Cellaring and new blend trial

[MarkOfThePipe]

I am looking for some ideas from you all on how you establish your priorities on stocking and cellaring, and how you all make your lists for which blends take precedence to try immediately, and which can wait. It's challenging for me, because I have just hit the tip of the iceburg with only about 20-30 blends under my belt, and I would like to formulate a better approach to all this. Also, how long is reasonable to leave a tin open without the contents being ruined, or does that even happen? I try not to have more than two or three tins open at once, but this is difficult as well, as in recently i've been trying to get a feel for straight VA's and VaPer's, so i've been smoking them side by side to get a feel for what I like and don't like about them. When you all use ball jars, do you use warm or hot water to create a good seal, or do you just jar and date them and not worry about it?

I am sure this has all been answered here, and I know I could search better, but I was just thinking about it, and I am making myself late reading all of the great stuff on this site.  

Thank you all in advance.

 

[mark]

Priorities on cellaring? Try as many blends as possible,,make a list of those that you'd take to a desert island and start storing them. Two to three years later look at what you've cellared, smack palm to forehead and wonder what was I thinking. Give, sell, trade, or dump and start over. ( a worst case scenario but it happens )  

Open tins being ruined? It depends how moist the blend is and how dry you like your tobacco. I open and toss it into a 1/2 pint Mason jar ,no worries, if I never get back to it It'll be fine.

I just label and date the jar and screw the top on. never had a problem.

 

[idbowman]

I'll smoke out of the tin for about a week or so...if I can tell I'm going to blow through the tin quickly, I keep it in the tin until it's gone. If I've got other blends I'm rotating between or if the open blend is something I'm dying to go back to over and over I'll do exactly as Mark suggested above - toss it in a mason jar and dip into whenever the mood arises.


As far as cellaring, I started out by buying two of every tin I wanted...one to smoke, one to cellar. This was all fine and good until I found myself with more than a handful of tins of tobacco in the cellar that I didn't really care for (ie, didn't like the tin I bought "to try."). It's really all a matter of budget, but I think you'd do well to find tobaccos that you like without worrying about cellaring at first. Once you get comfortable with what tobaccos you really want to have in the cellar, start buying a tin to smoke and 3 or 4 to cellar (or whatever you're budget calls for). After only a few years of that, I rarely find myself buying new blends to try, and most of my purchases are of blends I know and love and they go right into the cellar.

 

[rothnh]

All good advice here.

Since our tastes vary, starting out, and while it's hard to tell which blend might suit your tastes, I suggest doing some homework.

If you know, for example, you enjoy virginia blends, take the time to note which of those blends might appeal to you based on what you read here on BoB and elsewhere, and then the reviews on tobaccoreviews.com.  

I suggest taking notes on each blend you're drawn to and why.  If you enjoy more than one type of blend, say, the occasional aromatic, create a separate "Bucket List" delineating each blend within those types.

Soon, you'll have enough information to cherry pick one or more ounces and/or tins of some blends that you feel will work well for you.  As you smoke them, add to your impressions to your notes.

While doing this, you're developing a list of your favorites and at the same time, gathering important details on each blend you can use to compare a favorite to other blends you may be thinking of trying out.

If you feel particularly gregarious, you can add a "curve ball" once in a while.  My last "gamble" was El Rincon de la Pipa No. 1 from 4 Noggins -- it was new to me, had some good reviews, and I was looking for a flavorful yet mild English, so I bought a couple ounces and liked it, so I've since bought more of it.

As for how long an open tin stays fresh, in my experience, it's about 3-4 weeks -- at least around here where the ambient humidity is average.  If I'm not going to finish a tin in my rotation within a month, I'll jar the rest.  If buying a baggie of bulk, it should be jarred right away, or throw a pouch moistener coin, charged with distilled water, in the bag (you can also extend the freshness of an open tin this way too).

Ball screw-top canning jars are fine right out of the case.  I remember reading another puffer, with a scientific background state emphatically that new jars are actually cleaner than if the same new jars were washed with dish soap and dried and dish soap can have a detrimental effect on the "good" microbes required for proper aging.  When I want to reuse jars, I wash them in the dishwasher on the sanitary (hottest) cycle, then heat dried.   I inspect the lids and if they're fine, I reuse those as well; if in doubt, I replace it -- lids are cheap and sold separately wherever the Ball jars are sold.

I use a Sharpie pen to "label" the blend and MM/YY on the lid. A drop of acetone (nail polish remover) on a piece of paper towel will wipe that off when the jar is empty. The filled jars go back in the 12 jar cardboard case they came in, a Shaprie black marker is used to I.D. what's in the case, and the full case is stacked with the others in my cellar (a dark, cool and dry walk-in closet).

I fill the jars, fairly well packed (I use the standard 8 oz. jars, which hold 2-3 ounces of tobacco, depending on the blend) and leave 1/2 inch of air space at the top -- tobacco needs air to age properly.  I then screw on the lid tightly and return to the newly packed jars after a week to retighten if necessary (this is because the microbes begin to do their thing right away and the process will "suck" the lid more tightly onto the glass jar -- you can actually hear the "ping" noise when that happens, it's kinda cool).

Good luck, enjoy, and remember -- like most things worthwhile, the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it

 

[MarkOfThePipe]

Thank you all, you guys are a huge help. That answered everything I needed to know.

 

[derlict311]

If a blend doesn't strike my fancy within the first couple of bowls (different pipes are mandatory here), I have no problem discarding the tin. There are just too many good options to be stuck with something you don't care for just for the sake of finishing your tin. At only $10-18 a tin (I don't do it much), I am not afraid to throw it away. Now that I've been at it a while, if a blend remind me of another…that doesn't work much for me. I look for ones that are unique and have their own character. So experiment!  I also use tobaccoreviews.com for a subjective bunch of reviews. If enough people are saying the same thing, it may be worth trying for yourself.

As for storing tobacco, an opened tin is good for a week to ten days before it loses its edge. I make a concerted effort to smoke my open tins in that timeframe. Those I don't smoke that fast I transfer to mason jars for longer storage and/or OXO containers for the 1-4 week range. Those work great! Neill Roan from A Passion for Pipes has a nice article on the subject:
http://www.apassionforpipes.com/neills-blog/2010/11/28/keep-your-favorite-tobaccos-optimally-fresh.html

Cellaring is great, too, if you have the time and money. I have a wet bar in a closet in our basement that is my converted tobacco shrine where all my mason jars and old tins go. I also have a humidor that I utilize for baggies and tins that need a little humidity refreshment.

I track my tins with Tobaccocellar.com. Here's my modest little collection: http://www.tobaccocellar.com/derlict311
It is a nice free site to inventory to monitor your smoking habits. Lots of info here. I hope this helps.

 

[SteveS]

I'm working to build my cellar much as I did my cigar stash ... slow and gradual, buying additional multiples of something I really like, then socking some away for aging ... stuff I'm a bit less sure of, I just let age a while longer, then try it again to see what's happened to it ... anything that has shown marked improvement, I get some more of ... still not sure, let it age a bit longer and re-test ...

I DO make an effort to consume that which I just didn't like much at the outset in order to avoid building a second cellar of 'mistakes' like I once did with the cigars ... I donated enough 'mistake' cigars 'to the troops' that probably every guy in Iraq and Afghanistan got something I was clearing out ...

 

[flyguy]

During the past year, I have sampled many tin and bulk tobaccos. If after smoking at least 2 ounces and I find I love the blend, then I make plans to purchase that tobacco in quantity and cellar it. If it is a bulk, I immediately transfer the tobacco to 8 or 4 oz mason jars and place them into my cellar. Tins are placed directly into my cellar. I label the jars and tins with the date cellared. I keep tabs on my cellar with an Excel spreadsheet which automatically tallies the total quantity by name and weight and keeps track of the date cellared. My spreadsheet also keeps track of how long my cellar will last at my current consumption rate. My plan is to cellar a ten year reserve. Currently my spreadsheet shows I have 16.314 lbs that will last me 1.9 years. I know, this sounds a little anal.  

If I don't care for the blend, I mix it with either Carter Hall or 5100 which usually makes it palatable and smoke it ASAP. If it is a popular blend, I trade it for something I like or haven't tried. I try not to throw anything away.

I target Virginia blends/flakes since they cellar best. I do have a few Latakia blends in my cellar. Due to recent threats regarding the possible outlawing of aromatics, I have begun to cellar the few aros I like.

 

[monbla256]

I'll smoke out of the tin for about a week or so...if I can tell I'm going to blow through the tin quickly, I keep it in the tin until it's gone.  If I've got other blends I'm rotating between or if the open blend is something I'm dying to go back to over and over I'll do exactly as Mark suggested above - toss it in a mason jar and dip into whenever the mood arises.


As far as cellaring, I started out by buying two of every tin I wanted...one to smoke, one to cellar.  This was all fine and good until I found myself with more than a handful of tins of tobacco in the cellar that I didn't really care for (ie, didn't like the tin I bought "to try.").  It's really all a matter of budget, but I think you'd do well to find tobaccos that you like without worrying about cellaring at first.  Once you get comfortable with what tobaccos you really want to have in the cellar, start buying a tin to smoke and 3 or 4 to cellar (or whatever you're budget calls for).  After only a few years of that, I rarely find myself buying new blends to try, and most of my purchases are of blends I know and love and they go right into the cellar.

THIS!! VERY GOOD advice. Don't get caught up in the "...I gotta try..." that can overcome a new smoker from what they read on the forum. If you are gonna smoke a pipe for the rest of your life, THAT'S the time frame you ought to work from.

 

[rothnh]

I personally found it a huge mistake to end up trying a bowl or two of something new and then throwing it out.  I mean ... WTF?  

It's a shame IMO.  Assuming I do the modicum of research on something new to me, the chances are good that I will actually enjoy this new blend.

It actually sickens me to think that I will spend $10-$18 on a tin of something, smoke one or two bowls, and then throw the rest away.  

I mean, come on -- even if you're rich (hey I can afford pretty much whatever I want), I'm sorry, but if you're buying tobacco and end up throwing it away, you're certainly not doing it correctly. You definiteky need to relook and what you're doing, d00d.

 

[derlict311]

Oh my! I should have asked for permission before I threw away the rest of my turkey dinner then, too!
God Bless America!!

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Monbla started a thread awhile back about the limits of cellaring. I think we have all had the quandry, once we seriously cellar, over when a tin should be opened. "It has 5 years on it now, should be good, but do I open it now or at 10 years?" The gist was, and monbla please correct, that we are not promised tomorrow. That we aged the tobacco in the first place to improve it, and once improved, we should enjoy it then. The goal is not to have 50 tins with 10-20 years on them and end up opening them when were 80, as that's when the tin has "sufficient age."

I used to have lots of aged VA, $3300.00 worth, and I sold that lot to come up on cigars. What good did it do me in my pipe career to hold those tins so long? Maybe if I had had a policy of smoking up those great straight VAs at 5 years I would have been a happier camper. Don't the aging gurus say that 80% of aging is done by 5 years. Why didn't I smoke it then?

 

[SteveS]

earlier today in this thread, I said:

... stuff I'm a bit less sure of, I just let age a while
longer, then try it again to see what's happened to it.

which put me in the mind of a blend I'd put off to one side a while back ... McClelland 2015 ... so, this evening, I loaded a pipe with that and lit up ... well, that (approx.) 90 days did that stuff a world of good ... another 90, 180, etc. should have an even more profound effect ... I'm not all that surprised, after all I've been doing this for years, but it does supplement this thread quite well ... it speaks volumes about the effect of aging on tobacco ...

 

[planetary]

Don't get caught up in the "...I gotta try..." that can overcome a new smoker from what they read on the forum. If you are gonna smoke a pipe for the rest of your life, THAT'S the time frame you ought to work from.

For a new smoker, yes. But we're talking about building a cellar here, and that is squarely in the domain of the enthusiast!

Although not squarely related, I would consider the question along the lines of the "depth vs. breadth" cellar debate. If you are the type of person who is very set in your ways and doesn't like to try new things, or perhaps is one of the lucky few who have found their desert island blend(s) -- then fantastic. Cellar narrow and stock deep!

In my case, I appreciate variety and changing things up a whole lot. So I've built a relatively wide cellar, with at least a hundred blends represented, almost all of them with multiple tins in stock. If anything, I am biased slightly toward Virginias and Virginia/Perique blends in the cellar, since its primary purpose is to provide a supply of well-aged leaf -- so I go deep there. OTOH, high-quality Latakia blends can go for decades as well (not just the "10 year peak" silliness you sometimes read about), and I have plenty of those in the cellar as well.

Finally, especially for the less experienced or younger smokers, I would consider cellaring a selection of blends that are well-respected or from a blender whose other work you enjoy -- even if those mixtures don't strike you as your cup of tea right now. There's probably even odds that your tastes in tobacco will evolve over time, and you may develop a taste for something that has eluded you. Worst case: you'll never enjoy it, and will instead have a few nicely-aged tins to gift, trade, or sell.

Just my two cents. Enjoy and do what you can within your budget! There's a whole lot more in the world that's more important than our hobbies, so do the responsible things first, of course!

 

[Dramatwist]

Open tins being ruined? It depends how moist the blend is and how dry you like your tobacco. I open and toss it into a 1/2 pint Mason jar ,no worries, if I never get back to it It'll be fine.

I just label and date the jar and screw the top on. never had a problem.

Works like a charm!

Best,

 

[AJ]

Priorities on cellaring? Try as many blends as possible,,make a list of those that you'd take to a desert island and start storing them. Two to three years later look at what you've cellared, smack palm to forehead and wonder what was I thinking. Give, sell, trade, or dump and start over. ( a worst case scenario but it happens )  

Open tins being ruined? It depends how moist the blend is and how dry you like your tobacco. I open and toss it into a 1/2 pint Mason jar ,no worries, if I never get back to it It'll be fine.

I just label and date the jar and screw the top on. never had a problem.

This^^^^^^^^^^^is how I do it. It's a great simple system.   

AJ

 

[monbla256]

Age is the big thing to consider and I'm not talking about 'baccy. If one is in their 20's/30's long term cellaring is probably something to consider for time is on your side.  :twisted:  At my age, anything over 4/5 years is probably an exercise in futility  :twisted: :twisted: Something to consider  :twisted: