Some questions on limted cigar editions and aging in general

rad1964

I was wondering if anyone had experience aging some of these particular brands:

Graycliff
Rocky Patel 90 or 92
Arturo Fuente Opus


In particular I was curious about the longevity of any cigar in general as far as production runs are concerned and secondly as to the aging afterward.

I am going to use this cigar as an example since I rated it a 10.

Graycliff's Double Espresso


1.) Is supposed to be a limited edition cigar. What does this mean for this products availability?
2.) Has it been around long enough for anyone to age these?
3.) What do you think would be a good aging guide, with this cigar in mind?


Has anyone ever aged flavored cigars?
What do you all think would be max time for a Drew Estate Nasty to sit unlit in a humidor?


In this image:



you see a number of full cases of cigars. Some look shrink wrapped, some in their special edition cases. All stored in the humidor. What are the scenerios for longevity for the following I see there:



1.) A wooden special edition box
2.) A regular case
3.) A regular case wrapped in cellephane
4.) A wooden box shrink wrapped



Thanks in advance everyone!

RAD

kuzi16

rad1964:

I was wondering if anyone had experience aging some of these particular brands:

Graycliff
Rocky Patel 90 or 92
Arturo Fuente Opus

all of the above.

rad1964:

Graycliff's Double Espresso


1.) Is supposed to be a limited edition cigar. What does this mean for this products availability?

i think its only "limited edition" because there are so few retailers that sell it. there is no reason besides that to call it "limited" unless the run will only be a year or two alos. however, i cannot find anywhere that calls it a short run. as long as you buy from one of these few retailers (cigar.com is one) you shouldnt have too much of a problem for the next few years.

rad1964:

2.) Has it been around long enough for anyone to age these?

yes and no. if im not mistaken they have been around for just under a year. I would not consider a good strong cigar like this aged in that time.

rad1964:

3.) What do you think would be a good aging guide, with this cigar in mind?

two years minimum

rad1964:

Has anyone ever aged flavored cigars?
What do you all think would be max time for a Drew Estate Nasty to sit unlit in a humidor?

as long as that is a humidor set aside specifically for flavored cigars or it is in its own never opened tube, this cigar should last as long as any other cigar.

but if you ask my opinion, aging an infused cigar may be missing the point. infusing cigars adds flavor to tobacco to give it a profile it normally wouldnt have.
aging a cigar mellows out and evens out the flavors and removes harshness.

the longer you age the infused cigar the less you will have tobaco taste and the more infusion you will get.
OR
you will age the flavor out.

i am not that into them so i cant speak from experience.

rad1964:

In this image:



you see a number of full cases of cigars. Some look shrink wrapped, some in their special edition cases. All stored in the humidor. What are the scenerios for longevity for the following I see there:



1.) A wooden special edition box
2.) A regular case
3.) A regular case wrapped in cellephane
4.) A wooden box shrink wrapped



Thanks in advance everyone!

indefinite.
a cigar kept in the right conditions will, in theory, last forever. they are hard to find but there are real pre-embargo cigars floating around out there. those smokes are almost 50 years old now. I have also seen cigars from before WWII out there.

since age mellows the cigar, there will be a point where the flavors are too mellow. i cant give you a real time frame because this is different for every cigar.
general rule of thumb is the more full bodied a cigar is, the longer it will take to the point of being over aged.

rwheelwright

All of the Above! I just bought five of the double expresso. I have only had one and it was strong. Not as strong as I thought it would be though. I'm gonna age the rest and maybe have one in 6 months and go from there. I have some Opus that have maybe 9 months on them and then I have some Opus that have 3 years on them.

rad1964

ahhh nice!

The main reason I ask about aging flavored sticks is that since I am new to this world, I was contemplating getting a case or two of a few select brands. Last night I smoked my third Drew Estate Nasty and decided I like them enough to want a discount.. which means buying by the case. I am not sure how long it would take me to go through 24 of them... considering I am still testing/trying/deciding what I like, I will still have many other brands and styles to try. I just didn't want lets say half of them to go bad, in any way.. lose spice, be mellower etc.

I have not gotten around to trying my OpusX yet, I am waiting for a special occasion or when my buddy who I also bought one for, invites me over to see his new place.
Are they all that AND a bag of chips? (so-to-speak)

I know I will be getting a case of the graycliff double espresso, once I upgrade to a cabinet humidor.

So just dropping a case of cigars, shrink-wrapped and not opening it for a year or 6 months is an ok practice?

kuzi16

rad1964:

So just dropping a case of cigars, shrink-wrapped and not opening it for a year or 6 months is an ok practice?

yup.


i would get a different humidor for the infused cigars.
they dont play well with non infused.

Fourtotheflush

rad1964:

ahhh nice!

The main reason I ask about aging flavored sticks is that since I am new to this world, I was contemplating getting a case or two of a few select brands. Last night I smoked my third Drew Estate Nasty and decided I like them enough to want a discount.. which means buying by the case. I am not sure how long it would take me to go through 24 of them... considering I am still testing/trying/deciding what I like, I will still have many other brands and styles to try. I just didn't want lets say half of them to go bad, in any way.. lose spice, be mellower etc.

I have not gotten around to trying my OpusX yet, I am waiting for a special occasion or when my buddy who I also bought one for, invites me over to see his new place.
Are they all that AND a bag of chips? (so-to-speak)

I know I will be getting a case of the graycliff double espresso, once I upgrade to a cabinet humidor.

So just dropping a case of cigars, shrink-wrapped and not opening it for a year or 6 months is an ok practice?

If you are just learning your flavor profile, I would hang back on buying boxes for a bit. Stick tot he 5 packs because most likely the profile of the flavors you like in cigars will change dramatically in a short period of time.