I'm wondering if I should break/crumble up the Penzance or leave it in the strips...it kinda falls apart when you handle it anyway, and you could likely put more in a jar that way.
Preparing for the future
- Thread starter toadie
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Contrary to what some have said, tins will age wonderfully provided they are not compromised. I have some Dunhill that was tinned in the 1980's that is superb and have smoked 30 year old English and Virgina blends. You will hit a point of no return eventually; the aging seems to seriously slows down after 5-10 years.
Square tins are the worst, especially the Penzance type tins. The tins used by Samuel Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth hold up pretty well. They had some issues many years ago and now are sealed nicely. But, they are still a square tin so keep that in mind. The tins that K&K uses (Fribourg & Treyer, Peterson University/Irish Flake, Solani 633, etc) seem to hold up but are iffy past ten years. I had a bunch of 633 that I decided to jar up from 1998 and I was able to pop the seal just by pulling lightly.
Even the round tins can become compromised and develop rust which will dry the tobacco out. This happened to me with several tins of Pembroke. Sure made my closet smell good though.
McClelland tins seem to be OK, but I did have a couple that had rusted out from the inside, esp from the mid 90's packaged tins. You can feel the tin for soft spots and it may be an indication. Same with Pease and his older tall 2oz tins.
At one point, I had over 600 tins stashed and not even a dozen of those in the round or taller tins became compromised. I had a lot of Penzance tins lose their seal, same with Kingfisher and the old Peterson University Flake, those I just jarred up. This was probably from moving them around and keeping them in bins rather than sitting on a shelf undisturbed.
I use Bell jars as that is what we have available around here. The bail top jars work very well, but I tend to stick with the Italian brands as they work better. Around here, we have Anchor Hocking and their wire is cheaper and they do not seal nearly as well. One Italian brand is called Fido and you can get them from Amazon or The Container Store. I mainly use these for tobaccos that I smoke a lot of, but in phases. Their seals hold nicely, I've had decade old Stonehaven in one that aged nicely. Economically, the Bell or Mason jars are the cheapest. You do not want want much excess air though, so purchase the jars relative to the amount of tobacco you plan on using. A 1/2 liter jar will hold 100g or so, more if in flake form.
I nuke my Bell jars for about a minute then stuff and seal. As the jar cools it forms enough vacuum to seal and is bit easier than boiling them. I saw a report that showed they are sterile out of the box provided the jar has not been opened. Make sure there is no tobacco on the rim before sealing as that will prevent an effective seal.
This is just from experience and my opinion, so your mileage may vary. I agree with others who say English then VA/Vapers age the best. For me, there was no more enjoyment out of aged aromatics, save perhaps one that is not heavily flavored like American aro's and has a quality VA base, like Peterson or Mac Baren. I think European aromatics will age better as they are not as heavily cased and typically use better VAs than the American Aro's.
Michael
Square tins are the worst, especially the Penzance type tins. The tins used by Samuel Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth hold up pretty well. They had some issues many years ago and now are sealed nicely. But, they are still a square tin so keep that in mind. The tins that K&K uses (Fribourg & Treyer, Peterson University/Irish Flake, Solani 633, etc) seem to hold up but are iffy past ten years. I had a bunch of 633 that I decided to jar up from 1998 and I was able to pop the seal just by pulling lightly.
Even the round tins can become compromised and develop rust which will dry the tobacco out. This happened to me with several tins of Pembroke. Sure made my closet smell good though.
McClelland tins seem to be OK, but I did have a couple that had rusted out from the inside, esp from the mid 90's packaged tins. You can feel the tin for soft spots and it may be an indication. Same with Pease and his older tall 2oz tins.
At one point, I had over 600 tins stashed and not even a dozen of those in the round or taller tins became compromised. I had a lot of Penzance tins lose their seal, same with Kingfisher and the old Peterson University Flake, those I just jarred up. This was probably from moving them around and keeping them in bins rather than sitting on a shelf undisturbed.
I use Bell jars as that is what we have available around here. The bail top jars work very well, but I tend to stick with the Italian brands as they work better. Around here, we have Anchor Hocking and their wire is cheaper and they do not seal nearly as well. One Italian brand is called Fido and you can get them from Amazon or The Container Store. I mainly use these for tobaccos that I smoke a lot of, but in phases. Their seals hold nicely, I've had decade old Stonehaven in one that aged nicely. Economically, the Bell or Mason jars are the cheapest. You do not want want much excess air though, so purchase the jars relative to the amount of tobacco you plan on using. A 1/2 liter jar will hold 100g or so, more if in flake form.
I nuke my Bell jars for about a minute then stuff and seal. As the jar cools it forms enough vacuum to seal and is bit easier than boiling them. I saw a report that showed they are sterile out of the box provided the jar has not been opened. Make sure there is no tobacco on the rim before sealing as that will prevent an effective seal.
This is just from experience and my opinion, so your mileage may vary. I agree with others who say English then VA/Vapers age the best. For me, there was no more enjoyment out of aged aromatics, save perhaps one that is not heavily flavored like American aro's and has a quality VA base, like Peterson or Mac Baren. I think European aromatics will age better as they are not as heavily cased and typically use better VAs than the American Aro's.
Michael
Went to that friggin WalMart place and all they had was the big 32oz wide mouth 12 for 9.44 :clap:
- Status