Types of Tobacco to Cellar

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lazybugger

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 9, 2012
136
4
Hey guys i was wondering if it made a big difference what tobaccos i add to a cellar for best storage ... have read that aros do not really benifit from cellaring , what about english blends? or is the very best idea to get straight tobaccoes like virginias and burleys ect for the best outcome ... or does it really not matter and some blends will simply benifit more than others from cellaring? .. basically asking if you were starting from scratch what would you wish you had in yur cellar from the beginning?

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,995
Frankly, I would cellar everything you currently smoke that you enjoy. IMO, "cellaring" and "aging" are not necessarily synonymous. I cellar with the idea that some blends will improve over time, some will remain virtually unchanged, and some will likely -- after 20 or so years in the tin -- fade a bit. But even in the latter case, I fully expect to still enjoy them. And I'm guaranteeing myself -- barring catastrophe to my cellar -- a stockpile of tobacco I know I'll enjoy for the rest of my life.
If you're purely focusing on tobaccos that will improve with age, your best bets are those that are Virginia-dominant. I would expect oriental-forward blends to remain virtually unchanged over time; I've never noticed any change, one way or the other, where these blends are concerned. Latakia is known to mellow over time; that doesn't mean it turns "bad," just that you'll experience its presence differently. But even with that "mellowing," I would expect a latakia-heavy blend that is great now to be at least very good in 30-40 years' time, assuming it has been stored appropriately.
As I said, though: If you enjoy it, cellar it. The only kind of blend I would have doubts about for long-term aging -- and by that, I mean 20+ years -- would be latakia blends with a heavy proportion of Syrian leaf. Pease's Syrian blends aside -- which were truly remarkable -- virtually every other Syrian latakia blend I've had in the last eight years has been quite soft and mild, without much actual Syrian character. If those mellow even more in 20+ years, the latakia might disappear altogether. (Or it might not. Honestly: Who knows? Since the last Syrian crops were harvested in the late 1990s/early 2000s, no one has cellared this for any length of time yet.)
Bob

 

lazybugger

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 9, 2012
136
4
Thanks , if most blends at least stay pretty much as good as they are now I would be happy ... of course there will be others like virginias that I will have to experiance a nice aged tobacco one day but would be good to have the favourites round for a long time ... I seem to enjoy english blends and the straight tobacco flavours the more I smoke and aros are great but more as an every now and then or mood smoke

 

numbersix

Lifer
Jul 27, 2012
5,449
53
Everything I have ever heard about aros says smoke 'em now. They deteriorate with age.
For what it's worth, Pipeinhand once wrote:
Over the last 10 years I have been heavy into Aro's. Some of my first blends from 15 years ago are still in good shape. I smoked a blend I stored 17 years ago last week, and it smoked and tasted just like it did 3 years ago, which I remember was what it tasted like 7 years ago.
And Capt Bob wrote:
I have mixed five-pounds and stored it in quart mason jars simply sealed with a twist of the cap and opened them three years later with absolutely no change in smoking pleasure at all. I could not tell the difference between freshly tinned and the stored tobacco in mason jars.
So while I aros aren't supposed to improve with age, I think if you want to buy aros now in order to save money later, it should be okay.

 
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