Aging tobacco

[oldmannk]

I have been seeing many post discussing and recommending aging your tobacco. My question is how long should you age tobacco. 1 year , 5 or more. Could some one help or make some recomendations or different tobaccos and aging times. Looking to start a tobacco cellar .
Thanks for the advise.

 

[petes03]

As long or as little as you want! Virginias benefit the most from aging, and with those the longer the better. That said, all tobacco can benefit from aging, even aros. Though aros don't gain much, it can help them some. Latakia tends to mellow over time, and can actually loose some of it's smokey/sweet qualities, but I've had some Lats with several years on them that were heavenly smokes!

If I recall, the biggest milestones in the aging process take place at the 6 month, 1,2,4,6,10,15,20,25, and 30 year marks. I've heard though, that 20 years is pretty much the peak for most Va's, which are the blends that will benefit most from this amount of age.

Myself, the oldest tin I've popped was a 7+ year old tin of Mac Baren Roll Cake, which is mostly Va. It was an excellent smoke!

 

[rmbittner]

oldmannk:
I think you'll notice a marked difference in flavor after about 3 years in the tin, compared with a fresh tin.
My suggestion when ordering a blend is to buy one to smoke now and one (or more) to cellar. My typical approach is to order 11 tins of a blend at a time; that gives me 10 to stick in the cellar.
It's not like a fresh tin was out growing in a field yesterday! Many blenders age their blends before they release them. And, frankly, there are certain blends that taste much better when fresh than after they've had time to "mature." So nobody has to cellar tins or age them for any specific length of time. Totally your personal choice.
The other value to cellaring tobacco is that it will help you maintain a good stock of the blends you enjoy, even if production should slow (or stop entirely). And it helps to protect you from future price increases and regulatory actions.
Bob

 

[dervis]

Great advice already given. Ive had blends that after 5 years didnt notice a big difference, then again some blends ,milk and honey as an example, after 1 year improved 10 fold to my taste. You will just have to test and see what works for you.

 

[escioe]

If I had my druthers, 3 yrs would be a working minimum for me. That seems plenty of time for the flavors to start swapping spit. More is often better, but after 3 yrs there is a notable melding of flavors going on.

 

[thesmokindragon]

Just opened some 3yr old Jackknife plug, outstanding smoke :: SP.com now has it in 8oz tins. I suggest if you like these types of blends to stock up/set it away and come back in 3yrs...great fresh, but outstanding with 3yrs on the leaf :worship:
Dark-fired Kentucky Leaf and ripe red Virginia tobaccos, with their deep, earthy flavors, are layered on a central core of golden flue-cured for a hint of bright sweetness, then pressed and matured in cakes, and finally cut into 2oz blocks. Slice it thick and rub it out for a ribbon cut, thin for a shag or chop it into cubes. The choice is yours.

 

[andrew]

milk and honey as an example, after 1 year improved 10 fold to my taste.

Yeah Milk and honey I found that too, I had gotten a sample of it and loved it, then ordered a half pound and it was nothing like I remembered, then after sitting a bit in a mason jar the flavor I remember is starting to come back.

 

[onepyrotec]

Not doing myself any favors here, however you can jump start your aged seller by paying pipestud.com a visit.

 

[smeigs]

a guy in my pipe club and who also works at the B&M I go to brought some un opened tins in from the 70's. Amazing taste and it was great to smoke something that has been preserved that long. So, I guess you could age it as long as you want. I have a couple pounds that I am saving until I retire.. Only 16 more years hahah!!

 

[beefeater33]

I find that aged tobacco's are the best, and well worth seeking out. Just tonight I opened up a tin of Dunhill's Elizabethan from the 1980's, and man let me tell you.... this is some FINE Tobacco. I find that virginia based tobaccos improve for at LEAST 40 years, much like a great cabernet. Of course it has to be a quality leaf to start with.........

 

[jdmack09]

I was about to make my own thread on this, but I saw this one. Figured I'd post here instead of creating a new one.
What are some of your Favorite Tobacco Blends (Brand Name and Blend Name) to Age?

What is your preferred way of storing for the aging process?

If you use Mason jars what type of jar do you prefer, and do you vaccum seal or not?

If you vaccum seal why or not?
Curious as to see what blends age better then others I always here Virgina based blends age the best, and since I am new to Pipe Smoking and aging Tobacco I figured I'd ask these questions to see what the more Senior members prefer to do when they age their Tobacco.

 

[tarak]

Well obviously with many blends- especially Virginias, the more age, the better.
But I will say I've noticed differences at 6-8 months. Escudo for example. Fresh I didn't care for- about 8 months of age and I found it quite nice. Was it a drastic difference? No. But the perique chilled out a little, and the Virginias sweetened.
Now, the oldest I've tried was McClelland Christmas Cheer from 2001. I opened it in November 2013, stuck it in a jar, and finally smoked it last week.
Wow. That was quite a smoke. Almost otherworldly. And so naturally sweet my friend was convinced it was an aromatic. Now that's a dramatic difference!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

IMO, while Virginias may see the most change in aging, "some" Virginias do not age well. Don't get me wrong, I have had some Virginias that rocked the aging process; however, some lose their sweetness, and less sweet ones can become like smoking dirt. Esoterica Tilbury was one that I didn't like aged. I picked up a couple of tins that were in the back of the of storeroom the Briary. One was about five years old, and the other was way older, but he didn't know the exact age. They kept their seal and had not ever seen any significant swings in temperature. Any traces of sweetness had left the Virginias, and the burley had aged to make the rest taste like dirt, leaving the whole mix tasting like you had just crumpled up some leaves, sticks, and dirt from the floor of the woods and tried to smoke them, Blech! A fresh tin of Tilbury, renewed my faith in this blend, giving me a whole new perspective on it. I just don't recommend aging that one.
There are a couple of other aged blends that I don't recommend aging as opposed to just enjoying a fresh tin, McConnell's Oriental, MacBarrens Mixture (Scottish), and their Matured Virginia, seem to all get dirty tasting with a significant loss in sweetness.
I am guessing that it is the burley mixed in and the type of stoved Virginia used. And, I am curious as to whether age will do Mac Barren's Old Dark Fired any good, as it is the same sort of blend as Tilbury. And, Per Jensen had mentioned that the blend wasn't produced with any intention of aging, as aging tobacco on purpose (to him) was more of an American trend.

 

[andrew]

Personally I find most bulk tobacco needs even just a month or so sitting in an airtight jar to marry the flavors. I also recommend sealing the jars by warming them then screwing on the top so there's an airtight vacuum seal as some people have had tobacco go moldy

 

[rmbittner]

Cosmic:
I think you just convinced me to not let my 2013 bag of Tilbury sit around much longer!
I've also mentioned a lot here that I don't think Penzance improves with age either. It's still quite a delicious blend after years in the tin, but I much prefer it when it's young. There is some magical quality in the retrohale that vanishes after even a couple of years in the cellar.
Bob

 

[davidintexas]

Thanks for the imput everyone. This certainly helps me in thinking about what to age, what not, and if so, which ones for how long. It can get confusing with all the myriads of blends out there.

 

[Dutch Pipe Smoker]

I kindly refer to my latest blogpost for info about the ageing of tobacco: The older the better