BriarBid St. Bruno TAD

I was lucky enough to win an old tin of St. Bruno on BriarBid from RecoilRob and I gotta thank him for putting it up there because it's been a goal to try some of the Ogden's stuff, it's been made by Orlik for quite some time now and they're doing a good job of it, but my recent experience of Irish Erinmore vs. Danish Erinmore indicated just how dramatic a blend can change...
...no worries with St. Bruno though, at least this stuff. I smoked a bowl yesterday, the day it arrived, wanting to know what it tasted like being in a somewhat dried state. The char-light was that wonderful St. Bruno taste I love, a flavour difficult to actually pinpoint with words. The first half of the bowl was kinda harsh & bitey and the flavour was a bit muted, but it was overly dry which may have done that. Midbowl down to the bottom was most excellent, it bloomed to full flavour & smoothed out --- it smoked so well that I have very high hopes of how it'll perform once rehydrated. Happy happy happy! ::
St. Bruno has been in production since 1896 and made by Ogden's of Liverpool. Over these many years the blend has probably had slight shifts along the way, but it's always been known as "The Standard Dark Flake" with the unique taste. The Ogden's factory closed in 2007. The current Orlik version is absolutely great even tho it comes in a crummy pouch, the flakes are sealed inside a little foil-topped "thermo tray" within the pouch.
I smoked the old stuff in a pipe which I smoked 45g of St. Bruno in and nothing else since, and that helped too, it had that glorious ghost. I still have several of the new flakes sitting in a jar because I couldn't bear to smoke it all and have it be totally gone :lol: but I'm glad I let it sit there so now I can do back-to-back comparisons. It's a damn shame this ain't available over here, in the U.K. it's an OTC you can get at a grocery store or news-stand...


Both the old & the new look almost alike, in the picture below the old is top and the new is bottom:


Looking online you can find a "method of manufacture" from the old B.A.T. archives, at least for the Ready Rubbed version and to make the stuff was a 5 day operation. This is the kind of stuff that MacBaren was emulating with their ODF and they succeeded too, a steam press does some good magic.
Here's the leaf composition for St. Bruno:
35.0% semi-bright, medium-heavy bodied, flue-cured, USA

27.5% semi-bright, heavy bodied, flue-cured, USA

15.0% dark-fired Virginia

15.0% heavy-bodied, dark-fired, Malawi

7.5% heavy-bodied, flue-cured, Canada
Long live the patron Saint of pipesmokers!

After several bowls, including a direct double side-by-side session, I'm very happy with this stuff.
The tin I got was unusual because it had been in a cellar for a few years, then opened last year, bacca then put in ziploc and back into the tin --- it's only expected that the flavor would be slightly diminished, and it is, only slightly. I would love to find an old tin with good seal for comparison sake and I'll still be on the lookout...
...but otherwise I'd say St. Bruno may just be better fresh, as toppings fade with time and the topping/casing is a very important aspect of St. Bruno --- it's very robust when fresh. The old stuff is more like a straight bacca with only a hint of topping.
I can say that the flavor profile is exactly the same, so Orlik is doing a good job of it. However, I do know that BAT UK Export began having St. Bruno made by Orlik in the early 90's and I don't think this tin is much older than that, probably late 90's I'd reckon...I wonder if this old stuff was actually made by Orlik?
It could still be legal to have Made in England on the tin, I think? I'm not really sure...
Regardless, many thanks to RecoilRob & BriarBid for giving me an oppo to get this stuff!

I dunno?
Here's a snapshot of the old website from 2001,

St. Bruno was already off the table... :crying:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010201153000/http://www.jamesbrussell.com/
...ah, just found that JBR closed up in 2003,

out of the blue, no proper announcement,

but foretold in foreboding tones with

things like not filling orders and

suddenly having a 50% off fire-sale...
...who knows?!?!?

..the discussion you linked to,

damn!

Sounds like a great outfit:
"I remember back in 1991 calling JB Russell to find out why I could no

longer find Balkan Sobranie and was told it was being discontinued.

The lady taking my call took down my name and address and sent me the

last remaining 50 gram tins they had(2-#759 & 1 Original)compliments

of the company. I still have the letter and the sealed tins."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
...but a juicy back story indeed, found this yahoo group message circa Oct 18 2003:
"Although I don't know exactly WHY JBR went under, but according to an 'industry

insider' whose honesty and integrity I don't question, the circumstances of

their demise are most unsavory. He informed me that just prior to going

'belly-up', JBR placed enormous orders with their OEM suppliers, paying none

their invoices (most of which are small 'mom n pop' operations in no position to

sustain such devastating losses), put this merchandise up for sale to the public

at absurdly low prices and vanished off the proverbial radar screen without as

much as goodbye notice. I was asked by my source to say no more than this, so I

won't...but if youre on friendly terms with your favorite tobacconist(s),

perhaps they might wish to fill you in privately on the 'dirty details."

...yeah, it pisses me off!
There's one person I can make trades with, which is the only alternative

besides going thru Mr. Snuff @ $20 a pop! I may just do that when I get

some greenbacks, just go ahead & get a big quantity along with some

Warrior Plug and maybe get a small discount?
I don't know why nobody picked up the dropped stuff?!?!?
I was reading up on Mr. Snuff and landed on a snuff forum,

there was a topic about when he first started selling pipe

tobak that he couldn't get the OTC stuff because the companies

required huge purchase amounts, something like $50k...
...so it's either something like that, or just that a big company

like Imperial doesn't think it's worth the hassle?
It's a mystery to me.

:lol:

I'd certainly be helping you buy that Bentley!!!
You're right that there's already a pretty sizeable fanbase, and it'd likely grow...until the FDA hammer falls and we're whisked away into the wintery wilds of the tobaccolypse here in the States.
So everythings a damn gamble, lack of govt leadership has had this effect in many other areas too.
It's enough to make me pull the hair outta my head!

:evil:

FUBAR!
Even Orlik doesn't import their entire range for some reason?
The really messed up thing is that Spain has cheap tobacco, one of the few other places (besides Denmark, and even there St. Bruno ain't around) that gets the Imperial stuff, here's a sample from an online place, which is supposedly illegal in Spain? --- this site is only shown for informative purposes, could be a scam for all I know...
for instance, in Spain you can get:
5 X 50g St. Bruno for €39.09, roughly $10 a pouch

http://www.tobaccoonline.co.uk/product.asp?subcat=St.%24Bruno&sm=S
5 x 50g Capstan Original Navy Cut for $60, around $12 a tin

http://www.e-tobaccos.com/buy-cigars/capstan-original-navy-cut-50g-cans-p-1646.html?cPath=30001011
Many British pipe-smokers stock up when on holiday in Spain.
I'm sure someone could be creative and fill this niche market, maybe an enterprising gent can figure something out and put it up on BriarBid!!! :D
Here's some relevant and indepth (and long) info quoted from a source whom is far more knowledgeable than I...



We really wish for peace on Earth too. I think it may be more likely than any Imperial Tobacco brands being distributed in the US...
The interesting part is that Imperial now owns Altadis and Altadis have an active US division. But you're more likely to get a bunch more American Aro's from them.
The following is copied from the US Trademark Office. I think it indicates a TM that is being defended from any other use but not used itself in the US.
Word Mark ST. BRUNO

Goods and Services IC 034. US 017. G & S: SMOKING TOBACCO. FIRST USE: 19110000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19110000

Mark Drawing Code (5) WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS IN STYLIZED FORM

Serial Number 72461170

Filing Date June 25, 1973

Current Filing Basis 1A

Original Filing Basis 1A

Registration Number 0987216

Registration Date July 2, 1974

Owner (REGISTRANT) AMERICANS BRANDS, INC. CORPORATION NEW JERSEY 245 PARK AVE. 10017 NEW YORK NEW YORK 10017
(LAST LISTED OWNER) IMPERIAL TOBACCO LIMITED CORPORATION ASSIGNEE OF UNITED KINGDOM P.O. BOX 244 SOUTHVILLE, BRISTOL BS99 7UJ ENGLAND

Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED

Attorney of Record BREWSTER TAYLOR

Type of Mark TRADEMARK

Register PRINCIPAL

Affidavit Text SECT 15. SECT 8 (6-YR). SECTION 8(10-YR) 20050319.

Renewal 1ST RENEWAL 20050319

Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
American Brands was the descendant of the old ATC which started doing battle to acquire (what became) the Imperial family companies in 1901. American Brands was the TM owner in the US and they also owned Gallaher and all their brands (Sobranie, Cope's). In 1996 American Brands exited the tobacco biz altogether and renamed themselves Fortune Brands. That was the last time that any Imperial or Gallaher PT products were imported into the US. They also spun off Gallaher in '96 to become a publicly traded company until Japan Tobacco acquired them very recently. I think Fortune did not sell their Imperial TM's but instead let them lapse. Somebody renewed them in 2005 but who?
It is confusing.
At the turn of the 19th to 20th C. the owner of the American Tobacco Company, for whom Duke University is named, visited England and tried to buy up a number of the British family owned tobacco firms. He did buy Ogden's so the rest of them freaked - literally! They formed Imperial as a defense. That event has had an influence on many British tobaccos all the way down to modern times and it (along with other losses) is responsible for the Imperial brands not being marketed in the US for over a decade.
In 1902 The Imperial Tobacco Company of Britain & Ireland was formed out of slightly over a dozen family companies (plus they got Ogden's back from the Duke). They did it primarily for defense from acquisition which they had just experienced - thank you Duke. Also formed that year was a joint venture of both the American Tobacco company and Imperial. The joint venture is still called (not surprisingly) British American Tobacco (BAT). BAT's mission was to market ITC & ATC tobaccos OUTSIDE both of ITC's and ATC's domestic markets (ie outside the UK and the US). So BAT owned OTC & ATC TM's outside the US & UK.
BAT manufactured and sold the Imperial brands in Europe and for the most part Euro's never experienced the Imperial versions of the products unless they visited the UK. This was not licensing. The TM ownership was actually split geographically (which occurs a lot today with tobacco).
The situation in the US went bad. The ATC was broken up in 1911. A number of well known US tobacco companies emerged from the remains. American Brands was the remaining piece of ATC that still owned the Imperial TM's in the US (and they went on to acquire Gallaher as well). When American Brands exited the tobacco biz in 1996 America lost the Imperial brands as well as Gallahers (included Sobranie too). None have ever returned and it's unlikely now. In fact the TM ownership became a barrier and the situation certainly wasn't helped by US anti-tobacco litigation. Nobody who wasn't already staying the US was willing to pay the States for the privilege of marketing PT to a shrinking market. If BAT had been marketing them you'd probably still have them. The situation wouldn't be any worse than with the Dunhill's.
In 1973 BAT & Imperial sorted out TM (brand) ownership for Europe (they reverted to Imperial ownership with BAT as a licensee). But AFAIK nothing changed with the US so you lost them when the TM owner exited the biz. BAT had manufactured in Liverpool for export. Then in 1990 BAT outsourced manufacturing of the Imperial brands for Europe to Orlik. Yes, the blends changed! We had them in Canada until 2002 and I think they were only discontinued because the market was too small or we'd still have them.
The battle between ATC & (what became) ITC was probably one of the most influential events in tobacco history.



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Yeah, the out-of-stock is nuts at the moment.
For good reason though, as you point out, everyone knows what's around the corner.
We got it so good here in the States. I think it's not just Americans who are prepping their cellars, but also many overseas folks, because it's much cheaper to get it from the US online than in their home-market. This may distort actual reality? I would suppose that many US vendors international trade has skyrocketed within just the last 5 years alone, do stats take that into account? I think it's impossible to quantify an accurate number for domestic US pipe-tobak sales?
I do think that pipe-smoking is on the rise in the US, mostly due to excessive cigarette taxes and maybe even some cultural factors, LOTR Sherlock etc, but the govt agencies will use these numbers to justify their moral imperative to "shave the children" --- it's faulty logic & flawed thinking, but the anti-lobby don't care...
...the shit shall shoon hit the fan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyvMdqvH2zg