Storing Tobacco - Vacuum Storage

[darwin]

According to the great and powerful Oz (Greg Pease) vacuum sealing is not recommended but a really good mechanical seal is a requirement. I use 5mm metallized Mylar bags exclusively for cellaring both bulk and tins and seal them with a dedicated heavy-duty sealer meant expressly for the purpose.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

According to the great and powerful Oz (Greg Pease) vacuum sealing is not recommended but a really good mechanical seal is a requirement. I use 5mm metallized Mylar bags exclusively for cellaring both bulk and tins and seal them with a dedicated heavy-duty sealer meant expressly for the purpose.

Yeah, I have what sounds like the same mylar set up. My vacuum sealer is for food, but I was just experimenting with tobacco. What triggered it is that I received a shipment of some old Three Nuns tins that came vacuum sealed.
Still, leaving aside what Oz thinks, it would be an interesting experiment as to whether a vacuum seal would halt the fading of latakia. I guess the fundamental question is: What makes latakia fade over time? Is it the presence of oxygen, the passage of time, or a combination of the two?

 

[darwin]

If you're talking about lat blends in tins then vacuum sealing those will likely make little difference unless the tin's original seal is faulty. I can think of at least two reasons why lat seems to fade over the years. The first one is that the flavor components oxidize over the time that oxygen is still present in the blend. The second is that over time the virginia component of the blends undergoes anaerobic fermentation which might cause them to be a bit more flavor forward than they were originally thus seeming to slide the lat a bit into the background. Could be that if a lat blend is seriously vacuum sealed without a tin thereby reducing the oxygen content as much as possible then the flavor balance might not change or mellow as much as if it were kept in the tin. Wild guesses really. I've had six year old Nightcap and could taste little difference but my palate is not that sophisticated anyway.

 

[skraps]

I would suspect that if you really wanted to try and remove oxygen from the bag, the oxygen absorbers available from most mylar distributors would be the way to go. Then you can use the heavy duty mylar, not have to worry about vacuum sealing and remove the primary catalyst to aging or oxidation.

 

[jitterbugdude]

I have a bunch of Lat blends stored in mylar bags. Some are Nitrogen flushed and some have O2 Absorbers in them. We'll see how they taste in 2025.
Something odd is going on with Latakia fading over time. The Lat in HH Vintage Syrian is already 20-30 years old. So has it already faded? The whole leaf Lat from Whole Leaf Tobacco is from 1997 and it tastes fine.
I think darwin might be onto something. Maybe the Lat is not fading but the Virginia's flavor enhances as it ages, muting the Lat somewhat. Looks like I need to put a few pounds of whole leaf Lat in to deep storage too.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My $0.02 is that just because "some" latakia blends and aromatics fade in time, does not mean that all of them do. So much crap is passed down in forums and smoking lounges as TRUTH is just speculation. Because one gets a 40 year old tin of some latakia blends that the latakia taste had faded means bunk. Where was the tin stored? did it ever freeze? was it stored in a barn in Minnesota? Mexico? Air pressure of the place it was stored? Bad run that year for that blend? Was it in a jar? was the jar ever opened? resealed? Was something in that blend heavily cased? Topped? an experiment in that run had an inferior burley or Virginia? What other unanticipated environmental factor could have impacted it?
If latakias all faded in time, then what of reports of people finding nirvana on some 40+ Balkan Sobranie? Or, any of the other sought after Holy Grails.
Just my thoughts.

 

[brudnod]

If someone wrote a treatise on cellaring tobacco and its future prospects we would all use that as the yard stick for what to expect. Since a book does not exist for that, we are stuck with (blessed with) the articles from reputed tobacco producers and their experts. Forum antidotes, random one tin tirades and tweets do not make scientific justification for demonizing the cellaring practice of one or another practitioner. As is frequently said in scientific journals: more study is warranted...

One can make adequate justification for vacuum sealing on a number of fronts and, hell, if it works well who can to argue? I'd like Peck's take on the vacuum sealing progress at a year or two, then five; that should be constructive feedback.

 

[plugugly]

Peck, I recently popped some Lanes aromatic jarred in 2009. No fade in aroma or taste.

Personally I'm convinced that's because sealing a mason jar or tin actually seals out the Einsteinian Universe and Time thereby stops running within the sealed vessel. Or maybe lack of oxygen just stops the oxidation of the volatile aromatic elements imparted to the leaf by the slow burning fires of Syria or Cyprus or the sure hand of some master blender of sauces and casings. Anyway,I think it will last a looooooooong time.

My $.02.
Plugugly

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Thanks guys. I may try vacuum sealing myself to see if it prevents me from aging. Should make for an interesting clip.

 

[elpfeife]

If you do that, Peck, will you still be able to post here regularly?

 

[cossackjack]

Yes, Peck, vacuum sealing yourself will guarantee that you will never age another day.
Before you do that, may I ask for the make & model of your vacuum sealer?

 

[jpmcwjr]

Be sure to post it up on YouTube and FaceBook! And good luck! How shall I collect your tobacco tins when you're, uh, all sealed up?

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Well I tried, but could barely get my left nut into the bag. Now I am walking around with my left nut vacuum sealed.
cossack, that is a VacMaster VP215. I bought it this summer for freezing stuff and also for sous vide cooking.

 

[cossackjack]

Thanks, Peck.

I have a Cabela's CG-15 Vacuum Sealer, which is quite serviceable, though not as elegant. I have sealed bulk flakes, ropes, krumble cakes, & plugs, as well as a few tins (Germain's Special Latakia Flake), but cannot yet attest to the effect on their aging. It seals mylar bags as well. The degree of air evacuation can be adjusted to allow for the creation of a partial vacuum. It is also very good for dry food preservation & freezing, especial meats & fish. Not sure how well it would work on Canadian Barristers.

 

[brudnod]

Cossack, Not sure if you really look more like the french-fry tender on the night shift at Burger King but your avatar is EXCELLENT!