[Raralith]

“An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars” by Min Ron Nee arrived on my doorsteps not too long ago and I found it absolutely fascinating. While about 90% of the book is about brands, their histories, and cigars they produce, that remaining 10% had some great information that I think many here, whether they were beginnings or veterans, would find useful. What I’ve done here is made a cliff notes version of those sections with page numbers if you wish to read the whole thing.
Please note, none of these ideas are mine, and some of the words here are copied straight out of the book; I take no credit whatsoever. This is simply a labor of love for my cigar hobby. I have reworded, condensed and left out certain parts not because they are not useful (they certainly are!), but because this post would be ten times the size if I did not. I highly recommend you purchase this fine book for yourself.
Aging (6-11)
The aging period is measured in terms of decades not, “put the cigars into your humidor and lay them down for a couple of years, and you will find they taste much better.” It comes into four stages that may overlap each other:
1. Sick Period
Ammoniac smell is still detectable from a newly manufactured cigar. The reason being the tobacco leaf is moistened before being rolled which invites accelerated fermentation which generates lots of ammonia. The time period for the disappearance of the ammonia smell is influenced by the rate of fermentation, packaging and storage conditions. The majority of cigars handled in the “usual” way, the ammoniac smell will be over 90% in a few months, 95% to 99% gone by the end of the first year, and practically all gone by the end of the second year.
2. First Maturation
First maturation is the result of the ongoing fermentation after the cigar has been made. Cigars continue to generate pleasant aromas and flavors as result of continuous fermentation; flavors increase in intensity with time. The bitterness, believed to be the taste of nicotine, becomes less as fermentation causes nicotine to be broken down. As time goes by, fermentation slows down as fewer raw materials are available. The rate of generation of these flavors becomes slower and slower. At the same time, these flavors are lost continuously through evaporation, oxidation, chemical reasons, self-degradation etc. The first maturity is when the cigar is most “flavorsome” provided that the bitter and tannic harsh taste mellowed out to a level which is not annoying to the smoker. This occurs when pleasant flavors cannot be generated by fermentation at a rate fast enough to cover the continuous loss.
There’s no exact time because each cigar is different with individual preference of different pleasant flavors and personal tolerance of bitter and harsh tannic tastes. Mild cigars first maturation is 2 to 3 years in semi plain boxes, 4 to 5 years in cabinets. Medium cigars first maturation time is around 5 years in semi plain boxes, 6 to 8 years in cabinets. For stronger smokes, the maturity is around 7 to 8 years in semi plain boxes, 10 to 15 years in cabinets. Big cigars will continue to ferment stronger for a long time.
3. Second Maturation
The second maturation is the result of the degradation of tannin and the interaction of the end products with the flavors generated by fermentation. All young cigars have a tannic taste (to certain degrees) and taste “dry” on the mouth, “green” and “harsh.” Tannin is a natural ingredient of plant structures which can only be tasted by the tongue (not by the nose or pharynx). Tannin’s chemical structure is a long chain that, with age, breaks down into shorter chains or even single molecules (some chemistry is explained here of which is skipped). As time goes by, when tannin breaks down into simpler molecules, they react with other chemicals to form more organic molecules resulting in a lot of different pleasant flavors. Tannic taste might not necessarily be considered bad, and might even be pleasing to some smokers; taste accounts for part of its appeal.
Tannic levels are depends on the original tannic levels of cigars. The second maturation is the time when the total pleasant flavors formed by interactions between the end products of fermentation and the breaking down of tannin long chain polymers reach peak level. This time period might need 15 to 25 years to attain for most “tannic cigars.” A cigar at the second maturity is very, very smooth, extremely mellow, complex, classy and elegant. Not all cigars go through second maturation simply because they don’t have enough “woodiness” and tannin to generate additional pleasant flavors.
4. Third Maturation
The third maturation is the result of accumulation of a finesse generated by mysterious chemical reactions between congeners, and everything else in the cigar. Finesse, begins to appear after 20 years and some barely detectable at 20 years minimum. The aroma is so complicated that words cannot describe it, but unforgettable once experienced, “ethereal.”
When will a Havana “peak” in taste?
Just because it’s aged more doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll taste better to an individual smoker. Young cigars are punchy, first maturation are “flavorsome,” second maturation are “classy and elegant,” and third maturation is “ethereal.” In short, when Havana’s age, they just become different but it all comes down to what you want out of a cigar. To answer the question though, “there is no such thing [peak in taste].”
Interesting note:
Good ventilation gets rid of the ammoniac smell in no time so if you cannot wait and want to get rid of the smell in quicker time, storing cigars in the open if the atmosphere is not too dry, or opening your humidor or box of cigars for some time everyday helps.* Good ventilation also encourages fermentation, faster fermentation makes cigars more “flavorsome” quicker. Oxygen though, in large quantities, destroys some of the delicate flavors which may be a plausible explanation of why cigars packaged in varnished Cabinets, and in airtight glass gars age much more beautifully after a few decades.
Slower fermentation, longer time raw materials are continuously supplied during aging, more time for the chemicals to react with each other to form more complex flavors thus better results. Good aging of Havana’s cannot be accelerated by any artificial means without loss of quality; this has been tried and failed. Whether you should breathe your cigars periodically depends on the time frame you wish to age newly purchased Havana’s before consumption. If it is just a few years, or even a few months, do breathe your cigars. If you want a beautifully aged cigar and time is no concern, never breathe your cigars.
Ash (12)
Torch a black/grey ash and notice they become white. Black/grey ashes are due to incomplete combustion meaning that those particles might be partially burnt organic molecules because they are too large to be combustible. A white ash means near complete combustion which burns better. This might be the result of the breaking down of complex molecules and tannin by the fermentation process. Whiter ash might explain why cigars get stronger in taste in the first few years because substances too complicated to burn remain as black particles. With time, these substances become combustible and the cigar becomes stronger.
A cigar in a box in which others have a white ash, but which has a grey ash in particular could mean two things. 1) The humidity when smoked may not be optimal, too dry or moist, which hinders combustion. 2) The smoking technique might not be the best, drawing too quickly or too frequently results in undesirable combustion.
Culebras (94)
Culebras in Spanish means snakes and comprises of three cigars twisted together tightly in a spiral fashion. First appearing in the Philippines, the Cuban versions are just ordinary machine-made and are not designed to taste anything in particular.
Interesting note:
A popular story goes around about the culebras being created to prevent stealing since rollers were only rationed 3 small cigars a day for personal consumption and culebras were easily spotted by being twisted. The inventor of this story simply overlooked the fact that any cigar roller could twist the cigar they made into any shape they like. Furthermore, the number of factory rejects far outnumber the 3 cigars rationed making the culebra far more cost-ineffective than allowing them to smoke the factory rejects.
Embargo (149)
Due to the political differences between Cuba and USA at the time, on February 7th, 1962, the US Government banned all Cuban imports and exports of US products to Cuba; products produced before this date are exempted. Havana cigars manufactured before this date are called “pre-Embargo” cigars, after this date are called “post-Embargo” cigars. These terms are not to be confused with “pre-Revolution” cigars or “post-Revolution” cigars.
EMS (149)
Means “English Market Selection.” The British market traditionally favors darker wrappers, but the term is actually an American creation. “AMS,” “American Market Selection,” were American marketed where the preference was specially treated light green wrappers at the time.
Habanos S.A. (192)
“A company created in 1994 with the responsibility for commercializing the Habanos and other tobacco products, except France which remained under Cubatabaco’s control.” The full name is Habanos Sociedad Anomina.
Lithography (251)
Lithography is the technique of using very heavy engraved stones to press and print a color image onto a cigar band or cigar box trimmings. The method was very labor consuming and has gradually been replaced by modern printing methods since the 1920’s. The method was still commonly used during the 1930’s/40’s. By the mid-1960’s it became obsolete, except on purpose for special occasions. Nowadays the term is still used to mean cigar bands and box trimmings, despite the technique no longer using used.