If you were me......

[JSPiper71]

Hi Friends. I've been on a bit of a buying spree lately, trying to pick up as much aged tobacco as I can, while binging on their fresh counterparts as much as possible. Having experience in wine cellaring, I'm applying my process on that front to tobacco, with my ultimate goal of being able to draw from my own fresh purchased aged supply. Being in Canada, this process is infinitely more difficult as price and access is a huge barrier. Until I get there, I need some advice.

Let's use Presbyterian as an example. I have a friend who is bringing me a couple of fresh tins up from the US. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to get a hold of a tin from 2010. If you were me, would you open the 2010 and keep the fresh laid down for a couple years? Or would you open both the 2010 and a fresh to compare the difference as a learning opportunity? Or, would you leave the 2010 to age longer (or for a special occasion) as it has inherent value being a 10 year old tobacco and just smoke the new stuff?

If you were me.....

 

[ben88]

Smoke good stuff while you alive. Who knows what will happen tomorrow.

 

[ofafeather]

I think the dilemma is a win whichever way you fly. Many blends are great fresh and the aged version is a bit different. Some are really different blends because the blender has changed or the recipe has changed. Crack a tin of something and enjoy, without overthinking.

 

[LeafErikson]

I’m a ‘smoke em if you got em’ kinda guy. I would say try the stuff that’s been aging for over a decade.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I would think Virginias might change the most over time. An English blend like Presbyterian might meld and mellow more and you could lose the distinction of the different tobaccos.

 

[woodsroad]

If I were you, I'd get a tobacco retailer's license and never look back.

 

[scloyd]

Presbyterian is one of my favorite blends. If I had a 10 year old tin, I'd be opening it as I type this.

 

[LotusEater]

To preface -Presbyterian is one of my favorite blends but I’m not an expert on cellaring tobacco.

However, in my opinion - like wine some tobaccos age well and/or are meant to be aged. I don’t think Presbyterian is necessarily your best candidate for aging and I would think that at 12 years any change that is likely to happen will have already happened. Presbyterian is a light English and I would expect that aging it will only serve to mellow what is already a fairly mellow blend and dampen the oriental spice that makes this blend interesting.

If you like straight Virginias or Navy Flakes I think you’ll get better results aging them.

Some may disagree.
I’d smoke the 2010 and compare it to a fresh tin.

 

[Streeper541]

Presbyterian is one of my favorite blends. If I had a 10 year old tin, I'd be opening it as I type this.

Same. Smoke 'em while you got 'em.

 

[Sgetz]

Carpe Diem!

 

[bullet08]

If I were you, I would smoke the 2010 and get more of Presbyterian to cellar. Latakia isn't exactly well known to age well. They will mellow out is about it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If I were you, I'd just max out all of my credit cards to get that cellar built. 10 years will fly by like the snap of a finger.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Presbyterian has changed hands a couple of times since 2010. Even if the 2010 tin was just produced its only similarity to the modern iteration would likely only be the name.

 

[clynch]

I'd open em both and take the learning experience. More fun that way. My limited opinion.

 

[SmokeClouds]

I would open both of them and compare them. If I’d like the older version I would look for more tins. If the new version is the favorite I would stock up.

 

[DanWil84]

Hmmmm Presbyterian ?. I would enjoy the 10 year old tin first and compare it to a fresh tin. I was always under the impression cellaring will make a blend better, i've yet to experience a aged tin like that (I have 2 graciously gifted by Santa), but general consensus is it makes a blend different.

 

[anotherbob]

I wouldn't personally worry about it. My experience with aged pipe tobacco is it is just different. It loses as much as it gains. I think it's probably the most over rated practice in pipe smoking at the moment, I also think a lot of people are going to end up disappointed to find out that they just have a cellar of old tobacco and not all of it is better and some not even as good as it was fresh.
My suggestion really isn't to age everything you can (I think the presb is not a great candidate.) but to look at what people say about aging particular blends and work out the mystery of what really sings with more years on it. What things more then one or two people are blown away by and work out what are the common factors. That's my suggestion.
The thing people forget to say is that a good amount of tobacco becomes more blah and boring with age. It's like people age makes some awesome and some just fall apart with age.

 

[cigrmaster]

I have been buying 1998 tins of one of my favorites. I was also lucky to get some 2005 tins of that same blend. I have been smoking them as I have 100 2016 tins of that same blend so I have been smoking the older stuff waiting for the 2016 to keep aging. I figure another 4-6 years on the 2016 will be great.

 

[Reggie]

Burn it down!!! It’s an English. It’s done all it’s gonna do.

 

[OSOBUCO]

Let's use Presbyterian as an example. I have a friend who is bringing me a couple of fresh tins up from the US. In the meantime, I was lucky enough to get a hold of a tin from 2010. If you were me, would you open the 2010 and keep the fresh laid down for a couple years? Or would you open both the 2010 and a fresh to compare the difference as a learning opportunity? Or, would you leave the 2010 to age longer (or for a special occasion) as it has inherent value being a 10 year old tobacco and just smoke the new stuff?

If you were me.....

Happiness delayed is happiness denied.