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  1. leonardw

    Leonard W Interviewed On YouTube By Big Apple Pipes

    In 2009 the FDA started regulating cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. At that time, they said that if a product was on the market prior to February of 2007, it could remain on the market. This is called Grandfather status. To receive Grandfather status, a company has to provide evidence (an...
  2. leonardw

    What Will Be The Most Sought-After Sutliff Blends 5 Years From Now?

    It's produced in Assens. We have a second factory in Holstobro, primarily for RYO tobaccos. Svenborg is the Mac Baren factory.
  3. leonardw

    New FDA Nicotine Restrictions

    Forcing reduced levels of nicotine in tobacco has been the FDA's stated objective going back to around 2017. One company, 22nd Century, based their business model on the patents for growing tobacco with almost no nicotine. About a year or so ago they received approval to launch a cigarette...
  4. leonardw

    What Labels Are Affected By MacBaren & Sutliff Demise

    Wow, now there is a blast from the past. We launched three brands back in the 2016-2018 time frame, primarily to get them on the market ahead of the FDA deadlines, in case we wanted to use them later. My brand manager at the time, Lasse Peterson, ran the project. The brands were Drexel, Wild...
  5. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    This requires a bit of a history lesson that starts with Peter Stokkebye. STG had always produced the Stokkebye blends in DK, and sometime around the early 2000s (maybe earlier) STG purchased the brand. Prior to 2011, the Peter Stokkebye brand was distributed in the U.S. by a company called...
  6. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    I understand. Some of my responses come off as contradictory, partially because I do have to be somewhat cautious in my responses (publicly traded company, all that). Here's a bit of a contradiction: The U.S. pipe tobacco market is still very profitable, AND the overall market has been...
  7. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    I suspect this might be a rhetorical question, but nonetheless, it is a question on the "Questions for LeonardW" thread, so I will answer! The U.S. is the largest and most profitable pipe tobacco market in the world.
  8. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    Unfortunately not from what I'm seeing. I remember smoking Old Dark Fired at a Chicago show years back and loving it. I was surprised to see that in Germany, the second biggest pipe tobacco market on the planet, it sells less than 250 lbs. per year.
  9. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    I'll answer as best I can... and it's still going to seem like a big "screw you" and corporate B.S. Below is what I posted on the pipe forum we host. It repeats a lot of what I've said on this thread: As it pertains to the U.S. portfolio, Sutliff sells 988 items (including items from the Mac...
  10. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    That's a bit harder to answer, partially because I'm not as familiar with some of the brands. There's a lot of private label in there which falls under another team's decision making. Perhaps you could give me examples of some of your favorite Mac Baren own brands/blends?
  11. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    Pardon, I was offline during the holidays. I'll post any replies on this thread going forward, but I did just post this on the announcement thread: The letter from the beginning of this thread is real It is for U.S.A. Sutliff retailers and wholesalers (which is to say that just because Mac...
  12. leonardw

    Just in from STG/MacBaren/Sutliff

    Howdy folks. I stayed off line over the holidays, but am back now. FYI I'll do my replies on the "Questions for LeaonrdW" thread just so I have a hope of keeping track. A couple of notes before I bounce to the other thread: The letter from the beginning of this thread is real It is for...
  13. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    The STG facility in Denmark has similar equipment, so I'm not sure if they'll move the Mac Baren one or not. One thing to keep in mind... blends produced at Mac Baren's facility in Denmark don't necessarily go away altogether, even if they may be discontinued in a certain market (such as the U.S.)
  14. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    We might have to get more specific when it comes to Europe. If we include eastern Europe and the Nordics, we are talking about 40 countries, 110 brands and 1,500 items prior the acquisition. As far as what to bring back, we haven't gotten into the tactics of how we'll gauge demand yet.
  15. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    Appreciate it. I've spoke with Mike a good bit over the past few months. Mary has had some health issues this year, so keep both her and Mike in your thoughts.
  16. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    I wasn't aware of those issues (or of Sentimiento Nacional). Max is spearheading the site going forward, so I'll have to get more info from him after the holidays.
  17. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    Canada is complex and I'm actually not as up to speed. BAT actually owns the distribution rights up there for brands like Captain Black (which I believe had to change the name due to Canadian tobacco regulations). Max is more up-to-speed on Canada, so I'll have to wait until he get's back from...
  18. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    The plan is to maintain the tobaccoreviews,com website as-is going forward.
  19. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    I don't have the data to say for sure. I think it's safe to say that folks engaged in online forums are more likely to purchase online. The probably also purchase more, so if they are 2%-3% of pipe smokers, they might be 4%-6% of sales. In 2011 (40 at the time) it never would have occurred to...
  20. leonardw

    Questions for Leonardw

    It's hard to know which of these posts to jump in on, but I'll try to address a few of the points I'm seeing here... People are upset, they have every right to be upset, and nothing I say can, or is intended to change that. Be polite to each other, but moderators, no one has to be polite to me...