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5-ers and such, you are probably out of luck to know when they were rolled. Buy a box, though and there is usually a date code on the bottom.

As for how long to age any one particular cigar, I am thinking you are just going to have to experiment since each blend is different.

It would be interesting if someone with lot's of experience put together a database of various cigars/sizes and the preferred (for them at least) range of time to let them sit.

This sounds like a job for Palama, as the most detail oriented collector I know

But yeah, there's a sweet spot for each blend and you don't know until you try. I recall some mentioning that Liga Privadas actually lose something aging over a length of time. I think I recall someone saying the CH Las Caleveras are better newer as well, but I won't swear to that

I topped the NEWBIES INFO: Please Read thread. Here is the bit that's in it about aging. I'm not sure where this info came from, or if I agree. 15 years as a peak time seems mighty long to me.


.... the cigars go to the aging room, where the media-ruidas are placed in cedar cabinets called escaparates. Each factory ages their cigars for a certain amount of time. The Fuentes typically age their cigars for at least a year, with the Don Carlos and Hemmingway lines undergoing a eighteen month period of aging, and the Opus X, Anejo, Diamond Crown, and Ashton VSG lines undergoing an aging period of two years. Most cigars made by Altadis undergo an aging period at the factory of six months, and end up undergoing about a year's aging by the time they hit the shelves, as they are first transported by ship from the Dominican Republic, and then transported to the stores by ground. Carribe's cigars undergo an aging period of six weeks, which is sufficient to dry out the cigars, as the cigars straight off the bench are somewhat wet, and will burn and taste differently. Carribe’s cigars also get a good deal of aging in during transport by ship from Honduras to Florida... Furthermore, cigars need to age at least a year. Cigars are best smoked during the first three months after they are rolled, or a year after they are rolled. During that nine-month period, known to aficionados as "the sick period," cigars are relatively tasteless compared to the brash young cigars, and the much more refined cigars that have been aged a year or more. From the one-year mark on, cigars will get more refined as time goes by. Typically the flavor peaks after about five years for cigars from the Dominican Republic and Mexico, and peaks at fifteen years for cigars from anywhere other than the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Practically every single cigar available on the shelves of tobacconists in the US has been properly aged, and "the sick period" is something that only people who smoke Cuban cigars should worry about.

It just depends..
Keep in mind, many of of cigars sold here will not benefit from “aging” at all.
A six month nap? Sure.
Aging for 6 years? Waste of time.

For the short list of better cigars sold here, many do indeed benefit from long naps, or aging if you will.
But mostevery cigar will eventually fade if “aged” too long.
For some, that might be a couple years or less.
Others can go 10, 15+ years.

I have a couple boxes of pre Davidoff Camacho Corojos from 2006 that are amazing.

Drew estates that have age are definitely different a lot weaker . Ashton is another that I think is best smoked soon. Now that I think of it a lot of cigars are better to me fresh. I have tons of stock so I smoke a lot of older smokes . Still buying and I always try rott then revisit later unless really good.