Tins, jars, mostly used for cellaring. What about the foil baggies, such as Esoterica Tobacciana's 8oz sacks? Keep in mind, these are vacuum sealed plastic and foil bags, not your run of the mill ziplock baggie.

Some discussion has taken place on boards, and apparently bags have survived several years of aging. I dissected a Stonehaven bag and posted on Puff about it:

"I was curious, and unlike the feline that met its untimely end due to it, I attempted to disassemble an Esoterica foil baggie.

The other discussion(s) about storage media had me thinking about this. Will such a bag really work for aging? Anecdotal accounts suggest so, and a post that I read some time ago by GLP suggested that several layers were used in these foil bags to provide the same air/moisture proofing as a tin or jar.

After I finished moving the contents of this baggie into mason jars, I cut out a chunk of the baggie, took a razor blade and attempted to separate the layers. Wasn't easy, this stuff is well night bulletproof.

I wish I had a good macro lens for the camera to take pics, but I don't, so here is a text only analysis.

There are indeed several layers. I found three. The inside is an almost clear plastic film, I would guess a mylar sheet 3mil thick (I've worked with these before in a previous life/career), its more rigid than a ziplock bag. Laminated to it is a metallic film, feels like a very thin sheet of aluminum foil (like the stuff you have in the kitchen) but it may be metallized nylon (like party balloons). On top of that (the outside of the bag) appears to be another laminant though I am unable to separate it (too damn thin). This is the classic yellow-ish color of the bag. The printing may be inside the top layer, I was unable to scratch the letters or the yellow off, I'm thinking reverse printed plastic film laminated onto the metallic foil. Or the top two layers may be a classic party balloon structure (one piece).

Mylar is used for airtight seals among other things. Party balloons (metallized nylon) are also somewhat airtight (they do go flat eventually, but I suspect it is the seal that gives on balloons). Does this combination work to keep both O2 and H20 molecules contained/isolated? Do we have a scientist in the house?"

So who makes that blend you love so much?

Ah, the name on the label may not tell the whole story. Let us take a look at our friends at Villiger Stokkebye International. Villiger brand tins and Peter Stokkebye bulk blends? Oh yes of course, and ...
Orlik
W.O. Larsen
Stanwell
Erinmore
Escudo
Balkan Sasieni
Skandinavik
Sail
Troost

Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself!

But wait, hold the presses. Check out the site for Scandinavian Tobacco Group (the name on your Escudo tin). The same names, and even more brands! I assume this is the parent company to Peter Stokkebye. But who actually MAKES the product? Your guess is as good as mine!

And more breaking news. On their homepage, the news release states:
"14 January 2011 - Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S signs agreement to acquire Lane, Limited, which strengthens its US market position and global leadership."

As the commercial goes, "What's in your blend?" Or was that wallet?

There are quite a few basic types of baccy leaf that are, well, blended into our much loved blends. Often a topping is added to, well, top the mixture. The combination of tobacco types and topping(s) (if any) are what gives each blend its own uniqueness.

Virginia tobacco has a natural sweetness due to its sugar content, but tends to give "tongue bite" due to its chemical composition and burn characteristics. Mostly VAs are mixed with other types to reduce the bite, yet retain the flavor. Virginia ages well, cellaring results in a smoother smoke, especially after many years of aging.

Another technique used to tame virginia is to "toast" or "cook" it (called stoving), this results in the type called Cavendish. While more mellow than VA, the taste tends to be sweeter.

Burley is probably the most used tobacco type. Many aromatic blends use burley as a base, mainly because burley tends to take of the flavor of whatever it is added to. While simple aromatic blends do not age too well (the toppings break down and go poof), burley and virginia blends do indeed age very well. Esoterica Tobacciana's Stonehaven for example, ahhh heaven, at any age.

Perique is a condiment type leaf, depending on what it is blended with and how much, perique can go from a scorching spiciness to a figgy sweetness. Escudo, of course, is the flagship of a VA/Perique blend.

Oriental leaf adds a herbal/salty/spicy taste, depending on the type used. Latakia is technically a kind of oriental tobacco, but is flavored by burning herbs to give it the unique barbeque smokiness making it a different animal.

Aromatics are generally classified as blends that have an added artificial flavor topping that completely overwhelms the true flavor of the base tobacco.

Here is your latest delivery, a stack of tins ye tall. Now what? How does one "age" this tobacco?

Easy, leave the tin alone, in a cool and dark place. Visit as often as you like, but do NOT open the tin (until you are ready to ignite its contents). Easy.

Ah, but what about bulk blends? The kind that comes in giant ziplock baggies. Or the tins that you just HAD to open and sniff thereupon.
For that we need the "mason jar". Or a whole bunch of them, depending on the quantity of tobacco you have. The Ball and Kerr brands are generally recognized as premium canning jars, so I would recommend these two names. Select jar size based on the volume of baccy you intend to store. The half pint jar holds about 2oz to 4oz of baccy, depending on its cut and consistency. Flakes, for example, are compressed, and with some tetris-dexterity one can cram quite a bit of the good leaf into a jar.

Select wide-mouth jars. They are just easier to scoop out from, and cost about the same as regular mouth jars. While I'm all for recycling and reusing, do NOT use a jar that has ever held any kind of foodstuff. Yes you can wash it, disinfect it, sterilize it, but just don't. Danged jars are dirt cheap, spring the nickel.

You can reuse jars that were used for baccy storage, sure. Just rinse with water, don't need no soap. But replace the lids, the rubber gasket gets squished after use and may fail in the future. Lids are dirt cheap, you cheapskate!

The best way to prepare jars is to simply run them through a dishwasher, just the jars (not lids, not bands, not your dinner plate either). Hot water, NO DETERGENT. Set the dishwasher to use the heated dry cycle. When the heater shuts off, you're ready. Do the filling quickly, you want the jars to be hot. Measure in your tobacco, leave like a quarter inch on the top for air space. Add lid, make sure no baccy is on the lip of the jar to compromise the seal area. Tighten band. As the jar cools, the air within also cools and contracts. The lid "nipple" will pop down (may take a day or a month, depending on how much air you left in there), ensuring a secured seal. And done! Easy! Don't forget the labels, with content and date clearly marked. Open after several years, enjoy.

From my Escudo tin date thread on Puff:

Escudo date code left of barcode

On the left of the barcode on the backside of the tin, the series of number is:
YEAR DATE MONTH (and four digits of gibberish) this fine tin appears have been born on July 9th 2008.

The "old" Escudo tins were made by Copes, they have a white painted lid (not a sticker). Some still live on fleabay, so if you hit the lottery, pick one up. There are reports of date codes since 2001 versions. But if its a painted lid then you got something really old, regardless!

From my other Escudo thread on puff:
The "oldest" Escudo tin I have seen is the A&C Petersen made batches, apparently from 2006 onward.


Newer tin labels changed the wording from "Fine Tobacco" to "Pipe Tobacco" around 2009. By my guess, July 11th 2009 was among the last batches of ACP made Escudo tins. New production has a red dragon like logo and is made by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (also in Denmark). All bear the same date code formats.

The big brown truck pulls up, a muscular stud flings your latest TAD (Tobacco Acquisition Disorder) package across your lawn with reckless abandon. The fiend! Dosth thou not know how hard it so to get those tins of [insert name of rare/discontinued baccy here]?

So how long do you wait before popping the lids of all those ninety odd tins in your order? Personally, I like to give all blends, especially Virginia heavy blends, at least 6 months to "awaken". After 18 months, they start to "age". Purely aromatic blends, usually, do not benefit from aging, they simply go "flat". Latakia blends, also usually, may not benefit from aging in excess of 5 years.

There used to be a very good aging FAQ out on the Internet, but it seems to have disappeared. I'll try to post salient details and links to references on this blog as I find them.

A blog; on cellaring, aging, and consuming premium pipe tobacco. I keep coming up with things I want to write about or add to the Tobacco Cellar site, but what with life and work and other things, it never gets done.

The blog. A perfect solution! Type it when I think of it, and bada-bing-bada-boom, its done. Subscribe to the feed so you can stay abreast of pipe baccy developments!

Over time I'll add some ways to link specific blends/items to related blog postings which will make things more interesting.