33 Year Old Capstan Blue ... Perfection

[npod]

Tonight is a special night and I decided to celebrate by reaching deep down in the special section of the cellar for a 33 year old tin of Capstan Blue flake from circa 1985-6. Purchased from Maxim (P2S) about two years ago. The tin has visible rust and dust and I was nervous it would be a dud. But ...
Opening. Yes! A loud whoosh sound confirming the tin was sealed. :clap:
Inspection. Perfection :worship:. See for yourself, perfectly moist, almost needed some drying time. Crystals present.
Smell. Delicious. Hay, grass, sweet fruit.
Pipe. Birth year 1970 Castello Zulu. This pipe only gets action a few times a year. Only Virginia’s.
Companion. A bowl of aged Penzance in my Iowa pipe. It’s a Castello Hawk. I am from Iowa originally, so this is my Hawkeye pipe and it reminds me of home.
Experience. Honestly, without embellishment or hyperbole, this is wonderful. Almost impossible to describe. It is Capstan Blue but with age and character. I am lucky it worked out. Not all vintage gambles turn out this way. That’s why I packed the Penzance (just in case), but it will have to wait until later.
There are only a handful of people on Earth who would appreciate this. I figured ya’ll might enjoy the night with me.
Cheers.

Neal

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

Looks like a delicious trip through time, congrats.

 

[ashdigger]

Congrats I've have old cutter tops of Capstan that have been incredible. It's nice when a gamble pays off.

 

[aldecaker]

Looks beautiful, and I am glad you are enjoying it! Your reminder that 1985 is already 33 years in the past is kind of a pisser, though.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Please see instructions in test thread!

 

[npod]

Your reminder that 1985 is already 33 years in the past is kind of a pisser, though. []

So true!

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Great looking Castello too.

My birthday is at the end of the month and I'm scouring around for something of similar age.

 

[npod]

Please see instructions in test thread!

Thank you. I did manage to figure out the copy/link and tried to update the post, but time ran out and I couldn't complete the re-do. Next time for sure.

 

[sablebrush52]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing! Like Time, I've enjoyed some very ancient Capstan. Some of it was sublime, some of it was zombie sludge. I'm very happy that your experience was joyous!

 

[cortezattic]

Glad to read that the tobacco exceeded your expectations. Enjoy every precious puff. ::

 

[derekflint]

Excellent, thanks for sharing..........

 

[midwestpipesmoker70]

The tobacco looks wonderful and I love the lipe.

 

[judcole]

Glad it turned out so well for you.

 

[sajgre]

This is what pipe smoking is about Capstan is one of my favorites and this must have been amazing smoke.

 

[leacha]

 

[saltedplug]

I've had some 5 y/o Escudo, etc., which was great, but I've yet to smoke sublime. Good on ya!

 

[npod]

It was one of the few "nirvana" smokes I've had. The problem (a good one at that) with opening extremely aged tobacco is that you need jar it up quickly and smoke it fairly quickly because it is now born into world. So, I have the "horrible" problem of needing to smoke this tobacco up over the next 1-2 weeks. ::

 

[thomasw]

Capstan is a fantastic smoke fresh but with even a bit of age -- holy leaf, indeed; I've had some that was over 40 yrs in age and it was one of my nirvana smokes. Love those photos of the tobacco.

 

[crashthegrey]

I've only had Capstan once, I can only imagine how wonderful this was. Congrats and thanks for sharing this post.

 

[briarbuck]

Looks like a hell of a way to spend an afternoon. Congrats