How to Age Cigars the Proper Way

Cigars are like wine-the older, the better, and all the more expensive. Aged cigars are nothing like new cigars as the flavors are enhances, mellowed and blended. If you use an aged cigar just once, you will forget about ever using others again. The draw of the aged cigar is strong and many experienced fans will attest to this! They argue that a great cigar must be aged just like wine.

You may purchase a box of aged cigars to try, but they are expensive. A box goes for at least 400 hundred dollars, more so if they are branded cigars. You would need a deep pocket for this! Alternatively, you could learn how to age your own cigars at home. Once you get the hang of it, you can age as many as you want and even start a small business with it!

Before you start, you must take a deep breath and tell yourself that patience is paramount in aging cigars. Just as how you cannot hurry wine aging, you cannot hasten the process of aging cigars. You need at least a minimum of one year to age your cigars to an acceptable mellow flavor and aromas.

You must not scrimp on your cigars too-you must begin with a box of high quality cigars! Aging cheap cigars is no use; if they did not start out good, then aging won't help any. You should age those that you find too strong to use for they will mellow out with age-just right for you!

To begin, you need a good reliable humidor to achieve the perfect blend of unchanging and stable environment for your box of cigar. As always, you must subscribe to the 70% rule: you must have your humidity at 70% and your temperature at 70 Fahrenheit, which is about 35 degrees Celsius.'

You must be conscientious about you cigar's home environment because any more humid they will grow mould, yet any less they would not be aged as properly as they should. The worst is if your humidor is unreliable and changes constantly. This would warp your cigars, split the wrappers and cause fungus to grow in them-not a pleasant sight for eyes or your wallet.

Your humidor therefore, should be of a good quality, and at least twice the size of your cigar box. You can choose the lining of the humidor-they come in oak, teak or cedar. However, the recommended wood is always cedar for its natural fragrance and oils will enhance your cigar's flavors.

If you do everything properly, and wait patiently, then in no time you will be able to enjoy your home-aged cigars! Your friends may like your cigars so much that you can begin a small business to cover costs for the humidor and your cigars.

Sources:

Marvin Shanken, "Cigar Companion (Connoisseur's Guides)", Running Press 2005
Delthine YJ Tay, "Aging Cigars", Penguin 2002
Tad Gage, "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Cigars", Alpha 2007