Which VAs and Vapers Benefit From Aging the Most?

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Jul 15, 2011
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This is probably something that has been covered in the forums before, but Im curious about some specific tobaccos in general, so Ill start a new thread. The last few months, I have loaded my cellar to the gills with a lot of VA and Vaper flakes, most of them fairly fresh. I am curious if you guys think there are VA blends or types of VAs and Vapers that benefit from aging more than others? Here is the general consensus on what I have found so far:
VAs that are flavored with rum tend to lost their rum flavoring after a period of time.
Perique will probably get more mellow with age, but that isnt necessarily a bad thing. A lot of it depends on how much perique there is in a blend.
But what I am wondering is: Do Virginia varieties matter? For example, does Red Virginia age better/worse than Bright Virginia? Does flake age better than loose cut? I have been eye-balling some tins of Marlin Flake, Hal O The Wynd, McClelland Virginia Woods, McConnels Scottish Cake, and my much collected Esoterica Dunbar. All of these blends have different varieties of Virginias and some other components as well, including Kentucky and Perique. What do you guys think? Would any of these blends benefit from some more aging or should I try smoking them fresh?

 

doctorthoss

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 6, 2011
618
9
I don't believe that any of them are a priori better candidates for aging than the others. So long as we're not talking about latakia (which loses its punch after a decade or more of aging) or aromatics (which will lose their flavoring components) I think pretty much any tobacco is a good candidate for aging, including burley.
Given that every smoker's tastes are different, it's hard to say which ones would age "better." Bright VAs will lose some of their sharpness and some "high" notes, while reds and oranges will deepen and grow a bit sweeter. Usually. As a rule of thumb. Maybe.
The only way I can think to find out the answer to your question will be to age a whole bunch of them yourself. Even if a bunch of guys hop on here and relate their experience with aging, those will only be THEIR experiences. What they like you might loathe and vice versa.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,911
Detroit
The good doctorhoss is absolutely correct. I have aged blends as diverse as Red Ribbon, Hal o' th' Wynd, Sherlock Holmes, BBF, Hartwell Signature (a blend that I think has been totally overlooked on this forum) and Dunhill Flake. All change, in subtle ways - I haven't had any as old as 10 years, yet - and all have been worth aging.

Just try things out!

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
pipenovelist:
I think all of the blends you mentioned are naturally going to improve with age. But, man, I think you're really overworrying this. You're certainly not going to "lose" anything by storing any of these blends for the long-term. But I think there may be some skewed expectations regarding aging.
Yes, you'll see some subtle marrying of flavors after 3-10 years. But I honestly think you need to look much further down the road to see any kind of significant change. I've had a 30-year-old tin of Elephant & Castle's Deerstalker -- an all-VA blend -- that tasted exactly as it did when it was fresh. It wasn't any sweeter or richer or deeper in any way (assuming my palate, memory, and tasting notes were fairly accurate).
Which leads me to this: I'd just encourage you to cellar the blends you enjoy now, the untried blends that you think you're likely to enjoy (based on ingredients/blender), and then just let nature take its course. But I think you're just going to drive yourself crazy if you try to parse out whether African Virginias will do better than American Virginias, at what point latakia starts to fade, or whether a flake will age faster than a broken flake or a ribbon cut.
But that's just my .02.
BB

 
May 31, 2012
4,295
34
Great post Bob!
Thanks for sharing your real-world experience here.
Very interesting about the Elephant & Castle.

That was made by McConnell's right?

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
Very interesting about the Elephant & Castle.

That was made by McConnell's right?
Now you're stretching the bounds of my memory and knowledge! :) I have no idea. I just know the brand disappeared sometime in the late 1980s/early 1990s. There isn't a single entry from the brand on TobaccoReviews.com and nothing whatsoever on either Pipedia.org or Wikipedia. And they only very rarely ever show up on eBay, which is how I was able to acquire the 30-year-old stuff. (I smoked the new stuff straight from a tobacco shop in the 80s.)
Bob

 
Jul 15, 2011
2,363
31
I think all of the blends you mentioned are naturally going to improve with age. But, man, I think you're really overworrying this. You're certainly not going to "lose" anything by storing any of these blends for the long-term. But I think there may be some skewed expectations regarding aging.
Yes, you'll see some subtle marrying of flavors after 3-10 years. But I honestly think you need to look much further down the road to see any kind of significant change. I've had a 30-year-old tin of Elephant & Castle's Deerstalker -- an all-VA blend -- that tasted exactly as it did when it was fresh. It wasn't any sweeter or richer or deeper in any way (assuming my palate, memory, and tasting notes were fairly accurate).
Short answer, Pipe Novelist? The ones you like will age the best. Stock up, and enjoy them as they do.
Thanks to the both of you gentlemen on this one. I usually make it a policy not to over think a lot of things when it comes to pipe smoking, but it seems that Im not following my own advice on this one. Thanks for clearing that up for me guys. One of the reasons I really like frequenting this place.

 
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