Is It Truly Aged?

[JesseV]

Ok, so I opened up a tub of tobacco I had put away several years ago. I for some reason didn’t jar two unopened boxes of Samuel Gawith tobacco. One box still has the plastic seal while the other doesn’t. This made me curious as to whether or not the tobacco could be considered properly cellared and aged. What do you think?

 

[lawdawg]

I'd check and see how dry that tobacco is at this point. My first question would not be whether it's aged properly, but whether it has turned to zombie dust. If it's dried to the point of having lost its natural oils, then it's most likely a goner. However, as to the aging issue, if the tobacco isn't too dry, this could serve as a good aging experiment. Cigar smokers, myself included, age cigars in humidors that are not air tight, so we know that at least some types of tobacco will age in a desirable manner without being sealed in 100% enclosed environment.

 

[JesseV]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will open up the two boxes and check.

1. What exactly am I looking for as far as dryness?
2. How will I know if it’s salvageable?
3. So even sealed in the factory packaging it’s not considered safe?

Thanks again

 

[bluegrassbrian]

It’s perfectly safe. You’ll likely see some light crystallization on the surface. It’s not mold.
It probably still has a good amount of moisture.
Rub some out, let it dry a bit and smoke it up!

 

[lawdawg]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will open up the two boxes and check.

1. What exactly am I looking for as far as dryness?
2. How will I know if it’s salvageable?
3. So even sealed in the factory packaging it’s not considered safe?

Thanks again

Inside that cardboard box, the flakes are in a big Ziploc style bag. These bags are not intended for long-term storage. When I get a box of Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake, I jar it up immediately.

As to the dryness, if the tobacco is crumbly and crispy, then it's quite likely too far gone. However, you can always try rehydrating using various techniques described in other posts on the forum. One popular technique that I recall is placing the tobacco in a bowl, and then placing a damp paper towel over the top of the bowl, and periodically checking on the tobacco to see how it rehydrates. Once it seems rehydrated, then you can smoke some and see how it tastes. I've never attempted to rehydrate tobacco, so take my advice on rehydration with a grain of salt. I'd explore other posts on this forum on that issue.

 

[lawdawg]

It’s perfectly safe. You’ll likely see some light crystallization on the surface. It’s not mold.
It probably still has a good amount of moisture.
Rub some out, let it dry a bit and smoke it up!

+1, Gawith flakes are packed so wet that yours might be fine. Don't worry about any of the rehydration stuff until you check your baccy out and see how it looks.

 

[JesseV]

You people are awesome. I will report back.

 

[mso489]

I don't dismiss tobacco drying to the point it is no longer smokeable. But tobacco can dry out a lot and still be fine. The crews on old square rigger ships used to keep their tobacco in cloth bags with a tax stamp hanging off, and smoke it sometimes for years of a voyage. We're fussy, and that's fine, but mostly tobacco keeps a long time. Try it, it's probably just fine.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I still occasionally smoke out of a 5 lbs bag of C&D Virginia Flake that has been dried for over a year now. It still tastes great, even if it has been dry for over a year. I can't help but wonder how many years it takes to destroy the oils enough to consider it "stale." Two years, three years? I guess if I smoke through this bag slow enough, I will eventually get my answers.

 

[jpberg]

Yup. It’ll be fine. If it’s a few years old it will have cellophane and plastic. No worries.

 

[SpookedPiper]

Ok, so I opened up a tub of tobacco I had put away several years ago. I for some reason didn’t jar two unopened boxes of Samuel Gawith tobacco. One box still has the plastic seal while the other doesn’t. This made me curious as to whether or not the tobacco could be considered properly cellared and aged. What do you think?

View attachment 3717

Nice little stash ?

 

[tobefrank]

Can we see some photos of the tobacco? Very curious what it looks like after all that time.

 

[weezell]

Can we see some photos of the tobacco? Very curious what it looks like after all that time.

YEP! Metometometometometo...?

 

[jpmcwjr]

You also might just try a bowl straightaway. It could be perfect, unless it easily breaks apart on gentle handling.

Good luck!

 

[cfreud]

The good news is that it's Gawith. That stuff takes forever to dry.