Tobacco Cellar Smells Like Tobacco

[rhoadsie]

I don't know if I should be expecting a few "duhs" but the room where I cellar my tobacco has a tobacco odor. I like it but if the tins are "sealed", technically there shouldn't be a tobacco odor, correct? I have a mix of tin types and on the order of ~40 lbs cellared. Every european tin I pick up and give the sniff test has a tobacco smell and in line with type of blend. Is this normal? I believe all the tins are sealed but how do I know for sure?

 

[peteguy]

My cellaring cabinet is the same. Reminds me of the old B&M I used to visit in the late 80's. I never worried about it until now....

 

[tarak]

Do you store pipes there too?

 

[philobeddoe]

The tins I pick up at B&M's usually carry a cigar smoke smell, due to the tins being shelved near the smoking lounge. These tend to add up over time and indeed greate a general tobacco smell amongst all of my sealed tins. I don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[rhoadsie]

@pete, I actually love the smell and if I'm not able to smoke at the moment, I'll take a second to enjoy the aroma.
@tarak, I do now but it was the same before the pipes. go figure?
I've got my square tins in nifty ziploc "all weather" tupperwares that have a foam seal in the lid (got em from Walmart). I don't know for sure but I think they are air tight.

 

[sallow]

I can smell tobacco through the square metal tins.
I don't get anything through the pease type cans.

 

[atskywalker]

I have a large plastic box I store tins I'm not going to look at for a long time. Every time I open it I smell tobacco as well. Wasn't worried until now . Should I?

 

[beezer]

The issue rhoadsie described is what drove me to invest in a bunch of mylar bags and seal two tins of the same blend in them for long term cellaring. Tins I know I won't get to for 5+ years got the mylar bag treatment. For all my other tins I keep them in one of these air and watertight trunks.
These precautionary measures may be overkill perhaps, but I no longer have any concerns that I'm going to open a tin of mummy dust down the road. Everyone's different.

 

[andrew]

Yeah were I store my tobacco in various places it smells like tobacco, square tins and round tins but not the McClellend type tins.

 

[jitterbugdude]

I too used to smell tobacco coming from tins that I had stored in a big plastic storage box. Like Beezer I put the tins into Mylar bags and then back into the tub. No more tobacco smell at all.

 

[zitotczito]

Interesting, as the only time mine has the smell is when I jar something up and the plastic funnel keeps some of the smell, and then it goes away.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love it. My whole pipe room has that warm tobacco smell. As I set down to prepare my pipes, it's like being enveloped in a shroud of tobacco-y goodness.

 

[atskywalker]

Its not the smell that I'm concerned about or wanting to suppress. If there's a smell something is not air tight as it should be. Will it not age (and probably dry) correctly?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When I only had 60-70 lbs, I didn't have an odor in the cabinets. It's only been since I have grown way past that, that I have the aromas. I think mine is just sheer volume. If you only have a few pounds, then I might worry. If it is jars, check the seals. If it is tins, maybe wrap the tins or put the tins in jars. Just my guess + suggestion.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

If it is all sealed up, then maybe just enjoy. It's in the tobacco goddess's hands. ::

 

[deathmetal]

Tobacco in bags will impart the smell to anything around it. When I directly sniff tins, I get a little whiff of this, but it's often clearly not the tobacco in the tin (unless a whole bunch of these tins are mislabeled). Try wiping one down with a cloth dampened in alcohol and you may see what I am speaking of.
This realization led me to another, which is that small sample bags of aros -- while something I would probably not smoke before the baccopocalypse hits -- serve as the world's best air fresheners. We have an old musty closet and I threw a small packet of some maple sugarish aro in there, and now it smells delicious. Maybe the aro will absorb the scents of decay, death and neglect and they will improve its flavor.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yeh, I keep a small bag of Hobbits Weed in my underwear drawer. Better than smoking it, IMO. ::

 

[darwin]

Tobacco stored in heat sealed 5 mil metallized mylar bags will emit no detectable odor. I've had a large Rubbermaid tub filled to the brim with bulk tobacco stored this way for over a year and there is no smell of tobacco in the tub at all.

 

[drfrankenstein56]

That odor is just about a step short of heaven, I love it when I open up my cellar to it.

 

[captainprophesy]

Wait... are we now saying that a tobacco cellar should not smell like tobacco? .... smh!