To Age (NC) Or Not To Age

[Ashcan Bill]

So the question is whether it's worthwhile to intentionally age NC cigars?

I don't really know and the true answer may lie with your own personal preferences, but I can share with you some of my own experiences regarding older NCs. I have a fairly good sized humidor that I toss loose NCs into. I've owned this particular humidor for ten years, so it has ten years of cigars of various age sitting in it. It's had a chance to accumulate a wide range of NCs over the years. Usually a half box of this and a half box of that that I picked up to try and then lost interest in. And I still occasionally add to it.

While it was never my intention save and age NCs, it has become an interesting time capsule to reach into and pull something out of one in a while. I have found a couple of older cigars in it that had unexpectedly improved. One is the Pepin original Blue Label, which has turned into a quite enjoyable smoke. The other was a real surprise - some old inexpensive Fuente Maduro Privada No. 1s that developed a somewhat sweet and complex profile. The Privadas are 10 years old and the Blue Labels around 8 years.

On the other hand, I tried an old Diamond Crown Maximus that I thought was well past it prime and pretty flat. And there are a few pedestrian Padrons in there that I think are also flat, though a buddy who prefers milder smokes really loved a couple I threw his way. These are also in the 9-10 year range.

The only NC I have set aside to intentionally age are some Fuente Anejos. I do believe they improve considerably with time. And I know I have a box of Fuente Don Carlos something or the other put away I need to drag out and try, and probably toss into the NC humidor.

If you have time and the inclination, you might get a good size tupperware container and start tossing stuff into it. Then start firing things up in about ten years and get back to us with your impressions. Who know what you'll discover.