[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by OnePyroTec

got a little Elephant & Castle Deerstalker from the mid 80's...

Great score on the E&C Wayne. Here's a little tidbit I re-conned from Pipesmagazine.com , regarding a response to aging:

"I think all of the blends you mentioned are naturally going to improve with age. But, man, I think you're really overworrying this. You're certainly not going to "lose" anything by storing any of these blends for the long-term. But I think there may be some skewed expectations regarding aging.

Yes, you'll see some subtle marrying of flavors after 3-10 years. But I honestly think you need to look much further down the road to see any kind of significant change. I've had a 30-year-old tin of Elephant & Castle's Deerstalker -- an all-VA blend -- that tasted exactly as it did when it was fresh. It wasn't any sweeter or richer or deeper in any way (assuming my palate, memory, and tasting notes were fairly accurate).

Which leads me to this: I'd just encourage you to cellar the blends you enjoy now, the untried blends that you think you're likely to enjoy (based on ingredients/blender), and then just let nature take its course. But I think you're just going to drive yourself crazy if you try to parse out whether African Virginias will do better than American Virginias, at what point latakia starts to fade, or whether a flake will age faster than a broken flake or a ribbon cut."

Enjoy