Tobacco for Cellar

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
been putting away tins for cellar, but i'm rather "confused". i haven't smoked enough to have enough knowledge or experience to decide which ones to keep and collect. so i keep ordering new blends to sample. but with blends/brands going away, i'm afraid holding back on buying for cellar might cause some issues. of course, budget is another issue. how do you go about deciding what to collect? first impression?

 

acidpox

Can't Leave
Nov 18, 2018
460
317
Every time I make an order i usually split it 50/50 on tins I know I like and want to cellar and the other half new stuff I want to try. The amount I spend is just what ever I can afford from my "entertainment fund" after all my bills are paid. Usually an order every 2 or 3 months.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
On a restricted budget it makes sense to stock up on just those blends you know you like.

One strategy would be to split your funds between this and sampling unknown blends as acidpox said.

 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,581
66
Sarasota, FL
Keep in mind Virginia blends benefit the most from aging. Cellar what you like most. Be patient. As much as possible, wait for sales. Try to stick to cellaring the more popular blends. If your tastes change dramatically, you'd be able to sell or trade them.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,911
Detroit
All of these guys are offering good advice. When I started building a cellar - by which I am referring to tobaccos that I am deliberately aging - and I was trying a new Virginia blend, I would buy two tins - one to smoke now, one to age.

This is before forums - all we had was some old time listgroups - and long before the panic about blends going away. Now we seem to have a lot of guys with this "I've only been smoking a pipe three months and there's all these wonderful blends and I have to try them all and I have to build a cellar that will last me forever because the baddies are gonna take all the tobacco away" mindset. So they rush around trying to buy up huge amounts of blends they haven't tried yet, and especially the blends from the companies that are the current rage on their particular forum,making panic-induced shortages. :puffy:

Don't try to collect things you haven't tried. You can't try everything. Relax and enjoy your pipe.

 
  • Like
Reactions: radrick96

mtwaller

Lifer
Nov 21, 2018
1,311
5,330
34
Atlanta, GA
When you first start out, like I’ve been doing, you have to try as many different blends as you possibly can. You need to figure out what you like. Buy small amounts (if buying bulk) or one tin of each to see what you like. When you find one that knocks your socks off, you need to stock up on it. When you do your weekly, monthly, or whatever frequency tobacco stocking up make sure you try at least one or two new ones, but also keep buying at least one or two of each blend that you love. I’ve been bad about loving a blend, then trying to find others that tasted the same. Just get the one you know is awesome for your tastes... if you dig the shit out of a blend then cellar it deep and make sure you won’t run out in the foreseeable future.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I'd keep samples small for a year or two starting out and not try to think in terms of cellaring so much. When you find yourself putting something aside, make sure it is in an unopened tin or seal it in a canning jar. Mostly, you have to discover what you like. Virginias and Va/Perique blends improve the most. Burley keeps nicely, and I think it sometimes improves nicely. Aromatics definitely fade, but if the base tobacco is good, that can be an improvement. Latakia is a little unpredictable, can age well, may not stay strong after opening the tin. I'd spend your effort on discovering what you like. Jar what you don't like and try it again in a year.

 
  • Wow
Reactions: radrick96

lochinvar

Lifer
Oct 22, 2013
1,687
1,632
I definitely wouldn't start hoarding any blend I had not tried, on even the best of recommendations and reviews. You can look at an ingredient list and read reviews and think "Man, this is the tobacco for me. They must have read my mind" and have it hit you like a rotten egg. On the other side, there will be a tobacco you love that goes away, and that's life. I'll never have real Three Nuns again and I'll never be able to read a new Jim Harrison or Umberto Eco book, but there are other tobaccos and authors to fill the gap.
There is panic in the air, and lamentations about lost blends, and blends of unobtanium (a synonym for Germain product), but don't go into a frenzy. Tobacco became popular in the West in 1586. It may not have as many years in front of it as behind, but I think it will outlive us in use. Smoke what is here and enjoy.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Here's a thought: Escudo ranks #3 in tin sales at SmokingPipes.com, and PS/ Bullseye Flake ranks #2 in bulk sales. Wait for a store-wide sale and throw some serious cash at it.

 

franbo

Lurker
Dec 21, 2018
26
0
Never understood cellaring until I smoked a 20 year old Montecristo that I received on my wedding day and had aged appropriately in my humidor. Mind blowing experience as I generally smoke them as I buy them. Same thereafter with a GLP Ravens Wing I that had kept for a rainy day. Been smoking pipes and cigars for over 30 years now. As I especially like Haddo’s Delight I have various 2/5/10 year jars in the closet. I enjoy it the day I purchase it and again after 2/5/10+ years. If you can, the same goes for wine, once you find a bottle you like, buy 4 cases. Drink one case to memorize the experience. Then sample the remaining cases after 5, 10,15,.. years. You will be amazed at the changes, don’t rush it but take your time, age and experience ... Only wish I had had the foresight in the 80’s to have saved some Balkan-sobranie ..., so it goes, life is an adventure, tobacco’s change over the years as does everything...Best of luck

 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
wish i can drink wine. it sours me tummy and gives nasty hangover. however, tobacco agrees with me. didn't know latakia was iffy. right now english blends are what i enjoy. got some virginia to try. do enjoy va/per occasionally. have some of those.

 

shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,080
49
Las Vegas
These are just my personal thoughts:
I cellar for personal use, not for future re-sale although I might sell or trade in the future.
I cellar now because I have the money and I might not in the future so it will be nice to know I have plenty of what I like.
If a particular blend really wows me when I first try it and then continues to impress after several more bowls, I usually decide to cellar it.
Cellaring based on what other people say/think could potentially produce a cellar you don't care for even though it could be worth some amount of money. Think Dunhill. Yes they had a few great blends but the majority of what they produced was no better than what is currently available from other producers. I can't help but think (not counting the effects of age on a particular blend) many people are remembering extinct blends through rose colored lenses of nostalgia.
Lastly, when I decide to cellar a particular blend, I look for it on sale and buy as much as I can afford at the time but also buy a few blends I've never tried so I can broaden my horizons. This works even better if a particular blend is available in bulk and a single ounce can be ordered on the cheap. (I discovered GH Dark Flake Unscented this way and might not have ever tried it if I hadn't ordered a small amount just to try.)
Hope this helps.

 

briarbuck

Lifer
Nov 24, 2015
2,287
5,492
I founds a couple of guys who's taste runs towards mine. Based on what they liked, I bought. It's worked out pretty well. I really haven't bought much that I know that I will never smoke.
My wife wants to kill Jiminks and Sables, but that is a different story.

 

krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,100
18,014
Michigan
While I generally agree that it makes sense to hold off on any cellaring efforts until you’ve identified blends that you really enjoy, there are compelling reasons to take some guesses and just starting buying if you can afford it. We’ve all lived through some famous and well-loved blends going out of production, and taxes and regulatory changes are only gonna get worse. If the FDA deeming rules happen to go away, there’s no guarantee your home state won’t enact laws similar to Washington preventing tobacco products being shipped to consumers in that state. There’s definitely a clock ticking right now.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
When I decided to build my cellar in 2012 I had tried many different blends in the genres I knew I wanted to cellar. I was buying nothing but flakes and a couple of plugs as that is what I liked to smoke. I made damn sure that if something was going to make the final cut, it was a blend I really enjoyed. If a blend was just ho hum, I wouldn't cellar it.
I concentrated on the hard to find stuff first. Blends like Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug, Astleys no 44, Wessex Brigade Campaign plus many others. If I couldn't get the hard to finds I would fill in with the easy to get. Stuff like Escudo, Dunhill Flake and Deluxe Navy Rolls, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired. I was always buying as I knew prices would never get cheaper and I was afraid of my favorites being discontinued. As it turned out 2 of my favorites did get discontinued and the prices of almost all of my favorites went up in price, some dramatically.

 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
i'm in nc. so i'm not worried too much about state law. just thinking some of the stuff will go the way others did like dunhill. caught very end of it so very little dunhill in cellar. i'm just finding what i like, so buying them when on sale and when i have chance. but there are so much more out there to try. i've decide to get two tins a month to try, and purchase what i already know that i like. smoking one or two bowls a day, two tins last me about a month. or maybe three tins.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.