Carton Pack aging?

[El Presidente]

Following on from the "expired Cohiba" thread.  Has anyone successfully aged cigars in their Cardboard Packs 15 years + ? I am not talking tubos...pure tobacco on cardboard only. 

I will certainly buy CP's for their convenience particularly when travelling. As a bonus on your travels you will often find CP's with a little age. However what I don't smoke on my travels I will remove from the CP's and put in my singles desktop. 

Personally, my results for cigars aged (extensively) in their CP's is poor and in many cases (not always but often enough) the end result smoking like aged cardboard  The exception has always been cellophaned cigars in carboard packs. They age beautifully (in my experience) and I wish all cigars in CP's went back to being cellophaned. 

 

[Hammer Smokin']

is there a difference in materials used in a cardboard pack and the materials used in a dressed box? I guess the addition of the thin cedar(?) strips found in the dressed box would be the only difference? 

[ha_banos]

I've got some packs in cardboard. Have been umming and arring about demanding them into boxes. This thread might just push me to do it... 👽 Watching with interest.

[Yigal]

Just got some CoRo tubos in CP's.  Ditching the CP and putting them in the humidor with the tubos.  Question is: Caps on or off the tubos?  

[MrBirdman]

I always remove cigars from cardboard the minute I get them and put them into an old SLB or a singles tray. 

Cardboard packs can be funny. I picked up two packs of Siglo III on FOH last year with about 3 years of age, probably from the same case. One of the packs has smoked beautifully (if precociously), the other is much blander verging on papery. 

Recent pack of Monte 2’s I got as an order bonus with just over 2 years had almost no flavor at all. 

I’m just not sure I fully understand why cardboard has this effect. The added paper flavor is straightforward, but the deterioration of endogenous flavors isn’t. My best guess is that the permeability of paper effectively allows much more air to “circulate” around the entire cigar. 

Any other theories? 

[Corylax18]

29 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Following on from the "expired Cohiba" thread.  Has anyone successfully aged cigars in their Cardboard Packs 15 years + ? I am not talking tubos...pure tobacco on cardboard only. 

I will certainly buy CP's for their convenience particularly when travelling. As a bonus on your travels you will often find CP's with a little age. However what I don't smoke on my travels I will remove from the CP's and put in my singles desktop. 

Personally, my results for cigars aged (extensively) in their CP's is poor and in many cases (not always but often enough) the end result smoking like aged cardboard  The exception has always been cellophaned cigars in carboard packs. They age beautifully (in my experience) and I wish all cigars in CP's went back to being cellophaned. 

 

Not Cohiba's but I have some Monte No 2's that where originally purchased in 3x5 CP's. They stayed in those CP's for the first 7 years or so, in a large desktop Humidor. Eventually I got a couple wineadors and I moved the cigars into a singles tray that is dedicated to No 2's. They're "only" about 13 years old, but I've noticed no discernable negative affects from the time spent in CP. I smoked a couple recently and they are better now than ever. They may start to to fade over the next couple years, but it would be hard for me to attribute that to the original packaging at this point. 

[Tstew75]

I've never detected a difference, but also watching this thread with interest...

I've picked up many C/P boxes over the past couple of years (its where all the deals have been)

[Nevrknow]

When I first joined I saw a post along these lines so I started acquiring empty wooden gar boxes. Anything that comes in paper anything gets it's own box with shiny new label maker name plate. I figured why risk it. 🤷

[Bijan]

1 hour ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

is there a difference in materials used in a cardboard pack and the materials used in a dressed box? I guess the addition of the thin cedar(?) strips found in the dressed box would be the only difference? 

Dress boxes are plywood covered in paper. Cardboard packs are just cardboard so thicker than the paper in dress boxes and I think that might have an effect.

[LordAnubis]

I have noticed some changes in the recent cardboard packs. Not that I come across them much, or maybe I’m just seeing different examples of brands etc. 

I feel the newer cardboard packs have some sort of wax lining inside the individual packs, which I feel would not be too bad for ageing, but straight tobacco on cardboard wouldn’t be great. 
anyone else noticed this or am I seeing things?

But no, to answer the question I wouldnt store or buy aged cigars in cardboard packs. 

[LLC]

 Don’t often get cigars in cardboard packs but if I do, I’ve always taken them out right away. 

[PigFish]

4 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Following on from the "expired Cohiba" thread.  Has anyone successfully aged cigars in their Cardboard Packs 15 years + ? I am not talking tubos...pure tobacco on cardboard only. 

I will certainly buy CP's for their convenience particularly when travelling. As a bonus on your travels you will often find CP's with a little age. However what I don't smoke on my travels I will remove from the CP's and put in my singles desktop. 

Personally, my results for cigars aged (extensively) in their CP's is poor and in many cases (not always but often enough) the end result smoking like aged cardboard  The exception has always been cellophaned cigars in carboard packs. They age beautifully (in my experience) and I wish all cigars in CP's went back to being cellophaned. 

 

I have a handful of Cohibas in cardboard. The last time I bought any cigars like this was 2007. These are certainly older than that. I will consider a review and take one for the team. Why I have left these cigars this way is way beyond my memory. I just looked to see if they were still where I thought they were and there they are!

-Piggy

[SigmundChurchill]

I have not had good luck with aging cigars in cardboard.  I always chalked it up to the cardboard acting like a sponge, soaking up humidity, plus, as someone else mentioned, less air circulation.  I have seen a higher incidence of mold, and whether I right or wrong, I have blamed the cardboard.

 

[potpest]

I didn't age them myself but I picked these Du Prince up a couple of years ago in Spain. The cardboard packs were discontinued in '06 according to ccw. Tried one at the time and was smoking fine. Maybe time to re visit them.

[CaptainQuintero]

8 hours ago, SigmundChurchill said:

I have not had good luck with aging cigars in cardboard.  I always chalked it up to the cardboard acting like a sponge, soaking up humidity, plus, as someone else mentioned, less air circulation.  I have seen a higher incidence of mold, and whether I right or wrong, I have blamed the cardboard.

 

  This pretty much mirrors my experience. I stopped buying anything in cardboard as a result. It's always been cigars that have spent significant time in the packaging that have smoked like...well cardboard. 8+ years. But I just avoid anything packaged in it now, simply down to the disappointments I've had previously and feeling like it's harmful to the cigar. I could be unfairly blaming cardboard and it just being coincidence though. 

  If they were in cellophane I'd have no issue buying CB packaged cigars though

 

[SirVantes]

I bought a single Des Dieux from a cardboard 5-pack from a B&M.  This was around 2016.  Liked it so much I bought both their remaining 5-packs.  So yes, apparently it's fine to age for a while in cardboard.

Having said that, I immediately transferred them to a standby SLB when I got them home.

[Chas.Alpha]

On 8/23/2021 at 4:43 PM, El Presidente said:

Following on from the "expired Cohiba" thread.  Has anyone successfully aged cigars in their Cardboard Packs 15 years + ? I am not talking tubos...pure tobacco on cardboard only. 

I will certainly buy CP's for their convenience particularly when travelling. As a bonus on your travels you will often find CP's with a little age. However what I don't smoke on my travels I will remove from the CP's and put in my singles desktop. 

Personally, my results for cigars aged (extensively) in their CP's is poor and in many cases (not always but often enough) the end result smoking like aged cardboard  The exception has always been cellophaned cigars in carboard packs. They age beautifully (in my experience) and I wish all cigars in CP's went back to being cellophaned. 

 

Maybe a bit off track here, but what are your thoughts on the 5 pack tins? I took mine out and are in a desktop.

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, Chas.Alpha said:

Maybe a bit off track here, but what are your thoughts on the 5 pack tins? I took mine out and are in a desktop.

No problem. They have been around in one form or another for a century or more. Keep them in your humidor, all good. 

If they are good enough for Scottie, the are good enough for me. 

 

[Chas.Alpha]

If you can't trust Scottie, who can you trust?

[LordAnubis]

I trust the tins, but not the foam piece they have insdie them. Ageing foam just doesnt have any good qualities i dont think.

[dominattorney]

The issue with the cardboard is that I don't think it acts as a good buffer against improper storage. You get cigars in a BN or even a dress box and some fluctuations in humidity are likely going to take longer to get to the sticks than through cardboard. Also, I would wager that if there is too mulch humidity, the cardboard would soak up the extra moisture and cause problems with mold that way. 

This is based upon nothing. Literally nothing. Except buying a 5x5 cardboard pack of 2003 hoyo des dieux and finding them to be flat and cardboard tasting at first. Also weirdly too dry and at the same time too wet in different places on the same cigar. However, throw them in an old BN box in the humidor for a year or so and they perked back up and are a treat. I had all but written off that purchase as a loss when I sampled one after 18 months and was pleasantly surprised. 

[Bijan]

48 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

This is based upon nothing. Literally nothing. Except buying a 5x5 cardboard pack of 2003 hoyo des dieux and finding them to be flat and cardboard tasting at first. Also weirdly too dry and at the same time too wet in different places on the same cigar. However, throw them in an old BN box in the humidor for a year or so and they perked back up and are a treat. I had all but written off that purchase as a loss when I sampled one after 18 months and was pleasantly surprised. 

I got some 2007 RyJ PCs in 5x5 that were bland and cardboard when I got them. I'm storing them in dress boxes now and they're better I think. Two different people I sent them to enjoyed them.

[nKostyan]

I bought it last year. I don't know who and how they were stored all these years, but they are well preserved taste

[BrightonCorgi]

I have some Fundadores in cardboard that must be around 15 years old.  Not much left to them, taste wise.  Old Habanos like Davidoff's that had celo in cardboard fared better than bare cigars.

[Midas]

I’ve only ever had JLP’s in cardboard packs, they are the only cigars I’ve ever had mould pop up on. Since then they’ve been out of the cardboard into SLB’s. If I ever pick anything else up in cardboard they will be straight into an old box.


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