Aging vs Storing

To be safe, I'd seal like tins in large zip lock bags. The Penzance is fine as is as are the metal tins used by SmokersHaven. They'll be fine for MANY years. Two is nothing. Only worry about square tins. Rest are safe. Aging and storing are same deal.

I have a number of tins of Dunhill Flake I bought in 2010 or so. I have no worries about them and don't plan on opening them for a few more years,,maybe ten years. If you ask me, opening up perfectly good tins to put the tobacco in a jar is a waste of time, and,it effects the aging process. Once you open a tin and want to keep the tobacco fresh. there are 1/2 pint mason jars for that. It will do a better job than an open tin.
Mike S.

Tobacco ages fine in it's original tin as long as the seal is good. You can open a tin and move it into a jar for either storing or aging, but you will lose the age that's already on it if you do it for aging purposes. I leave all tinned tobaccos in their original tins for aging and use jars for storing the tobacco after opening and for storing/aging bulk tobacco. I'm guessing that the square tin thing came from the rust on the inside rims of Old Dark Fired tins, as I've never had an issue with any other square tins. I've left mine tinned because after opening a tin and examining the affected area I wasn't concerned with the rust touching nor affecting the tobacco in any way. Leave your tinned tobacco tinned and put it jars for storage once you've opened it. Just don't store it in a hot attic or cold garage.

Thanks for this post I've been wondering the same thing

Tined tobacco should, in my opinion, be kept in the original tin unless the tin has been compromised. In that case remove the contents to a mason jar. I keep all bulk blends in mason jars.

If you have square tins, you might seal them in another container or vacuum-sealed bag.

I store my tins and mason jars in air and watertight trunks available here.
I keep the trunks in my basement, which stays cool and run a dehumidifier during the summer to keep the humidity down.
At one point I was thinking of moving overseas for work and I purchased a bunch of mylar bags and sealed pairs of like tins for long term storage. Probably a bit overkill, but that's my style. :roll:

Aging=keep tobacco unopened in original tin
Storing=keeping in a jar; but the aging process has slowed down/stopped completely

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Not quite.

Aging = Keeping unopened tins or bulks in jars that are not accessed.

If you get a pound of bulk, put it in jars, and don't open one of those jars for 5 years,it's going to age. That's how one ages bulks.

If you get in and out of the jar, it's not going to age.

The Penzance is fine

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The only tin seal I have ever had fail was a tin of Penzance. The tins I have now are unopened, in a mason jar. I have never had trouble with the seal of a Dunhill Flake tin, and I've got a bunch of 'em.

In my experience, the aging process is multi-leveled, and progresses differently in a never-opened sealed tin vs. storage in glass jars. For one thing, leaving the baccy in a sealed tin will often in some ways slow or change the aging process and preserve it better through the limited air, whereas introducing fresh air in moving it to the jar gives the bacteria new compounds to live by. Bacteria create waste products as they work on the tobacco and occasionally introducing air will allow different bacteria (aerobic) to thrive vs. a sealed container never opened, thereby getting a different aging result.
But in general, I prefer glass containers anyway over any metal tin for storage in any regard as glass is totally inert whereas metal is much more reactive, plus, metal containers tend to be coated on the inside to impede that reactivity, and often, that coating involves biphenol A (BPA), which is the last thing I want in contact with my tobacco over a long period of time.
I've had many tobaccos stored at room temperature for up to 10 years in glass jars and they aged very nicely. Those that were aromatic aged the least well (or were modified more) due to the natural decomposition of the organic compounds originally introduced to add the particular fragrance or flavor. But I have had /very/ good results taking highly aged tobaccos in jars and creating from them my own blends. IMO, these aged tobaccos are much superior to fresh ones, except any flavorings I desire I use fresh--- by blending them I can dial in the desired strength which is almost always more subdued than the commercial products. This gives me a more refined, smoother and complex smoke than most any of the commercial stuff I try.
WayneG