Humidity and Cellaring

[chispa]

100 gram tins of Solani 633 Va/Per flake don't come sealed very well and are quite dry.
Would they not cellar as well and a "normally" hydrated tobacco?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I don't like the flimsy hinged tin on those 100g solani products. It doesn't appear to be sealed. I take the cellophane bag of tobacco out of the tin and drop it in a mason jar and seal it up.

 

[chispa]

So after that dry baccy goes in a mason jar would it not cellar as well? Does cellaring dried out tobacco change the way it ages?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Well Solani tobacco I find is normally on the dry side, and if its perfectly dry for smoking, I would just put it in a mason jar and leave it. If its too dry, I would mason it up and toss in a humidity disc soaked in fresh distilled water. You can buy those disc at the majore online retailers - they are pretty cheap and I have found that they work quite well. You want to be careful about adding too much moisture, because that's how you get mould.

 

[gray4lines]

From cigar experience, if the tobacco is too dry, it doesn't really age as much as deteriorate. The oils naturally in the tobacco break down too quickly and the good kind of aging doesn't really happen. You just have dried out tobacco.
I would prefer to age a little on the moist side, rather than dry side... Easier to dry out before you smoke than add moisture back... and while you can rehydrate, you can't put the flavor lost from being too dry for too long back in.

 

[cigrmaster]

As soon as I get my Silver Flake I jar it up. So far everyone I have gotten has been perfect for smoking so perfect for aging in my book. Now if you got a tin that was crispy, I would re hydrate that before jarring. My preferred method is to take a backing pan and spread the tobacco out evenly. Then I will take a clean dish towel and get it wet with distilled water, make sure it is damp but not soaking. I then cover the pan and then check it every couple of hours until I feel it has the proper humidity.