Brand Loyalty

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #1

Would any of yall describe yourselves as "brand loyal" or do you gravitate towards more blends from a particular manufacturer? I think it may be a disservice to yourself to stick with blends from one particular place, but if I had to pick only blends from a singular blender I would probably go with GLP.
What are your thoughts? Do you prefer to stick with one brand out of preference or even loyalty?

 

tarak

Lifer

Jun 23, 2013

1,528

15

South Dakota

• May 21, 2015

• #2

I definitely feel a sense of loyalty to Savinelli.
With tobacco, I've always felt that way about McClelland....but I find my tastes are shifting. Can't say I'm loyal to one brand, but I am loyal to Escudo.

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #3

I guess that sense of loyalty is what I'm more referring to.
If you, for example, felt that way about McLelland, would you buy a blend from them over something you may like more, because you feel they deserve your dollars more.

 

A

aldecaker

Lifer

Feb 13, 2015

4,407

42

• May 21, 2015

• #4

I don't feel any sense of brand loyalty; my tobacco preferences are all over the place. I do feel compelled to buy Prince Albert and Carter Hall (both Middleton products) from my grocery store instead of online. This is only because I don't want them to stop stocking it. I enjoy the convenience of always being able to swing in and grab a pouch of something I like. Not everyone on this forum is as lucky, and I don't want it to end for me.

 

msandoval858

Part of the Furniture Now

Jun 11, 2012

954

3

Austin, TX

• May 21, 2015

• #5

C&D and McClelland are two I've always had some sense of loyalty towards. My first pipe was C&D and I have rarely found blends of theirs that I don't like. McClelland was another early brand I gravitated towards and their reputation for making good tobaccos also goes without saying.

 

mso489

Lifer

Feb 21, 2013

41,210

60,459

• May 21, 2015

• #6

Many brands have not pleased me at first, and then I found my way to products I really like. The first two "Bayou" blends I tried from C&D just seemed all bite and little flavor, but then I discovered their non-aro burleys and it was a whole new day. Likewise, Mac Baren's Navy Mixture I tried and tried to like, and I finally gave it away to another Forums member who found it far better. Then I discovered Mac Baren's dark fired blends and am crazy about them. GLP's Triple Play was an immediate hit with me, and I have other unopened tins from them. Semois has some kind of magic that was fabulous right way, though I realize that some find it ... disgusting. I love Nat Sherman's 536, but I doubt I'd like their aromatics as well -- 536 is a refined, complex but mild English. From several sample packages Forums members have sent me, I'd say there is a world of exquisite tobacco out there. Some I find delight right away, some I may enjoy in later bowls, and some just doesn't seem to please me. There are so many good blends out there, it is hard to comprehend and process the experiences. I've just taken delivery of a tub of P&C Hearth and Home's Chestnut blend, by Russ O., which sounds impossibly intriguing. I'll review that if I have things to say about it. I have a pretty wide range of appreciation, so I find more blends a pleasure than not.

 

phil67

Lifer

Dec 14, 2013

2,052

7

• May 21, 2015

• #7

No loyalty whatsoever to any particular manufacture.

I smoke what ever pleases me even if Walmart manufactured it.

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #8

I was just thinking about how all over the place my preferences can be and how pipe smokers don't seem to be loyal to a manufacturer across the board.
Like restaurants that do a good filet mignon, but their pasta isn't my favorite, I'll chose based on what I want at the time, not because I'm loyal to a particular place.
It's kind of a branding question and I wonder if there was a point in time where a blenders goal was for smokers to be a "Lane guy" or a "Mac Baren" guy. Emphases seems to be promotion of individual blends or series like FM that to encourage "brand loyalty" as such.

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #9

I guess manufactures are happy to have a successful blend rather than to push a whole brand as preference.

 

pylorns

Lifer

Aug 20, 2013

2,116

353

Austin, Texas

www.thepipetool.com

• May 21, 2015

• #10

When it comes to tobacco, there is just so much out there, I can't stick to a specific brand, all of them have their own strongsuits. Pipes.. I love me some Peterson pipes.... but as a collector I buy everything.

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #11

Maybe it's more the hobbiest/connoisseur mentality vs. the old smoker who went for a pound a week of 1Q or something.

 

torque

Can't Leave

May 21, 2013

444

2

• May 21, 2015

• #12

I'm very brand loyal to K&K and SG. It's not really by design, their blends just seem to resonate with my preferences more than other blending houses.

 

cortezattic

Lifer

Nov 19, 2009

15,147

7,638

Chicago, IL

• May 21, 2015

• #13

Cigarette smokers are notoriously brand-loyal. Not so much in the pipe tobacco world.

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #14

Cigarette smokers are notoriously brand-loyal. Not so much in the pipe tobacco world.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but I feel like pipe smokers used to be. At least more so.

 

F

framitz

Can't Leave

Oct 25, 2013

314

0

• May 21, 2015

• #15

Ilikecertain companys About twelve or so. So if I was looking for aparticular example I would tend to,one of those twelve. Shel

 

pipesmokingtom

Lifer

May 4, 2015

3,210

16

• May 21, 2015

• #16

Ha. Just 12?

 

H

hierophant

Lifer

Jul 27, 2014

1,852

2

• May 21, 2015

• #17

I'll try anyone's tobacco if it's style I enjoy. I do have a tendency to have more Dunhill, C&D and GLP products in my inventory than others though.

 

F

framitz

Can't Leave

Oct 25, 2013

314

0

• May 21, 2015

• #18

Yes 12 or so blenders four or five blends from each. Shel

 

lochinvar

Lifer

Oct 22, 2013

1,687

1,634

• May 22, 2015

• #19

I guess I would have to say I'm a Rattray's man. Their Scottish mixtures all hit me right, I love their Virginias, and Red Rapparee is my favorite tobacco of all time.

 

hedonaut

Might Stick Around

Mar 23, 2013

57

0

• May 22, 2015

• #20

I was a C&D, and by extension Pease, fanboy long before I ended up in my current role. It's less that I feel a certian allegiance or loyalty to this brand than it is my enjoyment of its style. THe C&D tobaccos and blending style has all the benchmarks for what, to my preferences anyway, tobacco should be all about. For almost any style, I can find a blend from C&D I love, and those blends give me a launching point for other tobaccos to try, turning the brand loyalty into a matter of habit. That having been said, if I had to restrict myself to just C&D blends, I'd be quite disappointed. I feel a similar love of Gawith, Hoggarth, and Co. My life would be less happy without Dark Flake Unscented and other similarly British style tobaccos. GH&C is distinctly different from most things on the market, and I find I use them as my specialty store. I do all of my week to week grocery shopping at C&D, but my kitchen wouldn't be complete without the specialty tea shop that is GH&C. I could probably restrict myself to just those two manufacturers without too much pain. I'd miss Dark Strong and Hamborger Veermaster as well as Luxury Bullseye, but I'd get by alright.