my name is jon paul and i am a college student in middle georgia though i(my parents) live just south of atlanta. I have searched the forums and such for answers to most of my questions and have gained quite a lot of knowledge due to this and a friend that i smoke with. i have waited a month or so to post questions so i wouldnt be "that guy" who posts questions that have been answered 30 times already.

i have a few questions about aging and such. I know that a lot of it is relative and there are no real answers but i just want a few opinions, thats all. i want to age some cigars! i have only nc's and don't have access to any cc's except for maybe this summer. Keep in mind throughout this that i am a 21 year old college student without a job, aka, not much money to work with.

1) i have a 50 count humidor(i know, too small) but i have about 25 singles or so in there. can i age(a few years) cigars in there with my other singles? i figured not because i would be opening it occasionally.

if not...

2) can i age a few cigars in another box, like one i buy from my local shop for a few bucks after they finish selling the singles out of it? does it have to be lined with cedar? if so, how would i go about doing this? Can i just put some kind of pack in there?

if not...

3) is there something fairly inexpensive that i can buy that can hold maybe 20 cigars max that would be good for aging? something that i would never touch until.. maybe i graduate or get married which will more than likely only be a few months apart from each other.

and lastly...

4)What are some good smokes that i could age? keep in mind price, and i would be buying a variety of singles. and just in case you didnt assume, definitely some full bodied smokes. though i hear they are the only ones worth aging anyways. i have a rp 92 that i was thinking about aging. any other suggestions?

anything you can tell me will be appreciated.

thanks,
jon paul

Not difficult to smoke decent cigars on the cheap. For many years my only "humidors" were Tupperware containers. Buy one of these type containers at the local grocery for a couple bucks and put a cigar box divider or top sheet in it along with a humidistat tube. Would be nice to put a decent hygrometer in there too. This system will keep your cigars in just as good condition as an expensive humidor. You need to open it every few days to let some air circulate, as most these things are relatively air tight, and cigars need some air circulation.

My opinion is if you are wanting full bodied fairly strong NC cigars, you are talking Honduran and Nicaraguan and can get them at relatively reasonable prices. Try Punch, Joya de Nicaragua, and Padron. They all make some cigars that will rival Cubans, and at a fraction of the price. Hope this helps you some, and just my 2¢.

Many guys have a few small humidors laying around that they would give away as they don't use them. I would grab one of these and put some of your cigars that you would like to hold onto in there.

Saging singles is so hard to do.

They sit in the lonely humidor and call you by name.

They entice you to just try one, just take a puff, just TOUCH them.

Before you know they are torched.

You are a young man, why not wait until you are a bit older with enough money to buy a nice cabinet and then age cigars by the box. They are easy to put away and forget when you are not looking at them every time you open the humidor.

OR you could get a cooler and make a coolerdor for aging.

Hey Jon Paul I am also in college and don't have much money so I know what your going through. It is a little hard to love premium cigars and have a low budget. My singles humidor is a simple tupperware container with one of these. Also get a digital hygrometer. I got mine from Radioshack for $20. I'm on the edge of upgrading because I do want to buy maybe two boxes a year to put away. Hope this helps.

JP - good questions. Aging singles or even boxes isn't that difficult to do nor does it need to be expensive. Your 25 sticks in a 50-count 'dor is just fine...in fact, opening it occassionaly will help the air circulate and prevent the cigars from becoming mustly or (gasp!) moldy. there are several good websites devoted to "properly" agining cigars, but all seem to have their own opinion on temp & humidty levels. Personally, I keep my 'dors about 63-65% humidty and 65 degrees F.

Also, there are two sides on keeping the sticks in cello if they are of different brand/blend/etc. Entirely up to you, but you may not want your mild & smooth cigars zapping strength/taste/sice from your maduros.

Hope this helps!

Also, you can't just put them in an empty cigar box you get from the local shop unless that box is itself in a humidor. Cigar boxes by themselves don't make effective humidors as the seal simply isn't good enough.

Personally - and this is just my own subjective thing - I wouldn't worry about aging your cigars too much at this stage in the game. An aged Macanudo is still just a Macanudo, after all. There are some cigars, especially non-Cubans, that are best when fresh. I find this true even of such lofty brands as Padron 64's. So A) find a cigar you really, really, love, and B) ask around on these boards whether or not they age well. Then and only then make the decision of whether you want to drop two bills on a box for delayed gratification.

When the time comes, get a box of good Montecristos (not the Dominican ones) and sock them away for a few years.

Jon Paul
I have had good luck storing smaller groups of cigars in Humi-bags. You can get them at many cigar shops for $6 to $12. They are a heavy vinyl bag with a zippered top, clear on the bag. a full logo on the front. They can hold depending on which one you get around 100 sticks. You do not need to add anything since it comes with a pack that guarentees 69 degrees of humidity for upto 6 months. I use them as a traveler and put a digital hydrometer to watch the humidity and depending on the temp the packet works. You could add humi-discs if you wanted. The bag could be kept in play as long as you replaced the pack with another for of humidity. Hope that helps.

OK, JP, you're in luck. I live in Alpharetta, and I'll do for you what I wish someone had done for me when I was in school and similarly impecunious. Shoot me an email next time you're going to be in ATL after January 1:

mehallada@comcast.net

You choose six sticks from the following, put them in the humi or coolerdor (check out the coolerdor threads). Smoke one after each year in school, upon graduation, etc.

VSG Wizard
Partagas Serie D #4
Bolivar Royal Corona
Bolivar Belicosos Finos
Montecristo #2
Montecristo Edmundo
A. Fuente Anejo Double Corona
Opus X Robusto

This will be my first, and perhaps only good deed of 2007. Sorry I can't put some Cohibas or H. Upmanns on the list, but good deeds only go so far.

PSD4
BBF
Opus X
#2
Anejo
BRC

those would be my picks, very generous Min

Hey minal do you mind if I e-mail you and ask a few questions about your collection? I'm not asking for cigars or trying to be a mooch I just have a quick question. Of course I don't want to step on your toes so I thought I would ask first.

An additional question, can you ruin an aged cigar by keeping it in 70% humidity? Since the RP 92 is already aged appropriately will it be okay to stick it in with the other singles at 60-70% humidity?

wow. thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. And min, very generous. i guess i will be emailing you soon. thanks to all, and keep the suggestions coming.

Shoot, JMS. One caveat, though, I am by no means an expert, just an avid amateur.