How Old Is Tobacco When Blended?

[Ahi Ka]

Obviously this could vary depending on the variety used, or if it’s a premium (or misplaced) pile of a particular session’s leaf, but roughly how old is tobacco when it gets blended or packaged for sale?

 

[americaman]

I was listening to @jeremyreeves and @shaneireland back when they would do Instagram lives in 2020 when the pandemic started, and I recall them saying tobacco is aged 2-3 years before it’s released. Otherwise it wouldn’t be too great. Hopefully they can chime in if they have time.

 

[Ahi Ka]

That’s interesting bro. I would be also further curious to know if those few years of age on the leaf are as individual components or as a blend.

 

[mortonbriar]

And how long it sits between crop harvest, wholesale, and then blending house....

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Every time I hear an interview with a master blender they seem to mention bales of tobacco lasting many years.
The age of any given component in any given blend could vary dramatically.

 

[mortonbriar]

From spring seedling to barcoded blend time average. That is what I want to know! Ruminate!

 

[TheWhale13]

If I recall correctly, the tobacco in Old Dark Fired was from the eighties or something like that. So some old blending houses probably have decades-old stuff?

 

[karam]

If I recall correctly, the tobacco in Old Dark Fired was from the eighties or something like that. So some old blending houses probably have decades-old stuff?

I think in the video where Per describes the ODF blend he also mentions that some of the bales behind him are from the 80s.

 

[sablebrush52]

If I recall correctly, the tobacco in Old Dark Fired was from the eighties or something like that. So some old blending houses probably have decades-old stuff?

Of curse they do. The Virginias used in Cringle Flake 2021 came from stock that had been aging for 20 years.

But they don't have forever with those vintage stocks. Tobaccos, like everything else, has a limited lifespan.