Be Wary Of 1 Pound Gawith Bags

[bluegrassbrian]

When I saw a 1lb. bag of Gawith Best Brown pop up on Pipestuds site last weekend I just had to have it. Best Brown is one of my favorites, and with significant age it becomes transcendental.
As is usually the case when I buy tobacco this old I nearly have a crisis situation trying to decide if I should open it or wait. I figured what the hell, let's get it jarred up.

There was no tobacco smell, only dank mildew. The flakes felt like wet cardboard. It was a nightmare in a Mylar bag.

Ofcourse, Mr. Pipestud took care of me.

If you decide to take a chance on a similar 1lb'er, make sure it's from an honorable and reputable seller.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That breaks my heart, seriously. I feel like... I just can't talk about it. It looks so promising, until the third picture, and then it just gets worse and worse. I feel for you, man. That sucks.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I went from excited elation to dismal devastation REALLY fast.

 

[cortezattic]

So sad to see such a fine blend go to rot. But, who would've thought?!

 

[oldtoby]

Sad to see.
But that's the chance one takes when gambling on those ancient tobaccos. Also, beware of those old C&D shoe polish tins. They'll break your heart every time as well. Glad Steve made it right for you.

 

[jacks6]

Oh my god....

 

[peckinpahhombre]

So what do we think happened? You mention it was wet, so I take it that means that the bag wasn't compromised because the tobacco wasn't dried out. Does that mean it just rotted from the internal moisture? If so, I assume the same could happen with a tin?

 

[hawky454]

Ouch!!!

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Well Peck, we all know about the Gawith moisture level. Ive had a couple tins of FVF and BB around 10-12 years old and the contents were more dry than fresh tins.
I considered maybe that the bag itself, while certainly sealed and assumed air tight, could have been stored in a very warm or hot environment.

 

[sablebrush52]

That's a shame about the tobacco, and kudos to Pipestud, since this isn't his problem and he still took care of you.
Buying vintage tobacco is always a gamble and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Tobaccos weren't made or packaged with the idea that they would be good for decades before consumption.
Tins fail and the tobacco dries out, tobacco goes bad inside a good tin because something microscopic happened that day on the production line that wouldn't have mattered if the tobacco hadn't been sitting for 20 or more years. Seals on jars get brittle and go poof! leaving the contents to gradually dry out.
It's all a gamble.

 

[thomasw]

Yes, if sealed, for the most part that is anaerobic mold. Heat will contribute to that process. When oxygen is present (aerobic respiration) cells use enzymes to convert glucose to carbon dioxide and water, releasing lots of energy in the process. ... As the temperature rises the rate of cellular respiration increases as enzymes work better in warmer conditions to a point. Too warm and enzymes denature very quickly.

 

[kola]

Sure glad he got it from Captain Steve instead of ebay. I doubt many (if any) ebay sellers would have made it right.
This is why I jar everything and I'm cautious about buying aged baccy.
Of note: I don't see any visible signs of mold from the pictures posted nor are there any indications of fermentation crystals either. ??? Is it posible the bag was not sealed or leaked and it just dried out?

 

[pipebuddy]

What a shame. Luckily for you, you bought from Steve. Not all sellers are as trustworthy as he is.

The problems with vintage tobaccos always originate from where and how they were stored. For example, I was lucky to get my hands on some Dobie's Four Square London Mixture tins made in the UK a few years back. I don't know where they had been stored but despite the seal having held on, the tobacco tasted awful. Like dust combined with fowl humidity. It left a disgusting aftertaste in my mouth. Also, I got a tin of Erinmore Flake from Murray's and it smelled and tasted like alcohol that had gone sour. It was gross.

Personally, I am not being anything vintage ever again. The only vintage tobaccos I will smoke are the tins aging in my cellar.

 

[kola]

Older aged tobaccos may start drawing in lower values (from those that are educated about the risks) I've sure seen quite a bit of problems as of late.
I'm not sure what the risk is in regards to age factor, but just guessing - maybe anything over 5 years could belly up. That's if it's still in the factory tin or bag. (mason jars seem to be reliably safe for long term storage and aging)
In the last few years I've really starting to tippy-toe around about buying aged tobacco and taking the freaking risk (sadly, older GLP tins comes to mind as I got burned badly, twice)

 

[briarbuck]

Get more impressed with PS every day. Straight shooter.
I agree with everyone and think you all should stop buying aged tobaccos. It's just too much risk...

 

[mrenglish]

That is just depressing.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Kola, if you look at the last 2 pictures -

There's narrow white streaks along the flakes that were "webby" in texture.

What I assumed was also some form of mold appears as a brown powdery coating in the last picture. Could just be tobacco "rot".
It was almost like the whole package had been dipped in water and then sealed up.
Perhaps there's a moisture to relative enclosed space ratio to consider.

 

[seacaptain]

I never liked any of the SG tins I bought. The tobacco may have been great but not worth it when you have to drain the tin like a can of sardines and put the flakes in a dehydrator for 8 hrs. to dry.
I'm not surprised their 1lb. bags would end up like this.

 

[kola]

Yeah, thanks BG Brian,it's hard to tell from the pics but yeah that stuff looks nasty any way ya slice it. Plus you said it smells like hell.

 

[craiginthecorn]

My recent bag of Esoterica Tobacciana Penzance was sopping wet. Ironically, I opened it earlier than expected because when I tried opening the only tin I had of it, which was from 2016, the lid practically fell off and the tobacco inside felt like brittle Styrofoam. I stuck the super-dry and super-dry tobaccos in a common jar and a couple weeks later the moisture had equalized. Now all of it is moist, but not enough that I'm worried about mold.
My most recent 250g bag of SG FVF was fine as was the ribbon-cut Skiff Mixture.