When Is a Cigar Too Old?

Fractal

What it is the maximum length of time a cigar should stay in a humidor? Does a cigar ever get too old to smoke?

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Comments

cabinetmaker

When you pick it up and it disentigrates in your hand it has sat too long.

Dustin1981

My understanding is as long as you have the correct conditions like humidity and temp you can keep a cigar as long as you want.

txjayhawk

cabinetmaker:
When you pick it up and it disentigrates in your hand it has sat too long.

haha nice...

ironhorse

I think sotherby's just sold a box of some cubans from the 60's for 6 grand or something like that. Haha, those details and fact checking suck, but my point is, the older the better (for some people).

j0z3r

The reality is that no two cigars are the same, so "too old" is completely relative. It's true that cigars have a window of time when they'll be at their best, depending on certain factors this could be one year and it could be ten. The best way to find out is to age a box of cigars and smoke one every 6 months, when they stop getting "better" you can assume they are in prime smoking condition and go to town.

dennisking

Cigar Afficianado has pre-embaro cubans they break out from time to time.

KCW

A friend of my Father In-Law's has quite a collection. He has thousands of cigars!!! He has (at least one) that is from the 1940's that he said was from his Grandfather's collection.

Diamondog

Cigars will remain fresh for indefinate periods of time when stored properly.

betasynn

cabinetmaker:
When you pick it up and it disentigrates in your hand it has sat too long.

When you die before you smoke it.

Fourtotheflush

Diamondog:
Cigars will remain fresh for indefinate periods of time when stored properly.

I dont completely agree with this. although it will stay humid and smokeable some of the oils will dry up or evaporate thus de-flavoring (word? ) the cigar over a longer period of time. I read in the latest CA that an older smoke (15-17 year old) was starting to lose its flavor and that any additional aging probably would go to waste.

j0z3r

Fourtotheflush:
Diamondog:
Cigars will remain fresh for indefinate periods of time when stored properly.
I dont completely agree with this. although it will stay humid and smokeable some of the oils will dry up or evaporate thus de-flavoring (word? ) the cigar over a longer period of time. I read in the latest CA that an older smoke (15-17 year old) was starting to lose its flavor and that any additional aging probably would go to waste.

Well, he's right that the cigar itself will stay fresh, though I agree it will not be good indefinitely. Very few cigars have really long term aging potential, and like you said after enough time most will simply lose their flavor to a great degree. I've got some cigars that I think are good aging candidates that will see 5+ years of box aging, some of them may approach 10 years depending on how they hold up.

ejenne87

betasynn:
cabinetmaker:
When you pick it up and it disentigrates in your hand it has sat too long.
When you die before you smoke it.

Exactly my thoughts... If there is a cigar I have not tried when I die I will consider my life a waste...

kuzi16

the more full bodied the cigar is the better it will hold up to age.

cigars are a natural product. from the moment the leaves are harvested they begin to break down. how people control the breaking down of the leaves determines what the cigar will be like. by the time the cigar has been rolled there have been many changes to the leaves. but they are still changing.

essential oils in the tobacco will meld together. over time, because they are a natural product, even these oils will break down. once a cigar reaches the point where all of the oils are lost, the cigar will be flavorless. most mild cigars wont do well past 10 years. i have seen very full bodied cigars that are 40+ years old get high ratings.

so, though cigars will be able to be smoked for many decades when kept under the correct conditions, the reality is that after some time, they will not be worth smoking. this could happen anywhere from 5 years (or before) on up.

lilwing88

So how do Pre-Embargo smokes factor into this? I have a Camacho Pre-Embargo and from my understanding it's constructed with Cuban tobaccos that were harvested before the embargo and stored away. That'd make the tobacco leaves almost 50 years old. I hope I didn't spend $30 on a 50 year old dog rocket!

mustluvcigars

the cigar is not 50 years old and it only has a few of the cuban leaves. plus im sure these bundles are stored in ideal conditions for preservation, but send it to me ill check it out for you to be on the safe side

rwheelwright

lilwing88:
So how do Pre-Embargo smokes factor into this? I have a Camacho Pre-Embargo and from my understanding it's constructed with Cuban tobaccos that were harvested before the embargo and stored away. That'd make the tobacco leaves almost 50 years old. I hope I didn't spend $30 on a 50 year old dog rocket!

IIRC, the Camacho PE only has one leaf of PE tobacco in it per cigar. So, that means that the rest of the filler is much much newer. Supposedly, that cigar shines because of the wrapper and not the PE tobacco in it. I found that cigar to be just so so.

urbino

When you open your humidor and it shouts at you to get out of its yard.

Fourtotheflush

urbino:
When you open your humidor and it shouts at you to get out of its yard.

Just think about this one for 2-3 seconds. Its hilareous!

Alex Svenson

kuzi16:
the more full bodied the cigar is the better it will hold up to age.

cigars are a natural product. from the moment the leaves are harvested they begin to break down. how people control the breaking down of the leaves determines what the cigar will be like. by the time the cigar has been rolled there have been many changes to the leaves. but they are still changing.

essential oils in the tobacco will meld together. over time, because they are a natural product, even these oils will break down. once a cigar reaches the point where all of the oils are lost, the cigar will be flavorless. most mild cigars wont do well past 10 years. i have seen very full bodied cigars that are 40+ years old get high ratings.

so, though cigars will be able to be smoked for many decades when kept under the correct conditions, the reality is that after some time, they will not be worth smoking. this could happen anywhere from 5 years (or before) on up.

IMHO Kuzi hit the dail on the head with his response. In my opinion cigars go through a series of 3 maturations. Min Ron Nee wrote about this concept and I borrowed a lot of what he says about it. How long each maturation lasts depends on the cigar and the tobacco, mainly its body. Typically Maturation 1 is 1 to 5 years. Maturation 2 is 5 to 10 years and three is 10 to 25. In my opinion, I have never smoked a cigar more than 25 years old that i have ever enjoyed. The tobaccos break down way too much and loose a lot flavor. For me, the sweet spot has always been 5 to 7 years for most full bodied cigars. To, at this point, you capture all the befits of aging and tobaccos marrying without loosing flavor. Again, this is a general rule and there a million exceptions.

I went through a phase where i was collecting some very old stuff. Had some boxes from 1930, 1940, 1950 and 1960. In fact, I even had a partial box from 1910!!! Let me tell you, smokin a century old cigar is quite an experience but the bottom line on all of them was that i found them to be boring and way past their prime. In fact, in the end, I sold them all off.

Oldest thing in my humidor now is a Mac Vintage 1979 that i am saving for the right occassion.