aged cigars - thoughts?

[Ken Gargett]

we had stuart fox in town yesterday and for the next few days (to see his Irish take on the Wallabies) and rob organised a fantastic lunch. stuart incredibly generously brought along an unopened box of ramon allones petit coronas, long discontinued, from the 70s. they smoked beuatifully. richly flavoured and complex. we were lucky to get them opened before rob tried to sell the box.

got me wondering if other members have stories of old cigars. what are some of the oldest cigars you've smoked? thoughts on old cigars - do you prefer them? 

[Habana Mike]

Many stories of "old" cigars I could tell. Prefer to consider them well maintained and mature when they are.

A recent and memorable one, happened to get stuck in Chicago due to Fedex making a delivery erroneously to Indianapolis expected on my day trip so stuck overnight with no traveling stock or change of underwear....

My daughter lives in Chicago so had time to go meet her for lunch. I checked in with a good friend that lives in the city to see if he was around for a smoke (his of course). He was headed over to another friend's place that evening, someone I had passing familiarity with. Checked if his friend would be cool with me tagging along, all fine.

Stopped along the way to get a nice bottle of wine for the host, along with toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. and headed over.

Our host happens to be quite a wine and cigar collector. He took us down to his wine cellar/humidor and offered us to choose anything we cared to smoke. His stock consists of hundreds of boxes of rare and vintage cigars, jars and humidors - just about everything you can think of. My friend selected a cigar from the 1492 humidor. Another visitor took the opportunity to crack a jar of the Cohiba 30th. There were also the 1994 and 25th CubaTabacco humidors at hand. I was quite befuddled and anxious as to what I'd select so he suggested a 1947 Ramon Allones Ideales de Ramón.

Quite a fantastic cigar given its age. Still as powerful and flavorful as many of the '80s/'90s I've partaken of and a step beyond most of what we experience from more recent production.

I definitely prefer cigars with some age on them. A few years minimum, beyond that 15-20 year olds in stock with just a few from the '70s/'80s. 

 

[gweilgi]

Years ago, I splurged on an insanely expensive Cuban Davidoff at their shop in St James' in London.  It wasn't worth the trouble an the expense.

On the other hand, that half box of SLR DCs from the mid-90's I scored from a German Casa was without doubt and hands down among the top five of my all-time great smokes, right down to the last one I incinerated in 2016.  Rich, smooth, spicy, velvety ... utterly gorgeous.  Better than (bad) sex.  

[teewinot]

The oldest I have are at ten years and I only have a handful...the rest are within 5 years....I  look at the 10 year olds monthly and talk myself out of smoking them so that I can say in 10 more years that they 20 years old. So jealous of those that have aged stock.

[Piligrim]

Oldes cigar I ever tried was from 1989. that was very good smoke. I also have some from 1953, but still haven't smoked one. 

[canadianbeaver]

Brother here, Dan aka @dball has been our mentor on this subject for several years. In Toronto or Montreal, he brings lots of vintage cigars (15+) to the annual herf to share. Fantastic.

When he sent us a few a while back, complete with written notes on each, we we enjoyed 15-20 year old ones. Absolutely divine.

But after that, afraid to say, like 30-40 years, they gave burning bitter taste to my tongue and throat? I do not retrohale or anything like that. Mrbeaver said the same thing, but I am just speaking of my own experience.

CB

[luv2fly]

I smoked 2 Monte Tubos from the early 70’s.  Best cigars I have ever had and nothing has ever come close.

[El Hoze]

I’ve smoked cigars as old as 40 years old, and find them hit or miss like anything else. Tubes tend to have better odds. I have some 2003 HU Monarch tubes that are smoking awesome, and a large haul of 2008 Siglo VI that I’m still smoking through very slowly. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I sold large lot of Embargo era (before, during and after) of different cigars.  Don Candido, Dunhill Monte No.2 50 boxes, etc...  All were stored in a humidified wine cellar.  Many of the cigars had a papery taste left to them.  Other more recent old cigars have some of that taste, but also some honest cigar flavors too.  My favorite aspect of older cigars is the cleaner after taste; this seems to be consistent whether there is nothing left to the cigar or it's really special.  Aged flavors are not for everybody; the same with wine.

[JoeyGunz]

I smoked a Antonio Blanco, Habana, Cuba from 1915 in 2015.

100 Years old.

 

Was a delicate smoke still had some body to it. Enjoyable but a different experience to smoking anything from my usual selection.

Had to search for the nuances of flavour in the smoke. Quite a meditating experience but not one I'd seek out everyday.

 

 

[Corylax18]

The Oldest cigar I have smoked was about 20 years old at the time. A 1996 Punch SS2 in 2016. It was very good, I think "clean" is a good way to describe the overall experience. I have noticed around the 8-10 year mark that a more pronounced change begins to happen. I dont typically notice much difference in a cigar at the 2 or even 5 year mark. 

[benfica_77]

Oldest cigar I ever had was approx 10 years old. It was lovely and complex. Just curious where people find this extremely old stock? I've never seen anything from the 70's or 80's at a B&M. I was hoping one day to locate 2 sticks from the year I was born (1987) and save them and smoke on a very special occasion(s). 

[Doctorossi]

I think the oldest I've had is from the '30's. I'm not sure if it was past it or if it never had it in the first place, but it was dullsville.

However, I've also enjoyed a number of cigars from the '50's that have knocked my socks off with their potency and complexity. Age can blow the suds off of some sticks, but not all!

[Fugu]

On 9.6.2018 at 4:35 AM, Habana Mike said:

Prefer to consider them well maintained and mature when they are.

Very well put and spot on! Stands or falls with the quality of the original cigar in the first place. But when properly cared for, opens up a whole new dimension.

[ayepatz]

Tried a ‘99 VR Clasico today. Lovely smoke. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

In answer to the question, I find that I prefer the balance of an aged cigar. Somehow, they seem more refined.

[Puros Y Vino]

I've been following this thread for a few days with interest.  I'm a big fan of vintage cigars and I've had some pretty good experiences with them.  Only a small few that were somewhat disappointing.

• A 1985 Cuban Davidoff Dom Perignon (reviewed here)
• An early 80's Cuban Davidoff Château Haut-Brion (no review, but I do recall it no being memorable)

Otherwise, I've smoked some really great vintage Cubans and Clear Havanas over the past few years.

• Early 1960's RyJ Fabulosos No 1 (reviewed)
• Pre-Embargo RA Aristocrats (reviewed)
• 1982 Cuban Davidoff No 2 (reviewed)
• Mid 70's La Escepcion Coronas Largos (reviewed)
• Mid 70's H Upmann Sir Winston (reviewed)

I've also been lucky to pick up some full boxes either for myself or part of a split with others.

A box of 1926 Peter Schuyler Perfectos (Clear Havana) - Smoke fantastic, medium full, very different and interesting flavour profiles.

1974/75 Partagas Perfectos & Habaneros

1970's H Upmann No 4

1960's Partagas Petit Coronas Tubos (completely sealed when I bought it. Immaculate inside)

1940/43 WM Penn Panatelas (Clear Havanas) Another interesting smoke. On the milder side but full of flavours I really don't get from other cigars. Of note, lemon zest.

1988 Diplomaticos No 7 ( A lucky find, medium bodied a bit on the floral side but very smooth and well rounded smoke)

1997 ERDM Lonsdales.  Gorgeous wrappers, medium bodied, nutty smoke.

I don't aggressively chase down vintage cigars as much as I used to. Thanks to the sinking CAD$, increased interest and pricing on cigar auction sites and general decline in inventory near me.

I still have plenty to smoke for years to come and in the meantime, my regular stock will continue to age.    No regrets dipping into this part of the hobby.  It can be expensive and in many cases for me, reasonable. 

 

 

 

[Derboesekoenig]

So beautiful. Thank you for your post. So some Habanos used to be boxed with cello? Interesting. I did not know that. 

I have been thinking about getting some aged stock, but I am still learning and figuring out the current production line. Takes awhile to smoke all of them...

[Cigars&Guitars]

Interesting read.
The oldest thing I've smoked was from 2015, so I don't have much of a frame of reference and three years doesn't even count as aged yet. Just well rested. I'm just making my transition from NC to habano, so I'm excited to see how far down the rabbit hole goes.

Sent from my LG-M210 using Tapatalk

[BrightonCorgi]

25 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

I have been thinking about getting some aged stock, but I am still learning and figuring out the current production line. Takes awhile to smoke all of them...

Be careful.  There are a lot of dubious boxes out there.

[foursite12]

'99 Dip 1 last night that I received in a trade last year. Totally and completely shot. Nothing, Nada, Rien. Warm, cloudy air. Pitched after 6 puffs.

[Derboesekoenig]

4 minutes ago, foursite12 said:

'99 Dip 1 last night that I received in a trade last year. Totally and completely shot. Nothing, Nada, Rien. Warm, cloudy air. Pitched after 6 puffs.

Haha oh man, that sucks, but I love that description. I've never experienced anything like that...yet. Almost made it to 20 years! 

[cigaraholic]

Those Upmann wrappers brought a tear to my eye....nice to see what a Upmann used to look like❤️

[PapaDisco]

On 6/9/2018 at 9:35 AM, Habana Mike said:

Many stories of "old" cigars I could tell. Prefer to consider them well maintained and mature when they are.

A recent and memorable one, happened to get stuck in Chicago due to Fedex making a delivery erroneously to Indianapolis expected on my day trip so stuck overnight with no traveling stock or change of underwear....

My daughter lives in Chicago so had time to go meet her for lunch. I checked in with a good friend that lives in the city to see if he was around for a smoke (his of course). He was headed over to another friend's place that evening, someone I had passing familiarity with. Checked if his friend would be cool with me tagging along, all fine.

Stopped along the way to get a nice bottle of wine for the host, along with toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. and headed over.

Our host happens to be quite a wine and cigar collector. He took us down to his wine cellar/humidor and offered us to choose anything we cared to smoke. His stock consists of hundreds of boxes of rare and vintage cigars, jars and humidors - just about everything you can think of. My friend selected a cigar from the 1492 humidor. Another visitor took the opportunity to crack a jar of the Cohiba 30th. There were also the 1994 and 25th CubaTabacco humidors at hand. I was quite befuddled and anxious as to what I'd select so he suggested a 1947 Ramon Allones Ideales de Ramón.

Quite a fantastic cigar given its age. Still as powerful and flavorful as many of the '80s/'90s I've partaken of and a step beyond most of what we experience from more recent production.

I definitely prefer cigars with some age on them. A few years minimum, beyond that 15-20 year olds in stock with just a few from the '70s/'80s. 

 

Yes, yes, all well and good; but what did you do about the underwear??  

Thank heavens for generous collectors, eh?   I'm amazed at how well some of these super old cigars hold up.  They were rolled with a stronger blend to begin with I guess, but how was it stored?  Open air?  Box?  Plastic wrapped??  

[Habana Mike]

6 minutes ago, PapaDisco said:

Yes, yes, all well and good; but what did you do about the underwear??  

Thank heavens for generous collectors, eh?   I'm amazed at how well some of these super old cigars hold up.  They were rolled with a stronger blend to begin with I guess, but how was it stored?  Open air?  Box?  Plastic wrapped??  

Old army trick, turned them inside out.....

Cigars were in the original box in a climate controlled environment.

[Bill Hayes]

I decided this year to smoke all my older singles instead of waiting for an event or celebration. Smoked two Cohiba DC 2003. One was a little one dimensional and the other was good but not the great cigar I was expecting unfortunately - probably due to storage perhaps with fluctuations in temp and humidity a factor. I remember smoking one when they came out and it was magnificent, similar to the siglo 6 from that year but even more complex. Smoked two SLR DC 2004. One was pretty boring but the other was up there with the best cigar I've smoked. The only cigar I'm keeping longer now is a Cohiba 1966 because I got it for my 50th birthday off the missus.