So, newbies and good smokes don't go together?

[bobarian]

As the others have said, most NC's are good with just a bit of rest. They are made with aged tobacco and many are aged in warehouses for a longer periods to help flavors develop. Cubans are a different animal all together. Once they are rolled and go through their first fermentation, many are good to go. 06 and 07 Siglo II's were great fresh. Many others are also very good fresh, RASS, RASCC, Party Shorts, Party Short Churchill's, Hoyo Short Robusto's were all very good fresh. But almost all CC's will get even better with age. It is not that difficult to find aged CC's, even your B&M may have smokes with a few years age, just ask. As you collection grows, you will have a good assortment of reasonably aged smokes to consume. At the same time if you keep building your stock of fresh boxes to age you will always have aged stock to smoke. 20yr old smokes? Only had a handful, But this is a hobby to enjoy, dont stress that you dont have any 70's Monte's in your regular rotation.