Smell War Horse? Don't Be Fooled!

[pipesticks]

I was recently going thru my tins, sort of an inventory inspection thing, and I kept smelling a pungent aromatic tobacco. After segregating suspects, I finally nailed it down to the War Horse tin from 4/17. The thing just reeked. It was typically dented in two places from shipping and figured the seal had failed. WRONG!
That tin had a solid vacuum. War Horse is just so pungent that evidently the tin stickers get just permeated with the very strong aromatic odor during manufacturing. It's hard to believe that the smell didn't dissipate with almost a year of aging. So, if you open your "cellar" and smell tobacco, it may not necessarily be a failed tin and it's just the lingering effects on the tin. So, my tobacco is now jarred and I know what I'm smoking this afternoon...

 

[badbeard]

Pungent is definitely the word for it. A friend of mine sent me some War Horse Bar to sample, and I could smell it in the package before even opening it. It was so fragrant in the bag that I jarred it.. and I could still smell it in the sealed jar.

 

[olkofri]

I bought a tin of Warhorse Green last autumn, which I promptly jarred. So far, I haven't smoked a gram of it, but I kept the tin and have used it as home fragance.

 

[mcitinner1]

You guys have some mighty sensitive smellers. I have a box full of forty plus tins of War Horse Bar, and while I can for sure smell the baccy, I sure would not call it pungent when I open the box. I would call it very pleasant though. :mrgreen:

 

[pipesticks]

This is War Horse Red and its just such an odd odor, yet I really like the smell. But holy cow is it strong. I don't think I want to put that stuff in a briar. Luckily, I have plenty of MM Legends lying around from a Cob Seconds grab bag. If it turns out I love the stuff and buy a bunch more, I'll find a briar to dedicate.

 

[badbeard]

My experience with it was actually way better than expected. The smell of it didn't seem to translate over into the smoke the way I though it would. Although it certainly does have a very distinct flavor, that's for sure. I personally think it smells more like a urinal cake than some of the Lakelands do.. maybe it's more of a freshly changed urinal cake vs. Lakeland used urinal cake.

 

[mcitinner1]

You got the strong part right man. I smoke it late at night when I wake up and need to get back to sleep. Works great. I'm retired by the way. :rofl:

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I had the same experience.. I had 1 tin in a box full of other tins and whenever I opened it, all I could smell was Warhorse.
Dreadful stuff that bar.

 

[pipesticks]

I have a box full of forty plus tins of War Horse Bar

40 plus tins. Sheesh. Your entire house must "pleasantly" reek of the stuff and you just don't notice it anymore

 

[lawmax3]

Smells great tastes even better!

Love the stuff.

 

[jitterbugdude]

I heard that drug smugglers usually throw in a few tins of War Horse with their stash. It throws off the dog's ability to find the drugs.

 

[sablebrush52]

So, if you open your "cellar" and smell tobacco, it may not necessarily be a failed tin and it's just the lingering effects on the tin.

Almost all flat friction seal tins leak from the get go, with the rectangular and square tins seeming to hold up worse than the round ones. And there's a really easy way to verify this.
Take your tins and put them in a tub with a lock down lid and leave them there for a few weeks. When you do this, separate your English/Latakia blends from your Virginia blends. Separate your canister tins from your friction sealed flat tins. Then after a few weeks, pop the lids off the tubs, sniffing each tub as you unseal it. Assuming your sniffer works, you'll smell Virginia from the Virginia tub, Latakia from the English tub, and pretty much nothing from the canisters.
I keep my tins in tubs to keep them from stinking up everything around them. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd seal them up in heat sealed food grade storage bags. I'll probably do that next year, after I retire and have the time.

 

[Snow Hill]

I keep my tins in tubs to keep them from stinking up everything around them. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd seal them up in heat sealed food grade storage bags.

sablebrush52, are you referring to mylar bags?

 

[cigrmaster]

I have not seen a square tin fail yet and hope my good fortune continues. I believe a possible reason for any tin failing is big temperature swings. Going from low 60's in winter to mid 80's in summer can't be good for tins. My home never ranges from 68 for a few weeks in winter to 74 the rest of the year. My ac system also keeps humidity out which can cause tins to rust.

 

[npod]

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd seal them up in heat sealed food grade storage bags.

Yep! Works great. Keeps the tins from stinking up a room. I got a big role of seal-a-meal plastic from Costco and I have been vacuum sealing the tins that will be aged >5 years. Works great.

 

[midwestpipesmoker70]

I have yet to have a problem with any type of tin but I made sure to put my tobacco hutch in a location of the house with the least change in temperature. This seems to have been the trick I hope.

 

[pipesticks]

I live in an ancient building on the 2nd floor. The temperature can range from 58 in winter to 100 in summer. It doesn't seem to affect the tobacco that I can notice. I watched a video by NWPipesmoker where he was talking about like 15-20 y o tins stored out in a garage....alternately freezing and baking for years.

They said the tobacco tasted fine but that certainly seems too extreme to me.

 

[weezell]

I have at least 14 cases of ball jars in my den full of tobacco. When there are swings in barometric pressure or temps I hear the seals on them popping...

 

[mawnansmiff]

"OK Jim, this is where he was last seen smoking Warhorse Bar"

Regards,
Jay.

 

[hawky454]

Never had a problem with tins “stinking” up the room and believe me, my wife would let me know! I think Harris has a good point. My house stays 68 in the winter and 72 in the summer, no drastic temperature changes here (indoors).
But, those War Horse tins are nuclear! I could smell the Play-Doh from my driveway when they were sitting in my mailbox... I traded them off a couple days later.