My local snuff retailer has a habit of displaying tins of snuff in his window, which for at least an hour or two a day is in direct sunlight (on a sunny day, of course). The tins of WoS that have been on display in the window are easy to spot, as the sun bleaches the yellow out of the label. I’m guessing this is likely to cause problems with the snuffs such as drying out, am I right? Is storing/displaying snuffs this way likely to cause any other problems? The only tin I’ve bought that had at one time been in the window (I bought it before I clocked the label bleaching thing) is my tin of Best Dark, which doesn’t seem to be affected too badly as it’s still moist, fluffy and absolutely delicious. I don’t know how long it was in the window, though.
Sunlight is neither here nor there, all snuff needs - despite the urban myths - is an airtight container: no moisture in, no moisture out BUT the WoS cans will have dried out contents: WoS tins are not 100% airtight even with the scotch tape seal (which is why WoS say store their cans in the fridge); if they have been there long enough for the sun to bleech the colour, the contents will be way past their best. I would never buy small tins of WoS from a bricks and mortar shop because with the turnover of snuff being very slow - they probably sell a handfull a year - you are unlikely to get it in good condition. The sunlight itself will have absolutely no effect, although the following posts will probably say otherwise;) I base this on having lots of snuff, decades old, thats been kept airtight but not sun-tight: its all as good as new. It is possible to re-hydrate but its never as good because the evaporation also carries off some of the aromatics. Buy bulk online.
That’s good to know, thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. As luck would have it, I stopped by said shop this afternoon as they were receiving a new snuff delivery from their distributor, so I went on a bit of a shopping spree safe in the knowledge that the snuff I was buying was as fresh as I could expect from a B&M. I asked about their snuff sales today, and the response was interesting-the lady who co-runs the shop said sales of snuff were better than ever, and they were struggling to keep up with the demand in the local area-I live in Bridport in Dorset, a country town with a population of around 12,000. I asked what the typical age demographic for snuff buyers was, and she said anything from 18 to 98, and that the local users are pretty evenly spread out in terms of age range. That really surprised me-I expected it to be of minority interest, and I had no idea what age demographic would be. Very interesting stuff, and pleasing to know it’s popular locally.
If you have been lucky enough to find a shop selling a lot you can be pretty confident that their stock will be fresh, so congratulations - there are not many about these days.
Just wanted to throw in my two cents. The shop I work at carries WoS as well os G&H in tubs, out of direct sunlight. We also have really good turnover on our snuffs and they don’t sit for months or years waiting to be purchased. We will run out and have to scramble to get more in to keep our customers happy. I just don’t want people to get the impression that B&M’s aren’t a good place to buy snuffs. At a B&M you get one on one assistance as well as a lot of knowledge that can be passed on directly. B&M’s keep the tobacco industry alive by introducing customers to products they might not otherwise encounter or consider. Perhaps I’m lucky to be where I am, but I know the other big B&M in our town also sells out of their WoS rather quickly.
@Jinder: sunlight’s UV rays can damage snuff, but the UV is not likely to penetrate the metal. However in glass containers, brown glass or opaque would be recommended. In your case, as snuffster points out its the airtightness which is the critical factor. The increased heat (especially the greenhouse type heat you get in front of a window) will age the sealing tape faster making it brittle and losing its stick. Also the increased heat will then cause the snuff to dry faster, since it is not airtight, and even more so with tape falling off. Give the shopkeeper a few of your empties to put on display. That should serve his purposes.
I do buy most of my snuff from Mr Snuff, but I like the personal service from my B&M if I’m in town and fancy picking up a new snuff (or six). For example, the proprietor and I had a long chat today, resulting in him heartily recommending IDHT #20 and telling me it was, in his opinion, the most enjoyable snuff they sell. They have a tremendous range (a good 50 assorted 5g tins and probably another 50 tins of five of their biggest selling scents in 25g tins from WoS, they also stock Hedges, McChrystals, J&H Wilson and have some lovely old Schmalzler bottles for sale) and they never have the same stock sitting about for long-it all seems to come and go within a month, save for the few tins in the window. If anyone’s heading to Bridport, the shop is called T.Snooks, they are also a massive millinery and apparently the biggest hat shop in Europe-well worth a visit!
There are a few places where it’s OK to buy Wilsons of Sharrow in small tins. Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, has a small tobacconist and leather goods shop down a side street [opposite the public toilets!] whose selection of WoS is usually a dozen or so assorted small tins - with a selection of varieties that changes each time they re-order. In this way, the selection available is usually very fresh. [Stocks: Imperial (J&H Wilson, Hedges); Pöschl; some Toque, WoS] Also carries a good selection of loose pipe tobaccos and some good cigars. Birmingham has about the best place I know for buying it over the counter - John Hollingsworth’s. Admittedly, not quite the range I used to enjoy back in my younger years in London, when Vivian Rose still ran G Smith & Sons, but Hollingsworth’s snuffs are always in immaculate condition - they’re stored in a humidor. [Stocks a selection from: SG, GH, WoS, Pöschl, Imperial] Very courteous and helpful gentleman; large selection of serious cigars and good pipe mixtures. Coventry - Salts - excell in pipe tobaccos and some now-obscure cigarette brands; snuffs include all the “readily available” blends from Pöschl and Imperial [J&H W, Hedges] - and WoS Best SP, which they sell loose by the ounce. Owner’s moods can vary; the young woman who looks after the snuff selection is usually charming, and not unattractive! Ironically, nowhere I know sells Fribourg & Treyer over the counter, despite some of their blends being among my absolute favourites. By far my “biggest supplier”, from whom I buy probably 85% of the snuff I consume, is www.SnuffStore.co.uk - apart from keeping a huge selection, I appreciate the quality of Tim and Julia’s service - from fast order despatch and the occasional free sample [usually of something excellent], to some of their “house” blends, to being quite happy to refund or replace anything that doesn’t arrive in tip-top condition. On the topic of SnuffStore, apart from their exhaustive range of branded snuffs [probably the largest from any single supplier in the UK], some of their own “house” blends are magnificent. Their Café Noir is a spot-on replacement for G Smith’s Café Royale; their Golden Pinch is a reasonable substitute for Smith’s Golden Cardinal; their Gin & Tonic and Bucks Fizz even have the appropriate level of bubbliness, and are each a delight. The Traditional SP is a very good, honest, no-frills SP.
How do UV rays damage snuff? I suppose they could in sufficient quantity, but they wont effect snuff in a glass jar - not in any way anyone could ever tell. My clear glass jar collection of Smiths snuffs have been in sunlight for decades (1980 actually). Whenever I treat myself to opening one of the few left with an intact seal - I might have about 3 now, but the last opened this year - and all I’m met with is fresh snuff.
Direct sunlight can cause the rapid growth of bacteria in pipe tobacco, I imagine the same would be true for snuff
This topic always goes round and round, I just base my opinions on the condition of my own, aged collection. I don’t doubt for a second there are lots of ‘could do’s’ - I just maintain its very unlikely. In 35 years of using and storing snuffs of all kinds I have never had any damged by sunlight, spoiled by bacteria or gone dry from using only airtight storage. Snuff is actually very stable. There is an understandable desire to ‘get it right’ with a new hobby, and people do like to put effort into something that they love - so I don’t knock anyone for all this humidor, storing in fridges and beware of sunlight stuff; it’s just I have never seen any evidence - and I have pounds of snuff in storage - that those factors have any real weight.
I can see how it wouldn’t be a big problem with snuff. With pipe tobacco unless you compact it down into a solid brick there is going to be air all throughout the tobacco but snuff is so fine when it settles there will really only be air on the top and next to no air throughout the tobacco so bacteria has no chance to thrive.
We learned in school that UV rays can’t penetrate a petri dish cover, let alone an opaque metal tin. I doubt it is going to hurt anything that is not laying there out of its container. This is why we don’t get a sunburn with a shirt on.
And you wont get a sun tan sitting in the sun inside your home through a glass window.
I woudn’t dismiss local shops and stores when it comes to freshness of snuff and tobacco in general. Never got too dry snuff from a shop but from an online retailer.