Seeking hands on experience with aging specific blends

plet · Sep 28, 2012

Hello all,
I want to start aging some tobacco. As aging is a slow and long process I would like to get a good start from the beginning. The list of blends below are blends that I like fresh, but I’m not sure which ones will benefit the most from aging, so… Do you have first hands experience with aging some of the blends below?
#1 How long did you age it for?

#2 What difference did it make?

#3 Was it worth aging/will you do it again?
Samuel Gawiths "Full Virgina FLake"

Samuel Gawith “Best Brown Flake”

Samuel Gawith “Golden Glow”

Samuel Gawith “Navy Flake”

Samuel Gawith “Skiff Mixture”

Samuel Gawith “Squadron Leader”

Samuel Gawith “Balkan Flake”
Germain's “Special Latakia Flake” (Might be compared to Penzance)

Germain's “Loose Rich Dark Flake” (Might be compared to Stonehaven)
Dunhill “Nightcap”

Dunhill “London Mixture”

Dunhill “Flake”
Orlik “Bulls Eye”
Peterson "3P's Plug"

Petersons "Irish Flake"

Petersons "University Flake"
Gawith Hoggarth “Bobs Choc Flake”
Presbyterian Mixture
Thanks in advance!!
Cheers : puffy

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plet · Sep 28, 2012

Recommendations/Shared experience on just one blend would still be much appreciated!! : puffy

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cigrmaster · Sep 28, 2012

In general I have found that Virginia and Virginia/Perique flakes benefit a great deal from aging. I have tins that are anywhere from 17 years on up and all have aged wonderfully. I think as little as a couple of years makes a big difference. What I feel it does is the blends have a chance to marry and there by become smoother and rounder. I think the sharp edges disappear with age and I always age tobacco. To me it is well worth the wait although I do enjoy plenty of blends fresh.
In regards to the ones you have listed. I have 2009 Best Brown, FVF and Irish Flake and all three are very tasty with the 3 plus years on them. I think that every one on your list will benefit from some age on them. I personally think that English blends ten to lose something after a decade or so.

papipeguy · Sep 28, 2012

I echo rithnh's thoughts. The Va's will age nicely because of the sugar content in them. I opened a 35 year old tin of macbaren's Scottish Mixture a few months ago and it was still moist but way more flavorful than the new stuff. Aro's don't like aging and I can't really speak to burley's. Frankly, I don't really get the aging thing. I buy stuff to smoke right away. My tin of MacB was found in my parent's basement so it was an unintentional aging that turned out great for me.

To sum things up, the Va's are probably your best bet for good results.

judcole · Sep 28, 2012

I have aged both Best Brown and Dunhill Flake (the tins I have are still called "Light Flake",the old name).
I have found these blends are smoother and more "refined", if you will,with aging. I aged 'em for 5 years.
I certainly intend to continue aging my Virginias!

plet · Sep 29, 2012

@papipeguy Nice find with the MacBaren!! 35 years is really something.
@Jud Thanks for posting! Cool you have the old tins with the "Light Flake" name on them :D
I expected Best Brown and Dunhill Flake to be good candidates for aging, and with your comment I will for sure age some of those : puffy

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What I hear is that Latakia will be more smooth and/or loose its dominant taste with aging. I really love English and Balkan blends, and I'm thinking if a blend would improve with a short to a medium period of aging?! E.g. would the Dunhill London Mixture be more mellow on a 3-5 year period, but loose in the long run?

papipeguy · Sep 29, 2012

These woould be good questions for Greg Pease's column.

plet · Sep 29, 2012

@cigrmaster I didn't see your post until now. Thank you for your post!!! Your comments supports the hunch i have on aging :puffpipe:

ohin3 · Sep 29, 2012

I have found that all tobaccos soften and become more rich and oily when properly aged, but Virginias, by far, show the most improvement. All those sharp spicey edges get rounded right off, the tobacco flavour and mouth feel seems to deepen and lean more towards earth, cocoa, soft sweetness and an creamy amost oily mouth texture. I don't usually age latakia mixtures but, on the occasions that I have, they too seem to soften and the sugars seem to be more prevalent than when they were young. the smokiness of the latakia diminishes to be just a whisp of smokiness which I kind of like. They seem to become a bit more incense like. I had a 6 year old tin of G.L. Pease Bohemian Scandal back in the day that I carefully rationed for years. It was one of the most amazing smokes I have ever experienced.

plet · Sep 29, 2012

@ohin3 Thank you for your post too!! Sounds really nice with the Bohemian Scandal!! : puffy

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cortezattic · Sep 29, 2012

My opinions pretty much echo those of rothnh & cigrmaster, so I won't duplicate the effort.
By and large, I don't think aging is really worth the effort. Like Pease said, young blends have an exuberance of their own to appreciate.

These days, my blends become aged because my cellar is deep enough to give them some time in the tin.
I hesitate to recommend outside reading because the last time I did that I was accused of trying to kill a thread. So keep posting, brothers!

plet · Sep 29, 2012

@cortezattic Interesting point! But do you then appreciate when you open a tin with some age on it or do you think "Hmm I'll rather have it fresh"?

cortezattic · Sep 29, 2012

Well first off, I don't smoke OTC aromatics, Latakias, and most Lakeland scented blends. So that leaves mostly Virginia based blends, Burleys and Orientals.
By and large I would rather smoke the tobacco "young". The "buy it and smoke it" philosophy is commonly attributed to Charles Rattray, who, I believe, wanted his customers to experience the taste as it is at the time it is brought to market.
But it's mostly a game of hit or miss. Some aged Va blends lose their grassiness (I call them "sassy Va's"), and become more caramel-like and rounder. Generally, that's good; but I have to admit to craving a sharp Va now and then. Call it perky or exuberant -- I dunno, but it's a mood-dependent thing.
After some disappointing aging experiments with bulk purchases, I decided to just build up a decent cellar and smoke them when I get around to it. I've found that the changes that come about by aging aren't so drastic that the blend was transformed into something completely different; but then again, there may be some blends out there that do undergo a miraculous change -- I just haven't discovered them.
For sure, aging won't change a bad tobacco into a good one.

I think Pease once quoted a friend as saying something like, "10 yr. old piss is still piss." :lol:

johncorosz · Sep 29, 2012

I guess I need to make more money or smoke far less as I never have enough left laying around to stash anywhere. But then again I live in a little 1 bedroom apartment in a time when work is impossible to come by unless your in the "old boys club " or "have connections". I met a man in 2002 who had inherited his parents house, cars, boats, etc, etc and needless to say he was sure proud to brag and call all of it his bu tin the end it was all given to him. We went down to the basement where his father had built a sauna to aid him in his ailing health and the son had turned it into a humidor complete with shelving. I was aghast at the size of the thing to began with but more sickened when he went into telling what it cost, the cost of all his cigars and liquors, etc stored within. Well over 50k for the whole thing.
Even with tobacco I suppose I do plan to start trying to save some types in time but I have no long plans of storing unless I am given a house and the promise of a long term employment opportunity.

plet · Sep 29, 2012

Haha good point! :lol: Maybe it is a better way to go about it.

cigrmaster · Sep 29, 2012

plet, the only way to truly know if you will like your tobacco aged is to age some and see what happens. Everyone's tastes are so different that one aged tin may be heaven to me, but lousy to you. In general when it comes to va flakes and vaper flakes, some age is a good thing and I don't foresee you cracking a two year old tin and say to yourself, damn I wish I had smoked this fresh.

sparroa · Sep 29, 2012

Bob's Chocolate Flake.
Smoked half of it fresh, aged the rest for almost 2 years. (More like jarred it and forgot about it)
Verdict - Way too long. Still alright because the leaf is good, but not as nice or distinctive as it once was.
If you want that soapy, chocolatey aromatic with noticeable latakia then smoke it early on.
If you want a mellower version with a bit of flavour left, trying smoking it with 6 months or a year on it.
If you just want to smoke the base tobacco with only faint traces and whispers of the soap/chocolate/latakia left, then wait as long as I did - but you might be disappointed... I'd rather have it young as aromatics are meant to be enjoyed.

plet · Sep 29, 2012

@johncorosz I live in a one bedroom apartment as well(27m2). I only smoke in weekends so I don't have a huge turnover on my stock, and no founds really to buy tobacco, but its a priority question for me.
@simenon Thank you for sharing your experience! I have some fairly new Bob's Chocolate on stock; I'll take your experience into consideration, and smoke it now as I like the stronger Chocolate flavor. Also I will save a bit to get the experience my self.
I agree that personal taste is different. In German there is a saying "Wer nicht weiss muss alles glauben" meaning something like "He who doesn't know, must have faith in others". I'm seeking experiences from others as waiting 3-5 years to see if aging a blend will turn out well is tedious. In that case no hard hard feelings is allowed, and I'm happy for all the answers I can get : puffy

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Seeking hands on experience with aging specific blends

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