Storing English Blends

Most people agree that it takes a good 10-15 years before the Latakia in English blends start to lose their potency. Some people love the flavors of 20 year old English blends because the Latakia becomes less in your face. If you want to smoke your favorites you need to build a cellar protecting you against blends being discontinued.

I think it depends a bit on taste. I like the mellow Syrian Latakia taste and as the Cyprian ages it approaches that softer taste profile, so I look forward to trying some of my aged English blends in a few years. Other people who the the sharper taste of a fresh English may not be that happy with the results of an aged tin. The bigger issue for me is that aged tins once opened only stay fresh for a short period before they go flat. I try to keep my English blends for aging in small quantities.

I agree with cigarmaster. If you like it, cellar it deep, Latakia mixtures along with Virginias.
I ordered several Dunhills a few weeks ago. When opening the shipping box, I immediately detected the smell of Latakia. Thinking a few tins might be compromised, I did a close inspection of each one. Sniffing around the seal of each tin, about half of them had the Latakia aroma. Thinking they were surely compromised, I went ahead and opened them only to be met with the vacuum "swoosh". Go figure, huh?
Anyways, I store my Latakia mixtures packed tightly in new clean jars. Have several that are over twenty yrs old and in good shape. I cracked a jar of PS Proper English a while back that had been packed tightly that was a little over ten yrs old. The Latakia flavor was still very pronounced. Not exactly as sharp tasting as fresh, but very nice, nonetheless.
Guess what I'm trying to say is if you plan on smoking your cellared stuff and not selling or trading later, jar most of it. Just makes me sleep a bit better knowing it's in a sealed jar. I've lost a few tins in the past and would rather be safe than sorry with that gamble. A lot of people may disagree with this method, but hey, that's just me. :wink:

I like the mellow Syrian Latakia taste and as the Cyprian ages it approaches that softer taste profile,

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Good to know, barepipe - thanks. I've never had a really aged Lat mixture that I can think of, but am now even less concerned about over-aging them.

I agree with Harris and others above. English/Latakia blends are good for like 10 years. Then they change, but not in a bad way. They mellow. I personally like the mellow. You just have to expect the change. I have 4.5 lb of Nightcap and 4 lb of Artisan’s cellared as of today, along with various others. Heck, in the past year my tastes have changed to almost exclusively Virginia and VaPers and almost always flakes, but I knew my favorite 2 English blends would be going away, so I stocked up. Who knows if I will go back to being a Latakia slut in 10 years, and then my cellared tins may not even taste the same. It’s a game, a gamble, a ... hedge? Who knows. Like many others have said, if you love it, then cellar it.
I recently finished a tin of Bengel Slices from the 1980’s. It was magical. Still had some bite. So yes, cellar.

Since Latakia production just started back up about 2 years ago (it ended in 2004) I'm willing to bet the stuff everyone is smoking is already at least 10 years old. But to your point.. I store anything with Latakia in it in a mason jar or mylar bag to which I've added an oxygen absorber. My hope is that without sufficient oxygen the Latakia will not be able to age (via the oxidation process).

jpmcwjr - "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Vacuum it, arguably this will prevent it from aging

I don't know about all that mellowing business.

I bought some whole leaf Latakia that was put up in 1997? (I got it cheap, and I got WAY too much)

This stuff is STRONG flavored. Still.

I think it might leach into other tobaccos when blended over time and soften its influence, Latakia, that is, but this stuff I got, is Latakia kryptonite, and its strength is hard to dilute.

If you like it, I wouldn't be concerned over storing it.

I've got about 4 or 5 tins of Nightcap that I'm cellaring, and probably won't get to them for a few years. Who knows what my palette will be by then? That's overlooked a little in the cellaring conversations. Yes the tobacco will change but you will change as well. What you like in a blend now you might not in 5 or 10 years.

I think Latakia varies. I had a tin of quality up-market English that lost its Latakia flavor altogether. I amped it up with condiment blending tobaccos and finished the tin. But other English blends have aged well, which I think is more typical. Tobacco and blends are organic, so they vary.

The Dark Lord, Greg Pease, made a career out of aging latakia blends. I really only recently have heard this weird story about latakia going flat. Do you guys just believe any old bull you read online? Balkan blends are the most sought after with age on them. In fact, you really didn't hear as much about aging Virginias, when people started writing about cellaring. I do prefer Virginias aged, but that doesn't mean that aged latakia isn't something that has been pursued vehemently for ages. And, the older, the more people are willing to pay. I've had aged latakia a few times, in the twenty year range and it was excellent, more of what I look for in a latakia blend. The flavors do meld together, but that doesn't mean that anything really gets lost. It's just weird how someone says something on a forum and passes it on, and it warps into this, ludicrous statement.

It probably all stemmed from someone saying that latakia didn't change as much as Virginias, and then from there, someone made it into, latakia denigrates. But, no, in my experience, it becomes more well rounded, "merged" flavors, but the latakia isn't lost. I mean, I ain't no every day twenty plus year latakia smoker, but the dozen or so that I have had the pleasure to taste was amazing. YMMV

I agree Cosmic and to be honest, if there is Virginia in the aged blend then the Virginias more than likely may take a bigger sweeter role in the overall taste. This doesn't mean the latakia is softer or lost anything but the Virginias have stepped up a bit. I plan on popping one of my penzance tins at 10 years and another at 20. The youngest tin is at 7 years now...well that is based on my purchase date anyway. I am sure it will be sublime.