Hi, guys. Sorry I've been away so long. I'm battling health issues, the nature of which I won't bore you with. I missed the camaraderie and the friendships I nurtured here.
To the OP, Kevin; I need a graphically better photo than the one you provided to make an educated guess. The reason it will be a guess (albeit imbued with some fairly extensive knowledge of very old cigars; I have boxes over 100 years old) is that, unfortunately, you didn't receive the boxes for these, and those (along with the tax stamps on them) are what tell the true story of an old cigar's age and provenance.
I can tell right off the top that you have two genuine Clear Havana, long-filler sticks there; the two wrapped in foil. That was expensive back then, and reserved for very special cigars. The rest, well...it's hard to say. They certainly do
seem to be of the era in which a lot of US-rolled cigars used Cuban tobacco. But many more of them used tobacco from CT, PA, OH, and other states. That doesn't mean they're not desirable; but the "clear" Havanas, or especially the Bonded Havanas are premium.
I would be grateful if you could capture a clearer, high-quality photo, close-up, of the lot. I could probably tell you more by examining the bands and other aspects. I am by no means the definitive expert on this, but as I said I collect them extensively and have acquired valuable knowledge over the 40+ years that I have smoked hand-made cigars.
One more thing; On NYE, I have a tradition of picking one stick out of my "oldies" humidor, and smoking it. Last 31 January, I smoked a White Owl, non-punched, long-filler cigar. These attributes denote a quality smoke for the time. The cigar came to me unboxed, but I estimate it (and its companion, still in my humidor, to be a 1940s-1950s stick. As you would imagine, it was light on the palate, but through the nose I was delighted to find nuance and flavor. Not bad at all for a stick as old as 70+yrs.
So here's my advice regarding keeping/smoking these:
Humidify them at 70% (with beads) and keep them cool to keep them from bursting or bulging...for as long as six months to a year. These cigars often come to us from estate sales, and they are by and large not curated as we would now. They'll need time in a TLC environment in order to restore as much as they can be. I recommend a humidor lined with Spanish cedar; don't keep them in the tin unless you open the top, nor in glass, to prevent mold.
If they are in very bad shape, they may never come back completely. If they were kept at least in a cool, dark place, you may be able to restore them close to their original states. Certainly, they will not approach the strength nor vitality of more recent cigars, curated properly all their lives. Don't let that stop you.
Either way, after whatever time you deem enough, smoke one. You might be delighted and surprised by it.
Meantime, please try to publish a higher-quality photo. I'd love to have a closer look.
I'll make an effort to be around more often than every four years. No promises, though.
