Quick Aging Question

[kamikazesasquatch]

I assume I should go by the date on the back of the tin for cellaring purposes right (instead of the date I received it)? Also, if I ordered a tobacco that was aged before it was sold from the manufacturer will the date on the back reflect that or will it not? In other words: do they do the aging before it gets tinned and then stamp a date on the tin so that it was already aged by the tinned date or do they tin it and let it sit for a while before it gets sold and that's considered aging?

 

[pstlpkr]

I think that the dates on tins of tobacco are the dates that they were "tinned".

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

So if you got something like this would they age it, tin/date it, then send it to the stores or would they tin/date it and keep in in the factory until it's aged, then send it to the stores?

 

[lonestar]

I dont know about that blend in particular, but most of the tins I smoke dont have a date printed on them. When I get them in, I write a date on the tin with a sharpie and go with that for aging.

McClellands is one company that prints the tinning date on the bottom of the can, and I know a few others do, but not all or even most of them do.

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

Ah. The only tins I've gotten so far are Mac Barens and they do. I got the Matured Virginia and it's stamped September of 2010. Just trying to figure out if that's why it's "matured" or if I got lucky with pre aged tin. maybe I should have just said that to begins with

 

[cortezattic]

The term Matured Virginia has nothing to do with age. It's how the tobacco behaves ...like not acting silly. :rofl:
BTW, How is that Mac Baren Matured Virginia?

 

[kamikazesasquatch]

Me = noob

That's the tin I haven't opened yet. I did that one, the regular Virginia, and the burley. These are my first virginia and burley so I'm not really the one to ask I don't think...but I'm liking the virginia quite a bit. The burley seemed pretty plain at this point. I figured I'd save the mature for later, let it age a little more

 

[lordnoble]

I found the Matured Virginia to be very bite-y. I have to really sip extra slow or my tongue will suffer. Not a favorite in my book.
-Jason

 

[glpease]

Different manufacturers do different things with respect to dating. Some use codes, some use actual dates. Some use the date of the tobacco's manufacture, whilst others use the date it's put in the tins.
Mine have the actual date the tobacco is made. Sometimes, it's all tinned on one day, other times, it can be a few days before the whole batch is packaged. We do it this way to track the batches, not the dates the tobaccos were tinned.
Sometimes, the word "Aged" doesn't mean much. All tobacco is aged before it's processed. Sometimes, blends are aged after they're manufactured. Most often, aged just means that someone has had it sitting around for a couple years.

 

[cortezattic]

Can anyone tell me how McClelland date stamps their tins?

I just broke open a tin of Royal Cajun Dark that is stamped 97 03 09, and I'd like to know how old it is.

 

[rmbittner]

cortezattic:
I believe your tin would be from March 2009. Royal Cajun Dark is a relatively recent blend in McClelland's line-up.
Bob

 

[cortezattic]

Thanks! Then I'm guessing the 97 is a batch or unit number.

 

[sparroa]

I always presume that it is the date that the tobacco was tinned, though as GLP suggests it could certainly vary.
It is more likely to be closer to that date then the date when it was first "aged" because the tobaccos were matured separately before being blended so there would be no way to quantify that.

 

[chispa]

97 is blend

03 is batch

09 is the year
This according to what I googled earlier today and found on another forum. For what that is worth.....

 

[cortezattic]

Super info. Thanks for taking the time to post the results of your search. From that I can gather that Bob and I were pretty much on the right track because the Royal Cajun series was too new to be from 1997.