Everything changes eventually, but...

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maxpeters

Can't Leave
Jan 4, 2010
439
20
Everything changes eventually. I understand that. That's eventually. But dammit (or is that damnit?), I wish they would leave my tobacco alone. It should be criminal to alter a tobacco blend within, say 50 years, at least . If you can't, then don't even start making it.

I mean, we should all have a constant in our lives. Something familiar you can look forward to, or come home to. Something that centers you, and helps you keep your sanity in this crazy world. Something that remains just as you remember it. Just as you want it to.

I have been a pipe smoker for over 30 years, and in that time I have found only a few blends that I really liked. But what do you think happened? Yep, one by one they were discontinued. If not discontinued out right, then they were subtly changed when another company took over production. That's just criminal. It should be illegal to mess with a man's tobacco. Of all the things in this world that need changing, MY TOBACCO ISN'T IT!

I hate the fact these days that if you like something, you now have to buy a ton of the stuff, because you know it's going to change at some point in the not to distant future.

Realizing that, I started searching the old codger blends about 5 years ago, and found that Middleton's Cherry blend and Walnut were pretty damn good. They became my go to blends. I was thinking these will never change. They've been around since forever. Well, they did. I have one tub of Walnut left, and I found that I can't get the Cherry blend in a tub anymore, so I bought 15 boxes. I have no doubt that they will soon drop even the boxes. Isn't anything sacred anymore?

(I have tried Chestnut, the substitute for Walnut. It's ok. Just not the same.)

Last night I finished the last of my Esoterica Tilbury. I can't get anymore of that. I have one tin of Penzance left. After that, zip. ( could Tobaccoreview.com be responsible?)

Am I living in the wrong era? Did the smokers before me ever have to worry about stocking up, so you would have something familiar to you that you liked, for longer than a few years? Come on pipe tobacco manufactures, LEAVE MY DAMN TOBACCO ALONE!

OK. This is turning into a rant and I didn't mean for it to, but it just ticks me off that all of a sudden it seems that if you like something, it's going to become unavailable. For instance, I like the .22 Mag. round. Great for a lot of things. I have two handguns and two rifles that shoot the round. Can I find any ammo for them? Barely. My local gun store said they would only sell me one box. It's being rationed. Went online to find some and I did, but it's not something I would care to shoot a whole lot of. It's smokey and fouls the guns quickly. The good stuff is unavailable.

Damn! What's going on in this crazy world? Is this thy beginning of a new way of life? "buy it now if you like it. It won't be available tomorrow." I don't like that kind of world.

Which brings me to the reason I started this post. I have found a new tobacco that I really like, but I'm not going to mention it's name. Others may try it and like it, and before you know it, the damn stuff will become unavailable. But being on a fixed income these days, I am going to have to stock some away from time to time, as finances permit.

Maybe one day I will say what blend it is. But probably not. So you who cellar all that tobacco, the thing to do instead of stocking up, is just not say a thing about a blend if you happen to like it. No one knows, no one goes crazy and starts hoarding. Everybody is happy. You will just have to try finding a blend all on your own. TobaccoReview will go silent.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I suspect this new blend will quickly become extinct unless you help build a substantial customer base. No company is going to support a product with limited appeal. Now you have a conundrum! Keep quiet and watch the tobacco go away or, publicize it and have it not be available.

 

okiescout

Lifer
Jan 27, 2013
1,530
6
Much as I sympathize with you, Max, Warren pretty much nailed it. I think it will go away a little faster from lack of notoriety, myself.

Your praise of it may encourage others, and really that is what you need for it to be a viable product, because as Warren says, no one is going to continue to make a baccy that is not selling well.
I am glad you found a replacement you can enjoy your pipes with again.

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 4, 2014
599
2
Hey Max...don't despair!! Keep trying new tobaccos which interest you and share characteristics of your beloved blends. You'll find new ones to love, so many are being turned out now you're bound to find some NEW winners!!

Good luck, Sir!

 
Jan 4, 2015
1,858
11
Massachusetts
Max,sad tale but true. It's bad when you can no longer get what you like and every bit as bad is the blender that alters the product so that it is no longer the same. But today that's the reality. Seadog is right, just keep searching. For every blend that disappears there are several to replace it. I find the reviews to be just the opposite. They help me find people that share my tastes to give me their opinion about a blend. If they like what I like, chances are what they recommend will be to my liking. It beats the hell out of trying a hundred blends to find something. We can't change the reality of the world we live in, the best we can do is adapt. The older we get the harder that is to do but unless we want to be the next dinosaurs we must because there is nothing to suggest it will change any time soon.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
If your contentment resides in having a few dependable blends, stick with the mainstream that have been around a long time from larger companies with fairly deep pockets. The strategy least likely to succeed is sampling far and wide for unusual and exotic blends, falling in love with these, and expecting them to remain available. I think some folks like the quest, and for them, there is always the thrill of the chase for the seldom or unattainable.

 

maxpeters

Can't Leave
Jan 4, 2010
439
20
Yeah I hear you. But think about it. Did those old timers that were here before us have to go through this constant search for their blend of choice? I had to do that when I first started. Must have gone through several hundred blends before i found one that I wanted to stick with.

I would hate to have to go through that again. I used to keep notes, and have smoke offs to see which blend I liked better. After a long trial and error period, and hundreds of blends I didn't much care for, I finally hit on one that satisfied. Only to have it discontinued a couple years later. Has happened several times.

It just seems that lately it's always the same: shortages, higher prices, having to stockpile, long drawn out procedures to contend with. Hell, even getting a dentist appointment is a pain. Recently had a toothache. My regular dentist said it would be three weeks before they could fit me in.

After calling around I finally found one that were taking new patients. I went in. I knew I had to have it pulled because I couldn't afford to have a root canal and a cap. $1200.00 they told me. Extraction? $200.00. Well hell, pull it I said. He said he didn't operate that way. The old days of just getting a tooth pulled were history. Now they operated under what he called "comprehensive dentistry". You make an appointment, go in and have your teeth cleaned. Then they see what problems you may have, and you make another appointment to start your comprehensive dental care and any corrections if needed.They wanted to insure that your Total Dental Health would be considered. Not just a bad tooth.

My tooth hurt! I told him I couldn't wait a month or more to have it taken care of. PULL IT! He finally did, He didn't like it though. I still had to go back the following day for that. Their office was 55 miles from where I live.

Anyway, it just seems that today's world is overly complicated. Unnecessarily so. And I Wonder if all this tobacco reviewing has anything to do with shortages. That's all.

It's a great help sure, but could it be a reason everyone wants the same thing at the same time. Doing your own trial and error is a pain in the butt, but it just seemed that before everyone started doing reviews, blends were a lot more available.

So I hear what you're saying and I know it won't change, but just something to think about. Me? I won't tell a soul what blends I like. Maybe Tobacco Review could just write about bad blends? Lol. Probably not.

 
Jan 4, 2015
1,858
11
Massachusetts
I like that, Bad blends review. For those of us that grew up in another era all this new stuff is pretty much BS. And it's everywhere, your car, your dentist, your doctor, Hell you can't even smoke in some parks anymore! Everybody telling you what's in your best interest which by the way just happens to be beneficial for them. I hear you, loud and clear. "Just leave me alone and don't mess with what few pleasures I have left". In the end I just decided to try and figure out "How do I make this work for me?" Because being upset about it only gives me heartburn not relief. That old Irish prayer has become my credo;
God give me the power to change what I can

The strength to endure what I cannot

And the wisdom to know the difference.
I don't get so upset anymore. Keep it in mind, some days it might help. Dutch

 

seadogontheland

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 4, 2014
599
2
At what used to be called People's Drug, on the east coast, I remember when all the tobacco (cigars, snuff, codger blends, pipes and all the goodies) in the drug stores used to be in an aisle and it took up a large section. You could look, touch, smell and not be bothered. Now its called CVS. Then the tobacco got moved to behind the counter. Now, as you know, its all gone, even cigarettes.

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
That's the Serenity Prayer adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous, authored by an American named Niebuhr. Nothing Irish about it nor is it particularly old. Very wise though, very wise. Pragmatism is a good trait, most especially for smokers these days.
When you are in the minority you are easy to target. So bod and weave and remember, cover not concealment is good. Cover and concealment is best.

 

perdurabo

Lifer
Jun 3, 2015
3,305
1,575
New to pipe smoking so I haven't experienced the recipe changes. Also As stated above the blender can't continue to make a blend that doesn't sell. So everybody Please go out and buy Cornell and Diehl's Buffalo Soldier. Stuff is AWESOME! Maybe we can start a drive. A person selects their favorite tobacco, we all purchase it, try it HateIt/LikeIt...it would build a base for blends, Hold On......I guess that is why we do reviews. Strike that! Just go out and buy Buffalo Soldier. 8O

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
My favorite off-take from the Serenity Prayer is this:
"God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

the good fortune to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight to tell the difference."

 

stanlaurel

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 31, 2015
701
9
I thought that prayer was supposed to end:
"...and the wisdom to hide the bodies of the people that piss me off."

 

dulgunz

Can't Leave
Feb 11, 2015
310
0
Yes and when you hide the bodies, make sure you do it alone so nobody can rat you out!

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Hey, warren!
I love me some 12-steppers, but we only claim that one particular version of the prayer. It's actually based of some earlier Christian writing, possibly St. Augustine, but I don't remember off the top of my head.
It's really become traditional in a lot of settings, with quite a few mild variations.
Sponsor Rob

 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,699
16,207
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
I do stand corrected as glouster's prayer is not a direct quote of the AA's "Serenity Prayer." Me bad and I do apologize.
rob: Maybe so but Dr. Niebuhr (the AA refers to Niebuhr as Dr. so I will do the same) is the credited author for the quote. Dr. Niebuhr wrote the prayer in the 1930's, possibly early 40's, according to the citations I can find. He published it in the 50's. The AA credits only Dr. Niebuhr and the theologian credits no other. He used it in a sermon, the AA came by it through a newspaper article. Dr. Niebuhr published the prayer as his own work in the 1950's. I am unable to find any other attribution indicating any earlier incarnation of the prayer.
So...unless Mr. Niebuhr was a fraud, I'm buying into the known and published facts until other citations surface which show Dr. Niebuhr to be a fraud. I am perfectly willing to change my mind but, until other sources are cited I will stand by the AA statement of Dr. Niebuhr as the author of the "Serenity Prayer."

 
Jan 4, 2015
1,858
11
Massachusetts
I thought I had remembered it said an Irish prayer but these days I'm afflicted with CRS (Can't Remember S#*T) so I left it alone. Thanks for the rescue Warren.

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Yeah, warren.
That's exactly correct. I was just pointing out that Niebuhr, intentionally or accidentally borrowed the idea from earlier writing. Not to say that you were wrong, just that gloucesterman could have also been correct. It could very well be a traditional Irish prayer AND the AA Serenity Prayer.
I originally knew it as a needlework plaque in my grandmother's kitchen. I'm almost certain she'd never even heard of AA so, when I got to the 12-step programs my first thought was "Hey, that's my Granny's prayer!"
(Of course, for all I know, Granny might have dated Bill W.- LOL)

 
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