I've been smoking a pipe for a year and a half, now. I'm still sampling, and my taste is still evolving, so I haven't gone too deep, yet.
I tend to buy samples in a four ounce size, and store them in bale-top jars. Experience tells me that the bale top jars will keep it fresh for at least a year. If I still want that blend after the sample is gone, I order a pound, also stored in bale top jars. When I notice that my pound jars are going down quickly, I buy another pound to store "permanently" in Mason Jars.
Right now, I have far too many open jars, but I'm starting to narrow things down. I only have three pounds in long term storage, but they are the blends that I really, really love, and do not expect to ever stop loving.
Somebody said "variety is the spice of life," and that's true, but right now I have far too much variety. I'd like to get down to about 10 favorites, but always keep a steady stream of new stuff to sample.