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Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,735
27,430
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
Dear god ... This is where I'm headed. My wife got a glimpse at my cellar recently and it left her speechless. I think she's planning an intervention.
I can see it now. The doorbell rings, and it looks like Ed McMahon. You let him in, he takes off the Ed McMahon mask, and it's actually Russ Ouelette himelf, and he says: "Sir...we have to talk."
 

Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,735
27,430
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
I had an unexpected start to my cellaring. I've been piping less than two years, so I would just buy one aromatic tin at a time. Then I saw someone was purging their cellar on Craigslist, so I jumped on it. Mostly aromatics, some straight VAs, a couple VaPers and English blends. Still in tins for the most part (and for God knows how long), and some bulk stuff. That was back in August, and I'm just at the point now where everything but the bulk is jarred. It's hard to get Ball jars here, so I have the bulk in Ziploc bags with Boveda packets.

Anyway, the reason I'm sharing all this is because I wish to thank you for starting this thread! You got me thinking about how I need to do my own audit. I don't even know what some of that stuff is in there. And what the hell am I going to do with 15+ oz. of Captain Black Cherry? Ugh. I need an intern or something.
 
Jan 28, 2018
13,915
155,559
67
Sarasota, FL
I had an unexpected start to my cellaring. I've been piping less than two years, so I would just buy one aromatic tin at a time. Then I saw someone was purging their cellar on Craigslist, so I jumped on it. Mostly aromatics, some straight VAs, a couple VaPers and English blends. Still in tins for the most part (and for God knows how long), and some bulk stuff. That was back in August, and I'm just at the point now where everything but the bulk is jarred. It's hard to get Ball jars here, so I have the bulk in Ziploc bags with Boveda packets.

Anyway, the reason I'm sharing all this is because I wish to thank you for starting this thread! You got me thinking about how I need to do my own audit. I don't even know what some of that stuff is in there. And what the hell am I going to do with 15+ oz. of Captain Black Cherry? Ugh. I need an intern or something.
Buy 7 mil mylar bags and get rid of the zip lock bags. They're next to useless for anything other than short term storage and certainly useless completely for long term aging.
 

Razorback

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 4, 2019
104
470
Atlanta, GA
I keep an incredibly detailed spreadsheet of all of my pipe tobacco and cigars. It’s a lot of work, but it gives me a dopamine dump to look at it and know that I am set for my lifetime if need be.

It also helps me when trading. I can pull up the spreadsheet quickly to find out what I have and where it is, and not have to go rummaging through totes and boxes.
 

Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,735
27,430
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
Buy 7 mil mylar bags and get rid of the zip lock bags. They're next to useless for anything other than short term storage and certainly useless completely for long term aging.
That seems to be the consensus. Makes sense to me. I plan on selling most of the bulk, but that probably won't happen until the spring. I gave 'em a cursory look-see. Looks like I can use my wife's straightening iron to heat-seal those things. Thanks for the tip!
 
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May 2, 2018
3,975
30,777
Bucks County, PA
I pretty much know what I’ve got put up. There is nothing written down or on a computer. Every once in a while I’m surprised to find a tin I couldn’t remember purchasing...that’s always cool. Right now I’m pulling from jars mostly and letting tins age in dresser drawer darkness. I’ve got more than I’ll likely need, but missing a few things I want.?☕
 

seanv

Lifer
Mar 22, 2018
3,092
11,104
Canada
I use an app called Arborea. It is easy to add and sort. It also keeps track of my pipes and has a nice review function.

I'm just under 30 lbs now which should level out to be close to 14 years of smoking.
 

ebnash

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jun 5, 2019
243
2,591
49
Los Gatos, CA
Buy 7 mil mylar bags and get rid of the zip lock bags. They're next to useless for anything other than short term storage and certainly useless completely for long term aging.
Agreed, I moved all my open tobacco to Mylar Bags from Jars and it really compacts the space needed. I basically file the mylar bags in open tupper containers in my cigar cooler. My cellar is on the extreme of modest, for 2 reasons.

1. I typically only smoke 3-4 bowls per week
2. When I start building up inventory of cigars or pipe tobacco, I always end up selling it down. I've never been a collector, so I'm always trying to pair down, Also a little fear that I'll end up with many pounds of something I start to hate.

Based on what I have in tins and Mylar bags, I would be surprised if I have more than a pound of tobacco, at the moment.
 

jerseysam

Can't Leave
Mar 24, 2019
456
4,566
Liberty Township. OH
In working from the home office today, this thread inspired me to go check the nooks and crannies in my storage area between calls. I had been thinking "Damn, I need to jump on some Erinmore when it comes back in". I just found five pounds.....five pounds...of Erinmore and three pounds of Bob's Chocolate I had apparently jarred up back in 2019. I have 5 large jars of Salty Dog I'm looking at.....I don't think I remember even smoking that blend.

I could say "boy, that spreadsheet idea is a good one"....but the real lesson is more likely I just need to stop buying pipe tobacco. I'm 42 and I have enough to last me another couple decades. I've had 600+ cigars on-hand in a literal walk-in home humidor and never 'forgot' large portions of what I had. Maybe it's because pipe tobacco is so cheap, relative....but once you start making monthly buys damn this stuff piles up without you even thinking about it. If you are newer to pipe smoking, buying large short-term (and within your entertainment budget) not a bad play for sure....but for me at some point I've got to say "You know, with 100+ blends on hand I haven't even tried yet......maybe it's just time to chill with what I got". But maaaaaybe not quite yet this month. Or exception for the micro-blendors, that's also helping small businesses. Or special releases, because you know....?
 

finnian3

Starting to Get Obsessed
Feb 12, 2015
158
239
Illinois
I may be a committed aromatic man, but my cellar is wide. I like to age blends to see how they age. Going wide is risky because there are times when a tobacco just is not to my liking. I pull a jar, pack a pipe and spin the wheel.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,610
I have a really modest stash, but at my rate of consumption it will last a decade, and I'm notching it up a few tins or baggies, more than I have used between purchases, and absolutely no organized accounting. I enjoy digging through the stacks and discovering blends I'd almost forgotten. My last supervisor was always trying to get me to do spread sheets because they really show off at meetings. I did get "into" Power Point a little, but of course, in learning, I wanted to write poems on Power Point which wasn't the point. Huckleberry Finn Meets Bureaucracy.
 
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mordy18

Can't Leave
Mar 12, 2019
381
1,370
Northern New Jersey
In working from the home office today, this thread inspired me to go check the nooks and crannies in my storage area between calls. I had been thinking "Damn, I need to jump on some Erinmore when it comes back in". I just found five pounds.....five pounds...of Erinmore and three pounds of Bob's Chocolate I had apparently jarred up back in 2019. I have 5 large jars of Salty Dog I'm looking at.....I don't think I remember even smoking that blend.

I could say "boy, that spreadsheet idea is a good one"....but the real lesson is more likely I just need to stop buying pipe tobacco. I'm 42 and I have enough to last me another couple decades. I've had 600+ cigars on-hand in a literal walk-in home humidor and never 'forgot' large portions of what I had. Maybe it's because pipe tobacco is so cheap, relative....but once you start making monthly buys damn this stuff piles up without you even thinking about it. If you are newer to pipe smoking, buying large short-term (and within your entertainment budget) not a bad play for sure....but for me at some point I've got to say "You know, with 100+ blends on hand I haven't even tried yet......maybe it's just time to chill with what I got". But maaaaaybe not quite yet this month. Or exception for the micro-blendors, that's also helping small businesses. Or special releases, because you know....?
If i had hundreds of different blends in tins I probably wouldnt have taken the time to catalog it. It took me an hour to create the spreadsheet for 69. Gave me a feeing of satisfaction and just may help curtail additional purchases which will be wholly unnecessary. 10-12 pounds will likely last me 20 years.
 
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