Ageing without hoarding

[AimlessWanderer]

My sealed pouches still feel reasonably OK, but I'm having to keep rehydrating the others as I use them. Hopefully, I should have finished the small samples by some time around July, so I'll have fewer blends to mess around with when the weather is at its warmest.

The other factory sealed pouches are as follows:

40g Three Nuns
40g Gold Block
25g Erinmore Mixture
50g Brookfield No.4
50g Condor Long Cut

Plus I also have a 50g bulk weighed pouch of Louisiana Flake. I'll not get that lot finished before 2022. I think most of those will be very quick to rehydrate though, unlike the thicker Gawith flakes.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Life issues led me back to the paper wrapped abominations recently, and I devoured 3/4 of a pouch of Gold Block that way in recent weeks. Still a lot slower than I used to consume tobacco that way, and some was consumed via the pipe, so it wasn't all "wasted". As things are hopefully starting to level out, I'm returning back to the briar.

Today, I've mixed several tobaccos together, which separately I was getting bored of. Golden Glow, Exmoor Mixture, Gold Block, and Bosun Flake. Together, they should make a quite codgeresque easy smoking blend, but one that doesn't work so well encased in paper

There's still a few samples left, but this improv blend is the only tobacco open right now. I'll probably end up giving the cobs a damn good kicking with it, as I transition back from hungrily consuming tobacco, to just occasionally sipping it again. I'll fire up a briar when I'm in the mood for taking it easy, and light a cob as an "everlasting rizla" when I feel the need to gorge on it.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Well, the tobacco stash has been having far more of a kicking than usual. Still struggling with dispensing with the rollies again. That amalgamation I mentioned in the previous post has gone, as has a pouch of Ogdens Gold Block.

Some days being better than others. One blend that's doing a nice job of leading me back to the briar though, is Brookfield No.4. It's made by Gawith, and is a very easy smoking Bourbon topped VaBur broken flake. It's a nice anytime smoke, and doesn't punish me as much as other blends might if I gorge on it. I'm about halfway through this pouch, and despite having an extensive stash of tins, I'm considering adding a couple more of these pouches.

That said, if I refrain on getting them, I'm only a pouch each of Erinmore, Three Nuns, Louisiana Flake, and Condor Long Cut away from opening the first of the tins from last year. There are a few samples left too, but I really need to have made the transition back to pipe fully before opening those. The samples are Dark Flake, Ennerdale Mixture, Balkan Flake and Best Brown #2. So with 200g of pouched tobacco left, do I really want to be getting more...? Unsure. The fact that I can get some Brookfield No.4 at a low price at the moment, is increasing the temptation.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Taking a moment to peruse the stash, certainly helps in quelling any desire for more shopping. This is the ageing drawer in its current form.

The rectangular tins are two deep, the round tins are four deep. There's also a cardboard box with some overspill stock. Then of course there's the pouched stuff.

The pouched drawer doesn't include the currently open Brookfield No.4, and there's a pouch of Condor in the top centre of the ageing drawer pic, which already has a year of ageing on it. It hasn't completely dissuaded me from more purchases, but has certainly helped put things in perspective.

 

[RookieGuy]

That's not a bad little stash. So do you go with another pouch or two of Brookfield?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

That's not a bad little stash. So do you go with another pouch or two of Brookfield?

Good question.

For:

• It's a blend I can currently (but not regularly) get for a couple of quid cheaper than other blends, and only need four pouches for free shipping.
• It's not one of the commonly available blends, and when this seller runs out, it may be unobtanium.
• It's a nice all day smoke, and good for coaxing me back to the briar, without punishing me if I take a cigarette like draw occasionally.

Against:

• Don't have a legitimate need for it.
• Plenty of options already, including other blends that will ease the transition back to pipes, should I have another relapse in future.
• Pouches don't store well compared to tins, and I refuse to start having to prat around with jars, which are not just tedious to sterilise and fill, but add to cost and space.

 

[brandaves]

I'd look at your unobtanium point in the "for" column.

Thats my biggest factor.

If you like it and know now is the ONLY time...get it. That being said, I'm also an enabler trained under @Price

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I'd look at your unobtanium point in the "for" column.

Thats my biggest factor.

If you like it and know now is the ONLY time...get it. That being said, I'm also an enabler trained under @Price

Buying out of fear alone, would land right in the hoarding territory in my book. Realistically, the way the world is going, any blend could be discontinued at at any point, and scrabbling to buy stuff out of fear is not my style. I did that with snuff, and ended up with so much of it, it put me off using snuff.

I think I'll pass. Or at least try to. The wardrobe needs attention sooner than the tobacco stash.

Not being able to do anything in the way of exercise, isn't doing the waistline any favours. I've been trying to squeeze into 34" waist trousers for far too long, and it's time to open the wallet and start phasing in the fat lad pants. I did buy a couple of 36" pairs this month, and the difference in comfort was too much to ignore. Eating healthier has slowed the onset of the integral life belt, but not reversed it.

So funds really ought to be going towards chinos, shorts, and jeans, not extending the tobacco stash by yet another six months.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Decision made. Just placed the order within the last couple of hours....


... for trousers. No tobacco That's eaten well into next months money, but there's a summer sale on I didn't want to miss. Discounts were too good.

 

[RookieGuy]

That's probably the smart choice.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Yes, I think so. Immediate requirement over future pleasure.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Well, I'm continuing to romp on at a far higher than normal pace. I just finished off the pouch of Brookfield No.4 earlier today, and opened a pouch of Gawith's Louisiana Flake. It's dry as sticks. Not a problem though, I have the means of sorting that out.

I've put a dollop of it in the rehydrating chamber, and will have to let it rest for a few days thereafter, for the moisture to permeate through. In the meantime, I'm breaking open the Ennerdale. I thought I only had the Mixture, but I have the Flake too.

Ben Wade Reader Lightweight is the dedicated small Lakeland pipe.

 

[RookieGuy]

Using more tobacco isn't necessarily a bad thing. I seem to remember you rolling more than packing.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I was, but that's reversed again, for the moment anyway. I'm sure it will all simmer back down in time. However, it is probably a good thing that consumption has picked up for a while, as the pouches and samples have dried somewhat in storage. They did get a little out of hand, and storage concerns will be a lot lower when they get used up, and I eventually get around to the tins.

50g seems to be lasting me about two weeks(ish) at the moment, instead of the usual two months. Still better than the 5-6 days when it was all hand rolled. At that rate, 25g per week, I'll have cleared all the pouched stuff by the end of August. I think there's around 200g left in pouches and samples, and somewhere between 60g and 100g in small screw top jars. By the time I get to tins, if I open them in the right order, everything should have a minimum of 12-18 months of age on it.

It's quite a comfortable amount in tins too. No concerns of running low anytime soon, but also no significant concerns that they might outlive me. I'm glad I stopped buying when I did though. Just enough slack in the system to buy the occasional fresh pouch, guilt free. The only time concerns after smoking all the pouched stuff, will be the rectangular tins. Ideally, they want using within five years from purchase, but that's three to four tins a year, which is no hardship either way.

As to the round tins, I have two choices. Smoke and replace, or smoke fresh blends to keep the round tins ageing. Either way, if I can keep 20 tins in there (the original ageing stock goal), I'll always have some aged tobacco to reach for, till it's time for me to be incinerated. I currently have more than that in plain Virginia blends and Perique blends alone, plus there's some VaBurs, Aros, and Lakelands in there too.

So while I have put a foot wrong a few times along the way, I've ended up in quite a comfortable place overall.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Not had a roll up for a while, and the pipe smoking seems to be "stabilising" again. The Louisiana Flake is doing the bulk of the smokes, with the occasional bowl of Ennerdale. Rather than have several blends on the go, I'm sticking to just those two, and have been quite content so far.

This does mean that the same pipes are getting used time and time again, but that's ok. When I do finally move to a new blend, I'll get to spend a few weeks with a "new" pipe or two. The same humble array of pipes always offering a welcome change.

Actually, I just remembered, I do have a bit of English on the go too. Balkan Mixture I believe. I know Balkan isn't English, but they both fall in the same category in my head. I kind of drifted away from that, as I do seem to tire of Latakia quite easily. That could probably do with rehydrating, in case I get the urge for a bowl one evening.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The pipe smoking has definitely stabilised again.

I have a part smoked pipe next to me, which was packed two days ago, and which I smoked about a third of yesterday. That used up the last of the Louisiana Flake I had rehydrated, and while there's still maybe two thirds of that pouch left to be rehydrated and smoked, I may switch to something lighter for a while.

There's a 25g pouch of Erinmore which I think should be popped open now the warmer days are here. Having those small tins to hand, makes it very convenient for bringing just 10g-15g of a blend into play.

I also had a rummage through the ageing drawer a few days ago, just to check on the square Gawith tins. All seemed well. Still feeling content about the humble stock level too, and everything just being 1-off tins of any blend.

14 rectangular tins, plus 20+ round ones, sees me well into my 50s (two years away), with either a different never smoked before blend, or an old friend, at every pop. That seems more sensible than stocking up on individual blends at my consumption rate.

They're all still a way off being started yet though. There's still all these pouches, plus a 12+ month old pouch of Condor Long Cut to enjoy first.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

March 8th seems to be the last time I recorded a purchase in this thread. That's nearly five months with no tobacco/pipe expenditure. I knew it had been a while, but that's actually longer than I thought.

Still overrun with pouches and samples. Still have an abundance of pipes. I'll not make it to the end of the year without needing more pipe cleaners though. Possibly lighter fuel too. No rush...

I have window shopped once or twice, mainly just to wince at how much the prices have gone up since I stocked up last year. No temptation for further spending though, thankfully, as other life issues have been relieving me of my monthly pittance. Mainly wardrobe contents. You'll not be surprised that I took a miserly approach to the spending there either If it wasn't on sale at a killer price, I left it there for the next mug

So now almost everything I'll be smoking from here on, will have at least a year's age on it. Even most of the remaining samples and pouches have at least six months, not counting however long they were sat at the tobacconists before I liberated them. I haven't actually smoked anything that tasted "raw" for quite some time. I might need to buy some fresh samples in a few years, just to remind myself what "fresh" stuff tastes like, in comparison with my nicely aged stash.

Or maybe not. I don't need to eat raw bacon, to know cooked bacon tastes good

 

[AimlessWanderer]

The samples are no more!

The remaining two, Lakeland Dark, and Balkan Flake, have been rubbed out and combined with some Erinmore Mixture. The Erinmore was largely top end flavours, and the other two a little too bassy for me, so I've lobbed them all in one bag. Not the most refined end result, but definitely smokeable.

That concoction and Louisiana Flake are the only two blends open at the moment, and only two pouches remain sealed. Three Nuns and Condor Long Cut. I seem to be going through a few pipes a day at the moment. Not every day, but some days I might have three of four bowls. As such, there's renewed hope that I might (eventually) be opening a tin at some point this year.

 

[RookieGuy]

That's good! That should free up some room in the old tobacco drawer. And puts you one step closer to starting your 5 year plan.

 

[KellyG]

You are driving me crazy. You know that, right? Just open a tin already. The world won't stop turning and I can relax. I know, I know, your smoking habits have nothing to do with me, but...just open a tin, OK? Or not.