Esoterica is one of the most revered tobacco brands today and their blends are legend.
I was curious as to exactly how these recipes came into existence and who was the originator?
Not much info to be found and there seems to be several historical versions I've came across,
but here's what I've been able to hobble together.
Any additional input is most welcome!
In either 1989 or 1990, Steve Richman of The Piedmont Tobacconist came up with the idea of having J.F. Germain make a new line of blends to be called Esoterica Tobacciana. Some people have said the blends were launched to fill a vacuum after the famous Smoker's Haven blends had been discontinued and no longer made by Sobranie and later JFG, so we have this:
Many moons ago prior to 1960, Sobranie made private label blends for Smoker's
Haven here in Columbus. Sobranie white was Our Best Blend....Cognac was
Sobranie white with a cognac blender...20th anniversary was White with an Ale
Blender. And Krumble Kake was unique...essentially Sobranie White made into a
cake then sliced. The owners of SH had a letter from Dr Redstone, the big boss
at Sobranie Limted attesting to that. In 1980 with little or no warning
Sobranie got out of the private label business and the owner of Smokers' Haven
had to scramble - Dr. Redstone was mortified at his compnay's decision and
volunteered to help find a replacement company. They came up with 2 --- Robt
McConnell and JF Germain. Joe Zieve, the owner of Smokers'Haven for some
reason did not like Mick McConnell and the decision was taken to let JF Germain
have the account. Thus JF Germain began making these excellent blends.
Sometime after 1985 the new owners of Smokers's Haven came to a parting of the
way with Germain...I had left by then and I don't know the reason.
Then suddenly Esoterica appears. And guess what....an Ale, a cognac, a sliced
cake and a great English appeared on the scene.
Our Best Blend = Margate
Cognac = Pembroke
20th Anniversary = ...And so to bed
Krumble Kake = Penzance
-and this:
"J. F. Germain and Sons, located on the Isle of Jersey in the English
Channel, is a tobacco manufacturer. They have a few tinned brands
with names that they own. Germain also has proprietary recipes that
are available to retailers in the UK and through distributers
worldwide.
For many years, the US importer of Germain tobacco was George
A.Georgoupolo (I hope the spelling of the last name is close) of NYC.
Georgoupolo was a specialty and custom cigarette importer/
manufacturer that and had the US rights to import Turkish cigarettes,
among others. Georgoupolo also imported and distributed several of
the pipe tobaccos from smaller manufacturers including Mick McQuaid,
Rothschild, Carroll and Germain. They offered to retailers three of
the proprietary Germain tinned tobaccos.
when Smoker's Haven of Columbus, Ohio was under its original
ownership, they sold a Germain blend under the name of Krumble Kake.
To the best of my knowledge, Georgoupolo brought the tobacco in for
them since they were the Germain distributor. Whether they were using
the same name under which it was offered by someone in the UK, I do
not know. When the store changed hands, the new owners quit using
Germain tobacco that had been sold as Krumble Kake and (I'm told) used
the name on an aromatic bulk blend.
In the late 1980's the Panos Georgoupolo, who ran the family business
was diagnosed with ALS and the company was sold. It became G.A.
Andron and concentrates solely on cigarette importing. At some point,
whether at the time of the sale or a few years prior I don't know,
Georgoupolo and Germain ended their distribution agreement.
In 1990 or therabouts, Steve Richman began importing Germain tobacco
blends that were available for private labelling. He used the name
Esoterica Tobacciana as his brand name and, with the exception of
"...And So To Bed," named the blends after English coastal towns. The
blend which Smoker's Haven sold as Krumble Kake became Penzance.
Steve didn't have the resources to distribute the tobacco very widely.
A few years ago, after opening a retail shop in Oakland CA (The
Piedmont Tobacconist), he sold the distribution rights to Butera Pipe
Company because he felt that Mike could give the tobacco the attention
that it needed."
The Magical Alchemist GLP has touched on the subject here:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/since-penzance-is-hard-to-come-by#post-245367
I was on the original panel of tasters choosing the blends and making suggestions. Penzance is not identical to Krumble Kake by Smoker's Haven, but it's very close. Penzance has a little more Latakia. If you can get KK, it's not likely to disappoint, but since they are both manufactured by Germain, the supply issues are not likely to be any less challenging.
It's one of those fateful things that Greg Pease was associated with this early on and adds to the soup just that much more flavour. It's an incredible thing about the East Bay that it has been a breeding ground for the most mythic blends we know of. Some of the magic also has Druquer & Sons as a centrifugal force feeding these sacred flames.
PM member atboth was regular at Druquer's and has written a bit about it on his blog, here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2011/06/drucquer-sons-ltd-berkeley-institution.html
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/10/drucquer-sons-ltd-pipe-tobacco-blends.html
Any thoughts?
I was curious as to exactly how these recipes came into existence and who was the originator?
Not much info to be found and there seems to be several historical versions I've came across,
but here's what I've been able to hobble together.
Any additional input is most welcome!
In either 1989 or 1990, Steve Richman of The Piedmont Tobacconist came up with the idea of having J.F. Germain make a new line of blends to be called Esoterica Tobacciana. Some people have said the blends were launched to fill a vacuum after the famous Smoker's Haven blends had been discontinued and no longer made by Sobranie and later JFG, so we have this:
Many moons ago prior to 1960, Sobranie made private label blends for Smoker's
Haven here in Columbus. Sobranie white was Our Best Blend....Cognac was
Sobranie white with a cognac blender...20th anniversary was White with an Ale
Blender. And Krumble Kake was unique...essentially Sobranie White made into a
cake then sliced. The owners of SH had a letter from Dr Redstone, the big boss
at Sobranie Limted attesting to that. In 1980 with little or no warning
Sobranie got out of the private label business and the owner of Smokers' Haven
had to scramble - Dr. Redstone was mortified at his compnay's decision and
volunteered to help find a replacement company. They came up with 2 --- Robt
McConnell and JF Germain. Joe Zieve, the owner of Smokers'Haven for some
reason did not like Mick McConnell and the decision was taken to let JF Germain
have the account. Thus JF Germain began making these excellent blends.
Sometime after 1985 the new owners of Smokers's Haven came to a parting of the
way with Germain...I had left by then and I don't know the reason.
Then suddenly Esoterica appears. And guess what....an Ale, a cognac, a sliced
cake and a great English appeared on the scene.
Our Best Blend = Margate
Cognac = Pembroke
20th Anniversary = ...And so to bed
Krumble Kake = Penzance
-and this:
"J. F. Germain and Sons, located on the Isle of Jersey in the English
Channel, is a tobacco manufacturer. They have a few tinned brands
with names that they own. Germain also has proprietary recipes that
are available to retailers in the UK and through distributers
worldwide.
For many years, the US importer of Germain tobacco was George
A.Georgoupolo (I hope the spelling of the last name is close) of NYC.
Georgoupolo was a specialty and custom cigarette importer/
manufacturer that and had the US rights to import Turkish cigarettes,
among others. Georgoupolo also imported and distributed several of
the pipe tobaccos from smaller manufacturers including Mick McQuaid,
Rothschild, Carroll and Germain. They offered to retailers three of
the proprietary Germain tinned tobaccos.
when Smoker's Haven of Columbus, Ohio was under its original
ownership, they sold a Germain blend under the name of Krumble Kake.
To the best of my knowledge, Georgoupolo brought the tobacco in for
them since they were the Germain distributor. Whether they were using
the same name under which it was offered by someone in the UK, I do
not know. When the store changed hands, the new owners quit using
Germain tobacco that had been sold as Krumble Kake and (I'm told) used
the name on an aromatic bulk blend.
In the late 1980's the Panos Georgoupolo, who ran the family business
was diagnosed with ALS and the company was sold. It became G.A.
Andron and concentrates solely on cigarette importing. At some point,
whether at the time of the sale or a few years prior I don't know,
Georgoupolo and Germain ended their distribution agreement.
In 1990 or therabouts, Steve Richman began importing Germain tobacco
blends that were available for private labelling. He used the name
Esoterica Tobacciana as his brand name and, with the exception of
"...And So To Bed," named the blends after English coastal towns. The
blend which Smoker's Haven sold as Krumble Kake became Penzance.
Steve didn't have the resources to distribute the tobacco very widely.
A few years ago, after opening a retail shop in Oakland CA (The
Piedmont Tobacconist), he sold the distribution rights to Butera Pipe
Company because he felt that Mike could give the tobacco the attention
that it needed."
The Magical Alchemist GLP has touched on the subject here:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/since-penzance-is-hard-to-come-by#post-245367
I was on the original panel of tasters choosing the blends and making suggestions. Penzance is not identical to Krumble Kake by Smoker's Haven, but it's very close. Penzance has a little more Latakia. If you can get KK, it's not likely to disappoint, but since they are both manufactured by Germain, the supply issues are not likely to be any less challenging.
It's one of those fateful things that Greg Pease was associated with this early on and adds to the soup just that much more flavour. It's an incredible thing about the East Bay that it has been a breeding ground for the most mythic blends we know of. Some of the magic also has Druquer & Sons as a centrifugal force feeding these sacred flames.
PM member atboth was regular at Druquer's and has written a bit about it on his blog, here:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2011/06/drucquer-sons-ltd-berkeley-institution.html
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/10/drucquer-sons-ltd-pipe-tobacco-blends.html
Any thoughts?
