Well aged pipe tobacco

[Smoke rings]

What is the oldest pipe tobacco you have in your cellar?

[Tobias Lutz]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.

[Pugsley]

I have a few tins from early to mid 2000's. The rest are 6 years or younger.

[Griz]

Six years. That's when I started smoking with the briar.

Have some MacBaren VA #1 just over 6, and FVF right at. All that is needed it a little patience to age the rest.

[Herf N Turf]

Thanks to commonsenseman, I am the proud owner of a tin of VA flake from 2000. Naught short of heaven.

[OnePyroTec]

The oldest I have is a tin and a half of Elephant and Castle Deerstalker from mid 80's. Then there are several other tins from mid & late 90's as well as several more from early 00's.

[OnePyroTec]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.
mid 80s would be Deerstalker. :pipe:

[Branzig]

My three oldest tins are a 1980s Deerstalker tin, 1990's Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake tin, and a mid 90's tin of Red Rappare that I will probably never crack open :p

Other than that, most of my tobacco is in the 1-5 year range.

[Horseshoe]

2 years old from Tobias. 2013 tins.

[Herf N Turf]

2 years old from Tobias. 2013 tins.
Tobias Lutz is really bad that way. Every time he comes up here, he brings something seriously sinister with him. He's a bAAAaaaaDDddd man! :D

[Branzig]

Tobias Lutz is really bad that way. Every time he comes up here, he brings something seriously sinister with him. He's a bAAAaaaaDDddd man! :D

Yeah, he is BAAAAD, but in such a GOOOOOOOD way :p

[mooster]

I've got a few older (oldest is from 2001), but my cellar doesn't kick in until about five years ago. Of course, most of the ones older than that are McClellands blends; I think they lose cases of tins at the warehouse for years or something...

[cbr310]

The oldest I have a a finely aged Dan tobacco midnight ride from 2014, back when i first started smoking a pipe. Damn near aged to perfection. lets not all be jealous, I can post pics.

[JustTroItIn]

The oldest baccy I have are some C&D tins that are dated 2011 & 2012.

[johnnyflake]

A few of my older tins are three McClelland Christmas Cheer - 1992 (The very first year it was made), 1997 & 1998.

[BryGuySC]

I'm still pretty new to this, so the best I've got is 2008 or 2009 that I happened to find at my local shop.

[Scott W.]

I have some 2009 FVF and some 2010 Christmas cheer.
My penzance is 2012

[El Whedo]

I have a couple OLD tins that I was gifted.

The oldest tin I bought was a McClellands VA from 2006 (just bought it a few weeks ago).

The oldest tobacco I've aged myself is some HV bulk and FVF bulk I bought in Sept of 2012 and several tins of Christmas Cheer from 2012.

[NeverBend]

I still have a few bowls of something from the mid 80s that Wayne hooked me up with, then there are a few tins with 10+ years. Not a whole lot beyond 5.

mid 80s would be Deerstalker. :pipe:

Hi Wayne and Tobias,

How do you like The Deerstalker?

Pete

[OnePyroTec]

I like it a lot. IMHO much better than the 20+ year old MacB. #1

[Mister Moo]

Stonehaven plumed, 2010 back to 2005. I wait until it's at least seven years old; the stuff really shines as it ages. The end is the end - higher prices and inavailability have taken me out of the chase; bought a lot of Escudo when it was obvious prices and taxes were going to jump - 2005 to 2010.

The mother of all tobacco buys was in Bermuda around 2010 - stumbled into a load of dusty-grimy Murray's Dunhill (tax free) and no inbound duty; 60 tins of my favorite va stuff and a bit of Elizabethan, I'd guess 2000 approx.

[Tobias Lutz]

Hi Wayne and Tobias,

How do you like The Deerstalker?

Pete

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

[Branzig]

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

You just quoted that blender of it :p

[Tobias Lutz]

You just quoted that blender of it :p

Hot damn! :)

[NeverBend]

I thought it was amazing. I had never smoked anything from that maker but this was really good.

Hi Tobias,

Glad that you enjoyed it!

All of the Elephant & Castle line was made by C.E. McConnell located at 164-8 Barking Road, London. Grand old company that was run by the most knowledgeable tobacco man I ever met, Ken McConnell. They made all of the Rattray line as well as tobaccos for Dunhill, Charatan, Davidoff, Ehrlichs, Astleys, F&T (others) and their own line.

Ken closed his doors in 1989 and Kohlhase (Germany) took over the manufacture of many of their tobaccos including Rattrays. E&C decided not to continue with the brand after McConnell was closed.

In my opinion, by the 1980, McConnell was the best tobacco manufacturer of non-aromatic tobaccos. They made the original (legendary) Dunhill Shell Mixture, F&T Golden Mixture, Davidoff Royalty and many others. The original Rattrays Red Rapparree could give an atheist religion!

The Kohlhase Rattrays re good but they're not as individual (or as much to my liking) as the original McConnell made mixtures.

Elephant & Castle was named after the London Tube stop (and area) of the same name. The line consisted of 7 mixtures: as below:

Blue Mosque - was shag cut pure Kavallah (Turkish cigarette).
Cromwell - a more potent version of Davidoff Royalty (medium English).
Isle of Skye - light Balkan (not a Scottish or Virginia) with a dash of original St. James perique (Balkan). This mixture was inconsistently produced.

My favorites:
The Stout - powerful and smooth with a heavy cake flavor. Wonderful full latakia mixture (full English).
The Deerstalker - sweet and rich (not partially rubbed) (mature Virginia flake).
The Roanoke - fuller and more complex than F&T Golden Mixture. Finest tobacco I've ever smoked (mature ribbon Virginia).
New World - made with cuban cigar leaf. Mild with lots of nuance and subtle flavors. (Turkish-Cigar).

Some tobacco varietals were known by different names when these mixtures were made. The Roanoke and The Deerstalker have a large component of Old Belt Carolina. If you see crystals in these mixtures it's from the Carolinas. Today the Carolinas sold are nothing like this. New World used Basma A that was the most distinctive and fragrant of all of the Turkish varietals and it was the most expensive base tobacco used in the E&C line.

The youngest any E&C mixtures will be are from 1989 (26 years old). Hope that you get a chance to smoke some more but they're rare.

Regards,

Pete

[Bruck]

Nothing in my cabinet is over a year old, major noobularity here :)

[Branzig]

Nothing in my cabinet is over a year old, major noobularity here :)

But you make your own flakes and blend your own tobaccos...so you're at Vet status as far as I am concerned :pipe:

[Bruck]

But you make your own flakes and blend your own tobaccos...so you're at Vet status as far as I am concerned :pipe:

Well that's rather generous... But about 90% of the tobaccos and pipe brands mentioned here I've never even heard of!

[Branzig]

Well that's rather generous... But about 90% of the tobaccos and pipe brands mentioned here I've never even heard of!
Haha fair enough then!

[JustTroItIn]

Hi Tobias,

Glad that you enjoyed it!

All of the Elephant & Castle line was made by C.E. McConnell located at 164-8 Barking Road, London. Grand old company that was run by the most knowledgeable tobacco man I ever met, Ken McConnell. They made all of the Rattray line as well as tobaccos for Dunhill, Charatan, Davidoff, Ehrlichs, Astleys, F&T (others) and their own line.

Ken closed his doors in 1989 and Kohlhase (Germany) took over the manufacture of many of their tobaccos including Rattrays. E&C decided not to continue with the brand after McConnell was closed.

In my opinion, by the 1980, McConnell was the best tobacco manufacturer of non-aromatic tobaccos. They made the original (legendary) Dunhill Shell Mixture, F&T Golden Mixture, Davidoff Royalty and many others. The original Rattrays Red Rapparree could give an atheist religion!

The Kohlhase Rattrays re good but they're not as individual (or as much to my liking) as the original McConnell made mixtures.

Elephant & Castle was named after the London Tube stop (and area) of the same name. The line consisted of 7 mixtures: as below:

Blue Mosque - was shag cut pure Kavallah (Turkish cigarette).
Cromwell - a more potent version of Davidoff Royalty (medium English).
Isle of Skye - light Balkan (not a Scottish or Virginia) with a dash of original St. James perique (Balkan). This mixture was inconsistently produced.

My favorites:
The Stout - powerful and smooth with a heavy cake flavor. Wonderful full latakia mixture (full English).
The Deerstalker - sweet and rich (not partially rubbed) (mature Virginia flake).
The Roanoke - fuller and more complex than F&T Golden Mixture. Finest tobacco I've ever smoked (mature ribbon Virginia).
New World - made with cuban cigar leaf. Mild with lots of nuance and subtle flavors. (Turkish-Cigar).

Some tobacco varietals were known by different names when these mixtures were made. The Roanoke and The Deerstalker have a large component of Old Belt Carolina. If you see crystals in these mixtures it's from the Carolinas. Today the Carolinas sold are nothing like this. New World used Basma A that was the most distinctive and fragrant of all of the Turkish varietals and it was the most expensive base tobacco used in the E&C line.

The youngest any E&C mixtures will be are from 1989 (26 years old). Hope that you get a chance to smoke some more but they're rare.

Regards,

Pete

So good to see your return, Pete! Welcome back!

[commonsenseman]

Thanks to commonsenseman, I am the proud owner of a tin of VA flake from 2000. Naught short of heaven.

Are you sure it's not 2010?

The oldest tin I currently have is Blackwoods Flake from 2005, but the average age of my cellar is 5 years.

[Herf N Turf]

Are you sure it's not 2010?

The oldest tin I currently have is Blackwoods Flake from 2005, but the average age of my cellar is 5 years.

Pretty sure, but I've decanted it and am bad about not dating stuff. Either way, hush. You're ruining it for me :pipe::p

[Haebar]

I have some Amphora Regular (brown), Sir Walter Raleigh, and Brindley's Mixture from 1996. (Don't know how it will taste, but I'll find out one of these days) Most of my cellar is from 2014, with a good portion from 2009.

[MrMotoyoshi]

I have some Butera tins from 2001 and Escudo from 2000. I also have some Dunhill Light Flake but I don't know what year it's from. There are some SG BBF and Squadron Leader tins from the 90's as well. Aside from that most stuff is probably from the last 3-5 years.

[tmoran]

No old stuff here. Started piping at the end of 2012. I still have some stuff around from back then. Most of mine is early 2013 or younger.