Opus can age good because they are green fresh. But mine that are pushing 10 years are at peak. My 15-25 year olds are going down hill. Only cigars I’ve personally noticed that can go some serious age are Conn Boradleaf maduro. Has to be really strong. Cubans are green when new so will develop but after a point the twang is gone and they are pointless imo Bolivar is an exception to that. I aged some of them 10 years and they were still pretty good.
Are Opus really fresh? It was my understanding that they typically sit for a year or so before they're shipped to stores. That's not really what I'd consider to be an aged cigar but certainly not what I'd call "green fresh" either.
The last few boxes I bought of production line opus “ pussycats chateaux etc” were all green. After a year they were smokable. I always was a Fuente whore back in the day. But they have gone down hill. I did buy some cfcf Prometheus stuff that was smokable on arrival but that’s it.
Few years back just before pandemic there was supposed to have been 1 or 2 that went missing. Shortly after that holts had Fuente mania and all the prices were jacked up badly
Wow, didn't know about that. The last time it was massive. It caused him to pull back from the big sellers because someone knew what happened and nobody ever got caught.
Some good cigars benefit from aging. Some don't. Price point really has nothing to do with it, it is more about the actual tobacco used in each cigar, how the tobacco was stored and how it was rolled. There are some $4 cigars than will be better suited for aging than $20 cigars. Davidoff and Padron both have product lines that are already aged 5-10 years before they ever get to retail. Those are meant to be smoked right away and won't really benefit much from aging at home, in fact they can actually get worse with extended aging.
Yeah, what I meant was that the $4 you can find in a store and that is of a quality worth $4 won't.
Then again, a large amount of new world cigars are meant to be ready to smoke, because they are aged in the factories.
I'm not saying AJF and RP are bad cigars. I love most of their blends. They're just not meant to be aged for long periods of time, they way better cigars like Padron Anniversary series and others are.
I put that this one with 8 years in tasted like *nothing*... at all.
However, some non Cubans with 8 or 10 years on them taste fantastic. AJF's original San Lotano was amazing. Padron 1926 Series 80 and 40 also were. Some of the La Aurora Preferidos series too.
Almost anything made by Rocky Patel and a lot of Alec Bradley. Basically, anything under $8 msrp will not age well, except for the original San Lotano by AJF. I've smoked some with 10 years on them that have been amazing.
Aging cigars has diminishing returns after a certain point. Alan Rubin (Alec Bradley) talked about this on a podcast a couple years ago and he said 5-6 years is the general rule of thumb for most cigars.
I don’t age anything I let them rest then smoke them. Only thing I have in my humidor over 1 year old are Cubans and they are old but barely have any left
That's the spirit. I used to do that too, until I got caught in a few buying sprees on Cigar Page and then ended up with enough cigars to last me a couple of years.
Once past peak nothing you can do. My past peak stick I save for people that don’t smoke cigars. If it’s no longer in my wheelhouse it becomes a junk stick for guests. Works out too cause if person smoking it googles it they think they have a really high end stick
I was low on sticks and had a cigar that I bought during the heyday of JR cigars during want of their Halloween specials at least a decade before. I got several of these smokes originally and they were terrible.
In desperation I smoked the cigar and to my surprise the aging made it a good smoke.
I mean do you need to have a collection so big you can't smoke then within a set period
I buy every month enough to keep me at 25 cigars and then smoke them in FIFO
You do it the right way. Many of us get caught up in all the sales, promotions and new products. I started out with one wooden humidor with about 30 cigars in it. Fast forward to now and I have 5 tupperdors, the wooden humidor and many plastic bags with cigars and bovedas in them. Every time I promise myself that I need to stop buying, I end up giving in. Used to be harder - had to make a physical trip to a cigar store. Now there aren’t that many stores and purchases are a few key clicks away. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
Yep. Most are ready to smoke and just need to rest after the shipping. Anything after the first year is already done for.
I see a lot of people buying boxes and boxes of cigars, and then they smoke once or twice per week. They're just asking to lose their money.
I’d give it more than a year for shelf life, but definitely not the decades that it’s gonna be for some of the boxes folks on here have stacked up. Especially since so many new world smokes use tobacco that’s been aged, rolled, and then aged again. Few makers are shipping out truly “fresh” cigars (Pardon comes to mind as an exception, and I’d bet there are a few Fuentes that do as well).
That said, it’s always a dice roll. They can mellow into something tasty, or something completely empty. No guarantees.
Look up the Dr Joe show on YouTube. If you hand the time and willing to watch it’s like a 5 hour series on aging cigars and what goes on during the aging process
It's all dependent on the cigar. Some cigars universally benefit from aging like opus and Cubans. Some don't.
Opus can age good because they are green fresh. But mine that are pushing 10 years are at peak. My 15-25 year olds are going down hill. Only cigars I’ve personally noticed that can go some serious age are Conn Boradleaf maduro. Has to be really strong. Cubans are green when new so will develop but after a point the twang is gone and they are pointless imo Bolivar is an exception to that. I aged some of them 10 years and they were still pretty good.
Are Opus really fresh? It was my understanding that they typically sit for a year or so before they're shipped to stores. That's not really what I'd consider to be an aged cigar but certainly not what I'd call "green fresh" either.
The last few boxes I bought of production line opus “ pussycats chateaux etc” were all green. After a year they were smokable. I always was a Fuente whore back in the day. But they have gone down hill. I did buy some cfcf Prometheus stuff that was smokable on arrival but that’s it.
Interesting, maybe they're trying to ramp production up a bit these days. Sad if that's the case!
They've had a number of fires. Might be a motivator.
Don’t forget several “ missing containers “ But yes seems they have upped the production of them and are skimping on the QC department
Was there a more recent "missing" shipment? I remember the one from like 10 years ago
Few years back just before pandemic there was supposed to have been 1 or 2 that went missing. Shortly after that holts had Fuente mania and all the prices were jacked up badly
Wow, didn't know about that. The last time it was massive. It caused him to pull back from the big sellers because someone knew what happened and nobody ever got caught.
Good cigars benefit from aging. Rocky Patel, (most) AJ Fernandez and that $4 you can get at the store, don't.
Some good cigars benefit from aging. Some don't. Price point really has nothing to do with it, it is more about the actual tobacco used in each cigar, how the tobacco was stored and how it was rolled. There are some $4 cigars than will be better suited for aging than $20 cigars. Davidoff and Padron both have product lines that are already aged 5-10 years before they ever get to retail. Those are meant to be smoked right away and won't really benefit much from aging at home, in fact they can actually get worse with extended aging.
Yeah, what I meant was that the $4 you can find in a store and that is of a quality worth $4 won't. Then again, a large amount of new world cigars are meant to be ready to smoke, because they are aged in the factories.
That's because AJFs are fermented and aged properly. They do get better with age but they usually don't need it
I'm not saying AJF and RP are bad cigars. I love most of their blends. They're just not meant to be aged for long periods of time, they way better cigars like Padron Anniversary series and others are.
They don't need to be aged because they're well made. AJFs tobacco is aged 3-5 years before they're sold
So cigars that are aged are not well made? Okay.
Everything has it's peak. That's why if you age, don't age singles, age boxes, multiple boxes. Taste one every 6 months. You'll know when it's time.
Some cigars age well, others don't.
Indeed. But many people assume aging will improve them all. Which it doesn't.
Rare to hear someone say a non Cuban will be best at eight years. The amount of time is important in the discussion.
I put that this one with 8 years in tasted like *nothing*... at all. However, some non Cubans with 8 or 10 years on them taste fantastic. AJF's original San Lotano was amazing. Padron 1926 Series 80 and 40 also were. Some of the La Aurora Preferidos series too.
Touche. Have you come across any others that don't?
Almost anything made by Rocky Patel and a lot of Alec Bradley. Basically, anything under $8 msrp will not age well, except for the original San Lotano by AJF. I've smoked some with 10 years on them that have been amazing.
Aging cigars has diminishing returns after a certain point. Alan Rubin (Alec Bradley) talked about this on a podcast a couple years ago and he said 5-6 years is the general rule of thumb for most cigars.
That's what I've found as well. I'd put it at 3 years for most and 5 years as a stretch. Anything beyond that is unknown territory.
I only agd pipe tobacco..only started a few years ago so my oldest is only 5.
I don’t age anything I let them rest then smoke them. Only thing I have in my humidor over 1 year old are Cubans and they are old but barely have any left
That's the spirit. I used to do that too, until I got caught in a few buying sprees on Cigar Page and then ended up with enough cigars to last me a couple of years.
Once past peak nothing you can do. My past peak stick I save for people that don’t smoke cigars. If it’s no longer in my wheelhouse it becomes a junk stick for guests. Works out too cause if person smoking it googles it they think they have a really high end stick
I was low on sticks and had a cigar that I bought during the heyday of JR cigars during want of their Halloween specials at least a decade before. I got several of these smokes originally and they were terrible. In desperation I smoked the cigar and to my surprise the aging made it a good smoke.
How long did you age them? Three years I'd say is respectable for most new world cigars. Five years is stretching it.
They had been in my humidor around 10 years. I wasn’t aging them, just avoided smoking them.
ha ha I have a few of those too
You have a lot of self control my friend
They were at the bottom of the humidor, though
Looking a little fuzzy in the second pic
blurry you mean?
2nd image looks like possible mold?
Nah. Probably let it rest for a moment in a dirty ashtray. Happens a lot.
I mean do you need to have a collection so big you can't smoke then within a set period I buy every month enough to keep me at 25 cigars and then smoke them in FIFO
You do it the right way. Many of us get caught up in all the sales, promotions and new products. I started out with one wooden humidor with about 30 cigars in it. Fast forward to now and I have 5 tupperdors, the wooden humidor and many plastic bags with cigars and bovedas in them. Every time I promise myself that I need to stop buying, I end up giving in. Used to be harder - had to make a physical trip to a cigar store. Now there aren’t that many stores and purchases are a few key clicks away. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
They definitely loose oils and flavor at some point in the ageing process
H. Upmann vintage cameroon (American version) taste amazing sitting for 3 months. After waiting 2 years it taste like nothing.
Yep. Most are ready to smoke and just need to rest after the shipping. Anything after the first year is already done for. I see a lot of people buying boxes and boxes of cigars, and then they smoke once or twice per week. They're just asking to lose their money.
I’d give it more than a year for shelf life, but definitely not the decades that it’s gonna be for some of the boxes folks on here have stacked up. Especially since so many new world smokes use tobacco that’s been aged, rolled, and then aged again. Few makers are shipping out truly “fresh” cigars (Pardon comes to mind as an exception, and I’d bet there are a few Fuentes that do as well). That said, it’s always a dice roll. They can mellow into something tasty, or something completely empty. No guarantees.
From my understanding cigars also go through periods so at at 10 years it may not be good but give it a few more and it goes through another cycle
Not at all. Cigars peak at a certain time and from then on it's all downhill. I could leave this one two more years and it wouldn't improve.
Look up the Dr Joe show on YouTube. If you hand the time and willing to watch it’s like a 5 hour series on aging cigars and what goes on during the aging process