So Many to Choose..Which One?

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jay29

Lurker
Oct 10, 2011
3
4
EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

Coming back into the hobby after a 9 year break. Went to cigars and a little cigs now and then. So now I have much aged pipe to tobacco in my cellar. Maybe 15 pounds. All dated when I recieved them. I love strong Va/pers. Have no Idea what to choose to open. I just compared 13 year old Kajun Kake to a fresh tin I just bought. Ohh...what a difference. I don't want to use up the 13 year old unless a special occasion.

I have MASS amounts of FVF from 2011. Some St. James flake with nice bloom. Lots of Rattrays, Escudo, Peterson Perfect Plug, Triple Play, University and Irish Flake, Loads of Christmas Cheer, Orlik GS, Filmore. Many tins. All aged 9 years. A couple look like they are ready to burst...

I dont know which to choose. Please help. :col:
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Escudo, Triple Play, and Irish Flake are three I know and love. None of them are less than tempting.
 

karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,341
9,012
Basel, Switzerland
Some people will say it's a myth, but I'd suggest you smoke the old blend you opened pretty fast or it may go flat.

I bought SG Balkan Flake from 2003 in a special sale from a UK shop, the first couple of flakes were heaven in a bowl, then I decided to save it for special moments and sadly all subsequent flakes I had were nearly tasteless.
 

select565

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 2, 2020
115
502
Some people will say it's a myth, but I'd suggest you smoke the old blend you opened pretty fast or it may go flat.

I bought SG Balkan Flake from 2003 in a special sale from a UK shop, the first couple of flakes were heaven in a bowl, then I decided to save it for special moments and sadly all subsequent flakes I had were nearly tasteless.

uh oh. this is kind of nerve-racking to read. i have a handful of old tins i opened and haven't revisited in a while. is there some science behind this?
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,252
108,356
uh oh. this is kind of nerve-racking to read. i have a handful of old tins i opened and haven't revisited in a while. is there some science behind this?
The microenvironment the tobacco existed in is being disrupted and the immediate introduction of oxygen when opening begins a sort of decomposition like a long sealed corpse being discovered. I never let tobacco age more than 5-10 years before using it. Aging isn't a night and day change in a blend and aging isn't my priority in cellaring. I've amassed a couple of hundred pounds for when it gets too expensive to buy. Nearly there now.
 

karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,341
9,012
Basel, Switzerland
uh oh. this is kind of nerve-racking to read. i have a handful of old tins i opened and haven't revisited in a while. is there some science behind this?

I haven't searched for science on tobacco blend aging, but there may be some. The issue is it is all anecdotal, from smokers and forums like this one, and in any case depended on taste so it's very subjective. The prevailing idea is that Virginias and VaPers become deeper, sweeter and more mellow with age, burley doesn't care, and Latakia loses its smoky punch.

There is plenty of science around chemical changes to tobacco during curing and kilning but commercial blends are long past these points.

The consistent view is that aging changes tobacco. There is also the notion of old tobaccos going flat soon after disturbing them, and what embers says rings true. My own experience is a n=1 so take it with a pinch of salt!
 

select565

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 2, 2020
115
502
The microenvironment the tobacco existed in is being disrupted and the immediate introduction of oxygen when opening begins a sort of decomposition like a long sealed corpse being discovered. I never let tobacco age more than 5-10 years before using it. Aging isn't a night and day change in a blend and aging isn't my priority in cellaring. I've amassed a couple of hundred pounds for when it gets too expensive to buy. Nearly there now.

kind of shocking to hear this, being that there are lots of people buying and selling tobacco with serious age on them at a serious premium. What will you do when tobacco becomes too expensive to buy and the majority of your stock is 10+ years.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,252
108,356
kind of shocking to hear this, being that there are lots of people buying and selling tobacco with serious age on them at a serious premium. What will you do when tobacco becomes too expensive to buy and the majority of your stock is 10+ years.
Due to rate of physical decline, and my family's average life expectancy, I likely won't see that day.
 

jon11

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 25, 2013
619
591
Smoke the 13 yr old Kajun Kake. I agree with you 100%, it is sublime with 10+ years on it. It turns into more of a plug than a cake and it is an excellent smoke
 
Jan 28, 2018
12,954
134,657
66
Sarasota, FL
kind of shocking to hear this, being that there are lots of people buying and selling tobacco with serious age on them at a serious premium. What will you do when tobacco becomes too expensive to buy and the majority of your stock is 10+ years.

I believe what people are saying is, once you open very old tobacco, smoke it soon. Unsure what soon is. I've not experienced this myself but I also don't have extensive experience with really old tobacco. What experience I have doesn't support this theory at all.

The thought of this being real is a good reason to store bulk blends in small jars. I've been using 1/4 and 1/2 pint jars for quite some time. I won't be opening a jar until I'm ready to hit the blend and smoke it up rather promptly.
 
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My anecdotal experience on the second part - Aged tobacco deteriorate very quickly when unsealed

1. I opened a 100g tin of Blackhouse from Nov 2011 in August 2019. Divided into two jars. First Jar I smoked from August 2019 to Nov 2019. Second Jar I smoked from Feb 2020 to sometime in June/July 2020. While the jar note softened a bit, did not see any difference in taste.

2. I opened a tin of McClelland Blackwoods Flake from 2009 sometime early 2020, and smoked it over 4 months, from the tin
without putting it into a jar. No difference in taste on the day I opened till the last bowl, about 4 months later
 
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