I'm new to CBID. Been smoking cigars for about 3 years. Started with machine-made dog turds and have now moved up the food chain. Can someone explain the theory/benefit of "resting" your cigars ?

Welcome aboard, most cigars not all will get better the longer they are kept in the right humidity , some will produce plume if left in there long enough. some bad gars will actualy turn very tasty after sleeping for 3 to 6 months. there are alot more technical info on this and i am sure you will be getting alot of this info on this post from other fellow posters.
the fun has only just begun.

MD:
Most cigars seem to benefit from aging ("resting" being a herfer euphemism). This is more likely to be the case with less expensive cigars since more expensive premium class selections usually are made with more extensively aged tobacco and are already well on their way in this regard.

It is also not unusual for a newer box of cigars to be a bit on the damp side when first received. Some large retailers intentionally store them above 70% RH in order to make them less susceptible to damage during shipping. So some time in the humidor, assuming the humi is at a proper humidity level, will dry them out a bit and make them much more smokable.

Most of us have a story or two about a cigar(s) which we did not like at all originally, tossed them into the coolerdor, forgot about them for many months and when next tried discovered that they were an entirely different and more enjoyable cigar.

Some of us even have the same stories about wives and girlfriends.

All I know is that in many instances, the flavor profile can change remarkably with several months resting time. Not always, of course, and for some cigars the benefits are more subtle, but I've had a few brands where the difference after serveral months was night and day.

Torano 1959 Silvers are a perfect example of what time in the humi will do for a cigar. When I first got them on first lighting one they had a little bite to them almost bitter. They would smooth out about 1/2 way through and they were a really good smoke full of flavor. I let some "rest" for about 6 months and now they are smooth as silk all the way through and they are flat out a great cigar. This story could be told over and over with a lot of different cigars.

RDk....
I've been resting about 20 Torano silver robustos all this year. Maybe its time to smoke one of them

RDk....
I've been resting about 20 Torano silver robustos all this year. Maybe its time to smoke one of them

Or two of them!

LOL!

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Turnberry said: " ... Some of us even have
the same stories about wives and girlfriends."
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Had to read that twice ... I initially thought he'd said that some of us have stories about the same wives and girlfriends ...

I got some CT Signature Churchills that OTT were very harsh. I forgot about these for about 2years and tried one about a month ago and it was Deelish. X

Appreciate the info. I've decided to start branching out and trying some new stuff. So far Padron is my favorite (especially the 1964). Like the the ITs I've tried, the Gurkas and the CAOs. Going to invest in a couple of Opus, Cohiba and Diamond Crown. My wife thinks I'm crazy but I gave her some cash for jewelry and she shut up. Thanks again.

Hang on MDavis, the fun has only just begun.
LOL @ SteveS & Turnberry's notes, heheheheeeee!

Knof