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How Long Should I Age My Cigars?

Steph Chaney

28/09/2017

The benefits of aging cigars will vary from cigar to cigar. With that in mind, we can begin to consider whether our cigars are worth additional aging at home. Some cigar experts agree that as little as one month will improve a cigar's flavour. However, you can continue to improve your cigars for up to 10 years. After that amount of time, cigars will no longer show any significant amount of improvement. That said, most smokers don't have the patience to age cigars for a full 10 years... unless you are in the collector category or looking for very specific Havana cigars including various cigars offered at our regular auctions. It's not unusual to find boxes, cabinets and humidors that have been maturing since the 1940's and 1950's and some of these cigars are quite magnificent smokes.

It's all about the storage, what temperature and what relative humidity are you maturing your cigars at? Colder and lower humidity retards the maturation process, and prolongs the potential life cycle of the cigar.

However, it is hard to predict how a cigar will age, and after ageing it for numerous months, you may not even like it. The cigar will be smoother and complex, but you may not like the new profile of your once favorite cigar aged. That's because there is no established length of time that ensures your cigars will taste better. Only you, the smoker, can really know how much additional aging your cigars require, and that can only be achieved by certain means; that is, by smoking the cigars at various intervals as they age.



These are a few tips/facts I have learnt in regard to aging cigars:

- A reasonable time frame for improving the taste of most premium handmade cigars is at least two to three months.

- Full-bodied cigars that are blended with more with more ligero leaf tend to improve more significantly in terms of their complexity and balance over longer time periods, milder cigars rarely do.

- Lower humidity levels within the range of 63% to 68% RH will improve a cigar's flavours and aromas over time.

- A "bad" tasting cigar perhaps from a not so good vintage will not improve no matter how long you age it. This is usually due to poor fermentation, and once the cigar is rolled, it's pretty much set. However, a cigar that may be a bit bitter or grassy in taste out of the box can do a 180 turnaround with some prudent aging time

- Cigars made with tobaccos that already have many years of aging on them will not improve much more with additional aging at home. Cigars that are released with 5 to 10 or even more years of aging are, by design, made to be smoked right out of the box.

Remember to be patient when you age cigars. If you have the means, double your box order so you can smoke one as soon as you receive one. This means you can store the other box and let it age slowly. Taking the time to try an aged cigar as the months go on, until you are happy with the final result.

During our regular cigar auctions, we have many rare and vintage cigars available, check out our gallery below

Gallery
Cohiba Siglo VI Jar Cohiba 1966 Orchant Seleccion Jar
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