I've heard that people have had trouble with tins of Penzance coming open when they have had them stored for a while. Has anyone else had trouble with any other tins? Dunhill circle screw on lids? SG lids? Peterson lids? I want to find out which tins I should be most careful with.

Coins and sardines, basically the vacuumed sealed stuff. The pull top GLP McClelland types are generally fine.

In general, the square, ie, rectangular tins are the most susceptible to breaking the seal. Screw tops and tab tops are pretty safe.

While, I find the square/ rectangular tins to be the worst at keeping tobacco from drying out once opened, the only tin I had come open on me in storage was a tin of 965 (newest release). My big caveat though is that I have very few actual tins aging, mostly bulk in jars or GLP/McClelland cans.

I have had two coins that were suspect a Solani Gold Label and a Gordon Pym. I always double check them prior to cellaring, especially anything dented or anything that travelled through the post.

Same here Dave - a recent tin of 965, but it was my fault. Sure didn't take much of a bump to break that seal though...

I immediately jarred the tobacco, labeled the jar, and all was fine.



Lesson learned? Be careful with certain tins, some are weak by design and don't have very strong seals.

Good to know. I don't want anything to go bad because of a bad seal so just today I opened and jared some tins of SL and FVF i had stored away. I did leave a few in the tins as those are easyer to trade.

Esoterica tins and bulk bags seem to be the worst, with Sammy G tins being a close second. Which reminds me, I have to go check all of my "square" tins: being in the desert, it wouldn't take long for a little disaster.

Makes me wonder if atmospheric pressure, shipping from lower to higher elevations, etc., can cause problems. So, I neurotically check them.

My own personal experience has been with mostly Brit coin open type of tins. I have some un-opened Dunhill, Sobranie and S&P tins still un-opned from when I bought them 30+ years ago and so far all are still well sealed. I have bought some of the newer Orlick tinned Dunhill blends and some Wessex, all bought within the last two years and ALL are much easier to open than the older Brit tins were even when I was smoking them soon after buying back then. After looking carefully at them, I think the newer made tins are somewhat different than the older ones. They almost pop open on their own for me! But not the older ones The only sq./rect/ tins I ever used were what the old Bengal Slices used to come in, but I would almost eat that stuff when I got it so it never had a chance to go "stale" .THAT'S a blend that is sadly missed I've never had any problems with the American style of plastic topped/ pull-off tin, even when let sit opened with just the plastic top on for long periods of time. I would think that if all is nice and sealed when put up in the cabinet, if you don't mess with them It goes without saying, that you would want to put any bulk 'bac you buy up in whatever type of jar you feel would work.

The worst in theory are the "treasure chest" (hinged) tins... they're just for looks, and inside is usually a foil pouch. Solani Silver Flake, some of the WØ Larsens, etc. Have the Mason jar waiting at home--don't chance it.

In practice, though, I'm in accord with the Hive Mind here: square tins often seem intact... until they're not.

Check them all from time to time. And look for rust. Sometimes it takes almost no effort to stick a toothpick though a tiny rust spot.