Perfect Age for Virginia

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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
21,170
51,209
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
According to Greg Pease, the first 5 years after release are when the bulk of the change takes place. After that it becomes more incremental.

As for when to smoke, it depends on the blend. The Cringle Flakes use aged components to begin with, so it's more a matter of melding of those components. Those I've found ready to go when released, and they do seem to pull together nicely in as little as 6 months.

McClelland blends were pre aged before release and were ready to smoke when released. The release represented what the blenders intended.

Quality British made blends are pre aged and processed before release, so they're ready to smoke upon release. Further aging changes them, but it's not what the blenders intend.

HU blends are ready to smoke when released, and will continue to change as they age.

Some blenders output tobaccos that aren't really ready for prime time, like Peter Stokkebbye, and those do benefit from waiting 4 to 5 years. LBF is like smoking cardboard when released and really changes into a richly flavorful blend with a minimum of 4 years.

Aging changes blends, it does not "improve" them. Frankly, aging is a bit unpredictable. It's a matter for the individual smoker to decide if that change is an improvement. I preferred McClelland 2015 fresh to aged. However, I really like the change in 5100 after 5 years.

Do Virginias peak and fade? Absolutely, as does everything else, including the Earth, Sun, and Solar System. Much depends on the conditions under which the tobacco ages. I've had 80 year old Virginia that was still pretty good, and 60 year old Virginia that was zombie vomit. I'd be looking to smoke Virginias before they hit 30. Better odds they won't have started to fade or go strange.

Since I don't cellar specifically to age, I do try to get to my holdings before they hit 20 years, and mostly go for 5 to 10. Just depends how long it takes for me to get around to wanting to smoke a particular blend, and how much I set aside. I'm going to run out of me long before I run out of tobacco. A lot of what I have is no longer made, so I may hold off, just because I really want to enjoy that blend, even if I preferred it fresh.
 

BriarsAndBottles

Can't Leave
Sep 4, 2022
306
1,258
37
Hercules, California
According to Greg Pease, the first 5 years after release are when the bulk of the change takes place. After that it becomes more incremental.

As for when to smoke, it depends on the blend. The Cringle Flakes use aged components to begin with, so it's more a matter of melding of those components. Those I've found ready to go when released, and they do seem to pull together nicely in as little as 6 months.

McClelland blends were pre aged before release and were ready to smoke when released. The release represented what the blenders intended.

Quality British made blends are pre aged and processed before release, so they're ready to smoke upon release. Further aging changes them, but it's not what the blenders intend.

HU blends are ready to smoke when released, and will continue to change as they age.

Some blenders output tobaccos that aren't really ready for prime time, like Peter Stokkebbye, and those do benefit from waiting 4 to 5 years. LBF is like smoking cardboard when released and really changes into a richly flavorful blend with a minimum of 4 years.

Aging changes blends, it does not "improve" them. Frankly, aging is a bit unpredictable. It's a matter for the individual smoker to decide if that change is an improvement. I preferred McClelland 2015 fresh to aged. However, I really like the change in 5100 after 5 years.

Do Virginias peak and fade? Absolutely, as does everything else, including the Earth, Sun, and Solar System. Much depends on the conditions under which the tobacco ages. I've had 80 year old Virginia that was still pretty good, and 60 year old Virginia that was zombie vomit. I'd be looking to smoke Virginias before they hit 30. Better odds they won't have started to fade or go strange.

Since I don't cellar specifically to age, I do try to get to my holdings before they hit 20 years, and mostly go for 5 to 10. Just depends how long it takes for me to get around to wanting to smoke a particular blend, and how much I set aside. I'm going to run out of me long before I run out of tobacco. A lot of what I have is no longer made, so I may hold off, just because I really want to enjoy that blend, even if I preferred it fresh.
I’d like to see Chat GPT come up with an answer like this! Couldn’t have asked for a better reply, much appreciated @sablebrush52. I hope you don’t run out of you anytime soon lol!
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
45,530
120,959
I'd stop the aging altogether, they're made to be smoked upon purchase. Though I've been cellaring since the early '90s, it was more to keep up with cost than aging. Age weakens the smoke for me and the older tobacco doesn't accurately represent the blend as it was intended.
 

BriarsAndBottles

Can't Leave
Sep 4, 2022
306
1,258
37
Hercules, California
I'd stop the aging altogether, they're made to be smoked upon purchase. Though I've been cellaring since the early '90s, it was more to keep up with cost than aging. Age weakens the smoke for me and the older tobacco doesn't accurately represent the blend as it was intended.
Hmm. Interesting thought, I’d say for Carolina Red Flake it burned my sinuses and was unsmokable when I first opened it, after setting aside the open tin for a few years it’s has gotten progressively more enjoyable. Maybe I don’t like peoples intentions? @Chasing Embers i appreciate the input though.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
21,170
51,209
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Hmm. Interesting thought, I’d say for Carolina Red Flake it burned my sinuses and was unsmokable when I first opened it, after setting aside the open tin for a few years it’s has gotten progressively more enjoyable. Maybe I don’t like peoples intentions? @Chasing Embers i appreciate the input though.
C&D is a brand that I found often "benefits" from aging. A number of releases I've smoked have tasted a bit green to me. With the exception of a few of their blends that I really like, I don't cellar them. I know that they've upped their game, but at this point I'm done buying, so don't know if I'd be differently inclined.
 

krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,392
21,303
Michigan
Hmm. Interesting thought, I’d say for Carolina Red Flake it burned my sinuses and was unsmokable when I first opened it, after setting aside the open tin for a few years it’s has gotten progressively more enjoyable. Maybe I don’t like peoples intentions? @Chasing Embers i appreciate the input though.
I had the same experience with CRF. I opened a 2019 as soon as I got it. While there was some great stuff going on, it was hard to enjoy it due to a pervasive harshness in every puff. After about 18 months I tried it again and the harshness was basically gone. Im almost done with that first tin, and I’m looking forward to opening the next at the 5 year mark.
 

peteguy

Lifer
Jan 19, 2012
1,531
916
My experience is most citrus, hay, etc. based will become much smoother after five years. I am after the sweet side so my minimum is 10yrs. Some of these never get sweet enough. Some reds take 3-5, 5100 was one for me. Others like Dark Star 5-7, etc. The new Cringle Flake appears to be another shorter time frame. Keep in mind, these are all just me waiting for my sweet tooth to get it's fix. :)
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,947
31,774
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
honestly I don't find aged better at all. I do find it different sometimes richer almost always mellower. Where I find the most improvement is in blends with VA more then straight VA blends. I put some cairo away to age and it's the first one I find mind blowingly worth the wait better.
 
Jun 23, 2019
1,940
13,254
Several months ago I opened 12-year-old FVF, it was okay, not great. OTOH a 5-year-old tin of Dark Twist was pretty sublime. Not what I would have predicted. Aging can be a bit of a crap shoot.

Mac Baren Dark Twist is a great smoke, I have a tin from 2020 in the humidor I just got back around to, what great flavor - very similar to the oh-so-popular Gawith BS Flake.

- - -

All things considered equal, if you could fast forward your tins to be a certain age, what would you pick. Stockpiled a decent amount of McClelland the last few years, but also speaking for a lot of the small batch C&D stuff and Cringle Flake too.

With the C&D stuff, I'd throw them somewhere deep in the cellar and forget about them - check back in a couple of world wars.

With the McClellands, I've not found them to vary too much year to year. Either you like that deep rich red virginia flavor or you don't, the sweetness improves a bit with age but if you're not smoking bowls side by side the differences are probably not even noticeable.

With Sutliff, it really depends year to year: some are pure virginias blends - which probably would benefit from a couple of seasons of breathing and others are va/per blends - where a lot of time they use the perique in a way to mimic an aged virginia taste.
 
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