Does Cellaring Make Sense if You are Still Finding your Palate?

[mikethompson]

If you are still finding your way around blends, still trying to detect flavors, and generally still trying to 'get it' - does it make sense to have a large cellar of blends?

I'm trying to re-teach myself the basics, slow cadence, drying, tamping, all of that - all while trying to detect flavors. I don't 'practice' near as much as I'd like, but the question is: should I be stocking a cellar?

On one hand, once everything 'clicks' you'd have a good selection of blends with some age on them, on the other, it would just be like blindly acquiring tins.

Any thoughts?

 

[krizzose]

I don’t see the point on stocking up on a blend you aren’t sure that you like in the present moment. In my own experience I found a handful pretty quickly that I know I enjoyed, and stocked up on those while I continued experimenting. 12 years later, I’m very glad I did so, as I have a good stock of well-aged favorites. Of course, tastes can change, so I suppose there’s always a little risk.

 

[simong]

I’d say that wouldn’t make any sense to me whatsoever.
Smoke St. Bruno Mike, the sum besths of us do & we’re happy.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Other than keeping jarred remains of things I didn’t like to revisit later, I don’t think so.
I can see people stocking up on popular and scarcer blends that they are only interested in making a profit on later, but I abhor the practice.
Hoarding like that only hurts the guys that want to enjoy something but don’t have capital to leverage. Driving up prices by such practices really puts a hurt on the everyday blue collar guy, I’ve seen it for decades in the shooting community, and in the long run makes govt/popular regulation/restriction easier to accomplish by those that don’t approve of what one chooses to partake in.

 

[seanv]

Buy wide and narrow it down later

 

[AcesAndEights]

Buy wide and narrow it down later

This is exactly what I’ve done, 1-3 tins of all sorts of stuff, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I have yet to smoke a second tin of any blend I’ve tried yet. I have found a few that I’ve decided to go a BIT deeper on, maybe half a dozen tins or so, but nothing yet that I would want pounds of. Variety is my favorite part of this hobby.

 

[mortonbriar]

I think a bit of cellaring is worth while if you know you are enjoying something in the present...you can always trade it at a later date if your taste buds change.

 

[Auxsender]

This is exactly what I’ve done, 1-3 tins of all sorts of stuff, and I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I have yet to smoke a second tin of any blend I’ve tried yet. I have found a few that I’ve decided to go a BIT deeper on, maybe half a dozen tins or so, but nothing yet that I would want pounds of. Variety is my favorite part of this hobby.

My experience exactly.

 

[Auxsender]

If you are still finding your way around blends, still trying to detect flavors, and generally still trying to 'get it' - does it make sense to have a large cellar of blends?

I'm trying to re-teach myself the basics, slow cadence, drying, tamping, all of that - all while trying to detect flavors. I don't 'practice' near as much as I'd like, but the question is: should I be stocking a cellar?

On one hand, once everything 'clicks' you'd have a good selection of blends with some age on them, on the other, it would just be like blindly acquiring tins.

Any thoughts?

How much money have you got?

I say buy everything you’re curious about that you can easily afford. Don’t spend money you don’t have. Other than that, go crazy.
Worst case scenario, you have some blends on hand that you can sell or trade away.
Best case is that you’ll have a giant baccy collection that you love that you can smoke in retirement without spending an additional penny during your non-earning years.

 

[btp79]

Tobacco will never be more available or as inexpensive than it is right now.

 

[sablebrush52]

If you are still finding your way around blends, still trying to detect flavors, and generally still trying to 'get it' - does it make sense to have a large cellar of blends?

I'm trying to re-teach myself the basics, slow cadence, drying, tamping, all of that - all while trying to detect flavors. I don't 'practice' near as much as I'd like, but the question is: should I be stocking a cellar?

On one hand, once everything 'clicks' you'd have a good selection of blends with some age on them, on the other, it would just be like blindly acquiring tins.

Any thoughts?

That's a really good question, and it's received several good answers. I'm more in the "cellar wide, not deep, and don't cellar much" camp. When you identify a blend that you particularly like stock some extra tins. But as for finding one's palate, that's a repeat process. Most of us change genre's of what we like to smoke, a few are polyglots, and some are "one and only". What you've happily stocked may end up spending some time in exile because your choice of genre has changed. And it may well change again, returning the exiles to court favorites.

 

[didimauw]

I would say no. The only reason I cellar, is because Im picky about what I smoke. In all reality I have 5 blends cellared deep.

 

[serpentx]

I live in an "at-risk" state, so it's not so much cellaring as it is stockpiling

 

[andrew]

I'm in the stockpile camp and an very glad I did at an opportune time when the dollars were at par and shipping was just different. I've come across one blend I just did not get along with, Epiphany by C&D. Other than that I'm just happy I'll have Tobacco to smoke the rest of my life. I'm not an extremely picky person. I have added a fair amount this last year though from unbelievable sales on here.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I call it “sampling” - seems sportier!

No way to know what I may like unless I try a variety. I’ve got tins of stuff I still haven’t tried, plenty I have tried and sure, maybe a pound or five (total, not each) of a select few I want to make sure I have around. I’m not a high volume consumer.

 

[OzPiper]

If you are still finding your way around blends, still trying to detect flavors, and generally still trying to 'get it' - does it make sense to have a large cellar of blends?

Any thoughts?

When I switched from cigars to pipes I couldn’t get enough of Latakia and Oriental blends. Stocked up some, just not huge quantities.

While I still like them (for a change up), I find myself smoking a lot more virginia, VaPer and burley blends now.

I reckon I have enough Latakia and Oriental blends to last me at least 6-8 years (at my current rate of smoking)
Only good thing with stocking up are the tins of now discontinued Dunhill London Mixture and Durbar maturing slowly.

Tastes change.
There is no guarantee that a current favourite will remain so down the track.

 

[alaskanpiper]

If it doesn’t click after a few bowls, jar it up and wait a few years. I’ve come back to several that have shocked me with age.

For the most part I only cellar tins of stuff I know I like already, but have certainly purchased additional tins of stuff I’ve given a second go after a few years in the jar.

And of course bought a few here and there on speculation. Some blends you won’t ever get to try, let alone cellar, if you don’t but them in the first 5 minutes. Fortunately, most blends of that nature are easy to sell if after a few years you decide they truly aren’t for you.

It’s an eclectic mix of “strategies” hahaha.

But generally speaking, for readily available blends anyway, I’d say don’t go deep until you know it’s something you enjoy. Whether thats out of the gate, or after a few years of age, is merely a matter of patience.

 

[woodsroad]

Buy wide and narrow it down later

That makes a lot of sense if you’re not buying bulk. Bulk does’t seem to hold it’s value like sealed tins do.

Then again, there are bulk staples like the STG flakes and medalions, that are sure bets. If you don’t enjoy them, then WTF are you doing smoking a pipe?!?!

Yum!

That said, when I started ten years ago, I cellared wide and deep early on. There is little to nothing that I bought then that I do not enjoy today.

 

[Hutch Piper]

It is a great question. I wonder how this group defines cellaring? Is it anything more than a tin or two of a blend (or several ounces)?

 

[mikethompson]

How much money have you got?

That's the thing - should a pipe budget go towards more pipes or more tobacco?

Smoke St. Bruno Mike, the sum besths of us do & we’re happy.

Som Besths to you good sir! St. Bruno is on my list to try

Thanks for all the responses guys. Just trying to plan my attack for 2024 LOL.