Cellaring- How Long is too Long?

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HalfMadHatter

Lurker
Jun 21, 2023
33
48
30
Ohio
Blends dissapearing, brands going under (Dunhill, mcClellands) tobacco crops suffering as all the tobacco is grown many for cigarettes now so not quality tobacco. Tobacco varieties disappearing (Syrian lat) WW3. I suggest go hard it's not getting any cheaper. I lucked out and took this advice about 8 years ago and probably have more than I'll smoke. And I'm 46. When jarring be careful, I went with the lazy way of stuffing tobacco in and screwing on the lid and a few ive opened have been dried out and aging never happened. Hot water bath then put the lid on and you'll have an airtight seal. The button should pop in. Avoid gasket jars except for what you're actively smoking they don't hold moisture in long term
This basically echoes the reason I'm doing it now even while I have so long to go. Do you heat up just the Mason jars by themselves and then put the tobacco in and cap while hot? I've canned before so I understand the concept. But obviously it's quite different with this
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,416
47,751
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Not a bad suggestion, but I have a question? If we took 10 tins of the same blend, aged them for 10 years, would all 10 tins taste the same or would their be minor, or perhaps major, variations in how each tin tastes? I don't know the answer but it is intriguing. My point is that perhaps not all 10 year old tins of tobacco will exhibit the same effects from aging.
I can only speak from my experience, but the answer to whether or not the same blend, bought at the same time, stored next to each other in the same environment will age differently, and that the difference will be significant, is yes.
The effects of aging are unpredictable. Sometimes the result is very pleasing, other times not at all. It’s a crapshoot.
I never bought specifically to age, but to have blends I like available, since they have a way of disappearing without warning, or getting reformulated without warning. Aging is just a byproduct.
 

Elric

Lifer
Sep 19, 2019
2,253
10,286
Liplapper Lane (Michigan)
Anecdotal...
For our monthly pipe club meeting last week, I dug a 2015 tin of Esoterica Margate (English) and a 2016 tin of Torben Danske Black Velvet (aromatic). Both were still fairly moist and both smelled and tasted good. I was told by one member that the Black Velvet tasted better than the newer Black Velvet he recently smoked.

IN MY OPINION, some of the aromatics that I have smoked do get better over time as the flavors meld together more. The toppings and casing can change by becoming more muted and that will change the taste and aroma.
You raise a very good point. I should have qualified "cheap aros" (e.g. those that hide unfavorable tobacco under the sauce) vs. those made with higher quality base ingredients. I happily stand corrected. :)
 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,503
4,915
Slidell, LA
You raise a very good point. I should have qualified "cheap aros" (e.g. those that hide unfavorable tobacco under the sauce) vs. those made with higher quality base ingredients. I happily stand corrected. :)
There are a number of good tobacco companies that produce aromatics with high quality base ingredients. Most of the aros I like were actually produced by Kohlhase & Kopp over in Germany.
 
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Elric

Lifer
Sep 19, 2019
2,253
10,286
Liplapper Lane (Michigan)
There are a number of good tobacco companies that produce aromatics with high quality base ingredients. Most of the aros I like were actually produced by Kohlhase & Kopp over in Germany.
Agreed. I've was always partial to DTM Sweet Vanilla Honeydew due to the wonderful base Virginias, but I haven't smoked it in years. Now I have to dig a tin out of the cellar and see how it (and it's memory) holds up.
 
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Auxsender

Lifer
Jul 17, 2022
1,063
5,565
Nashville
Not a bad suggestion, but I have a question? If we took 10 tins of the same blend, aged them for 10 years, would all 10 tins taste the same or would their be minor, or perhaps major, variations in how each tin tastes? I don't know the answer but it is intriguing. My point is that perhaps not all 10 year old tins of tobacco will exhibit the same effects from aging.
I suspect that if each tin were made during the same run/batch and stored in the same place for the same amount of time, the subjective experience of smoking them would be identical.
 

MattRVA

Lifer
Feb 6, 2019
4,461
37,050
Richmond Virginia
I’d say slow down a little. I made the mistake of buying loads of tobacco when I started. It’s good to have but unnecessary. You’re so young you might not even be smoking in 10 years. Get to know the blends you have now and give yourself a year at least before you start spending a lot of money on tobacco. That’s my advice. Welcome and I truly wish you the best.
 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,059
428
This basically echoes the reason I'm doing it now even while I have so long to go. Do you heat up just the Mason jars by themselves and then put the tobacco in and cap while hot? I've canned before so I understand the concept. But obviously it's quite different with this
Actually it's essentially canning your tobacco. The difference is the heat involved. You just need the jars to be somewhat hot, not burn your hands hot, as it cools they'll suck in. Easiest way is fill all the jars, put in oven briefly to warm jars, pull out and seal.
 
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krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,300
20,129
Michigan
Increasing prices, increasing taxation, dwindling g supplies if raw tobacco, banning online sales. Not much good news. But all you can afford and store it.
I agree - get what you can now. I’ve got what should be a lifetime supply, but I’m sure there will be some popped tins and loose jar lids. There will probably also be a few tins that are just past their prime by the time I open them. If it’s still possible/affordable to do so in 10 or 12 years, maybe I’ll buy a several pounds of bulk Virginias as a hedge. If not, I’ll cross my fingers when I pop open old tins
 

greysmoke

Can't Leave
Apr 28, 2011
371
1,643
South Coatesville, PA
www.greysmoke.com
Most of my cellar is from 1998 to 2012, and it’s mostly Latakia. I now have more tobacco than I’ll ever need. FWIW I find that it always improves with age, but there’s a curve. Like wine, at some point it begins to diminish. Even so, I don’t have a single tobacco of any age that I can’t enjoy. Squirrel away an extra tin now and then. It eventually adds up.
 

woodsroad

Lifer
Oct 10, 2013
12,422
19,174
SE PA USA
Blends dissapearing, brands going under (Dunhill, mcClellands)
Dunhill stopped blending decades ago.

McClelland, on the other hand…

I recently found a jar of Rose of Latakia from 2013. I was really looking forward to a flashback smoke of McC wonderfullness. Instead, I found that the Latakia had faded, and the resulting bowl was unremarkable. Not bad, mind you, but nothing out of the ordinary.

IMG_5984.jpeg
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
44,398
114,189
tobacco crops suffering as all the tobacco is grown many for cigarettes now so not quality tobacco.
Tobacco's primary purpose has always been mainly cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The pipe tobacco industry has just benefited from it. Dark Fired Kentucky is mainly grown for chewing but works well in smoking blends.
 
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andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,059
428

Dunhill stopped blending decades ago.

Yes I'm aware, Dunhill stopped blending and Murray's took up production, then STG, and now Peterson. The point being Dunhill stopped producing tobacco, so if you were an original Dunhill smoker, you would probably be dissapointed in the murrays version and probably extremely dissapointed in the current stg/peterson incarnation. The point being cellar while you can get it because you dont know what tomorrow brings.
 

andrew

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,059
428
Tobacco's primary purpose has always been mainly cigarettes and chewing tobacco. The pipe tobacco industry has just benefited from it. Dark Fired Kentucky is mainly grown for chewing but works well in smoking blends.
Yes that's common sense. But this is why mcClelland retired, because they could no longer source tobacco that met their standards, which means tobacco farmers are more than likely growing all their tobacco pretty much for chew and cigarettes, whereas before I guess some grew exceptionally good leaf meant for Pipe tobacco. Canada used to be a huge tobacco source, we produced many cigars, but then I guess there were other crops more valuable to grow