Had a Tin Lose its Seal

[kschatey]

What does that even mean!? I've only been smoking for a couple years, but can safely say nothing like that has ever happened to me. Of course, I've never tried Royal Yacht, so it may be this experience is unique to that blend?

Implosion rather than explosion. The tin is buckled inward due to the vacuum seal rather than bulging outward from internal happenings (i.e., fermentation).

The comment was also kind of implying that the Royal Yacht must be dead inside as it doesn't seem to be fermenting any or enough to bulge the can back outward. There are many factors involved though. C&D does leave some amount of air in their tins which likely not only aids in some fermentation, but already is taking up space which allows the tin to bulge faster as other gassed are created. The super vacuumed tins are much more air empty, so all of that space needs to be refilled first before it could bulge.

 

[mso489]

I'd sample the dried out tobacco in a small chamber pipe or as a partial bowl. It might smoke just fine, as long as it isn't pure dust. Rectangular tins seemed to have more problem with broken seals than round ones. I've never had a tin seal break, and I tend to keep tins for a long time.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

What does that even mean!? I've only been smoking for a couple years, but can safely say nothing like that has ever happened to me. Of course, I've never tried Royal Yacht, so it may be this experience is unique to that blend?

It means that the tin is pulling a vacuum, instead of it expanding under pressure, like all other tins do.

 

[cigrmaster]

It comes with the cellaring territory. Depending on the type of tin, square/rectangular vs round, over time a significant number will gradually lose their seal. They were not made, nor intended, to last year after year. You're probably good with most of your tins for around a decade, more of less, before some with fail. As the years pass, more will fail. And some will be good for decades. It's just a crap shoot. If you're thinking really long term, jars and Mylar are a better be

Over 20 years and not a single tin has ever failed 74 degrees with low humidity is how I store my tins and it has worked so far. I do have to admit that I do prayer to the Pipe Gods every night before bed.

 

[sablebrush52]

Over 20 years and not a single tin has ever failed 74 degrees with low humidity is how I store my tins and it has worked so far. I do have to admit that I do prayer to the Pipe Gods every night before bed.

Harris,

Count your lucky stars. I know people who have climate controlled cellars, and tins fail. You probably haven't yet found the ones that did.

 

[elvishrunes]

I definitely have tin anxiety, with US politics around smoking these days and a truly insane Canadian Prime Minister who has created trucking and transport issues at the border and airports, and supply chain issues worldwide, I’m certainly trying to build a bigger cellar…

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t trust jars as much as flat round tins, because they aren’t perfectly air sealed although fermentation does actually create a vacuum seal, I’ve had some do it, and i don’t trust flat round tins as much as foil seal tins, so that is the order I’m collecting.

 

[cigrmaster]

Harris,

Count your lucky stars. I know people who have climate controlled cellars, and tins fail. You probably haven't yet found the ones that did.

Jesse, I am a chosen one, maybe that is it.

 

[PipeIT]

Seriously, leaving tabac in any tin, for an extreme length of time is a risk, talking years here...

If you want to just leave tabac in it’s tin, vacuum seal the tins.

P.S. I guess the next issue, how long will vacuum sealed baggies last... hmm ?

 

[cigrmaster]

Never lost a seal to a tin and I have been smoking been smoking tins from 1997 and 1998.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

I'm new to cellaring, so this might be a silly question, but should your tins be entirely odorless? I've noticed that sometimes when tins come in a delivery from an online vendor, I can detect the smell of tobacco around their closures. Is this likely a broken seal or is this normal?

Simiarly, if your cellar (or in my case, a closet shelf) smells like tobacco, is that sign that a seal has popped somewhere? Or its it perfectly normal for a space to just smell like delicious tobacco once you hit a critical mass of tins?

 

[nolan613]

All of my tins are round and although only have a dozen or so they are just fine after 10+ years. I tend to gravitate to bulk tobaccos stored in pint mason jars and have probably 75 t 80 over 25 years old that are stable and fantastic when opened. Just my experience...

 

[beefeater33]

I just found a bad seal on a 1990's era Murray's Erinmore Flake tin............. one of the rectangular 50 gram tins. Lucky, it was still moist and put in a jar promptly. Gonna smoke a bowl of it tomorrow.
Always a good practice to go through the cellar once a month, checking the seals........... if you find the leakers you can jar them up before they become the dreaded "Mummy-Dust".............

 

[AcesAndEights]

I just found a bad seal on a 1990's era Murray's Erinmore Flake tin............. one of the rectangular 50 gram tins. Lucky, it was still moist and put in a jar promptly. Gonna smoke a bowl of it tomorrow.
Always a good practice to go through the cellar once a month, checking the seals........... if you find the leakers you can jar them up before they become the dreaded "Mummy-Dust".............

Little off topic, but I was once told that Erinmore loses its flavor if you let it go too long. More than 5 years I believe was the ballpark number. Any truth to that?

 

[beefeater33]

I smoked through a tin about a year ago, that was mid 90's and thought it was fantastic. I'll try this one tomorrow............ it still has that great aroma, and it's still moist, so hoping for the best. I do know that the blend has changed lately, the new stuff doesn't have as much flavor or as much vitamin N. I'll report back tomorrow and let you know...............

 

[sablebrush52]

I'm new to cellaring, so this might be a silly question, but should your tins be entirely odorless? I've noticed that sometimes when tins come in a delivery from an online vendor, I can detect the smell of tobacco around their closures. Is this likely a broken seal or is this normal?

Simiarly, if your cellar (or in my case, a closet shelf) smells like tobacco, is that sign that a seal has popped somewhere? Or its it perfectly normal for a space to just smell like delicious tobacco once you hit a critical mass of tins?

It's because the tins aren't 100% sealed. Maybe they're 99.9% sealed but the scent escapes, along with a tiny amount of moisture that's carrying it. Over time outside and interior pressure equalizes and the seal is pretty shot.
Years ago I did a test. I took a bunch of square and rectangular tins of Virginias and VaPers and put them in a sealed rubber made container. Diei the same thing with English and Balkan blends. After a couple of weeks I popped the tops and took a sniff. The Virginia container strongly smelled of Virginias and whatever else was in those blends, and the English/Balkan smelled strongly of Latakia and Orientals. A third container of canister tins had no scent. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. For long term storage I either jar or seal in Mylar.

 

[mingc]

It's because the tins aren't 100% sealed. Maybe they're 99.9% sealed but the scent escapes, along with a tiny amount of moisture that's carrying it. Over time outside and interior pressure equalizes and the seal is pretty shot.
Years ago I did a test. I took a bunch of square and rectangular tins of Virginias and VaPers and put them in a sealed rubber made container. Diei the same thing with English and Balkan blends. After a couple of weeks I popped the tops and took a sniff. The Virginia container strongly smelled of Virginias and whatever else was in those blends, and the English/Balkan smelled strongly of Latakia and Orientals. A third container of canister tins had no scent. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. For long term storage I either jar or seal in Mylar.

It the Angels' Share, like wine in barrels. Some bits will inevitably escape into the ether.

 

[mortonbriar]

I have had one or two tins go over the years. The best was the bone dry ODF, it smoked so good like that. I know the seal was good for about 8 years first though, because I had checked the tins before the last house move, so it had a chance to age nicely before it dried out.

 

[craig61a]

Ahhh, the seal failure anxiety phenomena.

Is that on the autism spectrum…?