Smoke Inn Blog
For the true enthusiast, cigar aging is the capstone of a process that begins when the first tobacco seed is planted in the field. As a gift, an aged cigar says that you took the time to make them a gift worth having. And as a treat for yourself, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, it says that you’re a person who deserves the good things that come to those who wait. Whether your cigars are aged for a year or a decade, the added quality will be palpable from the first burn to your final puff.
The aging process begins in the humidor. The humidor maintains a consistent, desirable humidity level to ensure that the cigars are properly aged. The industry gold standard for humidor interiors is Spanish cedarwood. Much like how a cedar closet protects clothes from moths, a cedar humidor naturally shelters your cigars from hungry tobacco beetles and other pests. Cedar also provides some ambient absorbent properties so that your humidor can better maintain a consistent humidity level for each cigar. Too little humidity and the cigar will turn brittle and bitter. Too much humidity and mold will rot your cigar on the shelf. The right humidor leaves your cigar in a kind of goldilocks zone: not too wet, not too dry, but, at approximately 60-70% humidity, just right for aging.
Because cigars are organic, the cigar ager uses the controlled environment of their humidor to deliberately ferment the tobacco to achieve a more balanced, mellow and polished flavor profile upon smoking. In a quality cigar, the binder, filler and wrapper leaf will each lend a unique flavor and texture to their smoke. Ashton VSG Cigars, for example, clothe their Dominican-grown binder and filler leaves in a wrapper of sumptuous Sumatran seed leaf. Aging helps blend these leaf profiles together, resulting in a fuller, more balanced cigar that discerning enthusiasts prize.
That being said, premium cigars are made of tobacco leaf that has already been aged for years. The Arturo Fuente Don Carlos is often aged years before it ever passes into the hands of a consumer. Additional aging can improve the flavor of even the most high-quality cigars, but it is rare that anything beyond seven years of aging will produce any discernable improvements. Even the finest cigars aren’t built for the ages. Aging cigars is an organic process, and that process of oxidation and fermentation will eventually turn against the flavor of your cigar. Premium cigar brands sell their cigars already aged and ready to smoke, either immediately or after a reasonable amount of aging in your humidor. Decades upon decades in a humidor may impress, but don’t let your cigars outlive you!
When determining how long to age your cigar, you should note that the effects of aging generally have a direct relationship with the thickness of the ring gauge. Thicker ring gauges mean more tobacco per square inch and a greater achievable range of flavor from aging in your humidor as those flavors slowly mature over time. As more of its surface area is directly exposed to the humidity, a thinner ring gauge will age faster in the humidor but may result in a less flavorful aged product.
Depending on your cigar (and your palate) you may notice the benefits of aging after even a few weeks! However, most enthusiasts will swear by years of aging to pull the richest flavors out of your tobacco. The aging timeframe is ultimately a personal choice, but consistency remains important from the first day of aging to the final moment. If you do choose to age your cigars for extended periods of time, here are three simple tips that you should follow:
- Rotate your cigars. Just like you wouldn’t fry just one side of a piece of bacon, you should make sure to rotate your cigars’ position in your humidor once every month to ensure that they are neither over nor underexposed to your humidor’s source of moisture.
- Keep it clean. Make sure to wash your hands before each rotation and any other handling of your cigars. Remember, your cigars aren’t as tough as you! While you’re not going to die from a speck of dirt, your crop of cigars won’t do nearly as well when at the mercy of unwanted microcontaminants.
- Refill your humidor. All the care and cleanliness in the world won’t do any good if your humidor runs dry. Check your humidor regularly so that you can keep your cigars in pristine condition. You can refill your humidor with either distilled (not tap!!!!) water or propylene glycol solution, usually sold in any cigar shop.
During the aging process, the true enthusiast will also have to decide whether to leave the cellophane on their cigars in their humidors. Beyond the immediate visual appeal of a cigar slipped out of its plastic casing, cellophane inhibits the desired melding of oils and flavors from each layer of the cigar tobacco by reducing its exposure to its new environment. Furthermore, some connoisseurs meticulously cultivate a distinct blend of aromas that only comes from exposing different kinds of cigars to each other in a single humidor, fostering a subtle shift in the flavor of each cigar that is hard to replicate, but impossible to mistake. If you do decide to remove the cellophane wrappers before aging, take care not to rip the wrapper leaf while you do so. Small tears upon removal from its cellophane shell can have quite flavorful implications years down the aging line.
Finally, make sure not to overpack your humidor with cigars. Leave about 20% of your humidor unfilled so that the air and moisture can properly circulate throughout your humidor. You care about your cigars, don’t smother them!
Most importantly, don’t be afraid to try new things and have fun. You will always be your own best judge of what works, what doesn’t and what tastes great. Aging cigars should be a pleasure. If it’s not, take this whole article and smoke it too.
