Expiration or Use By Date
How long will an unopened pouch or tin of tobacco last? A few years ago I bought a sample box of various tobacco from Tinder Box and then had to leave suddenly for CA. In my haste I only grabbed some cigars and left my pipe and tobacco. It has been 2 years since that purchase and of the 4 pouches I had only opened one.
The other day I asked my daughter to check the pouches and she said the unopened ones feel soft when she squeezes them and the opened one the tobacco still feels somewhat moist and she added "smells really good too"
So what say you guys do you think the unopened ones are still good? How long will pipe tobacco last, will it keep like cigars. Under normal smoking conditions a 1.5 oz pouch would last me about a week or so or maybe 2 weeks so there was never a need for me to learn proper storage habits.
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The other day I asked my daughter to check the pouches and she said the unopened ones feel soft when she squeezes them and the opened one the tobacco still feels somewhat moist and she added "smells really good too"
So what say you guys do you think the unopened ones are still good? How long will pipe tobacco last, will it keep like cigars. Under normal smoking conditions a 1.5 oz pouch would last me about a week or so or maybe 2 weeks so there was never a need for me to learn proper storage habits.
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Comments
The standard advice is taken from G.L. Pease:
http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/saving-for-a-rainy-day/
http://pipesmagazine.com/python/pipe-tobacco/pipe-tobacco-storage/
You'll notice he recommends 10-15% RH, no air exposure/airtight tins/mason jars, not storing in a humidor like cigars, etc. Most of the literature on this concerns the bacteria in tobacco; how the aerobic, or bacteria that thrive on oxygen, consume all the oxygen in a tin, then die, allowing the anerobic bacteria, those that work in oxygen-less environs, to go to work aging the tobacco; very little is mentioned when it comes to cigar oil marriage, unlike cigars, where marriage is everything and the bacteria are nonexistent/undesirable. You talk to a piper about ammonia and how young cigars give it off, and they look at you with a blank face - most of them know nothing about how cigars are aged vs pipe tobacco.
Now, I'm not sure if this is pure ignorance, but it seems that pipers have much less contact with the blenders than cigar herfers do - on the Ccom forums and others, blenders or the retailers like Alex typically chime in and talk to the fans; on pipe forums, there's a vaccuum - it's only pipers, no blenders talking. So make of it what you will; honestly, I've no idea who's right - pipers have been at it for longer, sometimes entire lifetimes, but then again, cigar herfers seem much more knowledgable about the properties of tobacco, how the country of origin affects the tobacco, etc - it's taken as a revelation among pipers that the blends of tobacco they enjoy varies with each years crops, whereas cigar herfers almost all know that; pipers don't seem too occupied which country their tobacco comes from, whereas cigar herfers focus on the difference between honduran vs nicaraguan vs cubans quite a bit. It may well be that pipe tobacco is different than cigar tobacco, and both camps are right; I've n idea which is true though
All in all, a very confusing topic, though I'll leave you with a pic I found; on the left is a fresh tin, on the right is something aged for 30 yrs
From another pipe forum:
EDIT - to answer your question more directly, aged tobacco is very much a desirable thing, provided it's one of two things: 1) unopend tin, or 2) Opened, but moved into an airtight container/mason jar. If it's either of these, chances are the tobacco will have undergone some very desirable changes. I've got zero experience with it, but pipers typically say you wanna go through a tin within a month or so after opening it
Again, no idea if this is true or not, just what some old duffers on a pipe forum told me they heard second or third hand from G.L. Pease, so it could easily be complete BS; like I said, pipers don't seem to pay near as much attention to their tobacco as cigar herfers do