At my age I’m not putting away tobacco to smoke 10 years from now
New vs Cellared Tobacco
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I think it just lost a little bit of the edge the Italian florets gave it fresh compared to a few years old. Which I really liked.
It’s still good and I do have I think 5 tins on the shelf.
My current smoke is Peterson’s Royal Yacht. I love it right out of the tin. I go through about a tin a month now, and towards the end of the month, it starts to taste different to me than at the beginning. That is a blend I probably won’t cellar because I like the fresh tin taste.
I always try tobacco fresh and save some for later. If the fresh taste hits the right way, that is usually a blend I won’t try to age or cellar because I prefer the fresh taste.
I always try tobacco fresh and save some for later. If the fresh taste hits the right way, that is usually a blend I won’t try to age or cellar because I prefer the fresh taste.
About 90% of my cellar is bulk blends put into Ball brand jars with the 2 piece lids.....thats very important in my opinion. The one piece lids and bail top jars are not good for long term storage. Ive got 24 year old jars of tobacco which are still in perfect shape.
I am currently smoking a blend I sealed in "Hinged lid jars with rubber seals, that was sealed in 2017, 8 years ago. GOOD STUFF
It kind of depends on how you like your Latakia. Latakia
All that said, aging is a bit of a crap shoot. The conditions under which a blend ages can affect the result. Aging becomes more of a crap shoot the longer blends age. The oldest blend I've tried was about 100 years old, and it was predictably awful. I've smoked blends with 30 to 80 years on them and some were fabulous while others were way over the hill, tasting like zombie vomit. Like anything else, like with wines, there comes a point where tobacco peaks and then fades. And sometimes the blends crap out much sooner than one would expect.
I know pretty much every bet and odds on the craps table. They are all in favor of the house.
You know why it’s called craps????? Because they can’t call it shit.
I've definitely had some blends that improved with age and definitely had some that got worse with age. This is a generalization, but I think it boils down to what aspect of that blend you enjoy or find harsh. For example, Aros rarely get better with age. If you like the vanilla or caramel topping, it will decrease with age, making it less enjoyable for you. If you find Virginias too harsh, they will mellow with age, making them more enjoyable for you. My sweet spots are fresh English blends, but Balkans with some age. Fresh English-Aro crossovers, but Vapers with some age. Fresh Burley, but Orientals with some age.
Indeed.Man I think that would be frustrating, open a tin after 5-10 years and meh ..
Which is why you need to buy enough that you’ll forget what you have!
When I buy tobacco I purchase a few tins depending on the blends, most the time 1 smoke one and stash the rest, then smoke the rest when I want to maybe a year or 2 or 6 months
I'd say this is generally correct except with the caveat being how much Virginia and oriental could be in the blend.. English, Balkan, etc.
I think most everyone in the know would generally agree that the best leaf for aging is Virginia, hands down. It's like the Cab Sauv or Nebiolo of tobacco, to extend the great wine analogy i believe @sablebrush52 used. The most sugar and higher astringent compounds (same deal almost as the high tannin in those grapes) are what break down aerobically, but then very slowly and specially, anaerobically as well. This is what makes aging, aging.
Probably next would be orientals (similar to VA in a way) and Perique and DFK (fermented in a way). Burley and Cavendish the least.. latakia somewhere in between.
However I would also say that doesn't necessarily mean aro's can't be stored.. its just that if you understand what the "aging" process entails, you can then store aro's, burleys, and aro english for quite surprisingly long periods vs what most people believe. It's just that you have to try to minimize those processes as much as possible.
Had an opened tin of mac baren mixture modern under the shelf for maybe 5 months. I smell cherries now. And it tastes like prince albert with actual chocolate on top.
Great read. Read everything in this thread. At my age, LONG term storage would likely be a waste if space, tobacco and money. My cellaring will likely be more bulk tobacco and some tins for the 6-12 month age bracket. When I find something I really like, I buy 1 or 2 pounds or 8-16 tins. Cellaring will be more a result of not smoking it all yet rather than intent to age tobacco. Is there a way to cellar/store aromatics so as not to loose the aromatics?
switch to smoking captain black cherry. flavor NEVER gonna fade on that one...
Generally you wanna remove as much oxygen as possible since it is mainly what reacts with the chemicals in the tobacco (or in this case, the flavorings on the tobacco) to chemically change them. This is essentially what the aging process is when it is desired... the slow, controlled chemical breakdown of the product under specific conditions.
Either stuffing *TIGHTLY* into a mason jar or vacuum sealing in a mylar bag would be considered top-tier strategies in my opinion/experience.