Mac Baren Acquires Brands from Imperial Tobacco

[Chasing Embers]

And yet, that's how much they used to be. That's why most of my cellar is Mac Baren.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Note the prices of these hundred gram tins.
http://m.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/mac-baren/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=185
http://m.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/mac-baren/moreinfo.cfm?product_id=184
Mac Baren's 100 g HH series used to fall into this price catagory, and last year, all of them were just under $13. The $7+ price jump in the past couple of months though, just kind of put me off of them.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I'm sorry, if you want me to go on you'll have to pay for another five minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNkjDuSVXiE

 

[Chasing Embers]

No argument here. Just irritated at such a price jump.

 

[misterlowercase]

FCW wins the debate.

 

[mranglophile]

I also fear that it will somehow not be the same due especially to leaf variation, Mac Baren doesn't seem to have a firm grasp yet of making blends on the more full-bodied side it seems --- hopefully the flavor will be pretty close as I'm sure they'll get all the process sheets and recipe.

I am going to cross my fingers and try to be hopeful due to the fact that ODF is so spot on 8O

 

[Chasing Embers]

FCW wins the debate.

What debate? Just spoke my annoyance at a price hike. Been smoking a pipe for twenty-four years, and have never seen a jump like that over night.
Saw Gold Block on that list. Had a sample of that back in the mid nineties. Good stuff. Hope it translates well, and is affordable.

 

[deathmetal]

Just irritated at such a price jump.

More regulation in industries without necessarily shared resources means more price. Applies to tobacco, healthcare, and lots of other things!

 

[brass]

I'm also happy to hear we might be able to get St. Bruno stateside. Now, if we could just get Rich Dark Flake and Condor...

 

[okiescout]

More regulation in industries without necessarily shared resources means more price. Applies to tobacco, healthcare, and lots of other things!
Absolutely.
Embers, I agree that was a jump, but if you look, it is happening across the board from groceries that cut the size of containers by a 1/3 and raise the price by the same fraction, to pharmaceuticals. A box of cereal cost more per pound than steak?
Hopefully there will be an upside to the acquisition in availability here.

 

[Chasing Embers]

If they can do justice to Gold Block, I may forgive them.

 

[deathmetal]

I agree that was a jump, but if you look, it is happening across the board from groceries that cut the size of containers by a 1/3 and raise the price by the same fraction, to pharmaceuticals. A box of cereal cost more per pound than steak?

Our currency has been rapidly decreasing in value at the same time the newspapers have been promising an economic revival. In journalist-speak, greater number of dollars is always higher value

 

[ben88]

OK, let me get it straight...

One European company buys rights to produce few mixes, some of which they where making already, correct? Where does it say that those mixes will show up in North America?

 

[misterlowercase]

OK, let me get it straight...

One European company buys rights to produce few mixes, some of which they where making already, correct? Where does it say that those mixes will show up in North America?

It doesn't, but it is implied because Mac Baren is usually quite wise with their marketing,

why shouldn't they broaden St. Bruno's customer base back to North America?
It has been missing over here for far too long,

a sad fact that Imperial never seemed to give a flip about.
St. Bruno has been contracted out by Imperial to Scandinavian Tobacco Group (formerly Orlik) to be made under the brand owners specification - this has been the case for a long while now.
Now, STG will no longer make it.

Whatever profit they lose from losing the contract is miniscule I'd suppose,

in the grand scheme of things,

so it doesn't really hurt them too badly.
STG will forfeit the manufacturing process data, along with the "special sauce" recipe,

and Mac Baren will now start making it.
These sorts of brand turnovers have happened many times in the past,

and most well-seasoned pipesmokers know that it ain't always a good thing,

because more often than not, the brand characteristics get altered dramatically,

almost into an unrecognizable form from what it once was.
I wouldn't doubt that Mac Baren just might tone down the overall strength and body a wee bit, because their main expertise is in mild baccy, and plus it makes good business sense to make the new blend as widely appealing as possible.
Many Americans find the traditional British baccies to be strange and foreign,

often likening their profiles to "soapy", and other such stuff.
So,

what we may end up getting from MB in the end is a neutered St. Bruno,

something more like a St. Brunoette.
I wouldn't doubt it one bit.
But I got my fingers crossed too.
I guess we'll see.
Unless, that is,

we don't get to see,

and I'm reading too much into any implications that St. Bruno just might return to these shores.
Waiting...
::

 

[deathmetal]

Whatever profit they lose from losing the contract is miniscule I'd suppose

I wish we had figures on that. I wonder how much any particular brand sells.

 

[misterlowercase]

I wish we had figures on that. I wonder how much any particular brand sells.

That would be interesting as hell to see.
Back in the old days...
This document from 1949 of the American Tobacco Company brands is highly interesting because they show precise quantity sold numbers as well as a very broad range of different blends, for instance, I would have never guessed that 5 Bros. outsold Tuxedo or English Curve Cut because those 2 brands were heavily advertised and 5 Bros. was not...
...Half & Half took the cake though.
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/tqt85f00/pdf
Half & Half - 6,952,652

Genuine Bull Durham - 6,169,023

Cutty Pipe - 1,748,265

Five Brothers - 1,564,931

Peerless - 543,478

Liberty - 495,289

Walnut Mixture - 275,924

Ivanhoe Long Cut - 250,565

Standard (Adams) - 239,177

Honest Long Cut - 199,952

Ivanhoe Fine Cut - 162,891

Bigger Hair - 130,705

Veteran - 128,052

Weyman's No. 1 Cut & Dry - 112,182

Blue Boar - 110,060

Tuxedo - 107,290

Mayo's Cut Plug - 71,778

Buckingham - 68,472

Home Comfort - 42,110

Old English Curve Cut - 30,749
Compare those to their top 2 selling cigarettes!
Lucky Strike - 91,814,953,740

Herbert Tareyton - 5,789,448,560
.

 

[andrew]

The MacBaren price hike was a bit of a shock, but really it just brings them in line with other premium blenders.

I just can't think of Macbaren as a premium blender when their prices used to be so cheap. It's like budweiser raising their prices to the same as craft beers or imports, and then buying budweiser instead of a much better import or craft beer for the same price.

 

[misterlowercase]

Still haven't been able to find a copy of this magazine,

seen it exactly only once,

and wasn't able to grab it...

​

 

[thedudeabides]

I think Peck hit upon a key point. If MacBaren could not alter the recipe for Three Nuns due to its ownership by Imperial... then a perique version may no longer be out of the question. No intention here of starting yet another debate about the relative merits of each incarnation of the blend, but the idea of having two versions of Three Nuns for us to enjoy would surely appeal to most?

 

[misterlowercase]

...and Capstan Full.
Hopefully they bring back Capstan Full too!

:!:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/willss-capstan-navy-cut-a-short-salty-survey-image-heavy
::