Oldest Tobacco That Exist?

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Cotton1

Can't Leave
Nov 3, 2020
444
1,934
South Carolina
Anybody know how old tobacco can be preserved? I like old historical things and decided to do a Google search on the " Oldest Tobacco In Existence" that yielded nothing basically.

I hope there is some old backer from way back still out there but I don't know if that's even possible.

Just a curiosity for me right now. I would think at least it might be possible for tinned tobacco to be around but not sure when tinning started.

Cotton1
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,260
108,366
I am hoping that some exist from the 1800's or later. Molto Dolce or not..

Edit: Also I would love to obtain some tobacco from the 1930's!
Tin cans were invented in 1810 so I suppose it's possible. These pop up for auction from time to time.

26-hbcs-200-tobacco-carrot1-600x410.jpg

Then there's the case of the 12,000 year old hunting camp in Utah where tobacco seeds were found among the artifacts.
 
One of the founders of American Spirit found some rustica in an ancient dig, and is the one accredited with bringing back the rustica strain.
Our museum here has some pottery with tobacco still in it.
But, I’m pretty sure obtaining some of these “oldest” tobaccos would be costly and probably very disappointing to smoke.

I’ve had the honor of trying a few 50+ year old commercial blends that weren’t really all that great. But, it was neat to find that older blends were much stronger in nicotine.
It’s probably safe to say that 20 years is about the peak for tobacco aging. After that, and it’s past it’s prime.
 

64alex

Part of the Furniture Now
May 10, 2016
566
339
If you are talking about just tobacco leaf I think Rustica is the oldest leaf which was used by native Americans and McBaren just released a blend with it which I never tried but which is said being the strongest tobacco blend at least in the Western hemisphere.

If you are talking about the oldest blend in production it could be the SG Groosemoore which should be over 200 years old blend. I have it and love it. While the topping might have remained the same I am questioning if the tobacco remained the same over these 2 centuries.
 

greeneyes

Lifer
Jun 5, 2018
2,126
12,193
I have some Falk's Plug Perique (this, but in a canister). When I bought it I entertained the thought of trying it but I have found that certain tobaccos have an ammonia odor when they're stored under certain conditions and it's fairly unpleasant. The Falk's is approximately 100 years old, as the company was purchased early in the 20th century and disappeared. I have some Edgeworth slices from the '30s that dried out and rehydrates just fine. Regardless of the condition of its storage, as time passes the probability of a tobacco becoming unsuitable for consumption increases, at various rates depending on its processing and storage. The ballpark you're eyeballing is likely to provide organic material with relatively low consumer value.
Screenshot_20201224-180311.png
"Fungal ammonia fermentation is a novel dissimilatory metabolic mechanism that supplies energy under anoxic conditions." Fungal Ammonia Fermentation, a Novel Metabolic Mechanism That Couples the Dissimilatory and Assimilatory Pathways of Both Nitrate and Ethanol - https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.m313761200
 
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