What Is the Single Most Special Blend, or Tin, in Your Stash?

[mrenglish]

I’ve got a tin of Kingfisher and Peterson’s University Flake in the rectangular tins. Kingfisher is dated to 1999 and the UF Flake is from 2000. I’ve also got a tin of Irish Flake and Dunhill Light Flake in the old rectangular tin (both from 2007) and last but not least a tin of Standard Medium from the late 80’s.

 

[pepesdad1]

Condor Long Cut (about 16 flakes left), half a plug of Condor, and a tin of McRaines Red Flake from 2012 that I will open only when I know I have only a few months left to live.

 

[johnsteam86]

I've grown really fond of Drexel VIII and VI. They were the first non aromatics that I tried and wow the flavor was there. Since then I have pretty much been stocking about 8 oz each per month to keep in stock and to see how they age. The only bad thing is now both of those blends have me on a TAD trying new blends my different makers and I need a new filing cabinet for storing now. I guess that is not a bad thing though. :puffpipe:

 

[mikethompson]

Some interesting stories in this thread. I have a very modest cellar. If I had to pick one tin that I would mark as special, it might be Holiday Spirit 2016 - my sons first Christmas. Who knows? I might just share that tin with him one day.

 

[mrenglish]

Now that would be cool, mikethompson.

 

[artificialme]

I've got Robert McConnell Scottish Cake in my tobacco rotation and in my cellared jar. I think I'm in love with kentucky now :puffpipe:

 

[skydog]

Well until recently it was my 2 tins of 98 Christmas Cheer. Within the past few months though I have found a steal of a deal on 94 and 95 Christmas Cheers and also a decent deal on the 83 crop of McCranie's Red Ribbon so those 3 would be my most prized now. Not sure when I'll crack into the McCranie's because I do still have some left of a partial tin I bought a while back that I enjoy occasionally. The Christmas Cheers will be opened and enjoyed around Christmas to mark exceptionally special years hopefully in the near future!

 

[samw74]

I’ve got a jar with a little less than 2 ounces of Low Country Cooper. My son’s birthday is on November 5th. Last year, I started a tradition of smoking one bowl every year on his birthday. By the way, his name is Cooper.

 

[saltedplug]

I've said this several times before, and perhaps I will be able to keep silent after saying it again, but there is a real danger in designating certain tins as special and to be aged long-term. Such tobacco enters a twilight zone (I'm streaming "Night Gallery") and never gets smoked as it has become tobacco to be smoked later. The years come and go without it being smoked. I cannot remember smoking any such designated tobacco during the last five years.
Now it's still boxed. To what end did I not smoke it? Purportedly to be savored more deeply when I did. But now if I stay quit I'll never smoke it. My point here is that as the future is unknown, how can those to be savored smoking moments be safely predicted?
More, how can delaying gratification and its attendant frustration really be any better than immediate? You may say that loving the effects of aging, of course it will be better. Yet Pease has written that the exuberance and liveliness of fresh tobacco are qualities sufficient to rival those of the aged. Isn't concentration and the willingness to be captivated by the tobacco you are smoking the most important elements in enjoying a smoke?

 

[mikethompson]

Thanks mrenglish, it was unintentional when I bought it, but everything worked out that way.
skydog, any tin of Christmas Cheer is special, but aged ones especially so. I to have some 2015 Christmas Cheer jarred I save for the winter months.
samw74, cool tradition!

 

[mikethompson]

saltedplug, true, perhaps we are assigning a value to a tin that's more than the value of the tobacco itself. I could get hit by a train tomorrow and never enjoy any of my cellar. But there is something to be said for keeping something aside, no?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Aged tobacco is just an after thought for me. My cellar is growing because in a few years I will likely no longer be able to afford tobacco.

 

[mso489]

I have a wide variety yet not a great amount. I have maybe twenty blends open and/or available in jars. Obviously, I like them all to a good degree, or I wouldn't keep them. But the unopened ones, maybe 30 or so tins, have the edge of expectation to recommend them. A few I'm especially looking forward to are: SG Brown Sugar Flake, and Low Country blends Cooper and Guendalose ... some Seattle Pipe Club Blends, several McClellands and good old Dunhills, Edward G. Robinson, Iwan Ries Three Star Blue, El Nino, and others. I guess the variety is some of the magic.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

The McClelland tins duh lol.
I heard great things at St James Woods and was really excited to try it. I was only able to get one tin before it was all gone, so I'm looking to hold on to it for some time until I open it at a pipe show or for some special occasion.

 

[josephcross]

For me it’s every tin. I live in Canada.

 

[mackeson]

I have quite a bit of GH bulks I often smoke. Those would be my favorite "go tos." That being said, I have many tins from GLP & McClellands that I often enjoy.

All that being said, to answer the OP, right now I'm a sucker for, and smoke most often, GLP Jackknife Plug. Ask me in a month and that may (probably will) change. I very often reach for Peterson Irish Flake, but am getting a little bored with it at this point

 

[sablebrush52]

I like that some of the respondents have made an outside connection with a particular blend, like a child's birthday, or some other life event. As I wrote in my original post, what made the State Express special was it being a gift from a special friend.

 

[mikethompson]

For me it’s every tin. I live in Canada.

so true!

 

[morgansteele]

Squadron Leader.
My wife's grandfather was an engineer on Spitfires during the Battle of Britain. He died 3 years ago. I always think of him and the BOB when I light a bowl. Fortunately, it's a blend that should be around a long time.

 

[rmpeeps]

saltedplug -

You’re absolutely correct. Special blends/tins are for special smokes.

I take the time to occasionally fire up one of ‘my precious’, otherwise they’re kinda like the urn on the mantle with Uncle Henry’s ashes.