Ageing NC?s

[Vitola]

I know certain Cuban cigars improve with age, but would like to know peoples thoughts on ageing NC?s. I know NC?s are supposed to be good from fresh as the leaves are already well aged before they get to retail.

But after noting a post from [MENTION=13402615]PeeJay[/MENTION] on improvements to the Carrillo Encore - I tried a second cigar from a box I had smoked the year before and it was a much improved smoke this time round.

Have any of you NC smokers found any marques that definitely seem to improve with age?


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[PeeJay]

Black Label Trading Company for sure

[kern47]

Isn't the lack of ageing of NC's purely due to the time they spend in the warehouse after they've been rolled? They're only made of the same thing as Cubans (dead, cured leaves), so presumably the same rules apply? Meaning its maybe possible to have a fresh/young NC if it happens to be in high demand or just made it to the shelves sooner?

That's just the theory I came to after a bit of research into the subject myself

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[PeeJay]

Isn't the lack of ageing of NC's purely due to the time they spend in the warehouse after they've been rolled? They're only made of the same thing as Cubans (dead, cured leaves), so presumably the same rules apply? Meaning its maybe possible to have a fresh/young NC if it happens to be in high demand or just made it to the shelves sooner?

That's just the theory I came to after a bit of research into the subject myself

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The majority of non Cuban manufacturers mature their leaves beyond the sick period so that they are ready to smoke straight away if you like. Some Cuban cigars are sold before reaching that stage leaving the customer to decide whether to risk smoking them young and possibly in that sick stage or leaving them to age. Hence you'll often find members asking what's smoking well young. Custom rolls are more likely to have a sick period in my experience or to be sold too fresh. I had one bundle where I was almost overwhelmed by the ammonia smell when I opened them up. Five years later they were excellent. All cigars will change with age regardless of where they were made but not always for the better.

[kern47]

The majority of non Cuban manufacturers mature their leaves beyond the sick period so that they are ready to smoke straight away if you like. Some Cuban cigars are sold before reaching that stage leaving the customer to decide whether to risk smoking them young and possibly in that sick stage or leaving them to age. Hence you'll often find members asking what's smoking well young. Custom rolls are more likely to have a sick period in my experience or to be sold too fresh. I had one bundle where I was almost overwhelmed by the ammonia smell when I opened them up. Five years later they were excellent. All cigars will change with age regardless of where they were made but not always for the better.

Ah thanks for that clarification [emoji106] so what's the reason for Cubans not following suit? Just demand/cost of having leaves sat for so long?

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[PeeJay]

Ah thanks for that clarification [emoji106] so what's the reason for Cubans not following suit? Just demand/cost of having leaves sat for so long?

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'Cuba e Cuba' as they say

[Niela]

Ah thanks for that clarification [emoji106] so what's the reason for Cubans not following suit? Just demand/cost of having leaves sat for so long?

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I guess it has historical reasons, but today it's part of the marketing. People love hoarding them and waiting for them to be smokable. Makes them more desirable in many peoples eyes and strengthens the mystique. Even if you get a rubbish box, you think "oh, but the next one will be amazing for sure..."

That's how you get people buy more cigars than they smoke.

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[Kickback]

Or Cuba is so desperate for income they can't afford to wait aging the leaves especially when buyers seem happy to purchase and age themselves.

[PeeJay]

Or Cuba is so desperate for income they can't afford to wait aging the leaves especially when buyers seem happy to purchase and age themselves.

I suspect that's more likely

[kern47]

I guess it has historical reasons, but today it's part of the marketing. People love hoarding them and waiting for them to be smokable. Makes them more desirable in many peoples eyes and strengthens the mystique. Even if you get a rubbish box, you think "oh, but the next one will be amazing for sure..."

That's how you get people buy more cigars than they smoke.

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Well it's certainly worked on me! I initially thought I'd stock mostly NCs for every day casual smokes, then just have a collection of Cuban singles for more occasional smoking... Until I decided I'd better buy a load of boxes to give me some aged further down the line.

But am I right in thinking the LE stuff and some Cohiba use aged leaves? So they could be treated more like NC's in theory [emoji848]?


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[Niela]

Well it's certainly worked on me! I initially thought I'd stock mostly NCs for every day casual smokes, then just have a collection of Cuban singles for more occasional smoking... Until I decided I'd better buy a load of boxes to give me some aged further down the line.

But am I right in thinking the LE stuff and some Cohiba use aged leaves? So they could be treated more like NC's in theory [emoji848]?


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As far as I know, ELs use 3 year old tobacco and the RRs (or what they are called) use 5 year old tobacco. Then you have the anjeados which are rolled fresh and then stored for a number of years. While some ELs are sublime, everything else is even more overpriced than the regular production in my opinion.

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[ha_banos]

LEs and REs are aged a couple of years, as are Reservas (>3 years), Gran Reserva (>5 years).

Cohiba go through a 3rd barrel fermentation - i think before any aging...

http://www.habanos.com/en/el-mundo-del-habano/glosario/#aE

They will probably select nicer leaves for these - although we dont always think so!

Then there's Anejados.