Aged tobacco lost its flavor

["sam"]

I have a Murray's era Dunhill Royal Yacht tin that I have had stored in a mason jar after opening that seems to have gone flat. I have been nursing the tin and every bowl was great until several months ago, at which point it seems to have lost a fair amount of that special Royal Yacht flavor...anyone had this happen before? I think I read somewhere this can happen to older tobacco. Is there anyway to avoid this besides smoking through the tin more quickly?

 

[huffelpuff]

Has the remaining tobacco reached the point where it is particularly dry? If so some rehydration might coax a smidgen more flavor out of the tobacco. Unfortunately with RY a significant part of the flavor is a top dressing and if it gets too dry you may lose a lot of the flavor. You might try storing this in a fresh jar of RY to allow it to pick up flavor and scent from the fresher tobacco. Just place a paper disk on top of the new stuff in the bottom of the jar with a number of pin holes in the paper of course and give it Perhaps a month or so to pick up flavor. You could also try placing the paper packaging from a new tin in with the remains of the very aged RY and hope it picks up enough flavor that way. Hope these help in some way. I hate to hear of RY ending its days by going in the dustbin.

Jim

Oh and I have salvaged really old tobaccos before including a tin of 97 year old half and half that was bone dry for probably 20 years before I got it. It smoked beautifully after rehydration with minimal loss of flavor.

 

[user 2027]

I had a friend let me try some of his Dunhill Lite Flake that has been in the tin for 25 years. It was fantastic. However I do worry a little on some of my cellar if it is going to hold it's flavor. More so with blends rather then straight Virginia. I'm planning on working my way through the mason jars first in the next rotation. Figure the sealed tins should be fine.

Next up on the rotation is Mississippi River and Plum Pudding. Both have been in jars and undisturbed for 5 years. I will report back how it held up.

 

["sam"]

The tobacco is still perfectly moist, it went right to a mason jar after I opened the tin. It still tastes ok, like aged Virginia, just not what it was when I first opened the tin...flat is the best way I can describe it.

 

[Zeno Marx]

My guess is that you are the changed variable, not the tobacco; that is if the tobacco has remained at the same moisture level and has been stored the same way. The weather can play a significant factor as well. I find my taste and smell are constantly in flux. Depending on my meal, or recent diet, I'm tasting differently. Depending on the air quality (pollen, pollution, etc), my taste and smell are more or less on any given day. Then again, I'm of the age that I notice aging and whatnot relatively often. I don't think I was so inconsistent when I was younger.

 

[Blackhorse]

Point to Zeno. I agree that it might be you, or something to do with you. Weather...general health...meals...pipe used...whatever. I will agree that jarred tobacco can change (lose flavor) but it usually occurs gradually. That’s why I prefer some Esoterica blends like Stonehaven and Ramsgate to be new. They lose important (to me) flavor elements over time. Like you described, they’re still good, just more intensely flavorfull when new.

Good thing it’s only ten bucks for a fresh tin. Now, if it had been a McClelland blend...ouch.

 

[huffelpuff]

Ok tobacco is still in good shape that's good. It does sound like something is off. Do you have any fresher RY around? Is there the same issue with it? If so I'd say something is going on with your taste. If you are a frequent smoker sometimes taking a break will reset the taste buds. Possibly a cold coming on boost your vitamin C intake and perhaps a few zinc lozenges or supliments will usually cut it short. On the other hand if fresh RY tastes fine I stand by my recommendation of finding a way to expose the old to the new to try and recapture whatever volatile compound that has disappeared on you. Worst case scenario I suppose you could actually mix in fresh when you smoke it but that defeats the changes aging brings to the picture. Keep us posted.

Jim

 

[Zeno Marx]

Though this is headed into different territory and another topic, I agree with Blackhorse about liking some blends when new, or at learned stages. I've talked about this here in the past, but before we lost McClelland, or had even entertained losing McClelland, I hated the idea of aging #2015. Sure, tobaccos change with age, but I far preferred the flavors of new #2015 over anything I'd found in aging it. That's the thing with aging, you aren't guaranteed anything, and each moment is an opportunity for it to keep changing. The idea that you will like 5 year old X more than 4 year old X etc isn't necessarily true. You could very likely find yourself at year-5 wishing you'd cracked open all your jars after the four year mark to halt the process and so on. "Damn, it was so amazing at 4! Why didn't I stop it all right then?" And I see the fun in that gambling for sure, but... And then if I'm changing as well? Living in the here and now vs the gambling for better times.

 

["sam"]

Those are some good points, and my taste buds certainly could have changed, however my newer tins taste like they are supposed to. I love Royal Yacht fresh, but it is already becoming difficult to find, and I already have a number of tins. I think even with older tins (like 15-20 years) the Royal Yacht tastes different when freshly opened and smoked versus stored in a mason jar. Oh well, at least I can just pop open another tin and smoke through it more quickly.

 

[KevinM]

The tobacco is still perfectly moist, it went right to a mason jar after I opened the tin.  It still tastes ok, like aged Virginia, just not what it was when I first opened the tin...flat is the best way I can describe it.

If hydration isn’t the problem, try adding a pinch of fresh RY to it. Usually works. I keep some G&H conniston hand for these emergencies. A pinch of Conniston is a right tasty picker upper.

 

[lb]

i agree with kevin.  in my experience , some kinds of tobacco mixtures may loose the bouquet over time but not the flavor. i would mix , not a pinch , but a whole new tin of fresh royal yatch with the old one and chances are you are going to end up recovering the bouquet and improving the taste.  i have done this before several times with great results.

 

[JimInks]

Mature RY can lose some of the topping. The blend itself kind of mellows a little with time.

 

[KevinM]

i agree with kevin.  in my experience , some kinds of tobacco mixtures may loose the bouquet over time but not the flavor. i would mix , not a pinch , but a whole new tin of fresh royal yatch with the old one and chances are you are going to end up recovering the bouquet and improving the taste.  i have done this before several times with great results.

???LOL. Add as much or as little as you’d like. Adding puh-lenty seems logical, but I’ve been surprised how little it takes to make a difference. My fave trick to spicing up flat tobak used to be adding a few crumbs of Condor to the bowl. Three or four crumbs did the trick.No kidding.???

 

["sam"]

I will probably try mixing in some fresher tobacco to see what happens, I like both versions of Royal Yacht.