long rest, short rest, or rott

[GWBowman]

From the knowledge I have gleaned from you fine folks, a lot of cigars improve with a long rest, while others just need a chance to acclimate to your humidor. In your opinion, what cigars are good to go ROTT, and what cigars only require a short rest? What do you consider a short rest versus a long rest? I'm looking forward to this discussion, as well as seeing where opinions vary.

[Cardinal]

There are two pieces to the question, I think.

One relates to humidity. I believe many online vendors keep their cigars a little more wet than I want (and a few shops, I guess). I've had way too many that just wouldn't burn right, and I had to light and relight over and over. My personal thought is that 8-12 weeks of rest seems to be enough to get cigars from wet to smokeable at my preferred humidity (65%). The trick is that I'm sure some cigars arrive at the house perfectly acclimated at 65-68%, but I've got enough stock now that I don't mind just letting everything sit for a while. So on this part, sometimes a cigar is perfect ROTT, other times it may take a few weeks or more to come down. I've heard of guys putting the cigars and a hydrometer in a ziplock or tupperware with the cigars for a couple hours, but I have no idea how accurate this would be.

The really tricky question to me is on particular cigars, and which benefit from a longer rest/aging. I've smoked a bunch lately in the 1-3 year old range, and very few of them have gotten worse in that time, but frankly I don't think most of them have gotten a ton better either.

A few do seem to benefit some though, especially my beloved Oliva Vs. A bunch of people talk about aging Fuente Anejos, and after a couple years I actually can tell a difference with them - I love them both, but not sure if I prefer the punchiness of the newer ones or the smoothed out older ones.

I'd basically think of under a year or 2 as resting, and more than that aging...I guess.

[Ropey]

The darker the cigar, the longer it should rest IMHO

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[OnePyroTec]

I am a Hack. I'll smoke any cigar ROTT as long as it does not show up soaking wet from over compensating humidification from certain retailers.

[Old Smokey]

I don't intentionally age very many cigars with Anejos and Opus thank I am doing intentionally and plan on waiting until they are 4 yrs old and giving them a try. I have some singles to smoke on occasion while I wait. Other than those the rest are fair game, but at my rate of smoking many of them will also be aged by the time they get their turn.

As far as resting, I usually wait a minimum of a month or two before smoking one unless it is something I am really excited to try. I have coming up on only 3 years of smoking cigars regularly and your question is one I really wanted to learn about. Which ones age well? Only time will tell. But if you buy a lot more than you smoke you will find out.

[droy1958]

I'll tell you a cigar that surprised me with long term aging was a Te-Amo Maduro Churchill. They had 12-15 years aging and both of them were just delicious...

[Chad Vegas]

I am a Hack. I'll smoke any cigar ROTT as long as it does not show up soaking wet from over compensating humidification from certain retailers.

Hear you brotha! For now I have almost no patience for aging, the suspense gets me! I usually smoke CAO's ROTT & love every moment of it!

[projectsunfire]

I always allow 1-2 months rest minimum before burning. Probably just my OCD but I prefer that time so they can acclimate to the coolers. I can actually say that I never smoke anything ROTT.

With a few exceptions...I have found that most NC's do not seem to age gracefully, at least in my humble experience. With Padrons, Tats and Liga's I think they are best fresh. After 6 months they start to lose their appeal to me. While still good...after about a year they lose their luster & pop. The intense flavors I like those for start to go away.

Of course there are always exceptions. I had a LP UF13 that had over 2 years on it and it was wonderful. The box of Tat Jeckyll's are still smoking great.

But then I had a Padron Family Reserve with 2+ years that was well past its prime for me. It would have been ok if it was a $7 stick but at $31 it was very disappointing.

The one NC i have found seems to age well for me is the Ave Maria Reconquista. What was once a horribly overpriced stick when fresh slowly became outstanding after 2 years. I am curious to see how it is with 3 years. I find great enjoyment in

Now with CC's...my goal is to sit on them until I retire. Some 25 year old Cohibas will be nice

[Bruck]

I'll just give you my rule of thumb without getting all sciency on you:

1) Cheap cigars, 3 to 6 months seems best and they generally don't get any better after that.
2) Quality cigars tend to improve with aging (multiple years or more) but the nicotine level abates in the process.
3) I just smoke whatever I have when I want it - I rest cigars but don't bother aging them.

[GWBowman]

I believe I read Padron ages their sticks before distribution. Does that sound accurate? If so, would that be why they don't seem to holdup?