Alright guys, i have purchased a couple H. Upmann 160th anni. boxes and plan on taking some sticks and storing them in the closest for a few years or months, depedning on how smoking crazy i get. What sort of advice can you give a novice ager and is there anywhere on the net that you would recommend I look for info that you may have used too. LOok forward to learning more from you guys.
What smokes would you recommend I pick up first to add to the box. Im thinking some Opus X, Bolivar, MX2, Hemingway, VSG. Let me know what you think
In a humidor I hope. I would keep the humidor as close to 70 degrees as possible and humidity level from 65% to 68%. I have found that 70% humidity level is a bit high. I have some cigars stored in my humidor that are now over 2 years old and doing great.
*********************** "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Anonymous
Add me to the humidor only storage. Never leave good cigars to chance. The closet is ghoing to have the same RH as your house which can vary in winter from the teens to 90% or more in the summer.
A cedar closet turned into a walk in humidor with a good humidification system and no clothing may be a good alternate if the door seals tightly and there are no leaks.
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Posts: 9574 | Location: New York City | Registered: May 02, 2002
If the cello is clear, put it down for another year. If the cello is yellow, smoke it good fellow.
Aging depends on the cigar and there are dozens of variables. I find that high end cigars benefit least from aging. Why sit on VSG, Opus, Anejo, PAM for 2-3 years to get a "9" up to a "10?" Yeah I have some of these in my humi that are 2-3 years old, but I think any perceived improvement is all in my head.
I think full-bodied inexpensive to moderate cigars age best; JdN's, Mayorga's, ERH, K. Hansotia Triple Ligero, etc.
The more full bodied cigars such as Opus X tend to mellow out a little with proper aging. I am not saying that it still won't knock your socks off, its just they tend to lose some of the sting. With aging the cigars will be more consistant and better. But there are definately certain kinds of cigars that will benefit more from aging. A mild cigar is not going to gain a lot from the process. Anyways do some searches on the forum and I am sure you will come up with more information.
Ofcourse they will be in a humidor but i will store those boxes in my closet. I will have the cigars stored in their depending on how long I want to age them i guess. Its just a new thought, dont really know how serious i want to get.
Originally posted by BinDerSmokDat: My simple rule for aging cigars:
If the cello is clear, put it down for another year. If the cello is yellow, smoke it good fellow.
So you leave the cello on?
Some folks like BinDer do leave the cello on. I dont. I have read that it really does not matter.
*********************** "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Anonymous
When i first started posting here i asked a similar question about aging cigars and What i got from it was that if you keep your regular cigars at 65% humidity, bump up your humidity to 70% in your humidor your planing to do the aging in. The 70% keeps more of the natural oils in your cigars over the long term. If you prefure the 65% you can always take them out of your 70% humidor a week before you plan to smoke them to lower the humidity inside the smokes. I hope that makes sense
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Posts: 989 | Location: Victoria ,BC. Canada | Registered: December 28, 2004
One thing I have noticed is the coolest areas in my house in the summertime is the hottest part of my house in the winter so I move my humidors to the cooles area of the house. I dont keep my house at 70 degrees. Its a little to cool in the winter and living in Alabama the cost of running the AC to keep the house at 70 degrees during the summer is expensive. Like I stated above I try to keep my humidors in the coolest part of the house.
*********************** "He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion." - Anonymous
I agree with Binder on this. High end cigars (tobacco use in those cigars) already have been age before they end up in retail stores. So even you might feel difference after aging it won’t be significant. Although 2-3 months of being in your humidor will help them to settle down (most of the time when you get cigars from stores, they over humidify). I noticed that when I purchased box of Trinidad TTT and MC White Label, after those smokes just been released. Definitely use proper maintain humidor for aging. Cello on-off IMO is your choice.
Originally posted by Silverzone: I agree with Binder on this. High end cigars (tobacco use in those cigars) already have been age before they end up in retail stores. So even you might feel difference after aging it won’t be significant. Although 2-3 months of being in your humidor will help them to settle down (most of the time when you get cigars from stores, they over humidify). I noticed that when I purchased box of Trinidad TTT and MC White Label, after those smokes just been released. Definitely use proper maintain humidor for aging. Cello on-off IMO is your choice.
I was going to say the same thing, i mellow out my good smokes with a few months. I age the lower grade somes to get better taste.
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Posts: 1798 | Location: Hollywood, CA USA | Registered: September 16, 2003
