I understand that most if not all cigars should be aged for a while in our humidors. Ive had some that were in there for a few years and its amazing what that length of time will do! But my question is...how long? Say I get a fiver of some nice La Aroma De Cubas. I stick em in the humi and wait. Now, how long? How do I know how long that stick has been sitting in the CB warehouse? If its been there for a year or so, shouldnt it be ready? Can I over-age these things?
And as always, I have to ask, am I overthinking it? I do that, you know.
Thanks all

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.

What Stogie said, some are better off the truck while others are better with a good nap. "Better" is personal and subjective. I'd give them at least a couple weeks of storage at home at your desired humidity level to recover a bit from the shipping from the distributor.

Generally speaking, from my experience, is they are shipped a bit higher in humidity than I prefer (I prefer around low 60's). How well they age is dependent on the blend, the history of raw materials, assembly and storage at the manufacturer, and the history at the distributor. The last few factors are difficult if not impossible for the average buyer to put a number on.

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

That would be a big job for Sunoverbeach. Generally i assume that most cigars are fairly fresh and try not to smoke one until has a short nap to assimilate - 2 weeks or more.

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.

Very interesting. Thanks all. I guess I will consider what the above says about all cigars being properly aged by the time they hit shelves to be the answer, and will continue letting new stuff sit at least a couple of weeks to hit my preferred humidity.
I appreciate the responses!

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.

Haha, I don’t know if I’m THE MOST detailed collector but I do try to keep notes on most of the cigars I smoke. Unfortunately I don’t have a column or page to track the upward/ downward trajectory of them and there are only a few that I actively note their progress / regression.

AF Anejo #46 - two to 3 years to peak and mebbe around 8 before the downhill is obvious

AF Casa Cuba Divine Inspiration - similar 2-3 years to reach its peak but when they did, they were awesome!

AF Hemingway Maduro - Best Seller - 2 years, WOAM - seemed closer to 3 years, Signature - 2-3. All seemed to decline after 6-7 years

AF Mag R44 - two to 3 years to peak but my current box took a little longer. I don’t keep them long enough to notice a decline.

Padron x000 series - maduro wrapped cigars were good from the get-go, natural took at least a year

Of course ymmv.

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.