A warning: examine your tins!
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 7:25 am
Recently picked up a can of Sutliff's "CT"...
...at my favorite, really only tobacconist's shop. He said they were old, and that he'd been cleaning out old stock. Good price, just $6 (normally closer to $12). When I looked at the can I noted a few isolated small spots of rust on the outside - no matter I thought.
So in the car I couldn't resist popping the pull tab lid - clean and nice. The CD is reported as a modestly aromatic mixture of burley, virginia, perique, and latakia, yet comes in a rather large cut. It had a nice aroma, and seemed quite dry enough to smoke out of the can. I was actually glad to get an older sealed can, as this mean the tobacco had aged nicely as well. Good deal, and it smoked very nicely.
Then at home!
So on arrival, I decided a transfer to a sealed glass canning jar for storage. As I did so, I finally saw the inside of the bottom of the can - ouch! The scattered small rust spots on the outside had actually come from within, as the inside surface was covered with rusted spots of the tin coating, which had flaked off, with even some "grains" of tin. And I smoked that?!
Ouch. I took heart in the fact that the cans were stored upright, the top lid was smooth and shiny, as were the sides, and that my pinch of tobacco came from the top. Of course I'll return it for an exchange.
My lesson: if any can or tin shows any damage or especially corrosion - forget it ! At the very least be sure to open it, empty all the tobacco and examine it before smoking any of the contents.
The idea of taking tin fumes into my system, well.... Please! Examine your cans! And your neighbor's wife's as well....
...at my favorite, really only tobacconist's shop. He said they were old, and that he'd been cleaning out old stock. Good price, just $6 (normally closer to $12). When I looked at the can I noted a few isolated small spots of rust on the outside - no matter I thought.
So in the car I couldn't resist popping the pull tab lid - clean and nice. The CD is reported as a modestly aromatic mixture of burley, virginia, perique, and latakia, yet comes in a rather large cut. It had a nice aroma, and seemed quite dry enough to smoke out of the can. I was actually glad to get an older sealed can, as this mean the tobacco had aged nicely as well. Good deal, and it smoked very nicely.
Then at home!
So on arrival, I decided a transfer to a sealed glass canning jar for storage. As I did so, I finally saw the inside of the bottom of the can - ouch! The scattered small rust spots on the outside had actually come from within, as the inside surface was covered with rusted spots of the tin coating, which had flaked off, with even some "grains" of tin. And I smoked that?!
Ouch. I took heart in the fact that the cans were stored upright, the top lid was smooth and shiny, as were the sides, and that my pinch of tobacco came from the top. Of course I'll return it for an exchange.
My lesson: if any can or tin shows any damage or especially corrosion - forget it ! At the very least be sure to open it, empty all the tobacco and examine it before smoking any of the contents.
The idea of taking tin fumes into my system, well.... Please! Examine your cans! And your neighbor's wife's as well....