I think it was last year? Sometime in 2013?
I'm not really too sure though.
Hopefully, someone can answer with a more precise date.
I haven't got one of the new bags yet.
The old cream bags seemed to have developed a bad rep for pinholes in the laminate where it crinkled or the flake tray ate through the material, and threads/pictures popped up all about 'em, like this famous flashlight gif...
...the new bags also seem to show up with integrity issues, look at the last photo in this thread, the flake tray can still rub through the material...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/thoughts-on-esotericas-packaging
btw
Does anybody have a pic of the very earliest Esoterica 8oz. packaging? I thought they looked cool, saw a couple on Pipestud's shoppe a while back but failed to save the image.