When Do Cigars Go Bad? – Cigars 101

How Long Do Cigars Last?

Short answer is, premium cigars will last sometime between “about a week or two” and “forever.”

If properly stored, a cigar can last decades and still be ready to light and enjoy.

If not, a cigar could go bad and be unsmokable in as little as 7 days.

We get two kinds of questions when it comes to determining the lifespan of a premium cigar.

First is when wives or friends of cigar smokers are trying to find a birthday, wedding, or Christmas gift for their loved one. Their concern usually is, “How long can I keep them/will they last until it’s time to give them their gift?”

Very thoughtful, and very appropriate to ask if you’ve never bought cigars for someone else.

The other kind of question we get…usually starts out something like this:

“My [insert name of relative] gave me/left me a box of cigars when he [usually, it’s ‘died’ or ‘came back from vacation’] . Are they still any good/worth anything now? What should I do with them?”

The inevitable follow-up also asks our opinion if we think the cigars are still ok to smoke, or if there was any way to salvage them. The answer to a lot of this is “it depends.” But if you have to use the word “salvage,” then your odds already aren’t looking very good. Here’s why…

How Long Are Cigars Good For?

Let’s say Uncle Arthur brought you back a half a box of Cohibas from his Tijuana vacation last year…How long they’ll last before they “go bad” depends on a few factors. First and foremost, it’s access to a stable storage environment. Cigars get stale and dry when they’re not kept in a humidor of some kind. Without the appropriate care, the tobacco’s oils will disappear, and the nicotine content will dwindle.

Similarly, that humidor full of Montecristos that your sister’s now-deceased ex-husband left behind in 2016 won’t be in prime smoking condition if the humidor hasn’t been maintained or isn’t functioning properly.

Do Cigars Go Bad?

Absolutely, 100% Yes.

Cigars “go bad” when they are stored improperly, and the tobaccos have dried out. (The opposite – too much moisture, for too long, in too high a temperature – will result in mold.) As a cigar dries out, it begins to lose its natural oils and sugar, its nicotine content, and its flavor.

It’s actually what prompted this Cigar 101 thought…I was going through some old cigar boxes and empty tubes. Or so I thought: somehow a few loaded tubos got mixed in with my empties, and I wound up finding a couple of dried out cigars:

Oops.

So let’s say you find a box of cigars from a few months or years ago that, for whatever reason, never made it into your humidor. They’re dry, maybe a little brittle. One or two may have even started coming apart. The tobaccos need consistent (and sufficient) moisture to keep them fresh and enjoyable.

If you were to try to re-humidify them, there’s a chance you could breathe some life back into the tobacco – but there’s no way to revive the oils or the nicotine. Once they’re gone, they’re gone, which means you could say these cigars “went bad.”

How Long Do Cigars Last in a Humidor?

If they’re kept in prime condition, the cigars in your humidor should last indefinitely; they may even outlast you. There is even a niche market for vintage (like really well-aged/old) and pre-Embargo cigars. We’re talking antiques – but they’re perfectly smokable, because they’ve been kept with the care they needed to stay in prime condition. Cigars that are over 50 years old can be in perfect smoking condition, looking as though they were rolled just last week. Jared explains more:

As a matter of fact, most of the cigars you buy are already aged. They may get anywhere between 60 days and a few years, according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Their goal is to have those cigars ready-to-smoke when they land on your cigar shop’s shelf.

The cigars will age even further while they sit in the retail humidor or warehouse. Some boxes can sit for 2 to 3 years on top of the manufacturer’s aging period before they ship to your house.

So does that mean your cigars will go stale because they sat in the humidor too long?

On the contrary, they probably got better.

Well-Kept Cigars Don’t Go Bad – They Age

Separate but related is the fact that even though a cigar can last a long time in proper storage, the flavor profile of the cigar will change. And often, it’s a positive change – this is the argument for aging cigars. Each stick is different, but many Maduros will get a bit smoother over time. Connecticut wrappers might get a little more mellow and velvety. High-priming tobaccos like Ligero might start to lose some of its bite after about 1-2 years, maturing from a powerhouse into a more well-rounded and full–bodied smoke.

Eventually there is a point at which aging peaks, and the tobacco’s flavors will no longer change. That depends on the particular cigars: some say that stronger blends peak at about the 10-year mark, while milder tobaccos don’t fare as well under lengthy aging. So if you have a box of mellow cigars that you plan to put away for a while, it’s probably best to smoke them within 5 years.

Now – can you still smoke them after 5 or 10 years beyond those dates? Certainly! And they’ll burn great. The only “but” is that the cigars may not have maintained the flavor you expect. Your palate will detect that and tell you.

Updated February 2021