It's a good thing there were no online pipe forums when I started cellaring: I may have never started...
Cellaring- How Long is too Long?
- Thread starter HalfMadHatter
- Start date
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This describes a few of my dates in the early 80’s.
One started sucking her thumb, she got dropped off at the 7/11.
You’re young. Get what you want now, and buy up our cellars as we old folks die.
I have a few jars of 10 year old tobacco now but I keep buying new stuff at a pace where I never dip into the old so I can't say what the effect really is.
What I've heard most commonly is Latakia loses flavor fastest.
Anything laced with Perique will probably taste good forever.
What was the moisture content?
Whenever I crack open a half empty old tin, the difference between dry Latakia and wet is night and day.
I’m only a bit older at 34, and I’ve had the same thoughts. My plan is to cellar 15-20 years worth (luckily I really only like VAs and VAPers), then replace as I smoke. I don’t think most blends will hold up strongly past 20 years based on what I’ve read, so I don’t see the need to cellar beyond that.
I’m still concerned about tobacco being all but banned by the time I’m an old codger, so I plan to experiment with home blending and growing. I’m looking into home blending now, and will try growing in a few years when my cellar is a little more complete and I have more time.
I’m still concerned about tobacco being all but banned by the time I’m an old codger, so I plan to experiment with home blending and growing. I’m looking into home blending now, and will try growing in a few years when my cellar is a little more complete and I have more time.
Adding this to the thread for historical purposes: A Complete Guide to Aging and Cellaring Pipe Tobaccos - https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/comprehensive-guide-aging-and-cellaring-pipe-tobaccos
You never know -- I'm buying a wide variety of stuff in case I get bored down the road.
I’ve got a few others cellared, but I’ve been smoking for 14 years and always gravitated towards VA, so I’m hedging that it’ll stick.You never know -- I'm buying a wide variety of stuff in case I get bored down the road.
So I've been smoking a pipe for 4.5 years at this point. First six months, I bought small samples or single tins and tried probably a couple dozen blends. I saw all the online chatter about deeming regulations and all that, plus I started not that long after McClelland ceased production and the STG Dunhills disappeared. I knew that smoking a pipe was something I really enjoyed and I'm not really one of those dudes that has a million hobbies taking up his time and money. I figured I could probably spend a little money on some tobacco for a rainy day. Then my landlord sold my house from under me, and my wife and I were given 3 weeks notice to vacate a home we'd lived in for 7 or 8 years, and we had to be out like two days before Christmas. We couldn't find a place that fast and ended up moving into my parents place to regroup and look for a new pad. Then Covid happened. I worked every single day and had more money than I'd ever seen in my life (good paycheck, no rent or household bills). I decided to start cellaring. I had the time, money, and space. I built up a cellar that will probably last me the next 15 years. But I rushed into it. I was smoking a ton of English blends at the time. So I bought a ton of English blends. Now, a tin of Westminster will last a couple months, not the couple weeks it used to. I wish I would have taken some more time to figure out what I liked, instead of rushing into buying a shitload of English blends. Luckily, I figured out I was a burley guy towards the end of that buying spree and stocked up on some of my favorites. I'm good for a while now, but I'd be better if I thought it out more.
I haven't seen anyone mention this yet but, as others have noted, I might slow down the buying a little bit too. Since you're fairly new to pipe smoking, there's a very high chance that your tastes will change over time. And if they do, what do you do with a lifetime supply of tobaccos that you no longer like to smoke? I'd keep trying new blends and when you find some that you like a lot, buy some of that for cellaring.
I would think that just about any blend that has been sitting in a tin/jar/Mylar for 40+ years is going to have deteriorated to some degree. There are exceptions to every rule, but if it were me, I would not shoot for that length of aging.
Here is what I do...
I usually buy 5-10 tins at a time or 1-2 pounds of bulk at a time of blends that I have tried and know I like, or blends that are from blenders I like and have components that I know that I like. I'll usually read the reviews of them (really only @JimInks or @pipestud on tobaccoreviews.com; I tend to trust their palates) to get a sense of the overall flavors that I know I like.
I'll usually open a tin fresh and smoke a bit it to get a feel for it if it's a blend I've never tried. 90% of the time I have chosen wisely. The ones that I don't necessarily care for go into a jar or Mylar and I'll wait and try it again in a few months to a year. Some blends do improve for my tastes after a little time.
If it's a blend I have already tried, I generally just put them in cellar and date them.
I'll usually open another tin in a couple of years to see how it's doing and if it is aging favorably.
The rest sit in the cellar until I'm ready to pop them open. But I can tell you that I probably will not let any of my blends reach 30yrs old. They will probably be consumed within the 10-20 year mark, and most by the 7-9 year mark.
Maybe a tin or two here and there that I will keep around that long just so I can say I've tried tobacco that old, but we'll see.
My cellar contains mostly Virginia and Va/Pers, but I do have a decent amount of English Blends that have aged very nicely over the past several years. 6 year old GL Pease Quiet Nights is quite the experience in my opinion.
Good luck and keep us posted on how your cellar progresses!
Here is what I do...
I usually buy 5-10 tins at a time or 1-2 pounds of bulk at a time of blends that I have tried and know I like, or blends that are from blenders I like and have components that I know that I like. I'll usually read the reviews of them (really only @JimInks or @pipestud on tobaccoreviews.com; I tend to trust their palates) to get a sense of the overall flavors that I know I like.
I'll usually open a tin fresh and smoke a bit it to get a feel for it if it's a blend I've never tried. 90% of the time I have chosen wisely. The ones that I don't necessarily care for go into a jar or Mylar and I'll wait and try it again in a few months to a year. Some blends do improve for my tastes after a little time.
If it's a blend I have already tried, I generally just put them in cellar and date them.
I'll usually open another tin in a couple of years to see how it's doing and if it is aging favorably.
The rest sit in the cellar until I'm ready to pop them open. But I can tell you that I probably will not let any of my blends reach 30yrs old. They will probably be consumed within the 10-20 year mark, and most by the 7-9 year mark.
Maybe a tin or two here and there that I will keep around that long just so I can say I've tried tobacco that old, but we'll see.
My cellar contains mostly Virginia and Va/Pers, but I do have a decent amount of English Blends that have aged very nicely over the past several years. 6 year old GL Pease Quiet Nights is quite the experience in my opinion.
Good luck and keep us posted on how your cellar progresses!
Yeah I plan on growing my own eventually too. Right now I'm living on the road though so not really an option. Or I'd be starting now
I've been smoking a 25 year old F&T Golden Mixture that I got for $35 bucks and all I can say is DAM it feels good to be a gangster. Dont even know who was producing it then. But if there is a blend you really really like buy an already aged tin and if it's good buy it by the sleeve and stock up. I only have a handful of blends ( a couple of each genre) that I stock up on but no time like the present.
I bet lots of members are in that boat. English blends like Nightcap were the first that I bought multiples at a time, too.
The thing is too if you open an old tin or jar smoke it, don't have a bowl then put it away, it degrades pretty fast from what I hear
I think this is way overexaggerated. I stock up heavily on my favorite blends and have a ton of jarred blends. I open them to have bowls now and then and they've done well for years now. They only start to deteriorate when they are mostly empty.
Take your time and build up what you like. Some go a little nuts and buy too much of a tobacco they fall out of love with, then they bring that tobacco to their pipe club again and again and…
Enjoy try not to obsess
Enjoy try not to obsess