How Does Aging A Cigar Affect The Taste?
Age makes a cigar's flavors softer and rounder. Aging mellows the taste of cigars. Aging may lend complexity to a cigar as the smoke picks up flavor from the cedar found inside humidors, or it may deepen the pure tobacco flavors when cigars are stored in a neutral environment such as in glass, metal or ceramic.
Either way, as the tobacco loses some of its high humidity and oil content, the flavors settle down, marry and mellow—the more time, the more pronounced the difference.
The environment you choose for aging will affect the results. Some people feel that cigars kept in their original boxes inside a humidified cabinet will benefit the most with age. Others feel that combining different cigars in one humidor is the better way to go, allowing their flavors and aromas to mingle as opposed to separating them by brand or country of origin. Regardless of preference, the effects of aging are indisputable.
To prove this to yourself, perform a long-term experiment. Store a favorite cigar by itself in a humidor for six months to a year. Then go to a tobacco shop, purchase the same cigar and compare the two. You'll probably find the store-bought cigar will be stronger or sharper in taste than the aged one. You may prefer this close-to-the factory flavor. If you prefer the older cigar, then you know that aging is something that you should explore on a larger scale.
