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....
A warning: examine your tins!
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Capn Jimbo
- Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
- Posts: 3550
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A warning: examine your tins!
Last edited by Capn Jimbo on Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Capn Jimbo
- Rum Evangelisti and Compleat Idiot
- Posts: 3550
- Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 3:53 pm
- Location: Paradise: Fort Lauderdale of course...
- Contact:
For the life of me...
...I can't quite figure it out from the bar code or bar serial number: 0 71610 62302 6. This is what is called UPC-A, the most common US barcode. This is 12 digits, which may also be expressed in a 13 digit code under UPC-13 by adding a leading "0" to this number, which means made in the U.S. Other than the leading digits the 71610 identifies the manufacturer, the 62302 identifies that company's product. The trailing 6 is what is called a "check digit" which insures the number was read correctly. The problem is there is no free publicly accessible data in which to look up the number.
There was a public database that was a depository for individuals to enter UPC's on their own, but the UPC's change so rapidly that only a commercial (inaccessible) database has them all. If anyone can find that manufacturer and product, have at it! It is possible it has the date encoded.
However, the pop top lid has two convoluted symbols with the numbers "1" and "2" under them (in that order). I can only guess 2112, without knowing any better, but this is a wild-arsed guess.
*******
FWIW, it is possible to look up "official" UCC codes by typing in the 12-digit version into Google, which officially returns "Swan Vestas Matches". The problem: a company may choose to invent its own codes, for their own private use, and which are not available to the public. This Sutliff product seems to be one of those.
...I can't quite figure it out from the bar code or bar serial number: 0 71610 62302 6. This is what is called UPC-A, the most common US barcode. This is 12 digits, which may also be expressed in a 13 digit code under UPC-13 by adding a leading "0" to this number, which means made in the U.S. Other than the leading digits the 71610 identifies the manufacturer, the 62302 identifies that company's product. The trailing 6 is what is called a "check digit" which insures the number was read correctly. The problem is there is no free publicly accessible data in which to look up the number.
There was a public database that was a depository for individuals to enter UPC's on their own, but the UPC's change so rapidly that only a commercial (inaccessible) database has them all. If anyone can find that manufacturer and product, have at it! It is possible it has the date encoded.
However, the pop top lid has two convoluted symbols with the numbers "1" and "2" under them (in that order). I can only guess 2112, without knowing any better, but this is a wild-arsed guess.
*******
FWIW, it is possible to look up "official" UCC codes by typing in the 12-digit version into Google, which officially returns "Swan Vestas Matches". The problem: a company may choose to invent its own codes, for their own private use, and which are not available to the public. This Sutliff product seems to be one of those.