Just wondering, given that the snuff containers are not air-tight. Would a humidor have a negetive effect on a toast or scotch snuff, making it too moist ? Would a moist snuff suffer from months of storage in a desk or dresser drawer ?
I have some scotches, Wilson’s, Poeschl’s, McC’s and others that are over 2 years old. They have been in a dresser drawer the whole time, no negative effect. I think it may also depend on where you live. Here in FL it’s very humid, so that may help the snuff.
I’ve only been at this since January, so I can’t attest to the long, long term storage success. In the short time I’ve been at it though, I have amassed way more snuff than any one person should ever have on hand. But, I’m kind of OCD about trying snuff I have never had. Based on some other threads I’ve read on here, I went with airtight storage bins. I’ve found these hard plastic containers with an airtight lid. Thus far, everything I have in them has stayed consistent with the state it was purchased in. But, unlike Stokes, I live in AZ, which is hot and dry so I have the opposite problem.
I like to reuse glass food jars with treaded tops. I keep the jars in a waterproof ammo can. My snuff stays fresh in Arizona. Moist snuffs dry out in a matter of minutes if a smash box is left open.
I think the answer depends on where you are and what the snuff is. Me, I’m in Central Texas, where the humidity is appalling, so it’s all I can do to keep my scotch snuffs from clumping up, but most other tobacco products (think pipe tobacco, etc.) undoubtedly benefit from the heat and humidity, and so, for example, if you keep your pipe tobacco or such in an un-airconditioned place and out of the sun, it’ll stay quite nice if left out for a day or so. Now, if you’re in the desert, then I think maybe a good sealed box, with maybe even a humidifying disk, might be in order for the coarse and moist snuffs, just to keep them useful. I know from my copenhagen experiments that not everything that makes a snuff what it is is only water-soluble; oils, too, can be lost to heat and evaporation, and a hot dry climate would surely wreck a good maccaboy just as fast as a warm, humid one would wreck my scotch snuff. So, short answer is - it depends on the climate and the snuff.
I keep mine in the freezer. Some people say that’s ok, some tell me it’s bad, but it doesn’t seem to have hurt them so far.
After lots of trial and error over the years I firmly believe that the only important factor is an airtight container. Humidors, refrigeration - in my experience - don’t play any part in keeping snuff fresh. Certainly a brand tin - which is less than airtight - will do a better job kept in a humidor but that’s not the same thing as needing to keep snuff in a humidor - its just helping a less than perfect container do the job. Snuff loses freshness when it loses moisture - an airtight jar is all you need to prevent that. As I’ve said on other threads my WoS plastic cannisters keep snuff fresh from one year to the next. I don’t think its bad to keep snuff in a freezer, I just don’t think it does anything, with the possible exception of extreme climates. However, in the Uk there’s usually enough moisture in the air to stop anything drying out and we’ve had our two hot days this year…
When I refill my tins, I love taking a cold snuff hit right from the freezer.
And thats as good a reason as any to do it…
I will have to try that!
The Coke is good like that. Like having an ice cold Coke in the nose.
Carol, that sounds wonderfuf! I love my Toque Coke and Vanilla mix. Off to put some of my mix in the freezer!
I only have about 25 different types on hand, but i just keep them in one of my kitchen drawers. I have not had a problem so far, but I do use Toque tins to put my snuff in too.
I just recently purchased a 2 door cabinet for all of my snuff. It has 3 shelves and stands about 3 1/2 feet high. I still don’t have enough room.
I keep my bulk drums in fridge and tins in a paper bag on bookself.
Ok, seems like I have read all the threads on snuff storage so far. Let me get this straight. No matter where you store your snuff its necessary that the containers are air tight. Sounds like a freezer or humidor will not hurt snuff. So, if you have plenty of room to store it in those 2 places that would be fine, right? Probably a humidor would be best as its also a controlled environment @ about 70 percent humidity. I’m thinkin that after being in a freezer for years it may actually dry out the snuff. Again, right? I have alot of snuff. I have a large stash of D White that will probably take me 15 years to consume and I opted to purchase it in 50 gram containers so I only have one open jar at a time, the rest are factory sealed. I have all the sealed jars in a vacuum sealed bag laying in my huge humidor. I figure this is the best way to store for long term…maybe 20 years I have been keeping my short term snuff in the original tins in ziplock bags in the humidor also. My daily snuff is just kept in a drawer in tupperware. This has worked for me for a couple of years so far and I think this is the very best way to store snuff. However, if someone can tell me a better way to store it please let me know. FYI, before I really got into trying all the different snuffs I just kept my couple of containers out or in a vehicle [even with the hot sun] and I never had much of a problem…but those tins didn’t last that long. That was almost exclusively the original Doctor Rumneys. 
There is alot of info on the site about storage but there doesn’t seem to be a documented “very best way” to store it. Would my storage method be considered the best way?? If its not I will be glad to change my method. Someone who REALLY knows should just post it so we all know for sure. And then sticky the thread. Very long term storage is very important to me as I have alot of snuffs that I never plan on purchasing again but would love to take a sniff of every once in a while and would like to keep them as fresh as possible. I tend to think that maybe some of us have limited humidor or freezer space and that might have affected some of the opinions on the site. I have a ton of room to store it in either my freezer or humidor so it doesn’t matter to me. Keeping my snuff as fresh as possible is most important to me. Can we come up with a “very best way” to safely store snuff for periods of say 20 years? thanks
One comment about humidors. I don’t use one for snuff, but I have read you shouldn’t put snuff in one that has been used for cigars because it will absorb the flavour. Then again a good cigar flavour in snuff might be nice.
yea that was something I thought about. But they are sealed pretty well. I’ll tell ya tho, for long term storage a vacuum sealer is freaking great for snus and snuff.
If your containers are truly airtight, the humidors will keep the outside of the containers nice and moist.
I have a large sealed humidor made from a thick plastic, hermetically sealed, and filled with humidity crystals, it stays at 65% RH, no matter the temp (thank you crystals). It was originally a large pet food container, designed to be sealed with a substantial gasket. It kept my tobacco (smoking) perfect for years. I believe that sealing the snuff is the first line of preservation, and good quality electical tape, a vacuum sealer, is a must (long term). then placing it in the humidor takes care of any resulting leakage. I seal and freeze some snuff (scotches), the rest lives in a crisper in the humidor in smaller easy to get at amounts. I keep the pounds and half pounds double vacuum sealed. I just broke out a year old Grunt that was a s fresh as the day I bought it. I opened a pound of Tom Buck a year old and the ammonia was staggering.