I never smoke them ROTT. I honestly don't light up anything new I buy until it has rested for several months. Just one of my many odd habits I guess. I basically stopped buying NC's this year so practically everything now has, at the very minimum, 12 months on them. I have found it interesting to see how stuff like Padron, Tats and LP are smoking after a year of rest since a lot of people say they are better fresh. I can't say they are better or worse... just different.