Expert: James Yee - 4/21/2008

Question
I have managed to build a humidor 2.5 meter by 1.5 meter of wood to keep my cigar aged (it can take 2800 cigar) my current collection
1- Hoyo Epicure No.2
2- Paratgas No.4
3- Cohiba Genios
4- Paratagas No.4 Limited Edition
5- Hoyo Pyramids LE 2003
6- Cohiba Sublimes 2004
7- Vegas Rohbina Unicos
8- Vegas Rohbina Don Alejndro
9- hoyo Double Corona
10- Paratgas No 2
11- Monte Cristo Edmundo

I usaually smoke 2 cigar a day one epicure no2 in the morning and 1 cohiba genios afternoon to explain my tase to you
i find different color of cigars of the same year and i have seen a lot this past year
i tend to like darker color even though i do not feel they are stronger in taste but i feel they give me more pleasure and dont ask me to explain as i myself can't undertsnad why.
however my wuestion to you does cigar get darker as they age will my light epicure no.2 get darker after 5 years or it stays the same color
i have vegas rohbina unicos 2007 dark and 2007 light in color

Answer
Hi amr a. seoud,

Some cigars can slightly (VERY slightly) change colours when they are aged but their wrapper shade will not significantly change to a darker shade during aging.  The darkness of the tobacco leaves is determined by the amount of time the tobacco is spent growing in the tobacco fields as well as Stage 1 fermentation after it has been picked by the farmers.  The longer tobacco leaves are left to sun-grow on a tobacco plant, the darker they become.  Maduro and Oscuro tobacco leaves for example, are left on a tobacco plant longer than Candela and Claro-shade leaves.  (Oscuro leaves are the darkest and picked last.  Candela leaves are still green because they're picked first.)  In the first stage of fermentation, the tobacco is cured for a certain amount of time so that the tobacco's impurities are purged and the tobacco colour is naturally evened out.  Once the tobacco is sent to the cigar factories for production, the colour of the tobacco is already set and will not change shades during aging.

It's also not uncommon for identical cigars (ie: your Robaina Unicos) from the same year but different boxes to be different colours.

Regards,
James