Does Tobacco Need to Age??

Not all tobaccos from what I know it's just Virginia's mostly that age very well and tend to get better with age.that being said I don't think anything would go bad if aged properly. And that goes for all blends. Keep in mind while aging any blend it must be sealed air tight and if the seal is broken at any time it would reset the aging process. This means no occasional sniffing of your stash. I would recommend if your aging anything to put them in smaller mason jars rather then larger ones this way if you must break into one your not stopping the aging process on a large jar. Also date the jars. Good luck.

There's been some discussion on aging tobacco on Forums. The short answer from some of the

seasoned pipe guys seems to be, English and Virginia blends can benefit a lot from aging if they

are left sealed in tins or are effectively sealed in canning jars. Aromatics are probably somewhat

less improved by aging, the way white wines are less improved (in general) by aging than reds.

Others will provide more detail, I think. I find drying tobacco for a day or two before smoking it,

in a ceramic bowl, just in the open, makes it dryer and more flavorful. It's certainly not aging, per se,

but seems to be a good idea. Actual aging can improve fine tobaccos a lot, and people praise the

great taste of tobaccos that have been left sealed for years.

I've read a bunch about folks who have smoked tobacco that had been aged for a long time.They say it's better.Most tobacco that I buy I smoke within a year.I do have some Penzance though that's several years old.I'm not sure that this particular blend benefits from aging though.In fact I tend to think that it doesn't.

Roth actually told me this one he said, if you buy some McClelland tobacco's it is usually best to let them sit for a week or two. While it's not aging it will help it smoke better.

~Ron

P.S. Roth if I misquoted you please tell me and I hope I said it right.

I don't think any tobacco "needs" to be aged unless that is part of the production process, like fermenting Perique in barrels for months on end. I think G.L.Pease uses some 20yr old Kentucky -- in Cumberland, if memory serves. Such a blend, of course, needs aged leaf by definition, but nothing the smoker has to worry about.
I agree that most blends taste smoke better with some age -- smoother, more mellow, with deeper sweetness, etc., but I actually prefer younger, brighter blends with more sharpness and citrus pizzazz.

Since this is too the subject here, I always read about storing tobaccos in glass jars or metal cans. Is there any problem storing tobacco on a air tight plastic container?
Pablo

I think there is a general consensus that Virginias age well. They soften a bit and don't bite as much. Even then, young virginia has a very upfront flavor that can be enjoyable, especially bright virginia. On the other hand, burleys don't really change at all. The trickest to evaluate is Latakia. It softens and loses some strength and that can be either good or bad. In blends, it changes the proportions around. I have some 10 year old Nightcap which I don't think holds a candle to the newer stuff since the balance is off.

Pablo -
An airtight plastic container is good for short-term but long-term, you'll find that they aren't really airtight and that the rubber seals of a mason jar are tried and tested.

Tobacco definitely does not "need" to age. For one thing it's already aged and fermented before it's blended or smoked. Sure you can age it further after it's cut and blended for pipe tobacco or rolled for cigars, etc. Many people do. It will change the flavor. Whether it will improve the flavor is entirely subjective and, in some ways unpredictable -- despite the rules of thumb we have about tobaccos with higher sugar content aging "better."

When discussing the value of aging tobacco, I figured out quickly that the tobacco professionals knew what they were talking about. Greg Pease, Mike McNiel, Russ Ouellette, the late Craig Tarler and others are unanimous in their agreement that the longer a blend (talking Virginia, VaPer & Latakia) brews in the tin or Mason Jar, the better it becomes. A lot better.
The fermentation process produced by high quality Virginia leaf can lead to a spectacular presentation. Grab a 10-15-20 year old tin of a favorite blend and the enhanced flavor presentation is indeed very noticeable. I can still recall smoking a 20 year old tin of McClelland's #27. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Same with some 25 year old Escudo. The 1970's and 1980's tins of many Dunhill blends (known for their ability to obtain the highest quality leaf in the world), are simply amazing.
Latakia blends generally smooth out considerably after 5-7 years of aging, but once past the 10 year mark (again, generally), the Latakia leaf breaks down and becomes less pronounced than when fresher. Still, I've not heard anyone complain after smoking a 25 year old tin of Balkan Sobranie 759.
For those of you who are adventurous, here's a great test. Locate a still obtainable favorite blend that has a lot of age to it and smoke a sample a few hours after having smoked that same blend out of a fresh tin. The difference in taste (better) may shock you out of your boots.
Well aged and no longer produced tins of top shelf tobacco get higher auction site bids and much higher prices on private websites for a reason.
Have a great and smoke filled weekend!
Pipestud

I smoke Va, Vaper and Vabur flakes exclusively and I can say that aging makes a huge difference. I smoke tons of fresh tobacco and enjoy it immensely. For example, if you were to smoke Orlik OGS fresh and then with say 17 years, the difference is like night and day. The look alone is completely different where the 17 year old OGS is totally black in color and the fresh is golden. Now there are times when I prefer smoking something fresh, for example Solani 633 has a nice honey flavor when fresh and the peppery flavor of the Perique is not so up front, but after 11 years of age, that flavor is gone and the Perique is full bore in your face. So depending on my mood, I will smoke it fresh or aged. I think the merit of a great blend is how good does it smoke fresh, because if it smokes great fresh, age will only make it better. I am of course still referring to the flakes I smoke, I do not have much of any experience with aged English or Aromatic blends.

I have certainly noticed a difference with my own aging. I have not gotten anything aged 10 years yet - although I am working on it! I have smoked many aged tins of SG BBF, McCranie Red Ribbon, Dunhill Flake, and Ben Hartwell Signature, as well as some others. I have also smoked the 4 mentioned in new tins, and can definitely see the difference - and improvement.

I am fortunate to have a cellar that allows me to pretty much smoke my favorite blends in various stages of aging from fresh to over 15 yrs. I have smoked much "older" blends, dating back to 1948.
I don't generally smoked latakia first type blends. I prefer Oriental centered blends and Virginias with and without Perique. At present, I have an 07 tin of Greg Pease's Mongomery, a similar dated tin of Cairo and a tin of 2004 McClelland Rose of Latakia open. This a pretty representative mix of my favorites in these categories. I don't particularly enjoy Burly centered blends.
I believe any blend can benefit from five years sealed in a tin or mason jar. I think Virginias can age as long as you want and they continue to change, for the better IMHO. VaPers become more PerVa with time. I like this change in the blends of that type I smoke because they don't start out too Perique heavy to my tastes. I enjoy Telegraph Hill as a representative of my VaPer tastes.
In my experience, many blending houses devote less space and time to aging their tobaccos at the phases they control. Understandable as time, and space is money. Couple that with high demand for "hot" blends or brands and you have tobaccos that, in my mind, need to sit.
I like the "mellower" taste and feel of well aged Latakia. It suits my taste. It may change a particular blend to a point a blender did not intend but, so what?
I am old enough to have been smoking a pipe when Dunhill blended tobacco was still fairly readily available. It wasn't still being made but it could be found at prices I could afford. Dunhill aged their tobacco before and after tinning to a point that is probably not seen today, and it showed...to me anyway. This applies to both Virginia and English blends. These blends had a taste that is not the same as today's blends. It was stopped because it was expensive and laws changed in Britain.
I find McClelland blends are the best candidate at present for extended aging. The oxygen depleted environment they tin tobacco in means the changes take place slower than most other brands...to me anyway.
McClelland strives to ship their green,brown and black label blends with two or three years of age after tinning. I applaud this. They are big enough to do this. I have bought GLP blends with dates on or two weeks before the date I purchased them. His blends are generally much anticipated and in high demand. I don't mind one bit doing the aging in my cellar in this case. Time is money and I want GLP to thrive.
Even burly blends can benefit from age. I was fortunate enough to be present when a 1948 key top can of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed was opened at a Columbus show some time ago. It was fantastic.
The bottom line in my experience is buy more than you smoke. Put some away and in five years you will be rewarded. In ten, you will really be rewarded and so on. That being said, if you don't see an improvement with time in the blends you like, don't worry. One thing is for certain though. The blends you enjoy will never be less expensive than they are today.
The REAL bottom line is don't worry one bit about others (myself included) think is "right". Pipe smoking should be a relaxing, enjoyable endevor and if you over think it, I believe it lessens the overall enjoyment.
Relax and enjoy!
Mike S.

I think many of us have had the experience of opening a tin, trying the tobacco, really not liking it at all,

then leaving it for two weeks or two months and coming back and finding it great. Maybe it is like letting

a good red wine breathe, that is opening the bottle and letting it be exposed to the air, or decanting it. In

the case of tobacco, it is often just opening the tin, then putting the lid back on and waiting a few days, or

a week or two. It's not just getting used to the blend. The tobacco changes and becomes much better.

This is not aging, but it is about handling tobacco.

Mso I really like your analogy, I think it hits the idea right on the head.

~Ron

I always buy 2oz. of anything and then jar half of it in the smaller Mason jars. Easy way to build up a supply for down the road, plus I like to try new blends (I'm the same way with beers and restaurants, like to try new things). Never looking for the "perfect" anything, just checking options and building a mental library of things to revisit, trying to become a connoisseur of sorts.

^^ Same mentality I have, well almost. I need to buy a couple more oz if I want to have any to put up. lol