To Crack...or not to crack?

[redheadedsmoker]

As I find myself delving into several blends and finding some that I think I like, I plan on starting to stash some away for the future.
Since I have been popping every tin I get, I've gotten into the habit of stowing away my tobacco in mason jars, which seems to be the suggested method for long term storage. However, should I want to add a few favorites to my orders to see how they taste age...should I crack the tins and jar them or leave them vacuum sealed in the tins?

 

[jgriff]

If you intend it for long-term storage and the tin is a solid one, then I'd leave it in there. If it's a tin more prone to failure (cardboard, SG tins, etc.), then I'd jar it. The big problem with opening a tin or jar is that you reset the aging process and slow it down. The more you leave it alone, then the "quicker" it will age. If you plan to smoke it in the next year or so, then just leave it in the tin.
Some members here put those tins prone to failure in a sealed plastic container as an insurance policy.

 

[teufelhund]

Depends on how long and the conditions of storage. A lot of the time sealed metal tins will hold up just fine until they begin to bulge and the seal is lost or they rust. Keep an eye on them in case you need to swap them to jars. When you transfer them after they've aged a while you're adding air to your aging process and it can yield different results. Best bet for long term is jarring immediately if you're looking for consistency and accuracy of how long it's been aged. Good luck to you.

 

[drrock]

I"m of the belief that most pipe tobaccos age best in their original tins.

 

[fnord]

Red:
The only tobaccos that don't get jarred in my cellar are Dunhill, Escudo and Balkan Sasieni. But, now that CupOJoes is carrying BS in bulk at a swell price, that blend will meet the glass soon.
Of course, I know that English blends don't age like VAs and VaPers. I'm just trying to safeguard my hobby against underwriting the cost of way too much national debt. Sin taxes are always the socially acceptable means to fund government programs and once my cellar builds to forty lbs. - I'm currently at 17.5 - then I'm going to start to laying away cases of my favorite sour mash.
I truly love Hearth & Home, Cornell & Diehl, GLP and McClelland products, but their tins are suspect because they aren't really tinned. Ball, Kerr or Wal-Mart's house brand glass jars are the cheapest insurance policy you'll ever buy and I have seven cases of them stacked up in my basement closet. (I always buy the wide mouthed jars because my meat hooks are too big.)
Best of luck to you, pal.
Fnord

 

[phil22]

I suppose if you desire "peace of mind" you could jar most of your tins after the initial opening. I prefer to leave unopened tins to age in their original tins. I have had 300 plus pounds aging for several years and have yet to encounter tin failure.

 

[judcole]

If you are buying tins for the express purpose of aging, don't open them at all;just label them as to date of purchase and set them aside in a cool,dry place. I have a big old Igloo cooler sitting in my basement that serves the purpose nicely.

 

[rmbittner]

As (I think) everyone else has said: Tins!
Conventional wisdom says that three years in the cellar should be sufficient to show off the benefits of aging. After that. . . well, some blends will continue to change and improve for maybe 5-10 years. Others might go much longer before they start to decline. And at three years, some will be as good as they're ever going to get; with additional time, they'll start to decline. It depends on the blend.
If you are going to be cellaring for a truly extended time, though -- say, five+ years -- I'd highly recommend checking the tins every year for any signs of rust. Even the tiniest dot can indicate a compromised seal on the tin. I think rust is pretty rare, but I've seen it on one blender's tins from the early 2000s (which were known to have issues) and another manufacturer's tin that had been cellared for 30+ years. In both cases, the tobacco had gone dry as dust and had to be humidified to be smokeable again. In each case, the blend is never quite the same as it would have been had the seal remained intact.
Bob

 

[edgreen]

I have had 300 plus pounds aging for several years and have yet to encounter tin failure.

That's impressive. How much do you smoke in a day? I'm of an age where I don't think I have enough years left to smoke what I already have stocked and aging won't be anymore than four or five years. I don't want to leave any on the table.

 

[rmbittner]

Phil22 wrote:
"I have had 300 plus pounds aging for several years and have yet to encounter tin failure."
I think it's the "several years" here that's significant. I would be very surprised if you were able to go 10+ years and not lose at least one or two tins to rust. I've had two tin failures due to rust -- one from a mid-1980s tin and one from a 2003 tin. But this depends to an extent on your local climate, how the tins are stored, and, of course, whether the tins were structurally sound to begin with. (My 2003 "failure" was from a run of tins that is known to have had problems.)
But tin "bulging" is a wonderful thing. I've had tins that have been bulging for 15 years and still have intact seals. I do believe bulging tins should be checked regularly to make sure they're still holding strong. But I don't think bulging indicates imminent disaster.
Bob

 

[escioe]

Almost all of what I smoke comes in the 2 oz McClelland/C&D/GLP style short tins, and I've never had an issue with a seal breaking on those. I have tins that are bulging so much they don't sit level, and the seals are still fine. A few of the old style GLP tall cans have rust issues, so I keep an eye on those and transfer to jars if necessary.
I do jar up the big 8 oz tins of GLP blends that I buy, not because I fear their seals, but because I want to open them 2 oz at a time.
I'm of the theory that the less you screw with a blend, the better it's going to meld. I always laugh when people talk about 'cellaring' a tin they've opened and smoked 2 bowls from, jarred up for a year, smoked two more, jarred back up, smoked two more a year later. That's not the same as a 3 year old tin, or even a 3 year old jar. Interrupting the process is probably a bad thing. Of course this is different than letting a tin decant for a few weeks, like people do with Christmas Cheer.

 

[phil22]

Edgreen - Yes, my cellar is impressive. To be honest, it is also excessive. I will never be able to smoke that much tobacco. At times I smoke heavily but at other times I smoke a couple of bowls a day. I plan on selling off a portion of my cellar for the reasons you mentioned.
Rmbittner - My tins are kept in a conditioned area and moisture is controlled. I have a small number of tins dated before 2000, but most are mid 2000 or later. I do check tins once or twice a year. I have a good many "bulging" tins and I agree with you, they are wonderful. I keep my eye on those in particular and have not experienced seal failure yet. I tend to believe that temp and moisture control are very important when cellaring.

 

[hakchuma]

There are so many contradicting answers to this question that it becomes confusing. Someone mentioned in this thread that to open a tin slows down the aging process. This is contradictory to everything I've read so far. Now, I am certainly no expert but I have to point out that I read an article not long ago written by Russ Oulette, who I consider to be a master blender simply by the act of smoking several of his blended tins and bulk. From what I understand, cracking a tin and placing it into a mason jar accelerates the aging process more than storing the tobacco in the original tin, depending on the brand and the type of tin that was used during packaging at the manufacturer.
So please, someone tell me that either Russ is wrong, or I am reading his opinion on aging incorrectly.
Quote and link from Russ Oulette below:
"How does one go about aging tobacco? If you mostly purchase tins, the process is simpler, but has its caveats. If you mostly purchase vacuum-sealed tins (the flat tins with screw threads or need to be popped with a coin), be aware that leaving the tobacco in that tin will allow it to age, but relatively slowly. The lack of oxygen in the tins reduces the effect of aging, according to no less an authority than Greg Pease. The tins used by Cornell & Diehl, G.L. Pease, McClelland and our own Hearth & Home tobaccos are not vacuum-sealed, so the oxygen content of the tin is better suited to aging."
Read the full article on pipes and cigars dot com

 

[escioe]

There are two kinds of tins that behave differently.
Non-vacuum-sealed tins, like C&D, GLP, McClelland, and Hearth & Home have oxygen in the sealed tin, giving the little critters or whatever magic goblins age tobacco some air to work with.
Vacuum-sealed tins, which I don't smoke any so I can't name them, have no oxygen, retarding the aging process.
Nothing about this seems contradictory to me.

 

[hakchuma]

Contradictory is the wrong word I am looking for. However, my answer is the best answer. Well, actually it's not my answer at all. It's Russ Oulettes answer :P

 

[escioe]

From what I understand, cracking a tin and placing it into a mason jar accelerates the aging process more than storing the tobacco in the original tin, depending on the brand and the type of tin that was used during packaging at the manufacturer.

Again, this is true only for vacuum-sealed tins. You get no benefit from taking a GLP, C&D, McClelland, H&H, etc tobacco out of the original tin and putting it in a jar. In fact, you almost certainly lose something. I've got experiments going with some same-vintage tobaccos, some jarred, some still in the original tin, and I'll report back in a few years. But I suspect that the tinned tobacco will be a little bit better melded by that point.