Aging at the B&M

beatnic

Just curious for your thoughts. I've been smoking for 5 years and while visiting my local B&M I've noticed that certain boxes don't seem to move very fast and I'm almost certain there are sticks in their walk-in that are over 5 years old. At what point do you start your aging calendar? Heck, even Ccom has sticks on their shelves several years old, yet when an order arrives its considered ROTT. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Gray4lines

I notice this too! Sometimes a box will last in a B&M for a looong time. I picked up a CAO brazilia Gol from the bottom of a box, and now, after having smoked them "fresh"and with over 1.5 years in my humi, I can tell this one had to be around 2+ years old. Excellent smoke! It spoiled me though, since that was my first ever Brazilia.

So, would I call that cigar aged, even though I just bought it? Well, yeah, but unfortunately I didnt really know it when I bought it, and I still dont (and will never) know exactly how old it was. So, I only know now how a brazilia will age, but dont know the timeframe.

So, finding a yellow cello, or bottom of the box beauty is just a bonus for me. Since I dont know how old it is, I can only measure time in my humi. But I would feel much less compelled to hold this kind of cigar for another year. Id prob give it a month to acclimate and smoke that baby.

Rhamlin

beatnic:

Just curious for your thoughts. I've been smoking for 5 years and while visiting my local B&M I've noticed that certain boxes don't seem to move very fast and I'm almost certain there are sticks in their walk-in that are over 5 years old. At what point do you start your aging calendar? Heck, even Ccom has sticks on their shelves several years old, yet when an order arrives its considered ROTT. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Good point IMO if the shop has kept them properly if a cigar has been sitting on a shelf for 5 years that's one well aged stick. Hmm next time I'm in the local B&M I think I will ask what their oldest cigar is and how long they've had them.

deejmemixx

Rhamlin:

beatnic:

Just curious for your thoughts. I've been smoking for 5 years and while visiting my local B&M I've noticed that certain boxes don't seem to move very fast and I'm almost certain there are sticks in their walk-in that are over 5 years old. At what point do you start your aging calendar? Heck, even Ccom has sticks on their shelves several years old, yet when an order arrives its considered ROTT. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Good point IMO if the shop has kept them properly if a cigar has been sitting on a shelf for 5 years that's one well aged stick. Hmm next time I'm in the local B&M I think I will ask what their oldest cigar is and how long they've had them.

my shop puts a date when they were restocked, have seen some that are 6+ years old

webmost

My fave B&M, if that silly sotweed don't sell, they knock it down. That's the aisle to dig thru, is the one alongside the outside wall, where jumbled boxes of four year old eight buck sticks are on sale for four bucks a pop. Last time I hit that stack, it was for RP Nordings. I just don't get there often enough.

Stsepas

The b&M that I go to does that as well they have a section of clearance sticks that are all $4.00 each.
They also have a huge walk in that has all of there boxed stuff. I've noticed stuff that's hard to find he'll buy a lot of it. His Point of sale system prints the date it was put into stock on the barcode/price tag. I have bought boxes that have been dated as old as 2009.

jgibv

I've always thought of ROTT not so much as "new or fresh" but more like this bugger traveled a long way to get here in a big, hot (or cold) box truck, got tossed around like a rag doll by the shipping company, and might not smoke great right away because of that .....

IMO --- I'd say anything within six months of production is still "fresh."
Anything 6 months - 1 year is "aging".
And when you start counting by years instead of months, then that's "aged"

I also think it's possible to have an "aged" stick that's also ROTT ... for example some of those old, 1950 smokes in the Luxury collection, now those are aged; but when that box arrives at your doorstep, and you open it up I'd say the cigar is still ROTT.

Hopefully that makes sense...

blurr

Anything that's been at a b&m for a few years is still aged to me. I always think of it as the original roll and boxdate, its all aging from there on out. So if you buy a box that's been sitting in a b&m or even ccoms warehouse for 3 years, well to me its aged but I still always give a month to acclimate to my humidor and readjust after the traumatic shipping experience. Age doesn't disappear just cause it was shipped on a usps trick, but the shipping I've heard can cause rh swings and other undesirable effects to a cigar so at that point they just need a small rest to acclimate. Hope this makes sense.

catfishbluezz

Age is Age. I love finding aged gems at B&M's... I'm always scouring shops for old stuff that hasn't moved and no one cares about. I normally wait to smoke them though, as I believe they age better in a smaller controlled environment like my humi, as shops can get out of whack from time to time.

dennisking

I also love finding some well aged gems in the B&M like LFD Coronado Lanceros that are 4 years old or the first issue El T lanceros.

Vision

Picked up 2 LFD Factory Press II about a month ago....

dennisking

Vision:

Picked up 2 LFD Factory Press II about a month ago....

well done sir

catfishbluezz

dennisking:

I also love finding some well aged gems in the B&M like LFD Coronado Lanceros that are 4 years old or the first issue El T lanceros.

foud some of those El Truinfadors as well...had to hide what was left lol.

ndhaon91

One of the best cigars I've ever had was a DPG Series JJ I found buried on the bottom shelf of a B&M. There were three of them left and they were just smothered with plume. I bought them all and lit one right away. It was simply a completely different experience and makes me want to build a cabinet just so I can stash away a bunch of stuff for 5+ years.