First let me say I do not think I have the most refined pallet so my comments should be tempered by that.
I only bought aged cigars once and they were smaller Cuban from a reputable source and found them so-so. It was a 5 pack and I bought 2 of them so my buddy could smoke one with me for his birthday each time.
3-4 years back my buying became obsessive so I found myself with too many cigars (not really possible) not to age some.
I also made an effort to age some Cubans.
A few boxes I bought blind based on reviews turned out to be not to my liking so I put them near the bottom of my supply and forgot about them for 2-3 years.
Now I understood aging cigars muted some flavors and could not understand how this could be desired.
Some cigars that started out acidic I did not like developed into my favorites with much improved flavors.
A few tasteless cigars still were tasteless after 3 years.
A few cigars that while I enjoyed got lost in the masses and after a few years changed their character to be more enjoyable.
People talk about aging Cubans but I have found NC cigars also seem to benefit greatly.
An example of this is the NC 'La Gloria de Cuba Glorias' which were bitter acidic when I bought them. After the better part of 3 years these cigars became a treat which caused me to worry about running out.
Do you have any 'dogs' that came back to be stars?
aged cigars
- kurtdesign1
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Re: aged cigars
I'm not sure I can say "dogs", per say, but I can say that there have been plenty of cigars I didn't think were what I wanted them to be initially. This is even amongst (actually, probably even more so) cigars that I am familiar with. As a clarification, cigars are a biological product, handled by hundreds, impacted by nature and man alike. When one of these variables is changed, the flavor can be impacted. As such, when a box is tasted and cigars are not as I expect them to be I will often forget about them and hope to revisit at a later date. It's not that the cigars are bad, they're just impacted in such a way that their flavor is not what I expect it to be. Because so many youthful flavors are volatile in their chemical nature, time tends to manipulate how the flavors come across, therefore giving a second life to its taste.
I have boxes which were good. I've set them down for YEARS to hope that they will continue their maturation to become great. I'm no expert on aging but I do think of it as a chemical process. The more one variable is introduced, the more the finished product will be impacted. It's a much more objective way of thinking about the final, smoked cigars.
BTW, your method is exactly what I do (did). If I smoke one or two a week, how can a box a month NOT get aged?
I have boxes which were good. I've set them down for YEARS to hope that they will continue their maturation to become great. I'm no expert on aging but I do think of it as a chemical process. The more one variable is introduced, the more the finished product will be impacted. It's a much more objective way of thinking about the final, smoked cigars.
BTW, your method is exactly what I do (did). If I smoke one or two a week, how can a box a month NOT get aged?