How To Age A Cigar For The Best Flavors
As you smoke more cigar and experience more flavors, you might wonder how to age a cigar. Like wine and other alcohol, tobacco changes as it ages. Proper aging and make and bad cigar decent and can make a great cigar even better. Some sticks smell awful when fresh, but develop wonderfully after some time in a humidor. All cigars age differently, even cigars from the same bundle or box. Aged cigars have a smooth mellow taste to them. They are perfect for relaxing and having a drink.
All cigars are aged to a certain degree. Depending on the maker, cigars can be aged for years from the time the tobacco plant is harvested to the time it is packaged. Any new boxes of cigars you buy should be at least kept in a humidor for two or three months. This gives the flavors from the different tobaccos time to blend together.
Unless you plan on emptying your wallet, you are going to age them at home yourself. The amount of time put in is up to the smoker. It takes up to one year before you will taste a noticeable difference. The three year mark is when a richer flavor will truly start to develop. A good rule is cigars will keep improving in flavor if kept for up to ten years.
Some cigars are better for aging than others. Bigger ring size cigars have more tobacco and the inside is guarded from the layers of tobacco leaves around it. Bigger sticks will have a better flavor when it’s finally time to smoke. Full body cigars will mellow longer and taste better after a few years than a milder stick.
Some cigars are not affected by aging as much. Cigar wrappers make up the bulk of the cigar’s overall flavor. Cigars that are artificially cooked such as maduros will not change over the course of aging. This applies to flavored this that are artificially treated before being shipped out. Also it isn’t always best to age a cheap quality sticks. When you first attempt this, try it with a cigar you already enjoy and go from there.
The aging process starts with proper storage. It is commonly said to keep cigars at a temperature of 70 degrees and humidity of between 65 and 70. For storage, you should have twice the empty space as you do cigars. Always check cigars for cracking, tearing, discoloring, and mold. Rotate your cigars because pockets of humidity can be stock in certain places in the humidor.
Now that you know how to age a cigar, go age your own.