I see a lot of positive comments about fresh snuff, whereas with other kinds of tobacco - especially pipe and cigar - the desired thing is to age them. So snuff is better fresh? If so, can anyone explain why? If you have a factory-sealed tin, or if you decant into an air-tight mason jar, might it not improve with age? Sorry if this is a dumb noob question.
Aged snuff can be better if stored properly or to least as good as when new. Depends on what one you are preserving and how you choose to do so.
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What does one notice as the improvements of smoking aged tobacco? In general, the first thing off the lips is “smoother.” That is to say that over time tobacco loses the rough edges of youth and becomes more streamlined for wont of a better adjective.
Now, what do we like about our snuffs? It is exactly the thing that aging obviates, the precociousness of youth. We like the grassy edge of a virginia or the in-your-face smokiness of latakia, or the sharpness of young cigar leaf (I could go on, but you get the picture).
That is to say that the exact things we love about smoking aged tobacco tend to precisely the let-downs in the snuff world. Most of us don’t want mild, homogeneous snuff. We want the rough edges that only youth can afford to tobacco.
YMMV
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Makes sense - good answer!
@nicmizer - what types would you say age better? I’m guessing natural unflavoured?
Dry- Toque Toast and Marmalade will age great under glass. Just finished 10yr. Supply. (Same as new) Moist-(example) F&T Santo Domingo will get better with age if kept tight in glass (better or same) Artisan- in glass (same or better) Could go on but this should be a good example. I refrigerate all moist snuffs.
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My olfactory memory probably isn’t refined enough to notice if snuffs change over a number of years. Besides which, the scent changes with the weather, humidity, and other factors anyway. I have a 10 year stash of snuff (at circa 2g/day) in the cupboard, and if I buy any more in that time, then obviously it will be longer than 10 years before it’s all consumed. I quite frankly don’t care if the snuff changes over the years ahead, providing I continue to enjoy it. If any of it mellows to the point of being bland, I’ll blend it or re-scent it. So long as it doesn’t actually spoil, I’ll be happy.
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Fresh snuff reeks of ammonia, It is an acquired taste. Doesn’t matter too much to me. I just don’t like stale snuff. Snuff that been improperly stored, not in airtight glass where it has picked up scent from surrounding materials. I use to buy antique snuff some were great others smelled like a sock drawer. I know some snuff loses it flavor very fast like Toque Grapefruit this is one case where fresh is best.
I have not stored snuff long enough in an anaerobic atmosphere to tell if it has got sweeter. since I rotate through my stash at lease once a year stopping the aging process. Heat brings out the sugars in tobacco so warm tobacco will be sweeter than cold.
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This brings to mind; I used super-speed up the aging process of some WoS menthols I had back in the day, because the menthol content was too strong for my nose. I would let the tins sit open in the blistering Mediterranean sun for a couple of days to tone down the flavors. It was a little easier to take after that, but just a little, lol.
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We could have the same conversation about aged wine vs. young wine.
Back in the 1980s and early 1990s when I worked in the wine business, I conducted approximately 50 wine tastings most of which were blind tastings. And some of those wines were expensive Bordeaux Chateau and Red Burgundy Premier Cru wines, as well as wine from California, Italy, and Australia.
I found that are some folks who prefer young wines for the same reasons I see people citing in the comments above, about snuff in this thread.
On the other hand, some, such as myself, prefer aged snuffs in many cases (not all of course).
I am not saying that the conditions of comparison between aged wine and aged snuff are the same but there is a similarity.
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@fredh we need to get a blind snuff tasting happening!
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Old snuff is not always “aged” snuff.
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@Juxtaposer - I intuitively agree with you, but then am left wondering what exactly is the difference? To me “old” would be dried-out, neglected in an open tin for years. “Aged” would be a factory sealed tin, or a kept in a glass jar. Yes?
I don’t know of any snuff sold that is designed to be aged. Most are made with some intent to be preserved. Salts, including alkalizers in snuff will prevent tobacco from aging. Usually any aging is done during the making of a snuff. Fresh suff IS best. Keeping snuff fresh or re-freshening snuffs are important topics here. There are some snuffs that will age gracefully. To what end is a typically a gamble. So for the average snuffer aging snuff is null. If however you are making your own snuff. Aging is one of the many dimensions.
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I think the trick with snuff, unlike with cigars or pipe tobacco, is if you want to get an aged character, then you would be best to age the whole tobacco leaves before milling.
Cigars all need to be kept at a specific range of temperature and humidity, so collectively they can be parked in a humidor for a few years and you’ll see a bit of change. Improvement for full-bodied cigars, and (in my experience) some depreciation of the character of mild and infused cigars.
Pipe blends, if aromatic may see a tapering off of the room note and flavor over time. So if you have something a bit too rich, cellar it for a few years. English/lat blends mellow because the smoky notes of the Latakia marry into all the other tobaccos and get blurred (exceptions exist; there may be some perfect cellaring English/Balkan/Oriental blends). What ages best according to most experts is straight Virginias and VaPers. Contrary to conventional wisdom, some Burleys do too, apparently.
Snuff differs from cigars and pipe tobacco, in that it is formulated to be received by the mucous membranes of the nose and sinus. To do so it needs to be pH adjusted and saline, so as not to burn. The additives used, namely Sodium Carbonate and Salt, arrest further fermentation and “aging” of the tobacco. Not all snuffs have these ingredients, but many do. The risk with aging snuff is loss of added aromas, dryness, and staleness from exposure to light and oxygen.
Snuffs that contain a strong “barnyard” or ammonia scent are likely not treated with chemicals to arrest fermentation, and might change in character over time. But these are usually coarser, moister snuffs, so if you want to age them, you’ll need to keep them at optimal moistness.
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If anyone is interested in aged pipe tobacco, check out this book.
And yes, I have a vested interest in it :)) :D ;)
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@cpmcdill & Juxtaposer - great answers. Makes a lot of sense, thanks.
I was just looking on the Mr. Snuff website at the Abraxas snuffs. The description on the Connoisseur Cerise states: ‘‘This is an exquisite dessert snuff and a masterpiece of the blender’s art. Like a good wine, it can only improve with age.’’
So make of that what you will!
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some snuffs age well and it almost seems like it’s the ones with alcohol as the base scent. Like Old Paris certainly ages not sure if it gets better as much as it becomes something slightly different then it was when new.
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I agree with the basic sentiment here. A few Snuffs really do get better with at least a little aging and most snuffs have to ferment and settle down, which is a form of aging anyways. But unless the snuff is kept in perfect stasis it will change over time sometimes for the better and a lot of times just gets blah. I’m aging / hording out of necessity and rotating as much as possible. One day we may not be able to easily procure this stuff and I’d rather have aged snuff than none. But that said, there’s nothing like a fresh tub!!!
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It all depends on your definition of “better”.
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