My Tobacco Cellar-Oh How Times Flies

[cosmicfolklore]

but also stupid.

Actually, it increases demand, which increases the amount that they can get per tin. We are a voracious bunch, and even if everyone on the forums said that Penzance was crap, they'd sell out immediately because of the exclusivity they get by limiting their production runs.

It's funny to see dusty tins of FVF on the shelf, and the next month guys are fighting over them at The Briary. ::
Sorry about mentioning your bone.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

 

[bassbug]

Actually, it increases demand, which increases the amount that they can get per tin.

In my experience (not necessarily in the tobacco industry) this is, at best, a short term strategy that more often than not ends with decreased market share and decreased profits, which in turn lead to failure. But, its not my company.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Which tobaccos have gone down in price because of limiting runs? I have opnly ever seen them go up. Esotericas, Germains, S&G... Pelican.

 

[bassbug]

Nope...I din't say they went down in price, but I do believe they are making less money than they can and that is not healthy for any business or for that matter, their customers.
A sincere question....Why is it that we keep hearing about all the "premium" blends that have stopped production while brands like 1Q, Carter Hall and SWR keep going? there never seems to be a shortage (intentional or otherwise) of those.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

A sincere question....Why is it that we keep hearing about all the "premium" blends that have stopped production while brands like 1Q, Carter Hall and SWR keep going? there never seems to be a shortage (intentional or otherwise) of those.

Where have you heard that premium blends have stopped production? Dunhill is a leased name, verses liability issue. It has never limited it's production.

 

[bassbug]

There have been a number of posts titled something like "RIP xxx blend".
With all due respect, Dunhill, being leased or otherwise and being a "premium" blend(s) has indeed announced that production will stop. Maybe because of profitability, maybe for other reasons, but certainly the ultimate in "limiting production"

 

[zitotczito]

I find this discussion to have gotten a little off the topic of my original post, that is aging. When I took up the pipe and started my cellar, I had the following goals in mind:
1.) Avoid price increases

2.) Avoid tax increases

3.) Avoid shortages

4.) Avoid discontinued blends

5.) Maximize blends(foreign and domestic)

6.) Begin the aging process
Looking at my cellar, I have approx. 475 different blends and my biggest holding is 3 pounds 6 ounces of Wessex CDF. I think I have accomplished all of my goals. I can only guess what it would cost me now to replace my cellar and with the new PA Tax of 55 cents per ounce I would now have an additional cost of $1,936.00 in tax cost alone.
Hoarding was not my intent and never has been. I could have purchased more of the ET blends but did not. I knew I was retiring in 2016 and greatly limited any future expenses for tobacco cost and tax wise. Will there be blends I have that won't be my cup of tea, sure and maybe future trades will be in order. I also did not cellar with the intent to make a profit. My trades would be fair and equitable to both parties.
The point of what I did was to take the unknown of the future and turn it into a known. My opinion is that it is your sole choice to cellar or not, what I did works for me. My intent is not to cause anxiety for anyone, but facts are facts.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Nope, most blends that have gone out, didn't do so because they were limiting their production, but because of lack of enthusiasm by the market. Bengal Slices, the original, Skip told us he never sold a single flake of it for years. Then SToP announced they were bringing it back, then Skip finally managed to sell of his huge stockpile of the crap. He said that people just never like Three Nuns the original. Maybe people in other places did, but here, they didn't, so they went under. They brought it back, and his entire stock of the original that never sold, sold.

There are thousands of blends, and only a small portion of pipe smokers. Some blends are just not going to make it. Having been to the perique factory, I could fit the entire world's supply of perique for one year in my garage. You could maybe fit an entire run of Escudo in an 18 wheeler, but it is sent out in much smaller boxes. It's just not a get rich market. More money is made by just the OTC cigars than the entire pipe industry.
I don't think intentionally limiting production has anything to do with it.

 

[bassbug]

I'll defer to you on this as I simply have not been in this hobby/pastime/habit long enough
There is no doubt that any niche industry is going to have relatively high prices and usually, more than its fair share of closures.
I certainly do not begrudge anyone that wants to cellar, even if they do so to levels that I find over the top.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Your thoughts are intuitive, but what I have found about pipes is that everything is exactly the opposite of intuitive. And, some stuff just doesn't make any damn sense. When people bash an online retailer, their sales go up. When a CEO of a tobacco corporation comes on here and tells us all that we are stupid idiots, sales skyrocket, ha ha.

It's a weird world.
Heck, guys buy up Esotericas, and boisterously brag about how much money they are making off of it, people line up to bash them, and we see their ebay bids light up like a Christmas tree. It's a weird weird world.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Just checking in. Have we solved this yet?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The Russians? Yes sir, they've released the squirrels.

I had to stop posting, because when I see my picture this many times on a page, it starts to make me horny. Well... I will stop now.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I had to stop posting, because when I see my picture this many times on a page, it starts to make me horny. Well... I will stop now.

Understandable. I felt a tingling in my loins as well.