I hear a lot of talk about aging cigars but I have never heard anyone speak of when this process starts. All you guys seem to talk about aging cigars from the moment you receive them....seemingly ignoring, or at least not considering, their manufacture date. Which begs the question: Is there a way of knowing when a cigar was manufactured?? I assume that many cigar brands that didn't sell well when they entered the market were warehoused and then sold at substantial discounts to companies like cigar bid. If these cigars are already two or three years old is it really necessary or disireable to age them.....or do they not start to age until we receive them (this is a rhetorical question)? I have also read that some manufactures age their cigars at the factory before boxing and shipping them to their distributors.

So what's your take on this aging process??

Unfortunately like beer there is no born on date that I am aware of either by lot # or so on. I am not the most experienced in this field but my guess would be they begin to age when they have been rolled and housed in proper humidification. As far as a manufacture claiming they have been aged 1,2, or 3 years before going to market....who really knows. I just feel better if I put them in my Dor'which I know is proper RH of 65-70 % and let them stew a while so to speak....how long you ask? Well as a rule of thumb I store mine at least 4 months. Alright...ready for more post by people who are more experienced in that field.

I tend to "age" most of my cigars for atleast one month. I do this to allow the cigar to become "stable". By this I mean proper RH/Temp so the cigar will smoke at optimum. This is not always going to take care of smoke problems(dry, overly damp or taste), but seems to help on the short. On the long side of aging, I would say it is a matter of preference. I think some cigars taste great out of the box, and seem to gain little with age. On the other hand, some sticks taste good out of the box, and taste great with age(time seems to vary). Long term will help the various tobacco blends to "merge" together, this producing the "smoother, more flavorful" taste. This is only my take and experience.

Sorry, to answer the question. Tobacco starts to age the day it is picked. That is why it is often stored for several years before it is even rolled. The aging process will continue until the cigar is smoked.

look carefully at the boxes you buy in the future. On the bottom of the box, some do actually list when they were made. I noticed this most recently with the box of La Flor's I bought, sometimes it is stamped on the box, or there may be a little sticker. I think this is becoming more common especially now that the boom is over, and quality gets better. Some companies, usually the premium brands make it a point to box age before releasing them to the public. Fuente does it with the Ashton Cabinets and Virgin Sun Grown Cabinets, and Don Carlos. A friend told me that some of the tobaccos used in Don Carlos is over 8 years old, I have no way of veryifying that.

Be glad that most cigars have some 'age'. You can usually tell when a cigar is 'green' by it's inherant bitterness that lingers in your mouth afterward. This condition can usually be rectified with time. There are exceptions to that rule. Some cigars always suck. Thank goodness for cognac or Grand Marnier. If you keep your sticks 'down' for a while, they usually get better and more complex. The principal exception is with mild cigars. They only have so much time before they get 'too mild'. If that happens, you have either put together a nice collection of newbie/give away smokes or a batch of sticks to flavor.

It is true that a cigar begins to age at the moment it is rolled. (And, yes, tobacco begins to age the moment it is picked.)

Some brands contain date codes which tell you when they were made. If yours do not, you may wish to ask your supplier when he received them to help better understand the cigar's age.

Aside from a date code, there is no real way to tell. It may be best assume they are not aged at all in order to ensure the proper amount of aging. If you have some cigar smoking experience you may wish to smoke one and tell for yourself.

Frequently popular brands of cigars are rolled and shipped out immediately due to their high demand.

http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/aging/index.html 

Good luck to you!

-Huminie

I don't know when they start to age, but I can assure you it stops aging right at the moment that butt burns your fingers and you let that sucker go out in the ash tray: ) Come on Gents, this ain't rocket science, its cigar smoking.

the cigars yall bought when this thread was last at the top are prolly ready now. lol