Hi Mike:
To answer your question as directly and concisely as possible, the only immediate insight I have on the subject of cigar "aging" is that it's subject to the same kind of non-specificity in terminology that afflicts most of pipedom...only worse.
You're right of course; whatever the term "aging" means in the world of 'garage, it evidently can't refer to an anaerobic process. The only possible exception might be any of the 'gars that are sold in glass tubes and stored in their original store-bought condition, and only then to the extent that any of them are hermetically sealed. Those with plastic stoppers, maybe; the ones with cork stoppers, definitely not. The ones I've seen that are stored in metal tubes, probably not...unless the cap has a plastisol seal and it's secured with tape.
Actually, I don't think that the kind of anaerobic fermentation whose results we value so highly in pipeweed is necessarily desirable in 'garweed. In fact, I'm not even sure that kind of aging is
possible in cigars, onna counta I don't think most 'garweed has enough sugar to support it.
Whatever the process of "aging" involves in the cigar universe, it does appear to result in a mellowing of the tobacco, but in at least one kind of cigar aging, I can point to one very specific factor that contributes to the outcome—namely,
cedar.
One of the best "aged" cigars I've ever smoked was one of two very old Jamaican-made Macanudos that had been stored in a solid cedar block specially shaped and bored to accommodate them. I don't know how long the 'gars had "aged" in that cedar womb, but when it birthed them into the celebratory smoke I shared with the brothah who whupped 'em out...well, it's no exaggeration to say that it was a transcendent burnage event. I've had similarly nirvanic smokes from other 'gars that have been stored in cedar.
So, to the extent that there is some melding of the cedar's aromatic qualities with those of the 'garweed, that must surely be a part of that particular kind of "aging". Cedar contains volatile aromatic oils whose vapors must penetrate the leaf and ultimately be absorbed by it. I know nothing about the extent to which they might chemically transform the tobacco, or what other effects of time, temperature, and humidity might be involved, but when they're done properly, it results in superb smokage.
Whatever the cigar aging process is, it's similar to pipeweed aging in at least one respect—it takes time. And it has one other similarity, too; it's well worth the wait. :mrgreen:
As always, it's a pleasure to converse with you on weedic subjects, amigo!