Does Re-Hydrating Affect Tobacco Flavor?

[carlomarx]

I don't often smoke during the winter but I keep some tobacco readily available in a vintage glass humidor. The humidor does not seal air tight so I use humidifier discs to keep the tobacco from becoming too dry. It seems to me that the flavor diminishes after repeating the process of re-hydrating over the winter months. This applies to Granger, SWRA, and Boswell's North Woods.
Is this real or a function of my imagination?

 

[carlomarx]

Mea culpa, I forgot to bold the title.

 

[anotherbob]

yeah it does. Especially with certain flavors. Some more then others. Though rarely unless it's gotten really dry does it ruin the taste.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Drying out for long periods of time will lessen the flavor. Repeatedly rehydrating and drying out will diminish the flavor even more and risk mold growth. I would never use a humidor for pipe tobacco. All of mine not in tins are sealed in mason jars.

 

[Sonorisis]

It's the drying out where the flavor is lost, not in the rehydrating.

 

[Gecko]

A friend of mine described it as the tobacco dying when it goes dry. I found this to be true, it loses flavor and nuance if let to dry out.

Keeping it hydrated for long periods of time by keeping it in an environment with sufficient relative humidity like in a well functioning humidor where it's not allowed to go dry is totally fine and not detrimental for the tobacco. It's letting it get dry that causes the damage.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

I agree with the other chaps, every time I've rehydrated tobacco its lost both flavour and nuance.

 

[billjohnso20]

Drying out can be used intentionally to reduce the flavors of some over the top blends that use way too much flavoring. Yes, it is not the best practice but I've done it with success.

 

[lochinvar]

I'm guessing its the oils that evaporate along with the moisture that does them in. I've never really rehydrated a blend to my satisfaction using just water, it just seems to be bleh. I usually take the opportunity to try flavoring the tobacco with rum or sherry or some other spirit, to add a little backbone to the depleted tobacco. It has allowed me to try combinations on tobaccos I wouldn't usually experiment with. For example, Rattray's Red Rapparee rehydrated with Lustau Amontillado sherry is right tasty.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Let an apple dry out and then soak it in water. Will it taste the same when it rehydrates? Of course it won't. In my own experience, when I've had the very few times I've screwed around and let some tobacco dry out too much, I tossed it. Life's too short to smoke mediocre or bad tobacco for the sake of a couple of dollars. I thought, if the tobacco had been that great to start with, I'd have exercised more caution to keep it hydrated properly.