Target Age (for aging boxes)

[Nico]

Monte #2 (6-8) then the rest 12yrs-15yrs
Boli's (5-6) like them fresh.
Partagas (10yrs at least) do not like fresh.
RASS (10yrs as well)

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Old party is the best party!

I’ve come to the conclusion that just about every marca that I enjoy overall gets better with age with the exception of Boli. Old Boli just becomes weak and is completely dominated with earth. But Cohiba, party, Hoyo, ERDM and RyJ is just so damn tasty when they have 10+ years on them. But I like the variety of smoking young and old. Just like CC and NC, I don’t discriminate neither age or country.

[parabola66]

Thanks for all the responses so far.. let's keep it going!

I very much understand that all of this is subjective, but that's the point... I am asking for your preference. ?

 

[SmokyFontaine]

As I gain in experience, one thing I'm keeping in mind is that a young cigar will always have traits of that particular cigar. It might turn bitter faster, might have burn issues, but an aged cigar indisputably loses oils over time. Will it taste better or worse? Hell, that's what pages of posts are working to answer, but my worry with just waiting X years before starting to smoke is what if my preferences would have been for younger. You can always add time to the aging process, but you can't wind the clock back if for your tastes the cigar peaked years ago. 

I've become a fan of trying boxes at the 3-6 month range to see if they're changing and if it's for the better to me.

Then here's the real damn whammy - with Cuban "consistency" two boxes from the same factory could be substantially different in almost every way, so maybe this box of RASS is all stewed fruit but the other is stewed turd. It's sooo hard to give absolutes, and in my very personal opinion, even harder with many Cubans.

[TBird55]

5 hours ago, SigmundChurchill said:

And thats just it.  This could apply to anyone on this board, with varying degrees of certainty, of course.

If something tastes great now, why wait?  Maybe NOW is it’s time.

All any of us are guaranteed is today. Live for today, but also plan for tomorrow, just in case ?. That being said, I  am thankful that I  am fortunate enough to smoke what I  like today, and still put them away for the future.

[renos]

21 minutes ago, TBird55 said:

All any of us are guaranteed is today. Live for today, but also plan for tomorrow, just in case ?. 

Couldn't agree more.  I'm not rich by any means so my sons won't have an enormous inheritance.  However I'm young enough where I may have plenty of time to grow a healthy stock of aged and aging cigars.  So someday that will be left to them, if I don't smoke em first?

[Colt45]

For me, it all depends on what you start with.

[Kayslay]

The Monte 2 in my opinion tastes super harsh when young. However after 3 or so years it blossoms into a top 5 smoke for me. An aged Monte 2 cannot be beat! 

I've never been able to hold a Cohiba or Trinidad long enough to test ?, although I had an aged CoRo from 2012 and it was amazing- although I'm not sure if its worth the wait(or price tag)

BBF are amazing with a few years + on them, but almost as good fresh.

I just learned recently that SLR Regios are better fresh, and of course my box of those has 5+ on it.

[leapingknown]

I don't buy many Cohiba's. I do like the big ones..and the #3's. That's about it though! I like to put my stash down for a long nap. The Cohiba's aren't what I'm looking for with serious age... still good , just not what I'm looking for

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[Markspring1978]

23 hours ago, Nico said:

I’ve come to the conclusion that just about every marca that I enjoy overall gets better with age with the exception of Boli. Old Boli just becomes weak and is completely dominated with earth. But Cohiba, party, Hoyo, ERDM and RyJ is just so damn tasty when they have 10+ years on them.

This post is proof positive that aging should be primarily driven by personal preference. On the other end of the spectrum, MRN concludes that Boli has “infinite aging potential” and most of his recommendations are on the longer end of the spectrum. In my own personal preference, I like most Boli at 10+ years most. 

Every cigar lover will also find their budget, storage availability, and disposition for patience to highly impact the process. I find myself aging stuff longer and longer than I did 15-20 years ago, primarily because I have acquired a lot of boxes over the years and I have a lot more options than I had back then. Also, my income levels are a lot different than they were 20 years ago. Back then, I didn’t have the space or discretionary income to be buying cabinet humidors, and I wouldn’t still be married, if I had tried back then. 

I’m not going to judge anyone who smokes a young cigar that would benefit greatly from aging, if you enjoy it, knock yourself out. In fact, it’s good to get a baseline for what youth tastes like for comparison sakes. But, for my preference, I just like to wait it out. I have plenty of options today, and knowing what some time will do to enhance the smoke, I just let it lay down, probably longer than most would. As an example, I smoked the Espi from the Christmas sampler two nights ago. Great smoke, I enjoyed it thoroughly. But, with every draw I was convinced that 5 years would have made the experience exponentially better. Some of this perception is likely psychological. My personality greatly appreciates anything that requires time, expertise and quality materials to result in an exceptional outcome. So, my perception of an aged Espi will be a better experience for me than a fresh Luci. And I will fully acknowledge that some of this “experience” is more in my brain, than on my palette. 

With all of this in mind, I will target 10+ years for the following, which are among my favorite smokes: Espi, CoLa, CoRo, Sir Winston, BCG, Punch DC, ERDM CX, Monte ESP 1 and 2, HdM DD (not going to last forever, but I still have 5 cabs), Mag 46, SLR Ser A, Party 898, any LGC MdO size, RyJ Churchill’s, RyJ E4. 

5-10 Years: BBF, any of the Siglo series (III is my favorite, like it closer to 5 years, VI seems to do better with more age), HdM DC, Luci, Connie A, JL 1 and 2, Monte 4, Fundys, RASS, PLPC, RyJ SC. 

I hardly ever smoke stuff with less than 5 years, but it hasn’t always been that way, and I see this as part of the journey. With this in mind, I don’t have much judgement on the newer QdO stuff, which is still a couple years out. 

[leapingknown]

This post is proof positive that aging should be primarily driven by personal preference. On the other end of the spectrum, MRN concludes that Boli has “infinite aging potential” and most of his recommendations are on the longer end of the spectrum. In my own personal preference, I like most Boli at 10+ years most. 
Every cigar lover will also find their budget, storage availability, and disposition for patience to highly impact the process. I find myself aging stuff longer and longer than I did 15-20 years ago, primarily because I have acquired a lot of boxes over the years and I have a lot more options than I had back then. Also, my income levels are a lot different than they were 20 years ago. Back then, I didn’t have the space or discretionary income to be buying cabinet humidors, and I wouldn’t still be married, if I had tried back then. 
I’m not going to judge anyone who smokes a young cigar that would benefit greatly from aging, if you enjoy it, knock yourself out. In fact, it’s good to get a baseline for what youth tastes like for comparison sakes. But, for my preference, I just like to wait it out. I have plenty of options today, and knowing what some time will do to enhance the smoke, I just let it lay down, probably longer than most would. As an example, I smoked the Espi from the Christmas sampler two nights ago. Great smoke, I enjoyed it thoroughly. But, with every draw I was convinced that 5 years would have made the experience exponentially better. Some of this perception is likely psychological. My personality greatly appreciates anything that requires time, expertise and quality materials to result in an exceptional outcome. So, my perception of an aged Espi will be a better experience for me than a fresh Luci. And I will fully acknowledge that some of this “experience” is more in my brain, than on my palette. 
With all of this in mind, I will target 10+ years for the following, which are among my favorite smokes: Espi, CoLa, CoRo, Sir Winston, BCG, Punch DC, ERDM CX, Monte ESP 1 and 2, HdM DD (not going to last forever, but I still have 5 cabs), Mag 46, SLR Ser A, Party 898, any LGC MdO size, RyJ Churchill’s, RyJ E4. 
5-10 Years: BBF, any of the Siglo series (III is my favorite, like it closer to 5 years, VI seems to do better with more age), HdM DC, Luci, Connie A, JL 1 and 2, Monte 4, Fundys, RASS, PLPC, RyJ SC. 
I hardly ever smoke stuff with less than 5 years, but it hasn’t always been that way, and I see this as part of the journey. With this in mind, I don’t have much judgement on the newer QdO stuff, which is still a couple years out. 

Nice write up! For me the Sig III's are choice at the 5yr mark as well. 898's 10+...its right behind a Monte #2 as far as all time favorite. I hope recent batches arent plugged. Find out soon

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[leapingknown]

Got my 898's in!! Woohoo! Sacrifice one this weekend.

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