More Questions :) What is Cellaring

[Curly Cut]

Originally Posted by Bruce

I would have to disagree about English blends not ageing well.
I have tins of John Cotton's, Sullivan's, Dunhill's, and Sobranie that are simply marvelous after 20/30/40 years in the tin.

i have to agree with bruce and have sampled some of the tobacco from his cellar he mentions.

it's not that latakia based blends don't age well, it's just that the amount of time needed for them to improve is so much longer than it is for a VA - most don't want to wait that long or don't want to pay the premium for vintage sealed tins.

in my own experiences, the aged latakia blends are far, far, far superior to their fresher/younger versions. so much so that you would think you're not even smoking the same blend. i've had some that i doubted had a lick of latakia in them, that's how much they aged/improved. to me, it's a large improvement if i can't tell it has latakia, cuz i have found out i really don't like latakia.

so, it's not that they don't age/improve, it's just that to taste it, you have to age them for a while longer than a VA or VA/Per. where a VA can improve/mellow out/smooth the edges after 5 yrs or so, i haven't been able to tell a difference in 5 yr old heavy English or Oriental blends.

at least, that's what i've personally experienced.