House Blends

[Civil_Piper]

I recently visited a Pipe and Cigar shop in San Antonio which had a nice selection of house blends. I was able to open the jars to smell the notes of the different blends, however when i asked what the components of the blends were the staff was not able to provide specifics.
My question is, is it realistic for the local tobacconist to provide the components of the house blends? I consider myself a new smoker, i have the habit of writing the components of each blend on the bottom of the mason jar, this helps me understand my taste preferences.

 

[Scottmi]

I would expect any shop to be willing and hopefully able to inform you of the basics of any blend at least.

 

[anotherbob]

I recently visited a Pipe and Cigar shop in San Antonio which had a nice selection of house blends. I was able to open the jars to smell the notes of the different blends, however when i asked what the components of the blends were the staff was not able to provide specifics.
My question is, is it realistic for the local tobacconist to provide the components of the house blends? I consider myself a new smoker, i have the habit of writing the components of each blend on the bottom of the mason jar, this helps me understand my taste preferences.

it's very easy for them to be able to do so. In fact many house blends have that stuff on the jars label.

 

[Civil_Piper]

Thank you all for the insight.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sounds like they are using renamed bulk blends.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Sounds like they are using renamed bulk blends.

Yes, or whomever was assisting you isn’t really knowledgeable about pipe smoking/tobacco - maybe they are lucky just to have help.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

There’s a shop that I consider “local” although it’s not really close to me, just the closest. It sells blends under its name but doesn’t blend - I’ve never asked where they are sourced but they have descriptions of the components for each on its site. I also am sure at least one of the guys running the cash register would have no clue if asked about the blends based on other experiences there, but no biggie to me.

 

[pappymac]

In my humble experience, I have found that there are some shops that take bulk blends from big name companies and just rename them as their own house blends. (One shop I used to visit did this and even had the bulk blend name on the jars in small type. After the owner retired, the new management would claim they mixed the house blends.)

I have visited some shops that don't blend in house and claim that their house blends are made for them.

There are some shops that create their own blends in-house.

 

[nathaniel]

In my experience with 3 different "pipes" and CIGARS shops in Central Florida, I frequented in my early days of piping before discovering the online realm... I found they know nothing at all of pipes or pipe tobacco. My wife who doesn't smoke even went in for a gift of some baccy for me and had to explain what latakia was to the bewildered owner. "ohhh the stuff that smells like burnt shit, yeah right over here!"

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

The vast majority of pipe shops just use Lane or Sutliff bulk blends and relabel them. Very few pipe shops still blend their own tobacco. The ones that do are pretty well known for it like Peretti’s in Boston. Generally you can just ask them what the blend really is and look it up online.

 

[vosBghos]

Sounds like they are using renamed bulk blends.

^^^ This

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The guys at the Gatlinburlier one time lied to me to no frustrating end that he had all of his blends grown and blended them himself. It is one reason I NEVER just take a tobacco business rep for their word. They are human, and have flaws just like us.
This guy at the Burlier swore over and over that these flakes were all grown right out on the parkway, and he had pressed and sliced the flakes himself. One was Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake, which should be obvious to anyone what it really was. I even took out a flake from my tobacco pouch and showed him. Son of a bitch asked me to leave his store.

I told Skip at the Briary about it, he laughed and said that the place was run by morons. Then a few weeks later Skip showed me an article from the paper, and the Gatlinbulrier being fined thousands of dollars for lying to an ATF agent that was checking out his unregistered tobacco manufacturing business. Apparently the moron had bragged/lied to someone who called in the "experts" at ATF and he lied to them too. And, got arrested, and had to explain that the tobacco was all Stokkebye's stuff renamed. Moron, ha ha. I only go into that store to gloat when I pass through.

I'm no expert, and I don't want anyone to think I'm an expert, but half the damn time the "experts" are full of shit themselves, ha ha.

 

[vosBghos]

The guys at the Gatlinburlier one time lied to me to no frustrating end that he had all of his blends grown and blended them himself. It is one reason I NEVER just take a tobacco business rep for their word. They are human, and have flaws just like us.
This guy at the Burlier swore over and over that these flakes were all grown right out on the parkway, and he had pressed and sliced the flakes himself. One was Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake, which should be obvious to anyone what it really was. I even took out a flake from my tobacco pouch and showed him. Son of a bitch asked me to leave his store.

I told Skip at the Briary about it, he laughed and said that the place was run by morons. Then a few weeks later Skip showed me an article from the paper, and the Gatlinbulrier being fined thousands of dollars for lying to an ATF agent that was checking out his unregistered tobacco manufacturing business. Apparently the moron had bragged/lied to someone who called in the "experts" at ATF and he lied to them too. And, got arrested, and had to explain that the tobacco was all Stokkebye's stuff renamed. Moron, ha ha. I only go into that store to gloat when I pass through.

I'm no expert, and I don't want anyone to think I'm an expert, but half the damn time the "experts" are full of shit themselves, ha ha.

Wow, that's a crazy story, thanks for sharing. How long ago was this? I would love to dig up the article.

 

[AroEnglish]

The guys at the Gatlinburlier one time lied to me to no frustrating end that he had all of his blends grown and blended them himself. It is one reason I NEVER just take a tobacco business rep for their word. They are human, and have flaws just like us.
This guy at the Burlier swore over and over that these flakes were all grown right out on the parkway, and he had pressed and sliced the flakes himself. One was Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake, which should be obvious to anyone what it really was. I even took out a flake from my tobacco pouch and showed him. Son of a bitch asked me to leave his store.

I told Skip at the Briary about it, he laughed and said that the place was run by morons. Then a few weeks later Skip showed me an article from the paper, and the Gatlinbulrier being fined thousands of dollars for lying to an ATF agent that was checking out his unregistered tobacco manufacturing business. Apparently the moron had bragged/lied to someone who called in the "experts" at ATF and he lied to them too. And, got arrested, and had to explain that the tobacco was all Stokkebye's stuff renamed. Moron, ha ha. I only go into that store to gloat when I pass through.

I'm no expert, and I don't want anyone to think I'm an expert, but half the damn time the "experts" are full of shit themselves, ha ha.

Yeah we’re not in the 1800s when you can just make stuff up and no one knew the wiser. I think shops like this are the ones dying out from not adapting to modern realities, not to mention other bad practices.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Wow, that's a crazy story, thanks for sharing. How long ago was this? I would love to dig up the article.

I posted the article to this forum back when it happened. My concept of time is so skewed now that I am approaching 60. You could probably google it using "pipesmagazine" in the search.

 

[pappymac]

The guys at the Gatlinburlier one time lied to me to no frustrating end that he had all of his blends grown and blended them himself. It is one reason I NEVER just take a tobacco business rep for their word. They are human, and have flaws just like us.
This guy at the Burlier swore over and over that these flakes were all grown right out on the parkway, and he had pressed and sliced the flakes himself. One was Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake, which should be obvious to anyone what it really was. I even took out a flake from my tobacco pouch and showed him. Son of a bitch asked me to leave his store.

I told Skip at the Briary about it, he laughed and said that the place was run by morons. Then a few weeks later Skip showed me an article from the paper, and the Gatlinbulrier being fined thousands of dollars for lying to an ATF agent that was checking out his unregistered tobacco manufacturing business. Apparently the moron had bragged/lied to someone who called in the "experts" at ATF and he lied to them too. And, got arrested, and had to explain that the tobacco was all Stokkebye's stuff renamed. Moron, ha ha. I only go into that store to gloat when I pass through.

I'm no expert, and I don't want anyone to think I'm an expert, but half the damn time the "experts" are full of shit themselves, ha ha.

I remember that story.
I visited the Gatlinburlier once and bought some of their blends. Even picked up a brochure that contained many of his claims about being persecuted by the government.

You can read all about it on the Gatlinburlier website.
Google it yourself, I'm not posting a link.

edit: I think it is worth the time to visit the website and read the information and description of their blends just for the entertainment value.

 

[Redtech]

I recently visited a Pipe and Cigar shop in San Antonio which had a nice selection of house blends. I was able to open the jars to smell the notes of the different blends, however when i asked what the components of the blends were the staff was not able to provide specifics.
My question is, is it realistic for the local tobacconist to provide the components of the house blends? I consider myself a new smoker, i have the habit of writing the components of each blend on the bottom of the mason jar, this helps me understand my taste preferences.

I drove from Austin to buy a "Texas Balkan" house blend form a shop in San Antonio only to find when I got there it was rebranded Arango Balkan in a bulk jar... probably the same shop. Luckily, they had some tins of stuff I wanted, so it wasnt a completely wasted trip.

 

[Dr. Internet]

I recently visited a Pipe and Cigar shop in San Antonio which had a nice selection of house blends. I was able to open the jars to smell the notes of the different blends, however when i asked what the components of the blends were the staff was not able to provide specifics.
My question is, is it realistic for the local tobacconist to provide the components of the house blends? I consider myself a new smoker, i have the habit of writing the components of each blend on the bottom of the mason jar, this helps me understand my taste preferences.

Sorry, I just saw this post. If the store you visited has a name similar to a device used to keep cigars Humid, then their pipe tobacco comes to them in very large plastic bags. They don't blend their own tobacco. The business used to be a pipe and pipe tobacco business that sold some cigars on the side. Now it is a cigar business that sells some pipes and pipe tobacco on the side. the staff really doesn't know a lot about pipes or pipe tobacco. I used to get their Harkness blend, which is what General MacArthur supposedly smoked, but even it's quality has gone down. The biz was started by Col Ralph Rumbo who sold me my first pipe in San Antonio, which I still have and smoke. After he died, his kids and short term profit took over.

 

[Daddypants]

None of the stores in SA that I have visited know much about pipes or pipe tobacco. That being said, the store on San Pedro I really like but it’s gotten too sketchy in that area now. It’s really close to a place where they dump off illegals. Damn shame cuz it’s close to the art supply store, the gun store, and the comic book store. All the stuff I dig besides beautiful women are right there! Too bad it’s gotten super sketchy.

 

[anotherbob]

In my humble experience, I have found that there are some shops that take bulk blends from big name companies and just rename them as their own house blends. (One shop I used to visit did this and even had the bulk blend name on the jars in small type. After the owner retired, the new management would claim they mixed the house blends.)

I have visited some shops that don't blend in house and claim that their house blends are made for them.

There are some shops that create their own blends in-house.

Reminds me of a restaurant that made their dressings on site. They'd add a pinch of pepper and some lemon juice to a commercially available dressing. Technically they're not lying but spiritually they're full of it. If your shop puts a few flakes of something else in each jar and stirs it up, they did "in fact" blend it.
With Brick and Mortar often their knowledge of pipes is sad in fact it's so sad that it's a relieve when they admit they don't know pipes instead of pretending to and feeding you a line of horse pucky.