Is it like Scotch?

tmanwell

Hey guys…
Another newbie question for y'all. Not long ago I was at my local cigar lounge & got into a discussion about the age of the stuff in his walk-in humidor. He said he had sticks in there 15+ years old. That really shocked me. He assured me that old = good so long as it's been in a humidor all its life.
I'm trying to get my head around this, cuz seems to me that old = stale no matter where it's been. Help me out here with my thinking… cuz I get the whole '15yrs old is good for Scotch' thing, but not so sure I'm tracking when it comes to cigars.

T.M.

mmccartneydc

Most guys in here will be able to elaborate, but to my knowledge, its all about the oils in the tobacco "marrying" to become smoother. I am sure there are other reasons and I've heard most say that different sticks are better when aged different lengths of time. It is most noticeable to me when you compare ROTT to something that has been in the humi for a few months. Anyway, hope this helps!

KCW

It's true. I can't tell you why it is but, I have had Cigars that were soooo much better with some age ( anywhere from 6 mos to 4 years). It is possible to have "too much" age on them as well. In that case (for me) it's like smoking warm air (not much, if any, flavor at all). They must be "aged properly" too. You can't just put them away. You have to make sure they are cared for.

Amos Umwhat

I know that there are considered to be different stages of aging, 1st 2nd and 3rd, after which the cigar is basically considered "dead". How long these stages take depends on storage conditions, temp & humidity etc. I believe that carefully cared for it is possible to age for several decades. The longest I've ever done was about 9 or 10 years, which was accidental. Produced a very different cigar. The original was very peppery and strong, 10 years later was very mellow. I think if you search through some of the older threads there is more ( and probably better ) information on this.

kuzi16

age on a cigar does potentially make them more enjoyable.

age does two things

1)
it allows the oils within a cigar to mingle with each other or marry. this allows flavors to develop. this allows burn to be even. this encourages complexities.

2)
age smooths the cigar out. a cigar is a natural product. all the leaves within a cigar start to naturally break down from the moment the leaf is picked. how we control the process of it breaking down had impact on the flavors. by the time the cigar has reached your humidor the leaf has been cured and fermented. those two processes are a very controlled degradation of the tobacco. now the cigar will continue to break down, albeit very slowly in the humidor. as the oils break down the cigar loses strength, but it will also lose harshness. it will become smoother and allow some of the milder flavors to be seen.




if you are talking about stale cigars then imagine dried out cigars that have not been held correctly for years on end.

Rhamlin

kuzi16:

age on a cigar does potentially make them more enjoyable.

age does two things

1)
it allows the oils within a cigar to mingle with each other or marry. this allows flavors to develop. this allows burn to be even. this encourages complexities.

2)
age smooths the cigar out. a cigar is a natural product. all the leaves within a cigar start to naturally break down from the moment the leaf is picked. how we control the process of it breaking down had impact on the flavors. by the time the cigar has reached your humidor the leaf has been cured and fermented. those two processes are a very controlled degradation of the tobacco. now the cigar will continue to break down, albeit very slowly in the humidor. as the oils break down the cigar loses strength, but it will also lose harshness. it will become smoother and allow some of the milder flavors to be seen.




if you are talking about stale cigars then imagine dried out cigars that have not been held correctly for years on end.

What Kuzi said??