How much do you cellar?

[NookersTheCat]

Guess I should get started. Unfortunately it does seem hard to get anything I’m familiar with (with many no longer available). As for prices recently, everything is up 25% (as is the M1 money supply). Best brands/producers to focus on? SG, GH, PS?

Super point about M1 monetary supply... fellow macroeconomics nerd here
Yes, that is my thesis as well. Due to societal debt loads amidst collapsing population I don't see inflation stopping anytime soon so I say basically any hard assets aren't going to get cheaper going forward.

As far as where to focus, only you can pick that. Especially now, many of the main producers like SG or C&D have particular styles. Sure they make tobaccos that can be argued are particularly good for cellaring.. but maybe you like an aromatic instead.. well you can still cellar that. Even tho it wont improve it wont get worse if done correctly and id rather have 1lb of what I want than 10 of what I don't like.

You'll wanna try samples of things (especially when it comes to bulks) before stocking up. Get 1oz samples of tons of stuff then find producers and blend styles/leaf types you like then follow those queues. That way if you see a limited edition and you're wondering if you should buy 4 tins site unseen, "Well, it is a Va-Per which i know I usually like, so okay im more comfortable"

All comes with experience. Look on the bright side.. now that sutliff is gone pretty much everything you find will be around for the near future so theres no reason to go rushing in without knowing you like something. Good luck

 

[NookersTheCat]

I packed away a fair amount. Enough to last me about 10 years or so. It’s not getting cheaper or easier to find.
Things you like now may disappear in the future.

You must smoke like a chimney with those wicked TAD posts I've seen of your cellar... if that sweet honey hole only puts you at a decade, sir... you may have a problem

 

[DeerparkDays]

I got a pound of stuff I smoke, and I got a pound of stuff I don't smoke a lot. I only get a bowl or two in during the week, but probly get 20 bowls in on the weekend. I really need to stock up several pounds of my favorite blends, but just haven't been able to yet. The hope is to have it as good as the guys on this forum. 250 pounds!? Dang! Some of these guys got just a ton of tobacco. That's what I need but my wife would probably shoot me

Mate……so you fit in a bowl or two a week and 10 bowls a day on the weekends……yeah you will fall into the “plan more for an increase in smoking when retired” group….lol! Good stuff!

 

[Sobrbiker]

Bastages!!!!!!

I guess it’s a good thing I just got my last $95.02 order in the mail today!

I went deep (for me, a mere pittance relative to many) on a few Sutliff blends (well, one blend and a few blending varieties) somewhere between 15-20lbs, but I also have 1-2lbs of most each of my faves also.

I’m a little leery of going too deep on account of my tastes changing as much as they have over the almost 3yrs I’ve been at this.
Knowing I’d like to go deeper rather than wider tempers the urge to try lots of new things, but knowing more of what general varieties I prefer makes me more comfortable branching out.

Bottom line: I don’t think I have enough, and it’ll probably be years before I do. As long as I stay within what I can afford at any given moment I’ll keep buying.

 

[Goblin_Walrus]

Bastages!!!!!!
View attachment 408720
I guess it’s a good thing I just got my last $95.02 order in the mail today!

Oh man, I really liked the lower threshold. At least most pipes clear the new one. Not too bad of a hike, yet it is an end to an era all the same.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Oh man, I really liked the lower threshold. At least most pipes clear the new one. Not too bad of a hike, yet it is an end to an era all the same.

Agreed, justifying spending $100 on tobacco isn’t hard, but I started comparing needs vs wants over that.
Luckily I don’t suffer from new pipe PAD. The hardware for me is fun as a horse trading/bargain estate proposition.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Bastages!!!!!!
View attachment 408720
I guess it’s a good thing I just got my last $95.02 order in the mail today!

I went deep (for me, a mere pittance relative to many) on a few Sutliff blends (well, one blend and a few blending varieties)

What did ya get??

 

[Sobrbiker]

What did ya get??

From SPcom recently, or the Sutliff stuff?

 

[NookersTheCat]

From SPcom recently, or the Sutliff stuff?

Yeah the sutliff stuff.. was curious what bulk/blending leaf from them ya liked

 

[wyfbane]

<= Guy #50 advocating mass spending if you can. When I started I spent a ton on pipes and tobacco. I was such a newb I went pretty wide on my acquisitions because I didn't know where my pallate would end up. As a result, I have a fair amount of a lot of stuff. Many have seen this, but I have my cellar up until 5 years ago listed here:

My Cellar

I have smoked about a pound off this list and have bought maybe 70-90 lb more since. My situation is unique. I am now making waaay less money, so this will have to last me forever... and it will. I also read the writing on the wall and bought enough for my son to have enough for his lifetime, as well. Heck I may live to see the end of pipe tobacco, he definitely will.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Yeah the sutliff stuff.. was curious what bulk/blending leaf from them ya liked

507-S Stoved VA, 515-RC1 Red Va, TS-20 Perique

I use the 507-S in my Dark Sails (Three Sails/507-S/DFK equal parts), and I chop up the the TS20 and mix at 25% for the Ryback+P.

 

[Sgetz]

Perhaps it would be beneficial to quote cellar size in terms of weeks/years/decades at your normal rate of consumption.
I've got about ten years worth and hope to get to 15 years then I will stop (I'm 75)

 

[JOHN72]

Around 120 lbs, maybe a little more. I haven't been able to smoke for three months. COVID has left me with no sense of smell and almost no sense of taste, as well as memory loss. So the tobacco is aging, while I pray to regain my sense of smell and be able to smoke again.

 

[Sobrbiker]

@JOHN72, I’m sorry to hear you smell/taste are still so affected.

Perhaps it would be beneficial to quote cellar size in terms of weeks/years/decades at your normal rate of consumption.

That’s a good way to look at it. I smoke medium sized pipes (about 3g per) so if I average 3 smokes a day that puts consumption at just over eight pounds per year.
I’m about to hit 58 and now realize I need more tobacco…lots more tobacco.

At 3g per pipe, one pipe per day consumption (with a touch of loading/handling/drying loss) equals
2.5lbs per year.

 

[Mortar0341]

Mate……so you fit in a bowl or two a week and 10 bowls a day on the weekends……yeah you will fall into the “plan more for an increase in smoking when retired” group….lol! Good stuff!

Lol for real!

 

[Sigmund]

As time goes by tobacco will be more expensive. Blends will disappear
Meanwhile pipes and estate pipes will be more plentiful
Stock your cellar monthly or as you can
If you abandon the pipe you can always sell your stash for more than you paid

The only loss is from waiting

 

[gcm]

Too much. 3 ish years into my pipe journey and i have around 10 pounds. Mind you, they don't sell bulk in Europe...

Im slowly stopping with the buyinh of pipe tobacco and ''only'' get 1/2 tins when im on holiday in Germany.

Ive recently received a 40 ish year old painted macb tin that was very lackluster so aging isn't my priority.

 

[JeffNYC]

<= Guy #50 advocating mass spending if you can. When I started I spent a ton on pipes and tobacco. I was such a newb I went pretty wide on my acquisitions because I didn't know where my pallate would end up. As a result, I have a fair amount of a lot of stuff. Many have seen this, but I have my cellar up until 5 years ago listed here:

My Cellar

I have smoked about a pound off this list and have bought maybe 70-90 lb more since. My situation is unique. I am now making waaay less money, so this will have to last me forever... and it will. I also read the writing on the wall and bought enough for my son to have enough for his lifetime, as well. Heck I may live to see the end of pipe tobacco, he definitely will.

Impressive…

 

[NookersTheCat]

As time goes by tobacco will be more expensive. Blends will disappear
Meanwhile pipes and estate pipes will be more plentiful

Good point I've thought of before too.. not to derail the thread. While I think tobacco is never gonna be cheaper, pipes are probably never gonna be more expensive than they are right now imo...

 

[Pypkė]

I can't tell how many more years I have. Early-mid 60s here. My progenitors lived to 81-94 years old. I'm not stocking up that deeply to last another 20 years. Right now it's about 5-7 years worth of smoke, which is enough. I routinely dip into the cellar and smoke open tins until they are gone. Between C&D small batch releases (which IMHO are worth buying into) and buying a few tins of favorite daily smoking blends, I'm topping off what I'm smoking out of my stash. I suppose I'm transitioning from "stocking up the cellar" to "maintaining a dynamic equilibrium."

If a favorite blend gets discontinued or disappears in some way, I decided that I will not worry about that. If I have a few tins of something special, that is more than enough for me.