. He also mentioned to me that these cigars are not one time release, they will release more this year. This box is ForbiddenX 13 Heart of the Bull 1957 (5 1/4 x 50)br>
IMPO, this is one of the top three Nicaraguan Puros. I am a huge fan of Padron 1945 Family Reserve and can smoke it any day...any time. However, after I smoked the VOR no. 5, my perception had changed completely. Both are boxed pressed, with top quality aged Nicaraguan tobacco, binder and wrapper. Both share close flavor profile - balanced leather note with strong coca flavor but VOR beat Padron 1945 with more distintive spicy chocolate and coffee/sweet flavors. Both used 8-10 years aged Esteli, Jalapa ligeros in the blend with double Nicaraguan binder. VOR used a selected aged Corojo,99 wrapper and Padron used a hybrid Habano wrapper. They are unique cigars but if we compare price vs value then VOR No. 5 can easily beat Padron 1945 Family Reserve.
Both of them have aging potential but the issue is to acquire a box of Viaje pro Reserva No.5 box from 2010 release. I was always in the search for a box and finally managed one. My plan is to age both VOR No. 5 and Padron 45 Family Reserve at the same time, age them, smoke to compare them every six months.
Today I am adding Viaje Oro Reserva No. 5 - 2010 release to my "Aging project".
This cigar does't need any aging because it is already very smooth and flavorful without any harshness. However, with 75% ligero, it would be interesting to see how mellow and rounded the flavor can be over the time. This is the reason why I am adding a box to my "Project Aging cigar."
Size: 6 X 60
Wrapper: Two years aged from Ecuador
Binder: Four years aged USA Connecticut
Filler: Five years Dominican Republic and Peru.
This blend contains 75% Ligero tobbaco but still very smooth and medium to full bodied. So much ligero but still it does not undermine the taste, flavor and the aroma or even feel overpowering. I don't know how Davidoff balanced this great cigar so well with so much ligero in it. Indeed, only Davidoff is capable to make a magical and smooth blend like this. The cigar is also very complex because the combination of vanilla, white pepper, milk chocolate, spicy and slight flowery aroma come and go in different time.
I just received the box today. I smoked one before- simply excellent smoke and truly a Limited Edition quality cigar. Though the tobacco in this cigar has been aged for two full years but a little more age will make it extraordinary. One of my favorite Cohiba and I am adding them to my aging project.
The Ediciones Limitadas- Limited Editions- of Habanos are characterized by vitolas that do not appear in the usual range of the brand portfolio, and which are distinguished by a careful selection of their leaves - wrapper, filler and binder- which have been aged for a period of at least 2 years. The dark wrapper dressing these Habanos coming from the top leaves of the Tapado shade grown black Cuban tobacco plant- is another characteristic that identifies them.
Cohiba 1966 (6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge). This Edición Limitada commemorates the 45th anniversary of Cohiba, the flagship brand of Habanos, with an unique format specially selected for this occasion. These 10 Habanos have been made totally by hand using a selection of tobacco leaves from the plantations of San Juan y Martínez and San Luis in the Vuelta Abajo zone, Cuba, aged for a minimum of two years.
This Edición Limitada 2011 has been produced in very small quantities. All the Habanos were made by expert rollers of Cuba in order to create this exquisite Habano for the most distinguished smokers.[Source: Casa Del Habano]
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.