Why is Penzance the Ultimate Mythical Unicorn?

[Worknman]

If its that good why they need to make it unavailable for everyone to try ? Sound like a marketing tactic....

Holding back the supply as a strategy would only make sense if you were trying to sell your product for a premium, which they don't.

 

[Singularis]

I want to qualify my single word response.
I don't hate Penzance. I actually found it to be a great blend. I did not find it to be the best thing I've ever smoked and worth $200 an 8oz bag on the secondary market. I have repeatedly paid $1 a gram for McClelland and don't regret it. If McClelland had wanted to, they could've easily achieved Penzance status with a number of their VA blends.
My point is, Penzance is definitely the product of genius marketing and small supply. It was small batch before small batch was cool. It creates the perfect storm of everyone wanting it, no one being able to get it, so you never have to worry about not selling everything you make. It's a great tobacco, but I've always found 6 months in a jar makes Cornell and Diehl Star of the East Flake it's equal.

Also, they're in a pickle, because if they increase supply, people will begin to see it as cheapened somehow. "if everyone can get it, it can't be as good anymore."

I just opened a 2.5 year aged Star of the East flake (my only tin). It’s good but heavily latakia’d. Are you suggesting I should jar it up for another six months now that I’ve opened the tin? I think it is fantastic — the tin note, the way it smokes, etc. — but wondering if it could actually be better with even more age.

 

[rmpeeps]

Back in about 1999 I bought an 8oz tray pouch of Penzance.
About 10 bowls in cured me of tge wound.

 

[sablebrush52]

If any random decent blend all of a sudden became hard to find would it too be worth $250 and up for half a pound?

That's up to the individual smoker to decide. Many spend far more than that for a 50 gram tin. For me, the answer is no, though I have spent more than that a couple of times as a gift and as something to share with my smoking friends. But for my self to enjoy alone? No way.

 

[hauntedmyst]

I just opened a 2.5 year aged Star of the East flake (my only tin). It’s good but heavily latakia’d. Are you suggesting I should jar it up for another six months now that I’ve opened the tin? I think it is fantastic — the tin note, the way it smokes, etc. — but wondering if it could actually be better with even more age.

What you'll find is that the Latakia mellows. Fresh Penzance to me is much better than aged Penzance. I have been smoking it for years and always like it better fresh from the factory. Other like it best with time on it and the Latakia mellowed. I would imagine Star of the East to be the same.

 

[jpberg]

Set the Wayback Machine to 2006. Or maybe it was 2007. You could walk into your neighborhood tobacconist and find tins and bags of Esoterica blends, including Penzance, on the shelf like everything else. Penzance had its fans, but wasn’t a stand out by any means.
I was a member of Pipes.org, and every now and then the moderator, who was easily the second worst moderator in the history of the Internet, would mention that he was smoking Penzance. It was cheap enough, not much more than bulk.
Gave it a try and decided that it just wasn’t for me.
Shortly after that, Germain’s missed a shipment. Then it missed another, and then yet another.
So when Penzance finally showed up the hoarders were on it like piranha, gobbling up every bag they could find. The panic over Penzance was on, and it has never stopped. When something is hard to get, people think it must be wonderful. I call this behavioral phenomenon the Psychopathy of Scarcity.
Germain’s is a small boutique blender that has added more commitments since then, making shipments of Esoterica blends even more erratic, which further exacerbates the situation.

Melvin!

 

[JOHN72]

I never tried it. But I still have some Condor left................I love it with dried figs

 

[solideogloria86]

I just opened a 2.5 year aged Star of the East flake (my only tin). It’s good but heavily latakia’d. Are you suggesting I should jar it up for another six months now that I’ve opened the tin? I think it is fantastic — the tin note, the way it smokes, etc. — but wondering if it could actually be better with even more age.

In my experience, putting a freshly opened tin into a jar for a while, allows the tobacco to open up and breath. 6 months was referring to a brand new tin. (breathing plus aging) A 2.5 year old tin would probably show a noticeable difference in a day or two. Leaving it in the tin will do the same thing once the seal is broken. 9/10 a blend will never taste like it actually does the day you crack the seal.

 

[cigrmaster]

When I smoked English blends Pezance was one of my favorites along with Two Friends Deacons Down Fall( still being made) and Dunhill London Mixture and GL Pease Ravens Wing. i lost my taste for Latakia over a decade ago and I honestly don't miss it. I have plenty to smoke when t comes to Va's, Vapers and Vaburs.

 

[mingc]

I reject the premise of the question. Penzance is not the ultimate mythical unicorn.

 

[wayneteipen]

Back when Penzance wasn't unobtainium, it was still pretty popular mostly because it was one of if not the heaviest lat bomb tobacco and that made it unique. Even then it had a legendary status mostly due to it's uniqueness. Latakia heavy blends were also all the rage then as well so the latakia fiends started lapping it up. It's a good blend if you like latakia heavy tobacco. It's only gone from legendary to mythical due to being hard to get. I wouldn't mind having some around but I can also live without it.

 

[wayneteipen]

When I smoked English blends Pezance was one of my favorites along with Two Friends Deacons Down Fall( still being made) and Dunhill London Mixture and GL Pease Ravens Wing. i lost my taste for Latakia over a decade ago and I honestly don't miss it. I have plenty to smoke when t comes to Va's, Vapers and Vaburs.

That's pretty much where I am as well. About once or twice a year, I get a craving for an English blend. Outside of that, it's Va's and Vapers for me mostly.

 

[trouttimes]

I like Penzance. It is a refined blend in my opinion which makes it better to my taste than about 90% of what’s out there but…I’ll not pay more than suggested retail. I keep a good relationship with two or three B&Ms so they call me when it comes in. Usually around $45 a bag. I put in right there with Pembroke for a great smoke.

 

[Singularis]

I reject the premise of the question. Penzance is not the ultimate mythical unicorn.

What’s your ultimate mythical unicorn tobacco?

 

[sablebrush52]

Melvin!

Yes indeedie! The one and only. I'd crown him the worst moderator in the history of the Internet but I haven't vetted all of the Internet's moderators since it started up. It's possible that there might be one worse than Melvin, as hard as it is to fathom such a prospect.

 

[mingc]

What’s your ultimate mythical unicorn tobacco?

Those that are still in production and still show up now and then, I'll keep to myself, as I don't want to increase demand for them.

Others that are out of production and that I've had, Ardath State Express London Mixture tops the list. Second is Ferndown Black & Tan.

There are a lot of unicorns that I've not had, e.g., the Balkan Sobranies, but having not tried them, I've no idea whether I like them enough to call them "ultimate." Having said that, I'd like to get my hands on some pre-2013 Ashton Artisan's Blend, when it was more likely to actually contain Syrian latakia, to see how its tastes.

 

[Terry Lennox]

The funny thing about Penzance is that it is not actually a Lat bomb but often gets mistaken for one. It is much more of a medium Latakia blend with prominent Va component. I think the pressed form and the fermenting (even when relatively fresh) give it a deep flavor that makes some think it is a bold Lat blend. As I said above I believe it also has a tiny added flavoring (anise) that ties everything together in a pretty unique way. But Star of The East Flake has way more Latakia.

 

[cigrmaster]

That's pretty much where I am as well. About once or twice a year, I get a craving for an English blend. Outside of that, it's Va's and Vapers for me mos

I can't even smoke the stuff once a year/

 

[pepesdad1]

Penzance has a special flavor...very much in the relm of Irish Condor....both are really good...one is no longer made in Ireland...the very one that I miss very much.

 

[sablebrush52]

Others that are out of production and that I've had, Ardath State Express London Mixture tops the list.

Absolutely! If that blend was still in production Penzance would be just another nice choice on the shelf, not a legend.