Aromatics That Don't Cellar Well

[Skippy B. Coyote]

I have many aromatics that I've kept sealed up in Ball jars for 2 or 3 years and they've retained their aromas and flavors just fine, and still smoke like the day I put them in the jar. Cult Blood Red Moon, Mac Baren Vanilla Cream, Sutliff Pumpkin Spice, and anything made by Gawith Hoggarth have all cellared really well.

However, in going through my cellar recently I stumbled on 3 particular aromatics that I put in Ball jars a year ago in September that have really not cellared well at all and I was curious if there are any other aromatics I should be aware of that simply don't keep in long-term storage. The 3 I found that didn't cellar well are...


Captain Black Original: After a year in a jar it's lost most of its sweetness and that vanilla sweet cream coffee creamer sort of top note is about half as strong as it was when I jarred it up a year ago. The tin note still smells nice and it still produces a pleasant room note, but it's lost the majority of it's sweetness and aromatic flavor when smoked.

Super Value Bourbon Whiskey: When I jarred this one up a year ago the whiskey aroma was so intense that it would just about knock you over if you stuck your nose in the jar and took a whiff and smoking it would provide the most intense whiskey flavor I've ever tasted from a pipe tobacco. But now a year later the whiskey aroma is really faint. When smoked it's the same experience, with most of the whiskey flavor having faded away and leaving in it's place a smooth but rather plain OTC burley blend.

Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening: This one cellared by far the worst. After a year in a jar the tin note still smells relatively the same, but when smoked it tastes absolutely foul like the topping spoiled and turned rancid. It's a soul, acrid, rancid oil sort of flavor like maple syrup that has gone bad.


Those are the aromatics that I've found to not cellar well and didn't keep a year for me. Are there any that you've found to not last very long when cellared away?

 

[beef]

That's good to know that GH cellars well because I just fell in love with Bosun cut plug. In my experience, after a year, both SG Grousemoor and Perfection lost their flavour. I was left with some virginia and an english blend. It was sad because I very much enjoyed both. I just don't smoke them quickly enough.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I tried some Erinmore Flake that was past the 10 year mark. Pretty bland. I didn’t get any of the juicy fruit flavor at all.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

That's good to know that GH cellars well because I just fell in love with Bosun cut plug. In my experience, after a year, both SG Grousemoor and Perfection lost their flavour. I was left with some virginia and an english blend. It was sad because I very much enjoyed both. I just don't smoke them quickly enough.

I certainly can't speak to all Gawith Hoggarth blends, but my Ennerdale Flake, Jamaican/Rum Flake, and Kendal Black Cherry have all been cellared in jars for over a year now and seem to have lost none of their aroma or flavor.

I'm definitely looking forward to trying Bosun Cut Plug when it's back in stock at SmokingPipes in the US, along with #7 Broken Flake and Glengarry Flake. I'm a little iffy on Kendal Dark and the particular floral scenting used in Coniston Cut Plug, but other than those two I've yet to meet a Gawith blend that I didn't like!

 

[Danimal92sport]

I guess I’ll add Super Value Bourbon Whiskey to the list - I bought a 12oz bag at a B&M that must have been sitting there forever. I never could find a date on the bag. I read about the intense whiskey bag note and flavor and I get zero. Just a very bland, mostly non-aro light tobacco. It’s fine, but it’s so boring I think I might toss it.

 

[Hutch Piper]

In my experience aromatics do not cellar well. I try to smoke through the few I have within a year’s time.

 

[kcghost]

Some aromatics cellar well but most do not. It is usually the cheaper ones that don't cellar well.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I’m a little surprised that Captain Black suffered so much. Figured it was one of the more “shelf-stable” blends out there!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Were I going to store aromatics, I would vacuum seal the mason jars. I have no evidence but I doubt aromatics would fare well with really long term storage, say 5 years or longer.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

As a little update to this thread, today I checked on my jar of Gawith Hoggarth Ennerdale Flake that's been cellared away for the past 15 months and it seems to have lost at least half of it's aroma and the tobacco has become quite dry. The jar was still sealed perfectly fine and gave a good pop when I opened it, so I don't think it was an air seal issue, it seems like the current Ennerdale sauce proportions just don't fare well in long-term storage so I'm afraid my assertion about all Gawith Hoggarth blends cellaring well may have been incorrect.

On the flip side, my 11 month old jar Bob's Chocolate Flake seems to have lost none of it's chocolatey'ness or moisture, so that's good! My equally old Kendal Black Cherry seems just fine as well, though maybe a touch drier than I remember it being when I put it in the jar.

I think what I'm coming to learn, as kcghost pointed out, is that the majority of aromatics just don't cellar all that well and that ones that do are more of the exception than the rule. I'm thankful that my several year old jars of Mac Baren Vanilla Flake/Loose Cut/Roll Cake and Cult Blood Red Moon all seem to still be as good as the day I put them in the jar, but that still leaves 30 or so jars of aromatics that probably aren't going to last another year. I suppose that's one way to clear the undersmoked blends out of your cellar.

 

[Copperhead]

I'm working through a large jar of Capt. Black original that I jarred in Feb. 2017. I purchased in bulk (not cans or pouches) and it's fine, I'm actually really liking it and find myself grabbing it often.

I liked the other jars that I burned through, too.