So I’m coming onto a pretty hefty collection of snuffs and am just curious… Do i need to shove this all up my nose as quickly as possible? Or would most of them stay pleasant for a while? (like at least a year)
Thanks.

Check the storing snuff thread. You shouldn’t have any problems. Most of us have TAD so have years worth of snuff!

No, it keeps and gets better with age. The only thing you have to do is keep it airtight - its all on the threads.

It is a valid concern, since the shelf life of the toque tins have been a disappointment and turned into a direct loss. Scotches are forever, and I only get bulk much anymore. I worry about the Bernards, but trying to preserve them in the tappers is a fools errand. I lavished a lot of effort on the bulk Wilsons tubs, with great success. All it takes is a great bulk of say the original Grunt batch to show you the wiser side of the your efforts though.

Its true about the Toque tins. I threw out about 30 25g tins last week because they had all gone stale. Most of them were at leat half full and all of them were around a year old. I wasn’t a happy chap at all. Haven’t had this problem with any other make, only Toque. I understand the tins have changed now but the old tons were leaky. The lids would just spin and not lock tight. Unfortunately I bought the whole Toque range before I learnt about taping the tins up, so for several months they were basically going stale.

Toque = Bulk only around here! 400 Grams of whiskey and honey anyone?

here here for Whiskey & Honey in bulk … 

I store all my stash in cobalt blue glass jars and just before I seal them for storage I give them a blast of hot breath;pushes out most of the air and adds a tinch of moisture 

I’ve had mixed results with my old Toque tins.  Some of them are holding up admirably, while others suffer from leaky tin syndrome to varying degrees.  Haven’t had any issue with bulk, and naturally, my F&T tins are holding up fine.  I am still in the process of trying to use up everything I have in tins (it’ll be a long process, too), and then only having bulk snuff in jars with a good seal, and decanting into F&T or SG tins for use.

Thanks you guys. You are awesome

I just bought a 100% airtight plastic container and just put them all in their tins in there. I’ll see how that turns out.

I’m interested in how the guys with 400g of Toque are storing theirs! My Toque whisky & honey’s smell 10g is slightly faded and I’ve only had it a week, but when sniffed it’s just fine, I just don’t know if it will continue to fade over the next few weeks until the smell is completely gone or if it will stay.

edit : my whisky & honey is better than ever I’m not worried about any ‘fading’ anymore. In fact it seems to make it even better and it’s jumped up the list to my favourite snuff at the moment.

@Theatre I didn’t really understand proper storage when I first started, so I’ve got a bunch of snuff that may have to be discarded.  The Toques seem to die the worst, and adding moisture back into them doesn’t seem to help at all once they’ve been abused.  Some of my favorite flavors are quite unsnuffable at the moment.

Airtight tins which are vacuum sealed are OK and fresh for 4 years, once opened snuff will lose it’s flavour gradually after around 3 months.

@Theater thats what I did, no crossing of flavors yet.

I’ve had no problem with my Whiskey & Honey. I use mason jars of various sizes and amber glass bottles. I have mason jars that can hold 200, 100 and 50 grams of snuff each. The snuff from the 50 gram jars supply amber bottles. The amber bottles can be used as tap boxes or to fill my snuff box. I have had no scent loss.

Mason jars are the way to go.  They are glass, so no flavor/scent transfer as you might have with plastic.  They are airtight.  Best of all, they are cheap.

A little about plastic… plastic is permeable by gases and also emits gases itself. You may have heard of not refilling water bottles or not leaving them in a warm car because of these emissions. For pipe tobacco plastic is a big no-no, for snuff it would be fine under certain conditions. Keeping tins that you are using in tupperware would be fine though I would suggest keeping menthols and strongly scented snuffs separated. Glass jars also work well but for snuff they may work too well in that the snuff in them will eventually be starved of oxygen. This oxygen starvation does have an effect starting after about ninety days that pipe tobacco enthusiasts treasure. Snuff may or may not enjoy this effect because of the alkalizing agents used but one thing to keep in mind is that snuff that has been starved of oxygen will require a little breathing time to regain its aromatic fullness. The humidor I think is a good idea for having plain snuff handy and accessible. Scent transference in a humidor will be accentuated by the humidity so I would only recommend unscented snuffs and even then you should expect a cedar scent to infiltrate them. I’m sure I have more to say but this post is a bit long already.

To rehydrate snuff,I use a piece of cotton make-up removing damp fixed above the tabacco during a time adapted to situation(not too long generaly).It works good.

@Snuffster  : do you know if snuff should be conserved with very minimum of air or with a litlle bit like in some bulks.I know your a producer so I ask to you.

Question- will my vacum tins of J&H no99, or my Viking Dark tins rust and corrode over time? Same for my F&T, altough they are not vacumed.

Re Plastic. I’ve heard people say no, it taints the tobacco, I’ve heard others say it’s fine. The only snuff I’ve got in bulk (so in a plastic container) is Molens Latakia ao 1860. Needless to say the reason I’ve got it in bulk is because I quite like it and so would prefer not to discover it ruined. Should I be putting in a glass jar then? Has anyone kept it in its plastic container and discovered it’s gone off?

If you do leave it in that container be sure to keep it at a cool temperature. Leaving snuff in the containers you got them in is done for posterity’s sake in honor of the manufacturer. No your snuff will not be “ruined” and @Pot Poe no your tins will not rust… IF… they are kept in appropriate environments. However the length of time is a huge factor so anything that will be stored for over say thirty years should be reconsidered.

Thanks!

It depends on the plastic. The plastic canisters that WoS use are the best storage medium I have ever come across - humidors and the rest not withstanding.

I still have most of my toque tins from when I started snuffing , i think three years old. Needless to say the st. clements turned to natural and what’s left of the rest is dry as a bone. But they’re still good as far as I’m concerned and I still use them when I’m back home. If you keep them airtight they should be good for ages.

I just rehydrated some old St. Clemens and found it to have a lot of character.

If you want to ruin your snuffs you could do what I did. I put them all in a ziploc bag,  you know, to keep them somewhat air tight. Guess what happens to amazing snuffs when all placed together in a Ziploc bag? ALL the aromas run together and you get something that smells akin to wet cardboard on ALL your snuffs. YAY!!

SO if you want to ruin your collection I recommend doing this.  Believe me I was not happy.

So now I have to start all over again, and this time I think each snuff will be stored in it’s own glass canning jar. That way when it off gasses it will not affect anything else. If I really want to get nuts I could store the jars in the freezer. What’s that oxygen? You can’t oxidize my snuff as fast when you are below zero?..oh…so sad.

Two years of snuff collection down the drain and no expendable income to replace it at the moment.  My TAD is on fire!

I am in the process of transferring all my tinned snuffs into baby food jars, the smallest size holds a 25 gram tin very well, instead of buying special jars this is a very cost effective way of getting jars (65 cents a jar and the fruits aren’t too bad I don’t recommend the main courses though (no wonder babies make those faces when eating it) I have been eating baby food all day, the thread of the lids are made of rubber so you can easily over tighten if you are not careful.

Did someone say “baby poo”? Hope your close to a bathroom @SnuffSniffer   I too have gone all mason jars on my collection. The 4oz jelly jars are good for about 40-50grams, and i can buy 12 for like $8. I may have to do the baby food jars for my small tins, great idea, thanks.

@SnuffSniffer - what a fantastic and economical idea!

@thogrimnr Snuffs that get scent transference like won’t stay that way for long once separated. The stronger scents do take a little longer but cross scenting is mostly topical. Some scents like Violet are hard to air off though.

4oz Ball jars are $8/flat and will protect your snuff 

I use mason jars for quantities of 50 grams and above and amber bottles of various sizes for amounts less than that.

@Juxtaposer I’ll try separating them and see if that gets them back. Thanks for the hope!

@SnuffSniffer  Operation baby food jar in effect. Now what to do with 10 jars of Appple and Apricot Puree…

@ thorgrmnr, Eat it, it’s not bad but stay away from those main courses (yuck)

I suggest mixing it into plain oatmeal. Especially banana. It’s delicious.

Make a baby, it lots of fun(the making it anyway).

@SnuffSniffer I did eat one but the watery puree texture was awful and yes I took the advice of not getting the beef with broth. They were a great deal though on sale for 49 cents. Nice rubber liners on the lid, they are perfect.

@Harlequin that’s a good idea!

@Pot Poe Yep I’ve made me some babies already and was going to recruit them into the baby food palooza but they probably will make the same faces.

I originally saw this thread as “The snuff life of a shelf collection,” hah!

My snuffs have all held up pretty decently, but I’ve only had them for a month or two.
I’m planning on buying some bulk and keeping them in glass jars.

I have lots of snuffs which are older than 4 years already and they are perfect, maybe even better than when I got them. Glass jars, airtight, cool storage are the main things to remember.

I bought cobalt blue jars they look & work great 4 ounce Jars for my snuff and 8 ounce for my pipe tobacco cellar.

When ever I open one to fill a box I just breath a little hot air into the jar just before sealing the lid. 

Always as moist and fresh as the day I popped open the tin

 I figure they will be around for a long time and my grand kids can sell them to pay for college after I am dead.