Five Question and Answer for Age Pipe Tobacco
1. Why should I age my pipe tobacco?
There are as many reasons to age pipe tobacco as there are questions concerning how to.
2. Which type of pipe tobacco benefits the most from aging?
Virginia type tobaccos are decidedly the best prospects for aging followed by English style tobaccos. Aromatic pipe tobacco, in our experience, benefits little if any from the aging process.
3. Where should I store my aged tobacco?
Your aged tobacco should be stored in the coolest and darkest place in your abode. Light and heat are the 2 biggest enemies of the aging process and should be avoided at all costs. Your storage area can be as simple as thick paper bags under your bed or spare closet to a dedicated, climate controlled room similar to a wine cellar and everything in between. Replicating the environment of a wine cellar would be the ideal scenario. Wine and pipe tobacco both thrive in the same temperature, conditions and humidity. Humidors designed for cigars, whether walk in or otherwise, generally are much too humid for pipe tobacco. Cigars need 70%+ humidity while pipe tobacco does well in 30 - 40% depending on the type of tobacco. Igloo type coolers work well for storing your aging pipe tobacco.
4. How long should I age my tobacco?
The minimum length of time that you will notice any significant benefit of aging is 6 - 12 months. Your aging pipe tobacco will really start to improve at the 18 month mark and approach the sublime at about 36. After 36 months the aging process will slow a bit but will continue. We have found properly stored pipe tobacco as old as 30 years that is absolutely extraordinary. There is no such thing as over aging pipe tobacco as long as the tobacco is stored properly.
5. What should I store my aged tobacco in?
There are many ways to store your aging tobacco. If the tobacco came in a sealed tin simply mark the date on it and put it away in your "cellar". There are also many affordable tinning machines available for home use as well. A search for "tinning machines" on a major search engine like Google will reveal many choices. Mason jars and canning jars work well when sealed properly. Vacuum sealed bags are another option. Well sealed vacuum bags have an unprotected usable shelf life of about 18 +/- months. They will work very well for many years if the sealed bags are kept in a climate controlled environment such as a wine type cellar, humidor or another sealed container like an Igloo cooler. Well sealed bags also serve to press the tobacco which has benefits as well.
There are as many reasons to age pipe tobacco as there are questions concerning how to.
- Simply put, well aged and properly stored pipe tobacco will be the finest you will ever smoke;
- We have all experienced the demise of one or more our favorite blends. Aging provides a hedge;
- You will save a lot of money by buying now at current prices. The price of pipe tobacco is constantly rising due to manufacturing costs, the cost of raw tobacco and production increases and new taxes. Buy now and save later;
- New laws are aimed at limiting and completely doing away with online tobacco sales that we now enjoy. Buying online is so threatened that if the current crop of laws pass we will no longer be able to make online purchases of tobacco with the next 12 - 24 months.
2. Which type of pipe tobacco benefits the most from aging?
Virginia type tobaccos are decidedly the best prospects for aging followed by English style tobaccos. Aromatic pipe tobacco, in our experience, benefits little if any from the aging process.
3. Where should I store my aged tobacco?
Your aged tobacco should be stored in the coolest and darkest place in your abode. Light and heat are the 2 biggest enemies of the aging process and should be avoided at all costs. Your storage area can be as simple as thick paper bags under your bed or spare closet to a dedicated, climate controlled room similar to a wine cellar and everything in between. Replicating the environment of a wine cellar would be the ideal scenario. Wine and pipe tobacco both thrive in the same temperature, conditions and humidity. Humidors designed for cigars, whether walk in or otherwise, generally are much too humid for pipe tobacco. Cigars need 70%+ humidity while pipe tobacco does well in 30 - 40% depending on the type of tobacco. Igloo type coolers work well for storing your aging pipe tobacco.
4. How long should I age my tobacco?
The minimum length of time that you will notice any significant benefit of aging is 6 - 12 months. Your aging pipe tobacco will really start to improve at the 18 month mark and approach the sublime at about 36. After 36 months the aging process will slow a bit but will continue. We have found properly stored pipe tobacco as old as 30 years that is absolutely extraordinary. There is no such thing as over aging pipe tobacco as long as the tobacco is stored properly.
5. What should I store my aged tobacco in?
There are many ways to store your aging tobacco. If the tobacco came in a sealed tin simply mark the date on it and put it away in your "cellar". There are also many affordable tinning machines available for home use as well. A search for "tinning machines" on a major search engine like Google will reveal many choices. Mason jars and canning jars work well when sealed properly. Vacuum sealed bags are another option. Well sealed vacuum bags have an unprotected usable shelf life of about 18 +/- months. They will work very well for many years if the sealed bags are kept in a climate controlled environment such as a wine type cellar, humidor or another sealed container like an Igloo cooler. Well sealed bags also serve to press the tobacco which has benefits as well.
Labels: age tobacco, pipe tobacco
posted by Shang Ning | 6:41:00 AM
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