Oh hell. You're gonna need a bigger house if you mean to take this hobby seriously. Maybe a climate controlled storage unit would do the trick.
Should I Buy Aged Tobacco?
- Thread starter Cyxelsid
- Start date
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@Cyxelsid if you are wanting to jump in face first, then search this forum for posts made by the late @cigrmaster and do what he did.
Also, if there is a chance you may want to jump ship later on and put down the pipe, or at least retire it to occasionally use, maybe, just maybe, you should stick to any quantity purchases (eg a pound of this or that) in tins. They might be easier to offload
Also, if there is a chance you may want to jump ship later on and put down the pipe, or at least retire it to occasionally use, maybe, just maybe, you should stick to any quantity purchases (eg a pound of this or that) in tins. They might be easier to offload
Hey man I’m serious! LOL
Probably smoked about 150 blends in the past two years, and I have about 55-60 blends on hand now.
Most of it is in mason jars inside the @Ahi Ka Kiwi approved Sistema tupperware from NZ! LOL
I don’t have any serious underground bunker storage.
In this case, get some 7mil Mylar bags and start buying bulk tobacco by the pound.
I wouldn't, but if it floats your boat have at it.
If this is really the case, and your other posts are sincere and not just winding us up, I can’t help feeling that this forum is seriously skewing your natural development as a pipe smoker…
It can have that effect. But enlightenment is on the horizon, as well.
Soon you realize that you don’t need to smoke this or that because of the hype, or because such and such says it’s 3.5 stars vs. 3.0. It eventually clicks and you understand that it doesn’t matter. Get what you want and enjoy it. If you can afford it, buy the hell out of aged tobacco. If you can’t, buy the hell out of 1oz samples of the match and figure out if you even like it before you buy the real thing. To that end - and pay close attention here - they will always be available through some outlet, or another. At least until they aren’t.
I often wonder what pipe smokers complained about before the internet.
At this stage in the game, you really need to explore different Virginias and VaPers to get an idea of what the changes are in the aged tin.
But, exploring is good. And, you'll always want to work on your technique. Everyone can stand to keep working on this.
That seems to be the case for a lot of new pipe smokers these days. Thanks to forums, YouTube, reddit, etc, a huge cellar and aging your tobacco are presented as table stakes for anyone smoking a pipe.
Like most things in pipe smoking, yes and no. I would like to see the progression from relatively new to whichever point I'm done with that blend. So I usually buy 3 - 8 tins of a blend. Usually 5 tins. At the same time, I would like to experience some of the discontinued blends. But being a cheap as I am, screw that.
You said you didn't want to spend $100 for a 4-ounce tin and then find out you don't like it was kind of a clue.
I completely agree. As I said, I need to just slow down and learn!
Nope. Nope. And nope.
Buy from current and available inventory. There are hundreds to choose from. Most are good.
You'll find styles and blends that you prefer.
Buy more of those.
Keep sampling.
Suddenly you'll have enough to keep yourself entertained. Then enough for a year.
And one day you'll realize you accidentally have enough to last several decades, and likely the rest of your years.
Some of it will get old in the process and you'll be the envy of newbies who wonder what to smoke.
Buy from current and available inventory. There are hundreds to choose from. Most are good.
You'll find styles and blends that you prefer.
Buy more of those.
Keep sampling.
Suddenly you'll have enough to keep yourself entertained. Then enough for a year.
And one day you'll realize you accidentally have enough to last several decades, and likely the rest of your years.
Some of it will get old in the process and you'll be the envy of newbies who wonder what to smoke.
This. THIS. They hype mostly ignores that it isn't always a net positive. Change? yes. Better? Not necessarily.
Unless you have it in your mind to not grab something again, I wouldn't understand the logic of buying aged to gauge a place in your tobacco understanding. That's not worded the best, but as some others stated, you'd learn a lot more about your tastes and tobaccos by buying something in production and tasting it fresh, 6 months out, 12 months out, etc. A practical and useful process. If it is simply about pure pleasure and learning be damned, then by all means, grab some already-aged.
Buy whatever trips your trigger and you'll start to figure out what you like. I kind of dived into the shallow end head first a bit and have learned a lot about what may or may not benefit from age and more about what I prefer with some different options. I don't think I started jarring anything until 2021 and have plenty of tins I've purchased set back which represent things I like. I still buy tobacco with age on it, now exclusively Virginias that are aged, and with advice gleaned on here, and so there is an aspect of "buying a cellar" which I enjoy, it is just much more focused. I've gotten what I think are some great buys from forum members on the tobacco FS sub-forum and have gotten some great buys from @pipestud as well. An example - a few weeks ago while the clicking fury of the first few minutes of the auction were going on I saw a pack of 5 Dunhill Flake tins for about $30 a tin. I like Peterson Flake so I figured why not get what should be the same blend with 6 years of age on it. I've been airing a tin for a bit and will give some a go next week and we'll see if I can tell a difference. I found I like Capstan Blue (and Gold for that matter) and there was a package deal with some 2019 tins recently (still some to be found out there, btw) and and worth it to me to get some and it's packed away somewhere and would also make a nice Secret Santa gift as well. But it's all mostly an experiment. I have some old McClellands, some cost a bit more than others, and frankly mostly scratched that itch but found a few blends that I really like of that and not the over the top expensive ones and keep a lookout now and then. Mostly I try quite a bit of current things on spec to see what I like and if I really like something then I'll get some extra and put it back, most of that current sampling is aros and some lighter English blends. There are quite a few aro/non-aro Wilke blends in particular I like, I suppose because that is where I really started with getting sample packs, etc.
For me what is fun (may not sound like it) is trying something and finding I just don't care for it. I got a couple of the Country Squire Christmas blends in small quantities around the holidays --- one I really liked (and now put away until next Christmas season, one I finally tried just the other day and just didn't. I'll try some more of it sitting on the deck when spring comes and see if a different day/environment matters and if I don't like it then, it won't be saved, but I'm learning some things about some aros I just don't like when they burn, haha, and can taste a little acrid, to say the least. Just a flavor thing, but learning! Point is, I'm more intentional now and better for it, but only because I've experimented.
It's always IMO and YMMV, just like some beverages taste great and some just don't and some taste great in different contexts. I'll have a 7up every six months or so, but hand me a Sprite and you will get it back (unless I'm your guest!). I'm not a big alcohol consumer at all, but developed a taste for whisky (and now whiskey) and have a wee dram every once in awhile and I definitely know my preferences (got a pretty good education on a couple of vacations from some locals and bartenders who were really helpful) - if it is "peaty" I pass, haha, but my oldest daughter won't have anything that isn't. I have a very few bottles of what I really like and a few of those bottles I've had for a few years and they still taste great and haven't bought anything new since last year when I discovered some Irish I really liked and lucky for me the ones I like are pretty "common". So I guess I have a cellar, lol. Wine? Enjoy it if you like it, I just don't. Beer? Pale and simple and really cold, but not that often.
So I say experiment and do what you like, take in advice and read up on here and plenty to learn, I've learned a lot since 2020 and still learning!
Way too long a post, but something about the OP struck a chord, so, lol, IMO and YMMV and if you want to buy a bit of aged tobacco to see what you think then . . . . WTF!
For me what is fun (may not sound like it) is trying something and finding I just don't care for it. I got a couple of the Country Squire Christmas blends in small quantities around the holidays --- one I really liked (and now put away until next Christmas season, one I finally tried just the other day and just didn't. I'll try some more of it sitting on the deck when spring comes and see if a different day/environment matters and if I don't like it then, it won't be saved, but I'm learning some things about some aros I just don't like when they burn, haha, and can taste a little acrid, to say the least. Just a flavor thing, but learning! Point is, I'm more intentional now and better for it, but only because I've experimented.
It's always IMO and YMMV, just like some beverages taste great and some just don't and some taste great in different contexts. I'll have a 7up every six months or so, but hand me a Sprite and you will get it back (unless I'm your guest!). I'm not a big alcohol consumer at all, but developed a taste for whisky (and now whiskey) and have a wee dram every once in awhile and I definitely know my preferences (got a pretty good education on a couple of vacations from some locals and bartenders who were really helpful) - if it is "peaty" I pass, haha, but my oldest daughter won't have anything that isn't. I have a very few bottles of what I really like and a few of those bottles I've had for a few years and they still taste great and haven't bought anything new since last year when I discovered some Irish I really liked and lucky for me the ones I like are pretty "common". So I guess I have a cellar, lol. Wine? Enjoy it if you like it, I just don't. Beer? Pale and simple and really cold, but not that often.
So I say experiment and do what you like, take in advice and read up on here and plenty to learn, I've learned a lot since 2020 and still learning!
Way too long a post, but something about the OP struck a chord, so, lol, IMO and YMMV and if you want to buy a bit of aged tobacco to see what you think then . . . . WTF!
Aging is a bit overrated if you ask me, especially when it comes to 10 years and beyond. Most blends lose a lot of their edge and complexity when they get really old and what you end up with is an ultra-smooth smoke that has one predominate flavor instead of mixture of many subtle ones. My favorite blends are best fresh or with a year or two on them. Beyond five years they start to get less exciting.