Tobacco Recommended for Short Term Aging

[cosmicfolklore]

BEF? Better Erindale Flake, Biggest English Flake, Balkan Energy Flake? I don't think I have ever seen someone use BEF, can you explain what that stands for? Thanks

 

[briarbuck]

SMH Big 'effing flake or Big Elephant Francis
(Bulls eye flake)
UR welcome

 

[ashdigger]

Tobacco. That's what I would recommend.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Oh, LBF, Luxury Bullseye Flake. Haha, you threw me there.

 

[briarbuck]

I think I went about 2 years before I figured half of the abbreviations are around here. I still get lost. lol
But on topic, those 2 blends do seem to go from tasting young to mellow quickly.

 

[mso489]

Really good thread, thoughtful. I'm going to contradict my previous post ... a little. When you give aromatics some time, if the flavor mellows or fades somewhat, and the base tobacco(s) are high quality, the blend can become more tobacco-forward, and for me the aromatic can taste better, unless you prefer your aro's flavoring dominant.

 

[sablebrush52]

You can often pick up tins with a few years on them by visiting your local B&M. The dust gathers while everyone's shopping on line.

True that! I picked up a load of vintage 1996 Rattrays tins, Black Mallory, Red Rapparee, Accountants Mixture, and others as well as 2012 HH Acadian Perique and HH Vintage Syrian, and other goodies with 5 to 10 years on them.

 

[bluto]

Lots of posters say Latakia looses its smokiness with age , so
Is there a sweet spot for lat heavy blends , becoming less smokey yet also improving some ?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Bluto, there are no absolute rules for all tobaccos. Generalities rule on the forums, because fully explaining something takes a lot of words. I have had some great latakia blends that kept their smokiness. My pipe club recently shared a few +10 year old GLP blends that held up very well, and was very sweet with age. I didn't notice a thing wrong with the latakia. If you are keeping some latakia blends for over 20 years... maybe? But, mostly, I think that the thing about aromatics, burleys, and latakias not aging well is bullshit. Besides, how long are you going to cellar for... over 20 years? Really? Maybe.

Cellar what you like to smoke, and just forget all of the bullshit theories. Don't worry with it.

There are vast circles of aged latakia and Balkan smokers that drop good money on gathering up old latakia blends. Check out Greg Pease's Instagram page to see some of the scores he makes on aged latakia. If you like latakia now, then set it back for later.

 

[bluto]

All my tins right now are 6 months to a year . I'm trying to judge which to try first , others I want to sample in the 1 to 3 year zone . But coz , you are right , I don't sweat the small details , because it's all small details .