Cellaring Tobacco You Haven't Smoked

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derfargin

Lifer
Mar 3, 2014
2,028
28
Kennesaw, GA
I popped open a nice VA flake last week, my first tin of Dunhill flake. I have a pretty good stockpile of this stuff going...
I've got a few tins of DF in the cellar, but I've not tried any yet. I might have to crack one soon!
These are quotes from a recent Dunhill Flake review I saw, and am perplexed by. There are some of you that cellar tobacco(some with considerable stocks)that you haven't even smoked once? What's the logic behind that? Is it a type of tobacco you currently enjoy, and you think will age well? So you buy a bunch and sit on it for a few years? Do you think that "Well if I don't like it, I'll just sell it to someone else"?
I'm of the try before you invest in more school of thought. If I don't like the taste of a fresh tin of tobacco, chances are I'm not going to fancy a tin with a few years of age on it. Or does age change the blend so much that it completely different smoking experience?

 
It's cheap stuff, I tend to buy no less than five or so tins of anything that I think might be interesting. Heck compared to cigarettes, might as well. I also gather more than I can smoke in a month, so sometimes it may be quite a few before I get to some blends. And, sometimes I forget I even bought it. I don't like to keep too many tins open. I get confused that way, LOL.
Heck, if I don't like it, I just give it to my friends at the the pipe club. Someone will like it.

What does it matter to you?

 

cmdrmcbragg

Lifer
Jul 29, 2013
1,739
3
I never buy a ton of a blend if I haven't had it before. I always get a tin or a couple ounces to start before I buy more. I always try to buy in bulk if I like a blend though because it saves on shipping or trips to the store down the road when I would like more. Unfortunately not everything comes in bulk size so we're forced to buy tins ... and for some that means a box of tins. I don't go overboard with hoarding blends I like. I buy bulk for smoking, not saving it for the days when tobacco purchases are outlawed and the ATF goes door to door inspecting homes for caches of leaf.
Plus I have an appropriately small space to work with so I don't go overboard. I've already been accused of having too much with only a handful of unopened tins and 14 mini-mason jars of all blends I have had.

 

rmbittner

Lifer
Dec 12, 2012
2,759
1,994
I'm mostly like junkyarddawg. But if something comes out that I think I'm really likely to enjoy -- usually from a blender that I know I love -- I'll often buy 11 or 21 tins: 10/20 for the cellar and one to try in the near future.
Usually this works out fine for me. But sometimes I do end up with a number of tins that I decide to sell/pass along later.
Sometimes, I'll pick up one or two tins of something new and just put them in the cellar, thinking I'll give them some time to rest before trying them.
Bob

 

northernneil

Lifer
Jun 1, 2013
1,390
1
I have a good selection of tobaccos in the cellar that I have not tried yet. However, I only stockpile the blends I have determined to be good. When buying a new blend, I like to get 3 tins. One to smoke soon, one to smoke later and one to save for long term aging. If after the first tin I find I really like the tobacco, then I start ordering more to store long term.

 

rasselass

Lurker
Apr 3, 2014
30
0
Over here in Bushmills,Northern Ireland,i would say,there are few who cellar their Pipe Tobacco,over here the "Cost of Living"is high ie. 50 grams of Condor/Dunhill N.C. is approx.$20-21 U.S.,i smoke 100 grams a week,and petrol/diesel costing $10-11 U.S a gallon....how i envy you guys and i'm curious as i'm sure others in the U.K. are ,what you pay for Tobacco and Petrol/Diesel in different parts of the world....Apologies if i'm "off topic"but this i find interesting...Good Luck.

 

escioe

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 31, 2013
702
4
By Greg Pease's account, among the first people to cellar was Robert Rex at Drucquer & Sons in Berkeley in the late 70s, wherein he would hold back house blends for five years and sell them at a premium.

 

harlockfan

Might Stick Around
May 8, 2014
83
1
I am celling alot right now. Mainly when I get a good deal I typically buy. I probably have enough for 3 years now. Most of the stuff I have to celler I haven't tried yet. Not just for aging because about half of them are aromatics which would serve no purpose.

 

derfargin

Lifer
Mar 3, 2014
2,028
28
Kennesaw, GA
What does it matter to you?
It doesn't matter to ME at all, I was just curious about the practice.
I can understand buying a few tins as "northerneil" said. some to smoke now, some to smoke later, and some much much later.
But I can't see how you can buy a number of tins of something, and sit on it for a year and not smoke it once.
Different smokes for different folks I guess.

 
Dec 24, 2012
7,195
456
I have some stuff in the cellar that I have never tried, but not a whole lot. For example, I have a bunch of Pelican. Have no idea what the stuff tastes like. I will try it some some day, but even if I don't, the stuff sells like hot cakes, so I don't see how I can lose. I also have a bunch of PH Dark Strong Flake. No idea what it tastes like. Figure I can't go wrong with that either. I also have a bunch of assorted GLP blends that I have never tried yet. For me, I not only was worried about US tax increases, but also changes in the customs landscape and getting the stuff across the border - so I decided to cellar with abandon. Anything I have cellared in quantity though (my definition: over 3 lb) I have tried and like.

 
The biggest mistake I've made with buying too much was Sutliff's Great Outdoors. Before I decided to start stockpiling, I bought twelve tins of the stuff based on the review here on PM. Little did I know that it was going to be the one blend that would turn my stomach. But, my local pipe friends enjoyed getting a fresh tin for Christmas. A close second mistake was buying 1oz each of the lakeland blends to give them a shot. I now have two rose bushes with a mulch that gives off that English tobacco aroma in the heat of summer, ha ha. I couldn't find anyone local that would even try the stuff based on the smell. If I had of known that people on here liked the stuff, I would have gladly sent it to them, but... hindsight and all that.
Otherwise, I don't think I've bought too much of anything else that has turned out terrible. (knock on wood) Straight Virginas and VaPers don't turn my stomach. However, the 10+ year old stack of tins of Tilbury isn't a favorite of mine, but when I add a good dose of perique, it becomes tolerable. I wouldn't make a rash purchase of a latakia blend or aromatic. So, some of it has to be calculated risks.
I'm not scared of laws or taxes. I just have to get what I want before Peck or Harris get wind of them, lol. Otherwise, I have to get on a waiting list :wink:

 

beezer

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 12, 2013
618
743
The majority of the blends I have in my cellar currently are of stuff I have never tried. I'm afflicted with the "collector bug" and will usually purchase between 2-7 tins of a particular blend based off of a combination of reviews and the blend's availability matched up against what I know my own likes/dislikes are. To put it in perspective I've currently got approximately 45 blends for a total of about 175 tins in the cellar of stuff that I've yet to try. For blends that I know I love I might cellar a pound or two.
I have no concern or worries about what to do if I end up not liking a particular blend that is in my cellar. Reiterating what others have said, I'll either sell, trade, or gift it away if that ends up being the case. For me half the fun is the collecting aspect. I love chasing hard to find blends and I love cracking open a tin of something I've never tried before.
Heck, I've got a list of blends sitting on the desk in my office of some 30 blends or so that I've never tried, but that I plan on adding to the cellar this year! I might just have to head over to P&C and take advantage of that Father's Day coupon!

 

latbomber

Part of the Furniture Now
May 10, 2013
570
4
I will only stock up on something I've tried and liked. Seems like simple logic to me.

 
Aug 1, 2012
4,587
5,131
I'll usually buy at least 2 tins of a blend I might like, one to smoke and the other to cellar, but at the rate I smoke it can take me a year or more to get to a particular blend. So yeah, I might have a few blends in the cellar that I haven't tried (19 untried blends at present) but I'll get to them all someday. If I hate them, there's always somebody who is willing to trade for them.

 
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