Cellar Inventory - failed seal found

[DonutLuvr]

Haven’t posted in a minute and limited my time browsing tobacco groups to keep my TAD spending to a minimum.

I decided today to take an inventory of my deep cellar and came across my tins of Cringle Flake from 2022. As I was placing a few out of storage onto a table to take photos and count of what I have, I felt the contents of one tin to be very loose. It didn’t feel right compared to the others.

Fearing that the seal was broke, I decided to test it and it twisted right off with gentle prodding and no swoosh of air. Immediately I see rust around the edges of the tin.

Now I am faced with do I jar and smoke this or pitch it. I don’t want to get into “is it plume or mold” debate but for visual comparison, I opened up a sealed can as well to compare the flakes.

What would you do? Last photo with the tobacco still in an opened tin was my “control tin” of same blend that was steal sealed and swooshed of air when opening.

 

[ziv]

Sounds like you have two tins of Cringle Flake to smoke now!

 

[NookersTheCat]

I'd rehydrate and send it... although apparently many here would say its at perfect dryness level rn

 

[DonutLuvr]

Sounds like you have two tins of Cringle Flake to smoke now!

I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve jarred the two tins into mason jars and going to report back on the unsealed tin results - fingers crossed no issues

 

[PaulRVA]

Smoke Dat !

 

[khiddy]

As that song that the kiddos love so much goes, "LET IT GO, LET IT GO!"

 

[mortonbriar]

Whether you like it or not, 'Is it plume or mold' is really the only factor concerning whether you are encouraged to smoke it or not. Plume is nice crystals, mold is...mold, well down here in New Zealand it is also mould.

 

[Brad H]

Spray with fine mist of distilled water to give it little hydration if it’s crunchy, and smoke it.

 

[sablebrush52]

If it’s just very dry, but not dried out, I’d say thanks for the gift, jar it and smoke it.

 

[kcmontie]

That sux. But it kinda comes with the territory of aging tobacco. Eventually we all will have some bad seals. I say smoke it. If its taste bad, pitch it.

 

[B.Lew]

Smoke it likes it’s hot. Smoke it likes it hot. If the seal pops an attitude. Smoke it likes it’s hot.

Maybe mix the two tins together to help level out the moisture. Pop on some Maria Carey Christmas tunes and call it a day.

 

[huntertrw]

Cellar Inventory - failed seal found​

 

[DonutLuvr]

If it’s just very dry, but not dried out, I’d say thanks for the gift, jar it and smoke it.

It’s very dry - I broke a flake in half but it didn’t all disintegrate into tiny pieces like some flakes I did and left in a jar without lid I forgot about for several months.

 

[sablebrush52]

It’s very dry - I broke a flake in half but it didn’t all disintegrate into tiny pieces like some flakes I did and left in a jar without lid I forgot about for several months.

Smoke a flake to see how it smokes. If you’re happy with the results, jar the rest and enjoy. If you’re not happy, rehydrate for an hour using distilled water, jar for a week to allow the moisture to evenly distribute and try again. Most Virginias offer better flavors when smoked very dry.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Sounds like this stuff is ready to smoke.

 

[DonutLuvr]

Update: I’ve smoked two bowls from the tin with the seal that failed. Very muted flavor and almost one dimensional. It is most likely a goner but got some hope so gonna attempt rehydration and see if it brings it back to life. If not, to the trash it goes.

Night and day difference compared to the sealed tin that I’ve had one bowl of already.

I’m actually glad I came across it when I did - it’s got me thinking about how I’m managing my cellar and rethinking going the Mylar bag route - at least for a lot of my jarred blends.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

Load it, light it, smoke it...

 

[anotherbob]

Haven’t posted in a minute and limited my time browsing tobacco groups to keep my TAD spending to a minimum.

I decided today to take an inventory of my deep cellar and came across my tins of Cringle Flake from 2022. As I was placing a few out of storage onto a table to take photos and count of what I have, I felt the contents of one tin to be very loose. It didn’t feel right compared to the others.

Fearing that the seal was broke, I decided to test it and it twisted right off with gentle prodding and no swoosh of air. Immediately I see rust around the edges of the tin.

Now I am faced with do I jar and smoke this or pitch it. I don’t want to get into “is it plume or mold” debate but for visual comparison, I opened up a sealed can as well to compare the flakes.

What would you do? Last photo with the tobacco still in an opened tin was my “control tin” of same blend that was steal sealed and swooshed of air when opening.

Jar it. It's super rare for people to ask the mold plume question if it's mold. (yeah I know it's supposedly all mold, but one could do bad things to you and the other does wonderful things to the smoke). When it's the bad kind you don't have to ask you can smell and see how bad it really is.
But that's why I say check the seals semiregularly.
And seriously jar it. No matter what it actually is plume results in very good smokes. Adds something to the over all flavor.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I wouldn't bother jarring it, I'd just smoke it. There will be a small percentage of seals that are compromised over time. It could have happened if you happened to drop the tin. Or it was dropped or jarred in handling, shipping, at the retailer, etc.. It is a very small percentage. Smoke it and enjoy it.

 

[HeadMisfit]

You do know its not meant to be like stored for years before smoking right?