Cellar a blend you haven’t tried?

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alexander87

Might Stick Around
Aug 8, 2017
78
92
Here’s my dilemma: I am afraid of the tobacco nuclear winter that seems imminent. I’m saving for a massive purchase in February to buy as much tobacco as I can. I want basic blends I can smoke for many years but I’ve only tried maybe 15 blends and none of them are bulk. Have you ever stocked up on a blend you haven’t tried?
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,938
12,031
Have you ever stocked up on a blend you haven’t tried?
Yes, I have some tins of Dunhill (Durbar, EMP, London Mixture, Standard Mixture) in my cellar that I haven't tried. I'm trying to work my way through some jars in my rotation before opening anything new.
 

brooklynpiper

Part of the Furniture Now
May 8, 2018
633
1,362
I have a ton of blends on hand that I haven't tried, but I don't really buy big at once.

Only things I have trouble getting - Esoterica & HH Vintage Syrian before it went away.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Have you ever stocked up on a blend you haven’t tried?

Only a couple of times, and that was because the blend was about to disappear. Stocking up in this instance meant 5 tins, hardly a massive buy. At worst I figured that I'd be stuck with them, or possibly be able to trade them. And, I knew the blender and had an idea what I was likely to get.

My biggest error was buying a stack of Germain's reissue of Balkan Sobranie when it first came out. I'd smoked a lot of it in the 1970's and early 1980's and since it was Germain's I figured how bad could it be. I found out.

But generally I don't stock up on anything I haven't tried. Part of the problem with your plan is that you're buying blind and may find yourself with a lot of tobaccos that you don't like, and may not be able to trade off, or sell off at par. You do have some time before the fecal matter potentially hits the spinning blades. Why not try out a variety of blends now, before you commit?
 
I have a lot of tobacco in my cellar (mostly 1 Tin each) which I have not tried yet. This is because

1. I have been a pipe smoker for about 5 months and then a big gap of 2 years and then a pipe smoker again for 3 months

2. My rate of buying far outpaces my rate of consumption

3. I like tasting different blends
 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,517
50,591
Here
After I figured out that I liked just about all non-aromatics, I went to town cellar building. I estimate that I've tried about 15% of what's in my cellar.

I have no fear. What I will have is tobacco.


1869
 
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Jun 23, 2019
1,845
12,758
There seems to be a few very distinct and opposing schools on thought on the topics you touched on in the original post, but without significantly derailing the thread let me just answer your specific question:

Yes. I've cellared based on a combination of 1) recommendations from friends 2) reading a wide breadth of online reviews and 3) knowing my own preferences.
 

alexander87

Might Stick Around
Aug 8, 2017
78
92
Only a couple of times, and that was because the blend was about to disappear. Stocking up in this instance meant 5 tins, hardly a massive buy. At worst I figured that I'd be stuck with them, or possibly be able to trade them. And, I knew the blender and had an idea what I was likely to get.

My biggest error was buying a stack of Germain's reissue of Balkan Sobranie when it first came out. I'd smoked a lot of it in the 1970's and early 1980's and since it was Germain's I figured how bad could it be. I found out.

But generally I don't stock up on anything I haven't tried. Part of the problem with your plan is that you're buying blind and may find yourself with a lot of tobaccos that you don't like, and may not be able to trade off, or sell off at par. You do have some time before the fecal matter potentially hits the spinning blades. Why not try out a variety of blends now, before you commit?
When do you think it will get really bad?
 

beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
Yes, I've purchased many blends that I have never tried. When most people purchase two tins of something; one to try now and one to cellar for later I'll typically purchase five tins as my minimum. The only exception to this personal norm of mine is when a blend has polarizing reviews (either love or hate) or when the components are something I know I'm not fond of, but curious to try.

Oh, the above is for purely non-aromatics. I never purchase more than one tin of an aromatic at a time and I do so very seldom.
 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,916
Detroit
No. If I am trying a new Virginia blend, I will buy two tins - one for now, one for later. Anything else - a tin, or an ounce in bulk, if I can.
I have a fair amount squirrelled away now. I am really not overly concerned about some tobacco nuclear winter. The amount of internet fueled hysteria on this issue is absolutely astounding.
 

stogie37

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 24, 2012
673
3,489
Southport, North Carolina
My take would be to cellar “wide and shallow” (lots of variety, 1 or 2 deep) as opposed to “deep and narrow” (few blends, large quantity). Those of us that have a little more smoking history to reference can safely go deep on a few blends without much risk of regret - but I haven’t found a piper yet who doesn’t like trying new blends. Even with this shallow strategy, you could narrow down which blends you’d be willing to drop coin on to purchase in the sure to be booming aftermarket. If the sky does indeed fall ?
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,621
44,833
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
When do you think it will get really bad?
Late 2021 or 2022, when the FDA extension for undeemed blends runs out. You can add an element of speculation to that regarding the quality of the leaf going into those blends due to processing shortcuts brought about by the end of tobacco farming subsidies, increased interdiction by various import/export authorities making it more difficult to obtain foreign made blends, banning of internet sales, and so on.

But even with the FDA extinction event, there will still be a lot of excellent and classic blends on the market, more than were around when I took up the pipe. It will sort of be like it was in the 1970's, just with more mediocre components going into the domestic product.

I'm happy that I cellared when I did. But even with all of this potential doom and gloom, I wouldn't be panic buying a bunch of weed that I might find tastes like crap. When something becomes that big a monkey on my back I get rid of it.
 
When I buy to try a new blend, I usually buy between six to twenty tins of it. Pipe tobacco is dirt dirt dirt cheap, with pipe tobacco being the cheapest form of tobacco on the market. I sort of feel sorry for guys who think this is expensive. They must be really bad off.

That said, I also don't have such sensitive tastes that any tobacco would make me mad that I dropped the price of taking my family to a restaurant on it. I may not like it now, but maybe in a few years it will hit the spot for me.

So, if you're "that" poor, and have such selective, sensitive tastes, maybe take up bubble gum as a hobby. ;)
 
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lawdawg

Lifer
Aug 25, 2016
1,792
3,801
Have you ever stocked up on a blend you haven’t tried?

Nope.

Why not buy small amounts (a 50g tin / 1.75 oz tin / 1 oz bulk) of different blends that sound appealing to you, and then after you smoke at least a few bowls of each, then decide what to stock up on? You can accomplish this task of sampling a lot of different blends within a couple of weeks, and then place your big order. The potential tobacco nuclear winter will probably hold off until at least May of 2021 based on the current FDA deeming regulations.
 
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spartacus

Lifer
Nov 7, 2018
1,022
795
Mesa, Arizona
I don't typically cellar something I haven't tried. I found that many recommendations from friends and others on the forum were great based on what I tend to gravitate towards. But some I just did not care for.
I cellar what I will smoke. I don't cellar for opportunistic gains.
I like to try new things and will add to my cellar based on how a like those blends. Sable gave me some recommendations from a blender recently. I have placed another order to stock the cellar after trying a few tins before just adding them to my cellar.
When I find a blend I like I will cellar it.
You have plenty of time to see what you like and cellar accordingly.
My tasted changed the longer I smoked. In the beginning I loved aromatics and didn't care for Perique. Now it's the opposite. I'm glad I don't have 500 lbs of aromatics in my cellar. I do have enough quality aromatics to keep me happy for many years though.
 
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alexander87

Might Stick Around
Aug 8, 2017
78
92
This all great stuff and much appreciated. I have some blends that I love and have been smoking for a few years but I’m thinking more do I want to buy some big bulk purchases of stuff like the Sutliff Dunhill/Balkan sobrannie march blends and Arango Balkan Supreme or do I want to buy less of the tinned stuff.
 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,235
Alaska
I have assloads of things cellared I have never tried. I got spooked by the looming tobaccopocalypse and went full hog early on. Fortunately I smoke little enough that 8oz is cellaring "deep" for me so there isn't a huge risk. I have probably tried 30% or so of what I have in the cellar.
 
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