Aged Cigar Question

[HitchensDog]

Forgive me if this is a question that may have been answered or addressed earlier. I've been smoking pipes and cigars for roughly 25 years or so. Recently, a friend quit smoking cigars. He had a handful of premium cigars that he gave me. These cigars are bone dry and about 20 - 25 years old. Are these too old to recover? What I mean is, I know I can rehydrate them, but is it worth it? Do cigars lose something with that much age? I'm quite familiar with that process with pipe tobacco, but have no clue with cigars. Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have as buddy here who, in a case similar to yours, inherited a whole milk crate full of dried up cigars. Like it was over five pounds of dry cigars. He rehydrated them all, and said some were still tasty, some not so much, but he smoked them and enjoyed the experiment. I had a few of them, and not knowing the differences, I enjoyed them. I mean, if you are expecting to know what a such and such is going to taste like, and anything "off" would ruin your day, maybe pass them off to someone less knowledgeable.
I really enjoy not knowing jackshit about cigars, because I can enjoy more variety and serendipity than a seasoned encyclopedia of cigars.

 

[HitchensDog]

I have as buddy who here, in a case similar to yours, inherited a whole milk crate full of dried up cigars. Like it was over five pounds of dry cigars. He rehydrated them all, and said some were still tasty, some not so much, but he smoked them and enjoyed the experiment. I had a few of them, and not knowing the differences, I enjoyed them. I mean, if you are expecting to know what a such and such is going to taste like, and anything "off" would ruin your day, maybe pass them off to someone less knowledgeable.
I really enjoy not knowing jackshit about cigars, because I can enjoy more variety and serendipity than a seasoned encyclopedia of cigars.

Thanks. That makes sense. I think I'm going to go for it and see what happens.

 

[jguss]

Rehydration is a bit of a crap shoot. More generally speaking aged cigars, kept properly humidified in the first place, can be fantastic. I’ve had Padron Anniversarios 15+ years old that were terrific.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It's a minimal effort to rehydrate them, what do you have to lose. Given the age and the fact they died out, I wouldn't expect much. But you never know.

 

[kcghost]

It takes a while to rehydrate them but as severall people have stated what do you have to lose.

 

[JOHN72]

Tell us how the flavor was, once hydrated......................The degradation will give you the answer.............

 

[HitchensDog]

I had a couple that I had re-hydrated. One was a Cuban Cohiba. There was almost no smell after hydrating them. Smoking them, pretty much no flavor. So they were a bust.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I had a couple that I had re-hydrated. One was a Cuban Cohiba. There was almost no smell after hydrating them. Smoking them, pretty much no flavor. So they were a bust.

That's rather fast rehydration. My understanding is that it takes a few months, but I have never done this myself with cigars. But, with pipe tobacco you want to get the leaf pliable and then just let it set to fully hydrate the cells of the tobacco.

 

[craig61a]

25 years is long time. If indeed they have been dried out for 25 years, the oils in the tobacco have probably evaporated. In that case they are worthless.

As far as rehydrating, the best approach would be to place them in a humidor for several months, and let them soak up moisture that way.

 

[mso489]

Often, aging is overrated. I didn't say that.

 

[pantsBoots]

Rehydrating them is a slow process - don't rush it with a bunch of sponges and such as you'll likely end up with mold, cracked wrappers and binders, or unevenly-humidified cigars that will not smoke well. Instead, do it slowly in a well-sealed (and odor-free) Tupperware with a product designed for cigar humidification, whether it's beads, boveda, Oasis, etc. The process should take a few months.

 

[OzPiper]

Aged cigars have a different flavour profile to young or freshly rolled cigars. Most noticeable is a loss of strength and smoothening of "rough edges" ie the flavours become more mellow.

Very much like drinking an aged wine (one more than 20 years old). I have some Portages Lusitanias from 1996 which are a fantastic smoke compared to the "rawness" of their younger brethren.

 

[rajangan]

If they were good cigars to begin with, it's definitely worth a try.

If the wrappers have fallen apart, and you deem it worth it, you can get wrapper leaf and rewrap them.

 

[craig61a]

Often, aging is overrated. I didn't say that.

There is some truth to that... Certain cigars will not really gain anything over time.

Cigars that are high in nicotine content, i.e. Ligero leaf will generally benefit the most from aging. In general, the flavor profile will change from a more spicy, peppery note to a more floral note. In my experience the spicy, peppery component is still there, it's just diminished.

 

[Dio]

You have to reacclimate them slowly back to 65.