Is Hearth & Home's Marquee Line Actually Going Away?

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thatshychef

Lurker
Aug 31, 2016
3
0
A few months ago, the P&C website announced that "sadly, due to some new regulations that are coming, all of the current Hearth and Home Marquee blends will disappear from the market." The announcement continued by stating that "if you smoke these blends on a regular basis or have wanted to try a few, now is the time... we are providing you the best opportunity to stock up and save over the next 2 months with this Buy 2 Get 1 Free offer." Now, a few months later, the doom and gloom seems to have vanished and I can find little proof that P&C ever published this! H&H Marquee products are readily available on the P&C site with no indication of scarcity (no back-orders or out-of-stocks). Does anyone know if something profoundly changed or was the apocalyptic doomsaying a sales ploy to take advantage of already-skittish pipers? I hope, hope, hope that the latter is not true, but, I am having difficulty finding evidence to the contrary. Back in July, another pipe tobacco company here in Pennsylvania similarly announced that they were going to cease production in August... however, as in the case of the H&H/P&C, there is no evidence that production even slowed! As in the case of H&H, their goods are plentiful online and talk of discontinued products have vanished. Have things dramatically improved for pipe and cigar smokers or was this summer's 'pipe tobacco apocalypse' grossly blown out of proportion up to increase tobacco sales?

 

prairiedruid

Lifer
Jun 30, 2015
1,998
1,117
The way the FDA rules are they can conceivably sell for 2 more years before being forced from the market. Chances are they'll draw down all their stock months before that.

 

jacks6

Lifer
May 9, 2016
1,005
3
There's no reason for them to stop production immediately. Definitely a sales ploy, not the first time.

 

pagan

Lifer
May 6, 2016
5,963
28
West Texas
The way the FDA rules are they can conceivably sell for 2 more years before being forced from the market. Chances are they'll draw down all their stock months before that.
Thats how I understand it

 

zitotczito

Lifer
Aug 12, 2014
1,128
175
Sales ploy, possibly but then buy two and get one free is not exactly a bad deal with it being 33.33% off.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,255
108,359
After they discontinued Angler's Dream, I really didn't have a reason to order from them anymore, not to mention the number of botched orders I received.

 

hextor

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 20, 2015
642
6
I hope they dont stop making them, I really liked the blends from this series, especially black house.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,630
44,855
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
As the FDA final ruling now stands, the Marquee Series will likely be gone by August 8, 2018. It's likely that production will cease long before that date to avoid unsold stock on the shelves. Also, keep in mind that some "endangered" blends that are not big sellers will be discontinued earlier to allow better selling blends to be produced in greater quantity before being allowed to run out. We're already seeing that weeding out process.

So you might find that some of the Marquee blends remain available through early 2018 while others disappear much earlier. It all hinges on sales volume.

 

blendtobac

Lifer
Oct 16, 2009
1,237
213
They will be gone by August 2018. Although they have been very good sellers for us, you have to look at things from a relative viewpoint. We could submit them for approval, but at a cost of $30,000 per blend, or more, we would probably have to double or triple the price to remain profitable, not to mention that they could just not approve it anyway. I feel that these are some of my best work, and I will be very sad to see them go.
Russ

 

hextor

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 20, 2015
642
6
I was honored to have tryed some of your blends, black house is my favorite, I will make shure to stock up!!!

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
Russ, that's just terrible. Have you are anyone from CI contacted anyone in Congress? Your story, I think, would be very compelling.
You might have heard that Glynn Quelch over in the UK has shut down his budding tobacco blending business because of similar regulations there. It's just awful.
I'm not a big Latakia smoker, but Fusilier's Ration is just masterpiece of the blender's art -- so sad to see that one go.

 

blendtobac

Lifer
Oct 16, 2009
1,237
213
Russ, that's just terrible. Have you are anyone from CI contacted anyone in Congress? Your story, I think, would be very compelling.

Our company has been very active in lobbying and joining industry efforts to fight the regulations. We also put a push on with our customers to contact their legislators, and of course, we have written them ourselves. Unfortunately, Big Tobacco (the cigarette companies) can spend a lot more, and they were behind the push that hurt premium cigars and pipe tobacco through these new regulations. We just happen to be collateral damage.
Russ

 

echie

Can't Leave
Jul 7, 2014
368
0
Amsterdam
That's interesting. Why would cigarette companies be behind this? (I'm genuinely curious, I don't doubt it for a moment).
Edit to add: what do they gain from it? Surely cigar and pipes smokers won't come running to cigarettes if they can't get their premium tobacco blends.

 

edgreen

Lifer
Aug 28, 2013
3,581
15
The big tobacco companies aren't interested in turning premium cigar or pipe smokers into cigarette smokers. They see the increasing numbers of these and want in on the action, which by big business terms means they want ALL the action. As smaller companies are falling and unable to meet the FDA fee and testing requirements who has the money to purchase the companies or be able to spend the $$$$$$$ to introduce new blends? That's right. Only big tobacco. Then they have the entire market, not just part of it.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,630
44,855
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
That's interesting. Why would cigarette companies be behind this? (I'm genuinely curious, I don't doubt it for a moment).
Edit to add: what do they gain from it? Surely cigar and pipes smokers won't come running to cigarettes if they can't get their premium tobacco blends.
What they gain is a virtual monopoly on the tobacco consumer market. Reynolds and friends lobbied Congress to have this law passed. They can afford the costs of bringing new blends to market while smaller producers are driven out of business. This wasn't about pipe tobacco or cigars. Big Tobacco couldn't give two squirts about markets that small. But cigarettes and vaping are entirely another matter. So, as Russ wrote, pipes and cigars are collateral damage.
So too is artisanal pipemaking. Under the new regs, artianal pipemaking will become a thing of the past so if you have a favorite carver, now would be a good time to support him or her and buy.

 
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
So too is artisanal pipemaking. Under the new regs, artianal pipemaking will become a thing of the past so if you have a favorite carver, now would be a good time to support him or her and buy.
This is really the facet of the regs that I did NOT see coming. If you'd have told me that the selling of something as innocuous as a hand-carved wooden pipe would be regulated out of existence, I wouldn't have believed you.
I'm now in the "nothing would surprise me" camp when it comes to the gov't, and it's a real shame. I hate to concede that point to the tinfoil-hat-wearing paranoids. Unfortunately, it just IS that way now.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,630
44,855
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
This is really the facet of the regs that I did NOT see coming. If you'd have told me that the selling of something as innocuous as a hand-carved wooden pipe would be regulated out of existence, I wouldn't have believed you.
Amazing, ain't it? By what legal alchemy does a wooden object become a tobacco product and therefore subject to FDA deeming? Yet there it is. I'm hoping that the legal challenges blow this particularly obnoxious overreach out of existence.

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
@pipesmokingtom: Hey, thanks for the shout out! But I can't take all the credit- it turns out you're not really paranoid if they're actually after your pipes and tobacco!
Yours,
Aldecaker
Vice President and Treasurer of the Only Idiots Say "It Can't Happen Here" Club

 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
All this kidding aside, we probably could start a club with that theme these days, and get people to pay dues! Why let the UFO guys have all the fun?

 
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