196 different blends. Half at home and half at the office. 90% Va's and weighs about what I do. lol
Cellar Audit
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Here’s an Excel tip - password protecting your Excel file.
1. Go to File > Info
2. Select Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password.
This will protect you regarding the divorce proceedings or psychiatric commitment process.
1. Go to File > Info
2. Select Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password.
This will protect you regarding the divorce proceedings or psychiatric commitment process.
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."
I have something North of 2.000 tins. I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track. It's not 100% accurate but close enough. I have around the same amount in bulk.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
The cellar discussions on this forum always make me feel better. I look at my 69 unopened tins and 30 jars and say holy shit that’s a lot of tobacco. Then I see “2000 tins” and immediately head to SP to do some shopping.
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.?
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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.
I'm just under 30 lbs now which should level out to be close to 14 years of smoking.
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.
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....?
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....?
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.
Some people have heart attacks when they hear the word "audit"...I personally despise that word. ?
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.
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.
Instead of an audit I kind of like the idea of surprising myself over the years by pulling out tins I forgot I even had. With nearly 200 unique blends it shouldn't be hard to do.
My hat's off to those with the intestinal fortitude to take on this herculean task. I lack the interest. I like the mystery. If I run out of smokes, so be it.
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