Smokin' Antique Tobacco

[sandmountainslim]

Some of you know that I have given up my 2 pack a day cigarette habit and taken up smoking a pipe.

I love the flavor of pipe tobacco and have been enjoying a smoke without inhaling which was impossible with cigarettes.

A notion has hit me but I do not know if I will try it.

I have an unopened pack of Phillip Morris cigarettes with a federal tax stamp from 1940 on it so this is at least 69 year old tobacco and I suppose it was aged for a couple years before being made into cigarettes so it was grown during the Great Depression.

The notion hit me to open the pack and take one of the cigs out, break it open and possible re-humidify the tobacco with sterile water or Jack Daniels and mix it in with some good pipe smoke and have it in a bowl or three

No real point in doin this other than to say it smoked pre-war tobacco.

Any thoughts on this?

Wp

 

[OckhamsBlade]

I wouldn't, a friend of mine found a pack of his fathers after his old man had quit for 10 years, ended up smoking one and getting a bronchial infection. The problem is even the preservatives have shelf lives. Tobacco may be used as a pesticide but the material its packaged in could harbor nasty critters. In this case I'd look but don't touch.

 

[Commander Quan]

I'd either keep them, or contact this guy and see if he wants to buy them off you, or try to sell them yourself. Once you open them I would say they are worthless to collectors and I highly doubt the tobacco could even be worth saving at this point.

http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Ciga...28QQ_sidZ361073508QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

 

[ek.310]

lol..resell to RJ Reynolds?! (j/k)

 

[GoldenMonkey]

That would just be nasty, I assure you. I used to have some old cherry and vanilla pipe tobacco at one point. It sat in a drawer for about ten years, and on a whim I tried to smoke some, just to see...well, it was extremely dried out, had no scent, or real flavor left...just sort of had that "old dirt" taste. It wouldn't pack either...it just crumbled and then burned up so fast (like, two puffs), and the smoke was acrid and painful. I know you said you'd try to remoisturize it but...really...ugh...

 

[sandmountainslim]

So I take it your fellers don't think it would be a good Smokin' 'baccer?


I read today where many experts believe the cigars u see for sale which "Contain Pre-Embargo Cuban Tobacco" are a complete hoax and no genuine pr-embargo tobacco is available in any quantity.
Wp

 

[Commander Quan]

Oh they contain pre embargo tobacco, but it is such an small amount, and that is blended with other non Cuban tobaccos and all you are paying for is the novelty.

 

[Straight Arrow]

I wouldn't smoke any old antique tobaccy. I mean, it could be bad for your health and stuff.

 

[jwhite]

The question isn't the age but packaging,storage and original product. Tobacco particularly good uncased tobacco will only improve with age. Virginias seem to age the best. The stuff that is smothered with humicants(sp?), and casings isn't of a type that would do much with aging and the additives are more than counter productive, so I'm not at all surprised that GoldenMonkey had the experiance he did. If those cigarettes have been kept in air tight storage that would not allow for oxygen or moisture exchange than you would be fine. Otherwise the pack would only have its collector value. I have aged Pipe tobacco for up to 10 years and seen it age beautifully but these were kept carefully. And I know of others who have had the pleasure of smoking vintage tobaccos as well.

 

[sandmountainslim]

It is settled then

I spoke discussed it with a friend today and we decided that we are going to use the 1940 Phillip Morris cigarettes

We have a Cruise-In every tuesday in the summer so what we plan to do for the first event this summer is break open one of the old cigs and mix it in with modern tobacco and fire it up! I have never smoked Pre-War tobacco before!

Smoking one cig per year mixed with modern smoke the pack will last 20 years

Since the pack has a 1940 federal tax stamp on it that would mean the tobacco inside was grown sometime in the late 1930's so middle Depression Era 'mokin' tabaccer will get a little use!

Wp

 

[SliceOfLife]

It's settled? It sounded to me like Jwhite was also saying not to smoke it (unless sitting in a pack of smokes is all it takes to age tobacco properly). Methinks you hear what you want to hear.

 

[jwhite]

Well it wont hurt him, at least not more than any other tobacco but it will have lost all of the essential oils that would made it taste like anything. Also its probably dried to powder. If you really want to give it a go, try to rehydrate by placing what you want to smoke in a humidor, a small Tupperware with a pouch moistener will do, for several days. If your going to blend it try a natural fine cut tobacco, do not use pre-made cig weed like Marlborough, but a decent pouch of RYO. I don't know SliceOfLife maybe they've been kept in a tightly closed ball jar for all these years- they'd be just fine then. Once upon a time American cigs were made with quality tobacco.

 

[Telecaster52]

I wouldn't smoke any old antique tobaccy. I mean, it could be bad for your health and stuff.

Not if it's from before smoking became bad for you

 

[Prince]

Not if it's from before smoking became bad for you

(facepalm)