Best Cigars To Age-Cigar.com February 2012
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Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2
Alex, upon receiving your current catalog, I was intrigued by your article on aging cigars. I’ve been smoking cigars since the 1980’s, and have experimented extensively on the long term effects of aging cigars, ranging from post embargo cigars from the Canary Islands, Jamaica and Mexico to the current brands of today. Before I had even read your article, I had incorrectly assumed that your selection would be based on mostly stronger Nicaraguan cigars. But my findings are very similar to yours. The only surprise I found in your 3 choices was the Camacho Diploma. On a side note, I used to smoke Camachos years ago, when they were an inexpensive line (one line only) with a mild to medium strength and a sweet cap, and nothing like the current Camacho. Out of curiosity, I purchased some Diplomas when they were first released. But unlike your article, I found them to be literally flavorless after long term aging. I found that dominantly Honduran cigars were very hit or miss, and although many smokers think of cigars like Punch or Hoyo to be Honduran cigars, they really contain a blend of leaf from several countries. What I have found (and what is the biggest surprise to most smokers), is that Nicaraguan puros (or those cigars comprised mostly of Nicaraguan leaf) are far and away the WORST cigars for long term aging. (By long term, I refer to over 10 years aging under proper conditions). Take a Padron Aniversario for example. When the Padrons release an Aniversario is it absolutely at it’s peak, ready for immediate consumption. A 10 year old Aniversario retains little if any body or flavor, and none of the classic sweetness. Long term aging ruins this once great cigar. But perhaps the biggest misconception is in regards to Dominican tobacco. Most smokers believe what has been repeated in many cigar books: that Dominican leaf is unworthy of aging. I have found that milder cigars utilizing a majority of Dominican leaf, are the LEAST affected by long term aging! I'll compare the Fuente Don Carlos to the above Padron Aniversario. While both are premium cigars, and aged by their manufacturers to be at their peak when released, the Nicaraguan Padron goes downhill the minute it’s purchased. The Dominican Don Carlos will taste about the same 10 years from now as it did the day you bought it. And what about the relatively recent STRONGER Dominican cigar blends? (Opus X, VSG, LFD, etc) What occurs is somewhat of a transformation, not unlike great Cuban cigars. But Opus X has one upped the Cubans in one regard. The Opus is a great cigar when fresh OR aged, whereas most Cuban cigars literally require at least some aging. One of the best cigars I ever had the privelege to smoke, was an Opus X that was 3 DAYS off the rollers table. As expected it was a powerhouse. But after 10 years the Opus turns into a smooth, medium bodied smoke that seems to change it’s flavor profile. I believe that these “new found” flavors were always present. They were just masked by strength of the cigar when fresh. And like you, I’ve had similar results with Ashtons’ VSG.
And what about blends? Cigars made with a blend of leaf from several countries can be hit or miss, it all depends on the particular cigar. Cigars such as the old Puros Indios (or the old Cuba Aliados), and Punch seem to hold up well after short to mid term aging. But they are easy to “overage” and once they are past their peak, it’s all downhill. And therein lies the magic of Cuban leaf. For almost 50 years, cigarmakers have been trying to recreate the taste and texture of Cuban tobacco. They’ll be sure to inject the word Cuban or Habano into their advertising and on their cigar bands. Cuban seed has been planted on most every parcel of land on earth in an attempt to duplicate the qualities of Cuban tobacco. Putting advertising copy aside, to this day, I still haven’t found anything that rivals genuine Cuban leaf. And this is why cigar aficionados worldwide keep coming back to Cuban cigars, despite their incessant quality control problems, draw issues, and counterfeit possibilities. Like a fine wine, Cuban cigars literally “evolve” with long term aging.
But I would encourage all cigar smokers to try aging a few of their favorite smokes. Sample one every few months and note the changes. All you need is patience!
And what about blends? Cigars made with a blend of leaf from several countries can be hit or miss, it all depends on the particular cigar. Cigars such as the old Puros Indios (or the old Cuba Aliados), and Punch seem to hold up well after short to mid term aging. But they are easy to “overage” and once they are past their peak, it’s all downhill. And therein lies the magic of Cuban leaf. For almost 50 years, cigarmakers have been trying to recreate the taste and texture of Cuban tobacco. They’ll be sure to inject the word Cuban or Habano into their advertising and on their cigar bands. Cuban seed has been planted on most every parcel of land on earth in an attempt to duplicate the qualities of Cuban tobacco. Putting advertising copy aside, to this day, I still haven’t found anything that rivals genuine Cuban leaf. And this is why cigar aficionados worldwide keep coming back to Cuban cigars, despite their incessant quality control problems, draw issues, and counterfeit possibilities. Like a fine wine, Cuban cigars literally “evolve” with long term aging.
But I would encourage all cigar smokers to try aging a few of their favorite smokes. Sample one every few months and note the changes. All you need is patience!
Comments
i am a huge fan of Honduran tobacco and i have had several aged Diplomas that i loved... but mostly the maduro. i have not seen them lose that much over the years. However, i am also a fan of mild cigars. if you find yourself not enjoying them as much, just stay away from aging them.
i definitely agree that there is always potential for over aging. and that is why i was surprised with the VSG being recommended for age. I had the opportunity to smoke the VSG round original release (1999) and i felt that it was flat. i felt that it was lacking in both strength and depth.
your assertion that cuban tobacco evolves over time is a good one. part of this may be due to the slight differences in how the cuban tradition markets and expects people to smoke them. the time that they leave there cigars in the aging room is little to none in comparison and therefore there is more "age potential"
i dont often get the opportunity to smoke many "truly aged" (10+ years) but i have found that some nicaraguan cigars will age well. the two that come to mind at the top of the list is the El Cobre by Oliva and DPG blue label. i was once handed a DPG blue with 5 years on it and it was the best DPG cigar that i have ever had.
i also agree that the OpusX ages VERY well. so well in fact that i will never smoke a fresh one. i will only think about smoking it if it has over a year on it, preferably more. the 2006 OpusX is smoking incredibly well right now and i only have one left. i may have to smoke that guy soon.
as far as LFD goes, i cant seem to keep them in the humidor for very long. i have a few in the aging humidor but they have not been there very lat all, maybe a year or so. ill get back to you in 10 years...
I do have one LFD Limitado (thanks txpool) in the humidor that has a touch over 10 years. however, i cant tell you how they smoked fresh.
i think the most difficult part about knowing if a cigar will age well or not is that it is so subjective. many people claim that the Liga Privada no.9 ages well, but i dont like it as much after a few years have been on it.
To go even further, if there is a difference based on RH, does different RH merely speed up or slow down the process, or does it alter it in some way, perhaps changing a balance of oils and flavors? Maybe it depends on the tobacco, and each has its ideal RH?
To add a final layer of complexity, what about temperature? Is that an equally important variable?
To a large extent, when we store cigars we are trying to recreate the tobacco's natural environment. Maybe the native conditions would provide a good indication of the conditions which would age a certain cigar ideally? In the case of blends, maybe a weighted average based on percentages of tobacco that come from different regions?
Am I just crazy and overthinking? I've been known to do that!
lets start with temperature...
70*F is ideal because that is a temp that humidity can hold at easily. as air cools, it becomes less able to keep moisture in the air. 70* is high enough that it will hold moisture well but not so high that beetles will hatch.
humidity is the slightly more important factor if you ask me. we all know when you get above 70% you run a higher risk of mold. but what many dont see is that under 70% we start breaking down essential oils faster. This means that the cigar will "age faster"
sounds like a good thing right?
wrong
though age does break down the oils in a natural process, the slower it does it, the better. this gives the oils of the different leaves more time to marry within the cigar and have more potential of a more balanced cigar.
if you break down the oils in 80% of the time it usually takes, those oils dont have the same amount of time to marry. they are just broken down. dont get me wrong, it will be smoother and have less power like all other aged cigars, but it may lack in flavor and complexity as well.
i would hate to lose flavor out of those OpusX.
knowing this, why do so many cigar enthusiasts keep their RH in the 62-66% range?
better burn.
i personally have tried to balance this out by keeping my humidor as close to 68% as i can.
so far so good. in most tobacco growing areas there are two seasons: the growing season and the rainy season.
this may seem a bit deceptive, but the growing season is actually very dry. there is little rain and often low humidity. irrigation is how the tobacco plants are cared for. then there is the rainy season. it rains all the time. its annoying and clearly at 100% humidity.
to take your idea one step further, it has little to do with the conditions that it is processed under. in fermentation, the pilones can reach temperatures of 125+ depending on what kind of process you are using. the humidity in many of those rooms is unbearable. once you get to the aging rooms you start to get close to "proper storage" of 70/70. many factories run them a little dry to help stop the fermentation that starts by introducing large amounts of moisture to the cigar when the wrapper leaf is added.
I would really give a +1 to those who have brought up the fact that aging potential being as subjective as out our paletes. I think it all comes down to personal flavor preferences. For example the one constant in ever aging discussion is that the bite of a peppery cigar will be the first thing to fade. So I'd argue that if you like peppery cigars, then you might not be so thrilled with the results of aging them for a few years. On the flip side, if you like the milder flavors of Oak, nuts, bread, and cream, then your probably going to be pretty happy with your aging results becuase these flavors will be more pronounced as the stronger flavors fade away. The one thing that I tend to pick up after a year in certain cigars (DPG black for example) is a muskiness that is amazing and starts to surface after the 1 year mark.
All this being said I honestly don't see myself ever aging anything for 10 years, but on the shorter scale (1-5 years) aging has begun to interest me and I got into it accidentally when I found the last one in a box of LGC Sumatra with 3 - 4 years on it and it was fantastic.
Now on to the other stuff. Note my opinions on aging a bit different from the main stream and my opinions on cuban cigars and aging are vastly different. So let me start with a big +1 on aging like most things with premium cigars being subjective.
There is no steadfast rule for maturation. It can depend on the individual tobaccos or how they are blended together. Some regions are better than others and not all tobaccos play well in the sandbox when paired with other tobaccos in a blend. Very few people have gone out of their way to blend a cigar specifically designed for extensive aging and most of what of people know is largely trial and error and simply dedicating yourself to the task. I have found that maturation (both as it pertains to the aging of the leaves in the cigar and how the cigar ages as a sum of its parts) is most impacted by the amount previously organic compounds and nicotine. Chemically, aging is not too different from actual fermentation in terms of process but is worlds apart in terms of timing. No matter which country, region or seed, I find a great rule of thumb is that ligero and high priming leaves almost always age better (lending credibility to the idea that stronger cigars often age the best). However, this is not a rule. The truth is that stronger cigars and heavier tobaccos merely show the effects of aging more obviously in a smoke. Aging some mild cigars or low priming tobaccos can be very fruitful but it takes a very discerning palate to pick up on and appreciate the nuances aging has to offer for such tobaccos. Cigars today are blended with tobaccos from so many places, that it is hard to direct which leaves are contributing most prominately to the aging and remember, just because you read the recipe of what is in a cigar as advertised by the maker rarely means that is actually what is in there. In fact, I would say 99% of what you read about a blend from the manufacturer is not accurate. A good chef never reveals his recipe. So what you think you may be identifying may not be the same leaf at all.
I firmly believe one of the big reasons Cuban cigars (post embargo) are thought to have superior aging qualities is because Cuba is widely known to not ferment their tobacco as long as other countries. They supplement fermentation with longer curing and in some cases, leaves go right from the barns to cigar production skipping fermentation all together. It is a shame in my opinion. Cuba has amazing tobacco and an amazing climate. For me, it is like having the best beef in the world and cooking it well done or dropping it in the microwave. Quite simply, the country does not have the money to do the process completely like they did before the state took control of the industry or like many other makers are able to do in other countries. As such, aging is needed (sometimes for long periods of time) to bring the tobacco to its full potential by allowing some of the organic materials to break down and some of the sugars to settle. I firmly believe that if/ when the cuban industry is privatized and things can return to many of the old methods as well as some new, longer fermentation methods being used in other parts of the world, production cuban cigars of the future will taste like 10 year aged cubans ROTT. Again, my opinion of this is a bit controversial, but what would the world be if all agreed with each other on everything. Great thread by the way.
i mean, two cigars can be Nicaraguan Puros but taste VERY different depending on all of those other factors. how accurate is the blend info as far as country goes?
The obvious question I am sure you are asking yourself is how it is even possible to replicate a blend with exacting taste. Fermentation and so many of the tobacco processes are so distinctive, that the flavor simply cant be replicated. This is indeed true but the truth is, that certain tobaccos go very well together in the right proportions no matter how they were processed and if you take the exact recipe to another factory you will most likely have a cigar that tastes a bit different but still great. I made this experiment once. I happen to know the blend for puro authentico and have taken it to 4 or 5 different factories and used the same exact recipe and size. Each time the blend was similar but distinctly different but amazing each time. Obviously those were never actually made as it would not be right to do to AJ and I would like to live by a higher set of standards but I can tell you it works. Maybe not 100% of the time but if it takes 100 tries to get an excellent blend, starting with some known great combinations can cut your works by as much as 80%
I hope this makes sense.