Smoking old cigarettes and other kinds of tobacco products

• Sep 2, 2010

• #1

T

TrenchGuy

One of the Regulars

Messages

123

Location

Finland

Does anyone else here have any experience on smoking old cigarettes? I once happened to find an old pack of cigarettes(brand was Armiro) around from year 1980. I decided to smoke them, though they were old. They didn't taste pretty much like anything, but it wasn't a surprise as they happened to be mild cigarette. I still got a nicotine buzz, because I hadn't smoked any in a while.

Does tobacco really ever go bad?

 

• Sep 2, 2010

• #2

Ada Vice

One of the Regulars

Messages

133

Location

London

Yes it does go bad IME Have smoked old packets and the tobacco's too dry, (so really harsh and not nice tasting) that's whether it's sealed or out in the air.

 

• Sep 3, 2010

• #3

Absinthe_1900

One Too Many

Messages

1,628

Location

The Heights in Houston TX

I have a couple of packs of these old timers, but you'd have to point a gun at me to light them up, and I'd still probably take the bullet.

 

• Sep 3, 2010

• #4

Miss sofia

One Too Many

Messages

1,675

Location

East sussex, England

I have a packet of fifties lucky strikes which i have had to hide before to stop myself from opening when i have had a few snifters and my eyes have alighted on them winking at me to smoke 'em !

 

• Sep 3, 2010

• #5

Geesie

Practically Family

Messages

717

Location

San Diego

I haven't smoked REALLY old tobacco products but given my habits a pack of cigarettes can last me two years.

And my pipe tobacco I keep sealed so it doesn't seem to dry out much.

 

• Sep 4, 2010

• #6

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

You guys are nuts. Nicotine will kill you. Forget lung cancer. It constricts the coronary arteries and contributes to heart disease. Abandon tobacco (a foul native american vice). Death in a breath.

Now, to actually enhance your health, take up drinking. Google it. Search it. It's medical fat. Those who drink live longer than those who don't. And it is ever so much more fun.

 

• Sep 4, 2010

• #7

T

Tiller

Practically Family

Messages

637

Location

Upstate, New York

A lot of pipe smokers age their tobacco. IDK about aging it for 30 years though lol.

 

• Sep 4, 2010

• #8

DAJE

One of the Regulars

Messages

144

Location

Melbourne, Australia

I'm (mostly) a former smoker, but I did a lot of experimenting with stored tobacco several years back. (I had a contact for buying it in bulk, tax-free.)

It's a myth that drying out tobacco makes it harsher - a widespread myth, but definitley a myth.

What makes tobacco harsh is actually the opposite: moisture. The wetter it is, the harsher and smokier it is. Just like burning wood in a fireplace, it burns better and cleaner with a lower moisture content.

The problem with drying it out too much is that it turns to dust. That's what snuff is: completely dried tobacco that had crumbled to dust.

When tobacco is stored in a dry environment, it'll stay good for a long time. If the moisture content is low enough, and if it's stored in an airtight container, it'll last a very long time.

Too much moisture makes tobacco go bad: it's organic matter, it'll rot if stored damp. Mouldy or decayed tobacco is horrible to smoke, but drying it out properly will help a lot, and it's possible to rescue unsmokable tobacco with good drying.

If the tobacco has been properly stored, it should be fine.

 

• Sep 4, 2010

• #9

LocktownDog

Call Me a Cab

Messages

2,254

Location

Northern Nevada

Aged pipe tobacco is very very good. If its too dry, it just needs a simple re-humidify with distilled water. Check out some of the prices on Ebay for vintage tobacco tins. A 50g tin of 40 yr old Balkan Sobranie sells for a couple hundred dollars for a reason. :eusa_clap

 

• Sep 5, 2010

• #10

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

Such a defensive crowd. Actually, I never thought I was lecturing adults. I thought I was lecturing children pretending to be adults from another era (this ought to be fun).

I don't care if you smoke, and rather wish more of you would so I can get an occasional whiff as I pass by. But you're still nuts to do it. lol

 

• Sep 6, 2010

• #11

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

Flame wars? You're kidding, right? (Remember to insert smiley face so I don't offend anyone.)

A thread about smoking stale cigarettes. You guys crack me up.

 

• Sep 6, 2010

• #12

Bebop

Practically Family

Messages

951

Location

Sausalito, California

Old cigarettes can be pretty dry and dry tobacco can smoke like plain, old paper. That's why they don't taste very much like tobacco. I quite smoking cigarettes about 20 years ago, before I could finish smoking a carton of Gintane cigarettes. 5 or 6 years later, I opened a pack of those Gitanes and along with the fact that I hadn't smoked a cigarette in a long time, they tasted as if I were smoking rolled up newspaper.

Some (not all) types of pipe tobacco can be aged just like wine. I have quite a few tins of pipe tobacco from the 80's in my cellar and I look forward to opening them soon.

 

• Sep 6, 2010

• #13

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

Bebop said:

By the way..........Drinking does not prolong life. The medical fact is that it MAY be of SOME benefit to SOME people if used in moderation and to some, it may not be "ever so much fun" Some people that love to drink read a little blurb or heard a whacky new story that drinking was "good for you" and it justified their love of alcohol so the myth grew.

Drinking, just like smoking, can shorten your life and give you all kinds of horrible diseases.

Click to expand...

Now you did it, Bebop. We all abhor each others' vices, but our own are unassailable.

Smoking stale cigarettes is just vile. Why in the world would anyone even consider such a thing? It's comparable to eating one's own excrement. The best of Europe came here, and the ones who were left behind were, well, the ones who were left behind to smoke stale cigarettes.

Tomorrow ought to be fun. Something to do on labor day.

 

• Sep 6, 2010

• #14

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

Smithy said:

Hell's bells you're a rude bugger.

Click to expand...

That was settled a LONG time ago.

I suggest you have a long heart-to-heart with your grandfather about your heritage, before you set about taking on the defense of the Europeans who sent your ancestors to the South Pacific in chains, particularly if you are going to start ragging on me on a website on which most of the contributors spend much of their time glorifying the mannerisms and eccentricities of the "gentlemen" who sent them there, ... "mate."

But besides that, I like you!

 

• Sep 6, 2010

• #15

B

Bourbon Guy

A-List Customer

Messages

374

Location

Chicago

So, back to the topic. Smoking stale tobacco is just foul. It's like posting a thread about eating rotten food. Some youngsters might not know the difference and think it is "vintage." It is not.

Anyone who was ever a regular smoker knows this. Sometimes you would get a pack that was old. You could feel it. You could feel the whole pack. Take one out, and it crinkled between your fingers. You could hear it. You could smell the difference. When you lit it up, it was awful, like smoking old newspaper.

God, you guys are no fun anymore.