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Buying Aged - Is It Worth It?

MNBrian

MNBrian

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2015
Messages
1,390
Location
Bloomington, MN
So I'm considering buying a box of aged CC's and I am wondering if it's worth it.
 
Let's assume (for the sake of not breaking the rules) that everything is legit and I trust the source fully. The price is about $40 more than the regular box price, so that seems reasonable to me. The box in question is a 2007 box of Montecristo #3's.
 
Has anyone purchased an aged box before? Assuming legitimacy, is it worth buying the age?
 
Don't get me wrong, I love the hobby of cigars and recently invested in a few wine coolers and a bunch of boxes that I swear I won't touch for 5-10 years, so eventually I'll have something like this. But I still can't help but wonder if this is a good idea or if I should save the $40 bucks and use it for something else. A part of me thinks buying something like this will keep my eyes on the prize in that wineador.
 
Thoughts?
 
 
Simple fact, not all cigars improve with age.  You could very well be paying $40 for a box of very mediocre cigars.  Even if the date code is legit, you don't know for sure how they were stored.  As Dan says, it's a complete crap shoot.
 
What I strongly recommend is that if you're going to invest the time to age cigars, select the boxes you age carefully.  As in, smoke one or two and decide if they show potential for a long nap.  Some will, but some won't.  A box of bitter, one dimensional cigars now won't get magically better with time down.  Pick and choose carefully, and you'll reap the rewards over time.  The trick is to put enough away so that down the road, you're always smoking something with 3-5 years on it.  IMHO that's an optimum situation, unless you have a warehouse to play with.
 
My experience also shows that extended aging (7-10+ years) isn't always a benefit.  Some cigars most certainly go 'over the hill' and are like smoking air after extended aging.  But, to each his own there.
 
As they say, one man's opinion......
 
If you trust the source then $40 is not bad for an 8 year old box. I've purchased a few aged cigars and haven't regretted it.
 
Aged is usually better. Not always. Research to see how that marca/vitola has aged if any info is available. As has been stated, trusting your source is key.

C
 
BlindedByScience said:
 
What I strongly recommend is that if you're going to invest the time to age cigars, select the boxes you age carefully.  As in, smoke one or two and decide if they show potential for a long nap.  Some will, but some won't.  A box of bitter, one dimensional cigars now won't get magically better with time down.  Pick and choose carefully, and you'll reap the rewards over time.  The trick is to put enough away so that down the road, you're always smoking something with 3-5 years on it.  IMHO that's an optimum situation, unless you have a warehouse to play with.
 
Click to expand...
 
So you're saying I have to wait 3-5 years with my new setup before I'm in an ideal position? Don't you know I'm impulsive, young, and impatient? ;)
 
Well, less young these days... but young in spirit at least!
 
Thank you all for the advice! By any chance has anyone smoked an 8 year old ISOM Monte #3 as a reference point? Or something in that general age range?
 
I'll go do some searching, but i trust the voices on this site a heck-of-a-lot more than the rest of the misleading internet.
 
MNBrian said:
So I'm considering buying a box of aged CC's and I am wondering if it's worth it.
 
Let's assume (for the sake of not breaking the rules) that everything is legit and I trust the source fully. The price is about $40 more than the regular box price, so that seems reasonable to me. The box in question is a 2007 box of Montecristo #3's.
 
Has anyone purchased an aged box before? Assuming legitimacy, is it worth buying the age?
 
Don't get me wrong, I love the hobby of cigars and recently invested in a few wine coolers and a bunch of boxes that I swear I won't touch for 5-10 years, so eventually I'll have something like this. But I still can't help but wonder if this is a good idea or if I should save the $40 bucks and use it for something else. A part of me thinks buying something like this will keep my eyes on the prize in that wineador.
 
Thoughts?
 
Click to expand...
Were they more expensive in 2007? ;)

CP tends to be around MSRP when we price and sell chit. 

There are some very detailed threads regarding aged stock - search is your friend. 

add ginseng or moki to your search! 
 
MNBrian said:
So you're saying I have to wait 3-5 years with my new setup before I'm in an ideal position? Don't you know I'm impulsive, young, and impatient? ;)
Click to expand...
 
By all means, ignore the advice of people that have more experience and do what you will.
 
BBS, I respect your opinion a heck of a lot (and many others on this forum) or I wouldn't bother asking! :) just my unsuccessful attempt at humor! I'm working towards the ideal you mentioned slowly but surely.

Grateful - very good point. I did some soul (forum) searching and did find a few other helpful threads. Very good stuff. One thread talked a lot about box id's which led me down a historical study of when box id's changed and what they were at different times. It was very interesting!

All in all, I may roll the dice on the crapshoot for the minor upcharge. It'll at least will give me some personal experience to go with the advice given here. And I'll buy another few current year boxes for aging in conditions I can be certain of.

Thank you all!!
 
Some excellent advice given here... Now my 2 cents :laugh:
 
2007 was a good year for monty 3's... I would definitely pay an extra $1.60 per cigar for these... That is assuming your source has a  stellar reputation for aging cigars...
 
You can almost "bank" on 4 brands that will age extremely well:
Partagas
Bolivar
Montecristo
Cohiba
That's not to say that other brands do not, I have some amazing 20+ year old R y J, Punch, etc... I'm just saying the big 4 will almost always get better with time...
 
The box code that is crazy good for 07 Monty 3's is POS, I had 5 boxes of these and I am down to 2... Smoking like 10+ year old Montys right now...
 
Another option is a box split... this will reduce your exposure, and sharing great cigars (if these turn out to be) is one of the most rewarding benefits of this hobby...
 
CigSid said:
Some excellent advice given here... Now my 2 cents :laugh:
 
2007 was a good year for monty 3's... I would definitely pay an extra $1.60 per cigar for these... That is assuming your source has a  stellar reputation for aging cigars...
 
You can almost "bank" on 4 brands that will age extremely well:
Partagas
Bolivar
Montecristo
Cohiba
That's not to say that other brands do not, I have some amazing 20+ year old R y J, Punch, etc... I'm just saying the big 4 will almost always get better with time...
 
The box code that is crazy good for 07 Monty 3's is POS, I had 5 boxes of these and I am down to 2... Smoking like 10+ year old Montys right now...
 
Another option is a box split... this will reduce your exposure, and sharing great cigars (if these turn out to be) is one of the most rewarding benefits of this hobby...
Click to expand...
Just about anything in 06 and 07 that had a POS factory code was great and aged great. 
 
Wow! Wonderful expertise CigSid and jfields! Thank you for all of this information!
 
I was able to get the factory code from the box. Looks like the factory code is BLP. Any experience with that factory code in that year? Long-shot I realize, just figured I'd ask.
 
bfreebern said:
I'm glad to finally find out that POS really can be a positive thing.
Click to expand...
 
:laugh: very clever.  I do have some POS cigars that are given away on golf courses.
 
I follow BBS on cigar advise like I follow AVB on booze. I will also add I do not have a taste for CC's so I stick with the Dom and Nic. My two best examples are Fuente and Padron. Their standard line is fine and most of us agree aging improves them. The other side of the coin says their heavy duty line ( let's just use the Hemingway and the Padron 50 ) to keep it simple already contain very aged wrapper and many have said they don't improve, just smoke them.

BBS forces me to ask my dumb question of the day. I can appreciate the aged wrapper, but surely all the other tobacco is not of equal age. Will a Padron 50 interior leaf age and enhance the taste? I understand the "marriage" that takes place, but is the wrapper causing the marriage, or is the interior leaf picking up from the wrapper?

Additional comment welcome.
 
CigSid said:
Some excellent advice given here... Now my 2 cents :laugh:
 
2007 was a good year for monty 3's... I would definitely pay an extra $1.60 per cigar for these... That is assuming your source has a  stellar reputation for aging cigars...
 
You can almost "bank" on 4 brands that will age extremely well:
Partagas
Bolivar
Montecristo
Cohiba
That's not to say that other brands do not, I have some amazing 20+ year old R y J, Punch, etc... I'm just saying the big 4 will almost always get better with time...
 
The box code that is crazy good for 07 Monty 3's is POS, I had 5 boxes of these and I am down to 2... Smoking like 10+ year old Montys right now...
 
Another option is a box split... this will reduce your exposure, and sharing great cigars (if these turn out to be) is one of the most rewarding benefits of this hobby...
Click to expand...
 
Bottom line is that Bill has the most knowledge and most experience with aged / aging CC's of the guys I know on these forums.  Kris (LightThis!) is right there with him.  A smart man knows enough to defer to the advice of the guy with more experience, and in this case, that's Bill and Kris, when he gets the chance to chime in.
 
I have my own strong opinions, still skeptical about 10+ year aging, but what Bill is saying here is gold.
 
For non CC's, I think the risk of putting sticks down for 7-10 years and getting 'air' cigars at the end is still very real.  And, that's based on my experience.  As they say, one man's opinion.....
 
What if you don't like the taste of an aged cigar, vs a younger cigar?  If you like the taste, and it's worth $40 to you, then it's worth it. 
 
Interesting conversation. If I may inject my 2 cents for what its worth.....

My observations have been that "properly" aged cigar over all will be substantially better than fresh cigars. This is not an absolute statement. Individual tastes and perceptions will differ greatly. Its the reason they make vanilla and chocolate ice cream. I do believe that every cigar reaches its limit... as a wine does. My beloved SLR's lonsdales from 01 have continued to age well but IMO are reaching their maturity while the ones from 98 are still doing well.

To answer your question, IMO, I would pay the small premium. With that said I do not know the consensus of the crop for Monte's in 07. Truth be told, my worst Monte was worth every penny regardless of what I paid for it.
 
Update -

The cold frozen north has taken over my dark corner of the universe, but I had the wonderful opportunity to smoke one of those aged Monte's mentioned in my post. My view? It was worth every penny. I have no basis for whether or not this is a particularly good aged cuban that was kept in good conditions or a very shitty aged cuban that just happens to taste better than the fresh ones I generally smoke, but regardless there was a difference. Much smoother flavor. Very well rounded. I could tell the "edge" that I had tasted in the PSD4's and Monte#2's had been rounded out completely.

For those considering making a similar purchase, I'd advise you do it for the experience alone. Only 4-6 more years of age on the current crop will tell me for sure which was truly better, but for now I'm quite satasfied!
 
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