Old tobacco... stupid question.

[buffalo96]

I tried smoking a pipe for a while in the 90s. I bought a sizable amount of tobacco back in the mid 90's and, for some stupid reason, I gave up on it and went back to smoking expensive cigars. So I double wrapped the wad in a plastic bag and stored it in a cedar cigar box. I hardly smoked it and I recently uncovered it when I dug my pipes out of storage.
Here is where the stupid comes in. I opened the bag and it seemed to be a little dry but still retained a decent odor. I know whiskey and wine mature with age.... how about tobacco? How do you re-condition old tobacco? Or should I just chunk the load and start over? This stuff is almost 17 years old by now.

 

[subtech77]

I found a great way to re-hydrate tobacco. One second, will see if I find the link
nope cant find it for now. But it's simple and clean.
- Put your tobacco in a smalll plastic bag, not too small.

- Turn on a water-boiler (thos to make tea-water)

- When the water starts to boil and the steam staerts to raise, but the plastic bag over and fill the bag with the steam till it's full

- Put a knot so it is closed and let it rest for an hour or so.

- Repeat if it is still dry.
This way will add just clean boild water to the tobacco and has no extra tastes to it.
you can also put an apple-peel in the bag instead. this is very effective but I'm not sure how much taste it will put on the tobacco.

 

[philobeddoe]

If the tobacco is bone dry, spread it out on a cookie sheet and very, very lightly spritz it with distilled water. Repeat as necessary. Also, no offense to the other reply, but DO NOT put an apple peel onto your tobacco, it can cause mold to grow.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[philip]

Welcome to the forum, buffalo96.
Have a look at this thread - Re-hyddration Then give your tobacco a try.
It may have some flavor loss and it may be just fine.

 

[fnord]

Buff:
The stupid questions never get asked.
First things first, welcome to the Forum. Secondly, pay attention, read everything and ask many, many questions. You're amongst a great group of people on a forum where kindness and consideration is stressed.
Here's a link on re-hydrating tobacco I found on the lower left hand side of this page under the topic "Featured Articles"
http://pipesmagazine.com/python/pipe-tobacco/pipe-tobacco-rehydration/
I tried out two of the methods last night with great success. But, my smokes were a six months old as opposed to 17 years. However, tobacco is forgiving so good luck.
Fnord

 

[rcstan]

I have found the following method very effective on rehydrating small quantities of tobacco :
- take a small shallow earthware bowl and layer the tobacco in it, no more than 1/2" or 12 mm thick
- take a coffee filter, soak it in water, wring it gently so it is just damp, and place over the bowl
- let it rest for about a half hour or so in an enclosed space ( i.e. cupboard )
- remove coffee filter and check the tobacco, stir it around and place damp filter back on the bowl if need be
- wait another 30 minutes and repeat if necessary
If the filter dries, then the tobacco is definitely moist unless you forgot about it and left it around for a day ..... in which case you have to start all over.
This works quickly on 5 to 10 grams of baccy i.o.w. 2 to 4 large bowl fulls in the dry south Central Alaskan environment where freshly opened tins go from wet to dry in about 48 hours with the lid off .....

 

[yorkshirepipe]

That tobacco if re-hydrated will be lovley! I just got hold of some ~30 year old Gold Block by Ogdens, unfortunately the original owner opened the tin just before sending it to me so I had to quickly jar it up!
As far as re-hydrating the links above are great, I simply put the dry tobacco into a glass bowl and cover the bowl with a damp (but not dripping) cloth, takes a couple of repeats with a lot of tobacco but does the job for me!

 

[judcole]

It may or may not be any good. You can certainly try that if it was a blend you really enjoyed. But if it was an aromatic, be prepared for the possibility that it might not be, and be prepared to pitch it.
And welcome to the forum. Pretty good group of folks here.

 

[pipesicle]

Buff,I think the tobacco will probably not be any good. Send it to me and I can dispose of it for you. lol....Welcome to the forum.

 

[mlyvers]

it is ok too rehydate no dout. you might want to try it the way it is (dry)... if it is ok, you might split it in half. hydate 1/2 and smoke the other 1/2. welcome to our forum, great people here sir.
mike.

 

[buffalo96]

A little update from last night.
I took the ball out of the wrapper and put it in a quart sized Mason jar. It fluffed up nice and loose and the majority of it was in a very smokable condition. Not dry, just slightly moist. I fired up a pipe this morning and on the way from work tonight. It smelled awesome and was an easy smoke. I don't see a need to hydrate it, just trying to keep it up now.
I guess dumb luck kept me from ruining a pile of good tobacco. A nice return on the investment. Now I just need to get a better pipe to smoke it in. Come on Santa!

 

[mrgunnar177]

glad to hear it!