The Half Ashed Cigar Forum

**This is from the tin I opened on Episode 088**

In the below image, you can see a bit of what happens with a good blend with a bit of time on it. After nine years, the dusting of what I imagine is akin to cigar "plume" is visible, notably along the marks left by the flake slicer's blade. The 2-dimensional image is misleading - those aren't 3-D "hairs" standing on the flake; just microscopic which dusting in the tiny valleys left by the blade. Worth noting is that pipe tobacco doesn't seem to have the same confusion as cigars when it comes to its proponents' understanding of mold/plume. If a pipe tobacco molds in the tin, it is a horrid, wretched mess when you open it. Stinks to high Heaven, too. Nasty stuff, and usually the conditions that allow for it have been present in the tin for years and it's grown unchecked. You'll not likely mistake mold when you encounter it after opening that old tin....

Beautiful. Does aroma of the tobacco change as it ages? (Understanding that you obviously can't check the same tin more than once.)
Related to this, do other less obvious aromas ever form? Cigars with a few decades can tend to gain a slight sweet cheese aroma. Not at all repulsive or off putting. I'd be interested if pipe tobacco can do the same.


You've been Tapatalk'd

kurtdesign1 wrote:Beautiful. Does aroma of the tobacco change as it ages? (Understanding that you obviously can't check the same tin more than once.)

Absolutely. It can vary quite a bit based on blend. English/Balkan blends tend to get sweeter and have less (far, far less past 5 years) of the "campfire" smell to them. Virginias continue to get sweeter and riper, with deep, dark plum-like aromas.

kurtdesign1 wrote:Related to this, do other less obvious aromas ever form? Cigars with a few decades can tend to gain a slight sweet cheese aroma. Not at all repulsive or off putting. I'd be interested if pipe tobacco can do the same.

They do, but again it's largely dependent on blend. Speaking as generically as I can, most blends darken and get an overall sweeter aroma. Sharpness tends to die away completely, and a merely enjoyable aroma in a fresh batch can become deeply, intoxicatingly pleasurable with age. I don't know if you can tell, but the first few volatile whiffs from a newly opened aged tin are delightful for me

I gotta say I'm interested. Gonna pick up a two tins on payday to smoke/age. You might have just gotten me in more trouble with the wife. I've got a dark nook that would be a goo place to start a pipe tobacco cellar...


Kid Corona