Should I Buy Aged Tobacco?

[Ahi Ka]

If I were in your position I’d rather spend the money on continuing to sample a variety of blends, or build a cellar base.

This older thread shows what’s possible

The Quality Bulk Tobacco Cellar for $200 Challenge :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

The challenge is, can you construct a quality cellar with five one pound bags of bulk tobacco for $200 or less. What would you pick and why? You can use multiple suppliers and for the sake of simplicity, assume shipping is free. I was lazy and just used the cart on smokingpipes to calculate...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[OzPiper]

I think a bigger risk would be to spend $100 on a tin only to find out that you love it. And that your palate can only be satisfied by 10-year old Escudo. That sounds even more expensive.

I have a friend who "collects" Ferraris and has invited me to track days to drive them.
I have declined for that same reason - I might like them too much.
Only to find them way out of my price range

stick with aged versions of tobaccos that are in production and available. Most blenders turn out tobaccos that have been aged are are ready to go, but not all blenders do that. I've found Peter Stokkebye blends to need aging before smoking as they are released a bit "young" for my liking, and the same goes with C&D, which is partly why I cellar very little of these blenders. PS-LBF is cardboard when released, but given a minimum of 4 years turns into something amazing.

Aging doesn't necessarily improve blends, it just changes them, and whether the change is an improvement is up to the individual smoker to decide.

Ancient tins are always a crap shoot and generally an expensive one.

Buying what's available and putting back enough to have some stock for the future is the best way to eventually enjoy (hopefully) aged tobacco.

^^^^
Can't put it any better than this

 

[ray47]

Aging is in the palate of the beholder. Personally, I can't tell the difference between old and new. I guess my palate is aged and just doesn't work like it did when I was younger.

 

[Cyxelsid]

I’d just start aging, I started in 2009 and now I’m worried about all my blends getting too much age on them, time flies and you’ll have aged blends before ya know it. I think it’s more rewarding when you open a blend that you bought and aged yourself. Plus you know it’s been stored properly and all that good stuff. But the decision is yours, if you feel it’s worth it than by all means go buy some aged stuff. From time to time you may find a winner but the majority of times I think you will just end up sorely disappointed.

I completely understand. I am mostly just trying to build a palate. I am what you call and "experiential learner", meaning I learn better by doing/experiencing. So, I can read about aged tobacco all day long, but it really doesn't set into my brain until I can experience it. And, I am way to impatient to wait 2, 5, 10 years to wait! But I think I will start to do that once I have the experience.

 

[Cyxelsid]

If I were in your position I’d rather spend the money on continuing to sample a variety of blends, or build a cellar base.

This older thread shows what’s possible

The Quality Bulk Tobacco Cellar for $200 Challenge :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

The challenge is, can you construct a quality cellar with five one pound bags of bulk tobacco for $200 or less. What would you pick and why? You can use multiple suppliers and for the sake of simplicity, assume shipping is free. I was lazy and just used the cart on smokingpipes to calculate...

pipesmagazine.com

I will have to read that one!

 

[mso489]

Burley and Latakia aren't in the same category related to aging. Latakia mellows after a few years and then can fade a lot. Burley keeps as well as Virginia, it just doesn't improve in a dramatic way the way some Virginias can. So I might pay the going rate for an aged tin as for a "new" one for Virginia or burley. When it gets into paying a premium twice or more than the price for the current product, I'd want to talk to one of the old timers familiar with the aged blend to see if I was gaining anything. Mostly I'd expect to hear "no."

Sometimes aged Latakia blends taste wonderful when you first open them, but then the Lat disappears completely once opened, so enjoy that first fleeting smoke.

The excuse for buying high priced tobacco aged a decade or more is the joy of gambling, thinking that you will get something available no other way, and being able to accept betting on the wrong horse.

I don't buy blends expecting to age them. I just have an accumulation of tins I don't get smoked. Rare exotic blends improving by the hour.

 

[Sobrbiker]

When we buy anything in bulk, we really don’t know how old it is, do we? Most I’ve got have when it was portioned out for my sale (if that)…

 

[Cyxelsid]

Here's my simple answer: No.

Why - I think you've read some sound advice above. Second, tobacco IS NOT wine. It is not meant to be aged. Yes, it does age, and sometimes the aging mellows the FLAVORS to make them more even and less harsh. But in the case of tobacco, that doesn't mean better. Many blends are are already aged by the time they are packaged. Second, I have found that 12 months is usually enough time to tell you where the tobacco is headed.

No one - for the most part - is aging our tobacco as a primary function of why we bought it. It is being cellared ONLY for the time when obtaining it would be near impossible. It ages because we can't smoke all of it NOW.

I do let a year pass on some heavy and oily blends such as G&H plugs and ropes because I prefer them to be settled and less likely to cause me to get sick. After a year of being jarred where some air has had an opportunity to tame them, I find them good and ready to go.
Be careful you you aren't getting sucked in to some unintentional seller hype. While it is true that some older blends have certain tastes that are no longer available, that is only because the tobacco is no longer available that gave them those unique tastes. But even then, because they aged, they are no longer the tobaccos they were when new and no longer the tobaccos that people raves about when they were new.

I doubt anything written here will change your mind. Hype is hype. You've been given some great advice by other posters.

I completely understand. I am actually not in any discussions with seller's at this point, I started this thread first! So, I may heed your advice!

 

[Cyxelsid]

A lot of wisdom in this community! Thanks for the information.

I think I will stick with fresh for now. I haven't even really tried anything from a tin, to be honest. Everything I have tried has been "fresh" bulk tobacco. I guess, like smoking, I just need to slow down and enjoy the learn... in addition to the burn!

 

[OSOBUCO]

When I started I bought bulk samplers and a variety of tins to find what I like first. I now have too much but I still buy - TAD is serious business. The only time I buy aged stuff is here as a coincidence when a lot shows up that has stuff I haven't tried before and often it is aged. I have a few tins I bought from retailers that have 3-6 years on them presumably cuz they were sitting on the shelf. My oldest tin is Balkan Saseini from 2010 that came in a lot here but I did not buy the lot for that tin. In short I do not seek out aged tobacco but if I find one and it's aged I will buy it if I am in the market for that type. my only concern with aged tobacco is did it dry out and I have several tins that were compromised and bone dry. Rehydrating via evaporation method works perfectly and I have two batches rehydrating now.

 

[niblicck]

What should I look for when trying to decide which aged tobacco I should look for?

Look for the blends that are for sale that you have tried when fresh and would like to try with age on them. No use to try an aged blend when you hate it fresh and put it away for a year and still do not like it.

Not sure of how old you are but I was 51 yrs old when I started smoking a pipe. I have been fortunate and have bought many, very many pounds jarred and tinned with various ages from members here and on other forums and can say that it is financially up to you to decide what to do. It also gives the blends time to age that you have bought that you know you will like when aged. Read tobacco reviews and follow reviewers similar to your tastes and you will know what to buy.

Or you can do what I have done and just buy anything you can get your grubby hands on for a decent price to try.

 

[OSOBUCO]

Or you can do what I have done and just buy anything you can get your grubby hands on for a decent price to try.

so much this.

 

[niblicck]

so much this.

I can't remember how many times I've told my wife "That was the best tobacco I have ever smoked in my life".

Without the members here and on other forums this simply would not be possible. Thanks to everyone for selling tobacco they have too much of or because it just doesn't scratch that itch and are willing to let others to try for a decent price.

 

[Cyxelsid]

Not sure of how old you are but I was 51 yrs old when I started smoking a pipe.

I'm 48... going on 12.

 

[niblicck]

We were born in the same year then Smoke'm like it'll be your last time and try them all. You may be surprised.

 

[Ahi Ka]

I have a friend who "collects" Ferraris and has invited me to track days to drive them.
I have declined for that same reason - I might like them too much.
Only to find them way out of my price range


^^^^
Can't put it any better than this

It goes both ways bro.

My neighbour has a Ferrari among other vehicles but refuses to take my van for a spin. No way he wants to be caught in what he calls a vasectomy on wheels.

The man who smokes both unicorns and codger blends is the most blessed.

 

[kcghost]

Identify the tobaccos you like today and buy as much as you can afford as often as you can. I am a little concerned your willingness to invest in this project. A cellar doesn't appear by accident. It takes time. After five years take a tin of each tobacco in the cellar and try it. If it isn't ready, then don't smoke any more until the next year. If ready, then you can smoke it when you see fit.

 

[PipeIT]

So, in an effort to expand my palate, I have been looking in the tobacco for sale threads and considering buying some tobacco that has been cellared / aged by some of you fine gentlemen.

I am too impatient to wait 10 years to experience that joy!

What should I look for when trying to decide which aged tobacco I should look for?

By needing to ask, I’d say No.

The reasons being, experience first blends already in production to figure out what you really like, then, if there are aged blends of these for sale, go for it.

But if you’re simply talking about buying aged blends you never smoked, simply because they are aged, you might be in for a shock, besides a lack of $$$.

There are MASSIVE amounts of blends out there for sale right now, that are also amazing fresh.

Also, I don’t know how long you’ve been smoking a pipe. A lot of people seem to think they have found ‘The Blends’ of their life, never to realize there are hundreds and thousands out there to explore.

Tastes change, unless you like eating and drinking the same thing all the time...

 

[hawky454]

I completely understand. I am mostly just trying to build a palate. I am what you call and "experiential learner", meaning I learn better by doing/experiencing. So, I can read about aged tobacco all day long, but it really doesn't set into my brain until I can experience it. And, I am way to impatient to wait 2, 5, 10 years to wait! But I think I will start to do that once I have the experience.

Also, just keep in mind, you may not appreciate it as much as you would when you are more experienced. I’m just speaking from personal experience and I have no idear how long you’ve been smoking but I personally wouldn’t have appreciated the nuances of aged tobacco early on as I would now. A lot of the times I still can’t tell much of a difference in taste but I am no super taster either. My main goal is to get to my tobacco before it goes over the hill. Some people really like the old stuff, my sweet spot is around the 5 - 10 year range. Again, it just depends on so much.

If you do end up buying some aged stuff, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Cyxelsid]

I am a little concerned your willingness to invest in this project.

Hmmm... what concerns you? To be honest, this is the LEAST expensive of my few hobbies. I have a tendency to jump into new hobbies face first, and then see if I like it.

That being said, I am not interested in wasting money either. Hence, I have bought 1 new Savinelli, and one estate Danish pipe, one cobb, and one hardwood. (And the one ebony wood I got off Amazon, which kicked this whole thing off, but we don't need to go down that road). Until I have a better idea of what I am doing here, I don't want to start a collection!

My bigger limitation is less financial, and more space. I have an 1,150 sq ft house, and a 360 square foot garage. I have no cellar and no attic. So I have to be creative with my space, and picking and choosing what I am going to do with said space. This is what concerns my about doing my own cellaring (that and a general impatience). I really can only keep so much on hand at any given time.