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Is there a limit to how long you can age cigars?

Rconectn

Rconectn

King of Scotland
Joined
Dec 6, 2003
Messages
463
I always thought that cigars had a endless shelf life/ get better with age, as long as stored properly in a humidor. At least this is the case for Cuban cigars according experts and people who have refined palates, lol....

For example the Liga Privada No. 9, as stated by http://www.halfwheel.com/review-liga-privada-no-9-2006/, "With most of the big bold blends, aging has its limits. For a blend like Liga Privada, perhaps five and a half years is just too much."

If this the case for most cigars, that they do have an expiration date for lack of better words, why bother to buy boxes and boxes to hoard? I would love to hear others opinion is on this.
 
Only Cuban cigars are, in my opinion, worth aging. Everything else is ready to smoke. Some non-Cubans benifit from aging, but I can't be bothered.

Doc
 
No cigar lives forever. Left to themselves long enough, the oils will crystallize out of the leaf and you'll be left with a very dull smoke. It may take years, but it will happen. For some, it happens much quicker.
 
Some of mine don't last on the car ride home...........
 
Devil Doc said:
Only Cuban cigars are, in my opinion, worth aging. Everything else is ready to smoke. Some non-Cubans benifit from aging, but I can't be bothered.

Doc
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I agree Cubans age very well, but I have to respectfully disagree that everything else is ready to smoke. Some certaily are, especially Padron 1964 (even to the point that a few years will age them out), but alot really benefit from age. In fact when I buy them I dont have any intention of smoking them for a few years. My best 2 examples of this are Opus X and Padron 1000 series. They are completely different smokes with 2+ years on them. Another great example in my opinion are the La Aurora prefiridos. The maduro and cameroon in all sizes do extremely well with age, and those super strong Viaje blends (super shot and skulll and bones) also get very nice over time.

But to answer your question, all cigars age out over time. But there is no steadfast time that all age out. IMHO I think that it is blend specific.

One of my favorite things about this hobby is trying to discern what will do well with age, and then making that happen.
 
I have to say that I agree with Doc and only speaking from my taste of cigars that I have had. For example a BOTL sent me 2 PLPC's from 2007 and they were the best CC's that I have had so far. I recently purchased a CAB of PLPC that were dated 2012 and they weren't awful but they weren't as GREAT as the 2007's were. As time goes on I think they will get better.

Same instance with a Padron 2000 Maduro (which is my favorite go to smoke) I have had dozens of these fresh and received one said to have 5 years on it and I didn't notice a thing that was different about it. Don't know if that helps you or not because everyone's taste is different.

When it come to the Liga Privada line I was recently told by a DE Rep. that they are at there best 8-16 months from the date rolled. But again I believe that is a case by case basis.
 
I refuse to smoke opus with less than 10 years of age. I also prefer Don Carlos with +5 and Hemingway with +3 years on em. I also don't care for most CC young.
 
I find most CCs need age, so almost all my CCs rest for a couple years. The NCs I age intentionally would be Illusione Epernay, (With 5 years on them, they are ECCJs), LFD and Opus. Other than that, anything else with age in my humidor is purely accidental.
 
Bsneed51 said:
MarkJr said:
Backslide said:
I refuse to smoke opus with less than 10 years of age.
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It feels like you're wasting it... Right?
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Snobs. :laugh:

I do like them with some age on them (2-3 years), but I don't mind them fresh either. Beyond that, they only way my NC's get any age is just that I don't smoke through them fast enough.
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Haha... 10 years is longer than most of mine get, but 4-5 years is definitely the sweet spot where they really change. IMHO
 
All of the nc's in my rotation have at the very least 1.5 years of age on them from when they came into my inventory. I think the notion that nc's come ready to smoke is over hyped by nc cigar makers to compete with the cc market. The only exception I can make to this is the pardon 1964 with does get a bit bland for my taste after a year.
 
Mata, how long have you been smoking cigars? How many do you smoke a week? How many do you think you've smoked in your life? You certainly have a right to an opinion, but we'd like to know something about your experience so we can put a value on that opinion.

Doc
 
Devil Doc said:
Mata, how long have you been smoking cigars? How many do you smoke a week? How many do you think you've smoked in your life? You certainly have a right to an opinion, but we'd like to know something about your experience so we can put a value on that opinion.

Doc
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Going on 12 years of smoking cigars. Out of those 12 about 5 smoking both nc and cc. Use to smoke about 4 a week now smoke about 2 a week. Never did the math on how many I have smoked in my lifetime. I prefer aged sticks, that's my palet I'm talking about and palets can and will vary. 99% of the nc sticks that I stash away taste better to me than with just a month of rest on them.

This is my opinion and I'm sure others will have their own.
 
Wow, you got Fishy's approval. You can't do better than that. :rolleyes:

Doc
 
Not sure about limits either, only have a few smokes with more than two years on them. But an average smoke can vastly improve over time. Had a few of the Man O War cigars, just awful when I got them. But had one the other day after been aged two years and they were really good, all the bitterness I remembered was gone, left with tiny bit of spicy and lots of mellow flavors.
 
I'm going to refer to only NC's because those are harder to judge exactly WHEN they have hit their prime. I would like to think my boxes of AF 858 sungrown and tat 7th Capa Especial can withstand 5-10 years of aging and turn into even better cigars than how they currently smoke.

But then again, I though Beta was going to win over VHS. :blush: :laugh:
 
4cbln3 said:
But then again, I though Beta was going to win over VHS. :blush: :laugh:
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....I've got a very nice HD-DVD in the cigar room here. I've got a few movies, including "Serenity" in HD so it's all good..... :p
 
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