At some point in your journey of cigar appreciation, you’ll move from “smoke them as you get them” to “stockpile them just in case.” You may not be the type to smoke a cigar every evening—or even every week—and that’s ok. Fortunately, many cigars age fabulously under the right conditions. In fact, many aficionados believe that cigars can actually improve in flavor profile over time.
The big caveat to all this is that cigars have to be stored somewhere specific, and not just anywhere. If you’re at the point of buying cigars, and plan on setting a few aside for safe keeping, then chances are you already have a humidor. If not, you should seriously consider securing one pronto. Anyone planning to age their cigars for more than a month should know that there’s no better place for stogies than inside a properly seasoned humidor.
Now, as for the act of maintaining the right humidity levels inside of that humidor, that's a fairly easy process. It just takes a little time, a certain level of care, and perhaps a reminder or two from your Klaro Valet Smart Hygrometer along the way.
How to Age Your Cigars
Aging cigars is easy. In fact, the hardest part might be developing the patience to not smoke them entirely too soon.
The first important (and often overlooked) step in aging cigars is buying multiples of a single blend, or mixed bundles. Five or more sticks is typically a good starting point, which explains why Klaro Cigars has become known for its mixed cigar bundles and extensive 5-pack portfolio.
Stogies secured, go ahead and smoke the first one and enjoy it. Note the cigar flavor profile, knowing that as it ages, this will change. The change might not be dramatic, but to truly appreciate an aged cigar, you have to have a baseline for what the blend tastes like when it is "fresh." There's a reason why so many cigar enthusiasts keep a smoking journal, as these notes will serve as a useful point of reference when it comes time to have a compare and contrast smoke session at a later date.
With all of your cigars safely inside the humidor, and the humidor set to the correct humidity level (more on that below), leave those sticks be and allow the the aging process to begin. The flavor profile of a cigar can change in as little as two weeks, and some suggest smoking them at regular intervals so you can note the changes along the way.
If you have the self control, and can hold out, you can let fuller, darker cigars sit for several years before sparking them up. However, if you’re new to cigars and humidor aging, it’s probably best to gradually smoke through the majority of the cigars you have collected within the span of a year. That way, you can decide if you want to take the aging experiment even further in the future, and if so, which blends are best for this little experiment of yours.
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Maintaining the Right Humidity to Age Cigars
While they come in all shapes and sizes, the most beautiful part of a humidor is its simplicity. It works by simply utilizing a lining of Spanish cedar—a particularly absorbent type of wood—and some form of humidor humidification. The lining absorbs the humidity and the box “breathes,” which allows the cigars to maintain a particular level of freshness.
But in a humidor improperly cared for, your cigars don’t stand a chance. Too dry and stogies become brittle and acrid. Too humid and they grow soggy and, worse, they may mold. No one wants that. And once your cigars have reached this point, they might be able to be recovered—but aging them beyond that may be futile. You’ll never know the flavor profiles that could have been.
Ideally, your humidor will maintain a humidity range of between 67 - 72 percent. Properly seasoned, you shouldn’t have any issues maintaining that range. Some humidors, especially larger ones, often include a built-in hygrometer, which helps you measure the humidity. Others require you to place a hygrometer inside the humidor.
That said, some experts suggest that a range between 63 - 68 percent is more ideal for aging. The lower humidity level allows oils to concentrate on the tobacco and provide a more precise flavor—while also reducing the (already small) likelihood of mold. If you’re new to a humidor, shooting for 68 percent is a good goal.
Measuring the humidity is easy. The process for getting there, on the other hand, may vary depending on your humidor.
Many people like using a popular two-step humidification process in their humidors. In our research, we’ve found that those work well in very small humidors, but for anything larger—like a humidor you plan to age several cigars in—you need a specific process. We developed a seasoning process to work specifically with our Klaro humidors.
We use a simple 10-step seasoning process to get your humidor into an ideal shape, which you can read more about here. We also developed a unique humidor liquid solution to create an optimal environment for your cigars. Whichever option you choose, make certain your solution doesn’t include salt. Especially for long-term aging, salt can alter the flavor of a cigar in unfavorable ways.
Check your humidor’s humidity regularly. If you notice significant swings or dips in humidity levels, it may be time to reseason.
How Long Can You Age Cigars?
There are lots of schools of thought on aging cigars. Just like wine, some cigars age better than others. Not every cigar will taste better as it ages—and you may not prefer the flavor profiles that age produces. All of this is perfectly fine. You’re learning what you like.
Many cigars can age easily up to a couple of years in ideal conditions. Some push their cigars as many as five or six years.
Yet some others—who clearly have the patience of saints—suggest that some cigars will continue to age well and change in flavor profile for up to 10 years.
Even further, some particularly famous cigar shops have cigars that are over thirty years old. Granted, those cigars are kept in an environment that’s precisely maintained by machines—something you’re not likely to have in your home.
That’s a long time to wait to enjoy a stogie, but if you’re patient and love an experiment, have at it.
Parting Puffs
Aging isn’t a precise science. While some very smart cigar aficionados have spent a lot of time and effort, there are no guarantees in how your cigars will turn out when you decide to smoke them. That said, here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re aging:
Cigars designed to taste “full-bodied” are more likely to age better than those with a milder flavor profile. Full-bodied cigars are often made with stronger tobaccos, like ligero.
If you don’t like how a cigar tastes initially, it’s a gamble as to whether or not you’ll come to like it better after some additional age has been placed upon it. Certain flavors, as well as the strength of the cigar may become mellow, but the core cigar flavor profile will always be what the master blender intended.
However, all premium cigars come with a predetermined amount of age already placed upon them, and therefore are ready to be smoked right out of the box. That leaves it up to you, the consumer, to decide whether a certain blend deserves a bit more age or not, which is precisely why our Klaro 5-packs are so popular. This allows you to smoke one or two cigars now, and then set a few aside for a little additional age to see how a certain blend mellows with time in that snazzy humidor of yours.
