A Call For Tobacco Tin Date Stamps

[docwatson]

I guess there are more opinions to this than I had expected. Personally I find that age certainly changes the flavor characteristics of most tobaccos. I have been cellaring tobacco for over 25 years and really enjoy the comparisons of old vs. new. I also have a fair amount of very old factory dated tins that I occassionaly sell on eBay which many smokers pay considerable amounts of $$ to acquire. (some listed presently!!) Which gves me more $$ to buy more currently tinned tobacco for tomorrow. Many big companies years ago dated tins from the factory which is definite proof of age and will increase the value to a tobacco collector/smoker just like a bottle of vintage port or wine. I'm all for Monty's recommendation to have all tins factory dated. Interesting thread Monty, thanks for sharing your opinions with us.

 

[larrylegend]

While I have not smoked any "aged" tins other than a tin that sat on the shelf at the B&M for an unknown time to me. That is the only unknown for me, how long has the time I am about to buy sat on the shelf at the B&M. The few stores I frequent have some tins that have been there for some time (the same tins are in the same spot for at least a year). I only know this because there is a bit of dust on them that has never been cleaned.
I think it would be helpful for a "tinned date" to help identify the age of the tin at the store before you buy it. If you do age your tobacco it you would be more inclined to buy an older tin versus a newer one for example.

 

[seilerjp]

We can only deal with personal experience. My experience is that the Virginias age great. Perique and Latakia contained blends seem to peak and then lose their flavor. On the other hand I have had some old original Dunhill VA (brown label tins) from the 1970s and 80s. One was great and the other had no taste at all. Our local club (Wash County PA) recently opened an original tin of Crown Achievement and compared it to both the newer CA bulk and the newer CA tinned tobacco. The old original tin was smooth and mild while both of the newer blends seemed very rough and a couple of years could improve the taste.
The great thing about pipe smoking is that we have the opportunity to taste both the new and old blends and form our own opinions.

 

[settersbrace]

C&D now has 3 offerings in plug form that specifically aimed at the cellaring fanatics. Each of the 3 have tinning dates as well as a projected "best by" suggestion of 8-10 years, 3-5 years and such. Who's brave enough to pop one right now and fire it up? Not me, thank you. Talk about marketing? Buying a product that the consumption thereof is not recommended for years down the road but promises to be great? Let's hope so. Don't get me wrong, I'm more than likely going to squirrel some away but certainly not 20-30 tins, not at almost $15 per.

 

[agnosticpipe]

Some things just improve from aging. Take wine for instance, many wines, especially red wines are made to be "laid down" for a few years to improve. Same with cheese, so I suppose the same could hold true for tobaccos. I thought that the idea of undated tins being left on the distributers or shop shelf for maybe a year or more, would be something you might never know. Your might get a year old tin one time and a month old tin the next. Will like one more or less than the other? If you date them yourself, you would have a little something to go by, but you would never really know exactly how old the tobacco is from when it was tinned.
Me, I try not to worry about this stuff much, as long as I have something to smoke that I like. And I just keep telling my wife that she gets better with age, because I want to live a long life with a happy wife. (and oh yeah, it's the truth too)

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I would be nice if every manufacturer would put a date on the tin, but overall its not that important. I date all my tins, and I just figure each tin has about 3-9 months of age already on it, unless otherwise stated.