Is Aged Tobacco Mostly Mystique?

My 3 basic rules: Latakia kills everything. Burley ages so-so and is often better fresh. Virginia blends are enhanced toward the mellow through aging. That’s just me. Other tobacco scholars will likely have their own more accurate spin.

Trial and error. Unfortunately. One of the problems I see is the doctrine that, for instance, aging tobacco type X will always result in something better and/or superior. For instance, I feel McClelland #2015 was better, or preferred to my tastes, when not aged at all. Buy it and smoke it. Even with six months age on it, so much of the grassy and earthy tones disappeared. An entire flavor layer was eradicated with aging. General rules are fine and all, but "age it all. it only gets better." is of little service, especially to a new smoker who should be carving their own path and not following rules.

There aren't really any proven rules. It's all personal preference.

Have to admit that until I fell in with this "den of thieves" many years ago, the thought or idea of "aging" tobacco had never entered my feeble mind!! Ya' bought a tin/pouch and smoked it!! Also, I was not a big ginnyweed nor Burley smoker back then...Pretty much a dedicated Latweed guy!! I did begin to accumulate bags/tins back in the early 2000's, sometimes able to procure blends from the 1990's! Part of this was the thought that our wonderful Federal "smoke Nazi's" were going to regulate tobacco production out of business, or that my favorite blends (BS 759 for example) would just go away. Hence, accumulate for later consumption!! However, I went a bit overboard; buying current production, as well as significant quantities from various Brothers who were liquidating their cellars. I also jumped into the "unobtanium" market, hitting garage sales, estate liquidations, plus occasionally buying online when that could be done! Hence, I have a significant accumulation of smoking weed.
Now to the matter at hand...Burley just don't change much with age. Latweeds do change as the Latakia smoothes out and the ginnyweed creates sugar crystals and creates the gas that bulges the tin!! Straight/VaBur/VaPer/VaOriental ginnyweeds really create those sugars and gasses as they age.
Case in point, I popped a tin of 10-year-old GLP Union Square three weeks ago. Bottom was bulging so much the tin wouldn't sit flat anymore! Popped that sucker up close to my nose to catch the tin aroma, damn near blew my head off when I opened it!! That tin was one great smoke!! Can't wait to pop some of the Frog Mortons and old Dunhill's hiding behind me.
That said...I am absolutely blown away at how older blends are scooped up on Steve Fallon's site every Saturday morning! And the prices just keep inching up! There was a time when I would buy some tins from Steve; few and far between for me now! I'm 95% out of the 'baccy buying business. I have more than enough. And I've said more than enough!! FTRPLT

I think the rule simply is 'aging tobacco changes it.' Whether or not that change is good or not is up the smoker. Toppings mellow or disappear, Latakia and Orientals certainly evolve but not sure how to characterize them; VA and Perique mellow and sweeten. Rough edges may smooth out. I bought some G&H sweet rum twist which was strong and rough smoking fresh, but now it just as strong but smooth and much more enjoyable. YMMV!

RSteve said:

Yesterday I smoked several bowls of HH Syrian, circa 2007. I was not driven to ecstasy

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I thought I would like this so I bought a couple of pounds and even with age it still tastes horrible.

RSteve said:

Would a tin with several years of age be more enjoyable to you?

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Depends, some stuff like Balkan Supreme, the Frogs and other McClelland Latakia mixtures tasted great fresh while my GLP favorites need at least a few years of age.

De gustibus . . . You can't fool me or ants with artificial sweeteners but my wife loves those non caloric sweeteners. Some things you can't argue about.
I can say that conditions during ageing may have an effect. For example I have had Virginia tobacco that was vacuum packed that seemed not to have aged compared to same brand tobacco jarred for a comparable length of time. After the vacuum bag was opened jarring the tobacco for a decade and then resampling revealed the flavour changes I had expected. I'd say the years spent in the vacuum were wasted. I avoid sunlight and temperature extremes when ageing my tobacco. I do prefer aged VaPers and Vas. I'm not big on Latakia but In my opinion ageing takes the edge off Latakia.
IIRC G L Pease has written a bit about ageing tobacco that made sense to me.

I am primarily a Gawith Hoggarth fan, and I can only say that I’ve never had a well aged jar of theirs popped open that wasn’t extraordinary. The 2004 Dark Flake unscented and Dark Plug vintages that I was turned onto by a kind BoB’er are some of the best smokes I’ve ever had.

In general though, from past experiences I can say that the well aged Virginia blends are the best examples of aged tobaccos I’ve had. Rattray, McClelland, and Samuel Gawith are the among the best examples of blenders whose tobaccos always seem to age well, provided they are stored in proper conditions.

I once did a fun experiment where I loaded three cobs with different vintages of Royal Yacht and smoked them all at the same time—no more than a minute on one and then on to the next, cycling through the bowls that way. The nuances stood out far more than they would have if I’d smoked one entire bowl after another, I suspect, but all were enjoyable and I don’t recall the oldest being necessarily best, just different.

Ultimately it all comes down to the individual palate and what you like about a blend—I prefer fresh Stonehaven to old, and old FVF to fresh. One of the luxuries of being in this hobby for a while is you invariably end up with well-aged tobacco you can crack into to see the effects of time, and since we can’t take any of it with us there’s no sense in letting it age forever.

And speaking of Stony and the aging of tobaccos, I got a kick out of this salty letter from John Germain to a customer complaining about the quality of some bag of Stonehaven that had been in his cellar for years:

Dear Mr. ____,

We manufacture our tobacco to be enjoyed at acquisition. If you wish to "cellar" our blends, be it on your own head.

From our point of view, why would you want to faff around with our product?
We produce hand-made products only. Your contents may vary. That is all.

Please do not be a "cellarer" unless you are willing to admit that you think
that you can do better.

John Germain
Director
J.F. Germain & Son Ltd.

Minor addendum: I do find virtually all C&D blends—and Pease’s—improve a great deal with a few years age. More learned heads than my own claim their leaf is younger when they blend it then, say, McClelland, who were renowned for aging their component tobaccos prior to blending. Whatever the cause, if you haven’t been impressed by C&D, GLP, or Hermit blends I strongly advise trying some that have had a few years rest in their tins. Time softens them marvelously—but if you like the zing by all means go at them fresh!

ftrplt commented: "Have to admit that until I fell in with this "den of thieves" many years ago, the thought or idea of "aging" tobacco had never entered my feeble mind!! Ya' bought a tin/pouch and smoked it!!"

I was just thinking how in my 20s (one helluva long time ago) I'd buy a tin of Mac Baren Virginia #1 and smoke it immediately, and just before the tin was empty, buy another one.
I haven't smoked Mac Baren Virginia #1 in years, but today I'm in the mood to order one tin.

I have found that Latakia blends tend to sweeten with age. That may well be the other components however. Most of the tobacco we smoke has been aged regardless of tin freshness. Most blenders keep multiple years worth of stock raw for production anyhow. I opened a 10 year old tin of Peterson Irish oak, and a tin of 8 year old Irish flake over my birthday weekend, and they were fantastic.