Those Aged Aromatics

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perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
Although I like an Aromatic from time to time, I don't smoke them exclusively. So what eventually happens is that a few of these tobaccos get a few years of age on them. Knowing that age on aromatics isn't necessarily a great thing, it becomes an experiment to see which ones hold up and which ones end up getting dumped.
So far I've dumped McBaren Plumcake, GH&CoGrasmere Flake, and GH&Co Scotch Flake. They deteriorated in their aromatic flavor as well as had dreaded the cardboard note. To be honest this suprised me with GH&Co. I figured these blends would've at least held on to some life because of the tobacco quality.
Three blends that I've discovered that do hold up and end up changing for the better is C&D Autumn Evening, C&D Golden Days of Yore, and GH&Co Bob's Chocolate Flake. Looking at these threee separately, I'll report my findings.
C&D Autumn Evening:

A fresh tin offers that wonderful Maple Syrup smell that completely translates to the taste. A jar dated 2015, still offers up that maple aroma, but with a coffee/cohocolate note that melds well with a muted brown sugar note from the red Virginia cavendish. The smoke begins a little sour, slightly off putting as memory searches for that fresh tin flavor. After a few more sips(the magic of the sip is crucial here) a wonderful Virginia flavor wrapped in notes of coffee and morsels of chocolate evelope the palate. This stays steady to the end of the smoke. The mouth feel is soft and delicate. I like this stuff fresh but it's more nuanced with age. A wonderful morning smoke with a cup of Coffee.
C&D Golden Days of Yore:

The fresh tin has notes of Rum/Chocolate/Christmas spices. Egg Nogg does come to mind, with a chocolate twist. Smell does translate to the first half of the bowl, but the Katerini Dark fired and bready Virginia's soon occupy the taste. In a two year old tin, the tin note is just as good, but the first bowl is "Where's my chocolate EggNogg?" After letting it sit in a jar for a few days the blend really opens up.. The top quality leaf reveals itself more with some age, allowing the topping to meld better with the tobacco. Less bite than a fresh tin. It becomes something a little different than it is at birth. Mesmerizing in a Katerini/darkfired Christmas spice tobacco cocktail kind of way.
Bob's Chocolate Flake:

2014 Bulk, fresh, its a powdery Chocolate/vanilla floral Lakeland burley, Virginia, and 5% Latakia tour de force. With age, it's covered in sugar crystals and soft to the touch. Upon lighting, the chocolate/vanilla Lakeland essence plays a minor supporting role in an All Star cast of burley, Virginia, and that smidge of Latakia. As the role call is made and the cast line up, they play to a script very different than their younger selves. Notes of soft, velvety Chinese Keemun tea drift to the nose. Tea softly touched with powdery chocolate and vanilla notes. The floral essence is barley there. No Latakia ever is noticed until the bottom of the bowl. There, it offers a soft oriental spice, with nuances of velvety Keemun tea. . Simply exquisite. A soft sip is needed throughout the experience, or a lot of the flavor is lost.
Well that wraps it up. I like these blends fresh. I like an aromatic in the morning, as a first smoke, with coffee or tea. The two aged C&D blends fall into the coffee/morning routine. The aged GH&Co offering I like more with a glass of water and time spent in amazement that tobacco can taste of tea.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
perdurabo, great post, thanks. I have been wondering what age will do to the aromatics I have in my cellar. I currently stock Cult Blood Red Moon, Molto Doce, Mac Baren Modern Flake and Peterson University Flake( which I consider to be an aro).
I recently cracked a tin of 2012 University flake and it is delicious. The age has not made the Plum topping go away and the Vaburs in it have deepened and have become more stewed fruit like. Not sure what another 5 years will do, but I will be finding out. I have not cracked a tin of May 2015 Modern Va flake yet to see what age has done for it but will do so soon. All of my Blood Red Moon and Molto Dolce are a little more than a year old. I am hoping the latter 2 will keep their amount of topping flavors for years because if the FDA has their way, they will be on the chopping block.

 

lazar

Can't Leave
May 5, 2015
445
3
Nice post, thanks. I've wondered about the received wisdom regarding aromatics mot aging well, and thought that for a quality blend the age might make up for the dissipation of the topping. And might actually improve it.
I have the first and third of these three, both with some age on them. Looking forward to trying them anew. Was never a big fan of Autumn Evening, but maybe I'll like it more with some age. Bob's is great anyway, but sounds like it enters a whole new dimension when aged.
I've noticed that Boswell's aros taste fine with some age, but lose their distinctiveness. They all have a certain common topping anyway, and that's what tends to stay.
I have a jar of old Mac Baren Honey & Chocolate that smells so weird I'm not sure if I want to try it or not. Maybe it's going through a second fermentation, or maybe the honey/chocolate has gone rancid.

 

3rdguy

Lifer
Aug 29, 2017
3,472
7,293
Iowa
Not an aromatic guy but from the few that I do have with some age I would say time has helped them. Not a surprise I suppose it is tobacco afterall, and I find more and more it all ages well. Some better or quicker but it all ages well to some degree.

 

briarbuda48

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 20, 2013
241
210
Texas
I have eight ounces of Mates aromatic from the 70’s and it’s held up fine. Anything from Boswell’s will hold up as far as I can tell (some three years old and still great). Holy Smoke from Oxmore in Louisville and Celebration from Mission Pipe Shope in San Jose hold up too.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,250
108,355
I've had a few in jars for almost 10 years. Among them is Plumcake. Really haven't noticed a change. Even the pound of Altadis Chocolate Truffle I put up back then is nearly identical to fresh samples. How are you storing them?

 
You know, when I first heard Brian on the Radioshow tell us that aromatics and latakia blends didn't improve as well as Virginias, everyone took that to mean that aromatics and latakia blends age horribly or get destroyed with age. It's like some people have binary minds, good bad off on. It just meant these didn't improve as much, not that it was a terrible idea.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"...maybe the honey/chocolate has gone rancid."
Lazar, as far as I'm aware honey is the only natural foodstuff that doesn't deteriorate over time. Some was found in an ancient Egyptian tomb that once moisture was reintroduced to it allegedly tasted just fine!
Regards,
Jay.

 

akfilm

Can't Leave
Mar 2, 2016
309
1
I really like mac Baren vanilla cream flake when it's been aged for a year/year and a half. Plumcake I always let sit for at least a year, as well as 1792.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
If the burley and/or Virginia base is quality leaf, and the flavoring doesn't sour in some way, aged aromatics often improve, to my tastes. The flavoring falls back somewhat and makes a blend more tobacco forward while still offering a distinct and pleasing flavor as advertised. My experience is that this happens about 2/3 of the time, though that's purely a guess. I've seldom thrown out an aged aro for going stale with age.

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,517
50,591
Here
That aged Autumn Evening sounds right up my alley.
Thanks for the feedback!
jay-roger.jpg


 

lazar

Can't Leave
May 5, 2015
445
3
mawnansmiff - interesting. I wonder if the flavoring is real honey, anyway. I just checked it and the weird smell is significantly less, and the chocolate is stronger. Maybe it just needed to air out after few years of being sealed. The mason jar lid did pop when I first opened it.
akfilm - +1 on the MacBaren Vanilla Creme Flake. My tin is from 2011 and it's wonderful. Never had fresh so can't compare, though.

 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
I thought of adding C&D Corn Cobb Pipe and a Button Nose I'll go ahead and include it now.
. This blend does really well with a year on it. The cherry note subsides which is a huge distraction. The red virginias are slightly citrusy and earthy. The chocolate vanilla(the vanilla just enriches the chocolate note IMHO) topping dies down over time. Putting this one in the Premium OTC camp. The burley pops it's head out from time to time. The black cavendish carries on the topping with its brown sugar notes. Not complex like Golden Days of Yore, but a good all day smoke. Just a good basic tobacco mixture with a chocolate note.

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,273
4,268
I have friends who are professional chefs. They tell me that if you cook a pot of red beans, soup, or stew and then cool it down and refrigerate it overnight that the flavors will meld together and change from tasting great to tasting fantastic.
I view aromatics the same way. They may not age but the different flavors will meld together while sitting. Some may become muted but others will blend together and taste better.

 
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