Am I Late to the Party?

[WildTurkeySurprise]

I picked up pipe smoking as a quarantine hobby back in the Spring, and I love it. Diving in and exploring/researching the pipe blend world, I feel like I may have missed some sort of Golden Age. For example, my local shop has a house blend that is an all time favorite of mine, and the owner there says he based that blend on Frog Morton Cellar. I look for that...gone. I read online how McClelland had been around for years cranking out an array of beloved and praiseworthy blends until they closed their doors just a while back. With the holidays coming up, all my searches for holiday blends show people raving about McClelland Christmas blends, with comparatively sparse and lackluster mentions of any other. Also, I keep finding mention of Penzance - gone. Elsewhere, I read of Lakelands. Sounds intriguing, and I want to try it. I can’t find the stuff ANYWHERE! An entire genre missing? Can any pipe scene veterans here give me some perspective on this?

 

[username]

Unfortunately they are out of stock everywhere it seems. But hopefully they will be back in stock soon. I did manage to pick up a tin of hansom flake from p&c. So their are some lakelands out their.

 

[Casual]

The cup is half full!

 

[mingc]

I picked up pipe smoking as a quarantine hobby back in the Spring, and I love it. Diving in and exploring/researching the pipe blend world, I feel like I may have missed some sort of Golden Age. For example, my local shop has a house blend that is an all time favorite of mine, and the owner there says he based that blend on Frog Morton Cellar. I look for that...gone. I read online how McClelland had been around for years cranking out an array of beloved and praiseworthy blends until they closed their doors just a while back. With the holidays coming up, all my searches for holiday blends show people raving about McClelland Christmas blends, with comparatively sparse and lackluster mentions of any other. Also, I keep finding mention of Penzance - gone. Elsewhere, I read of Lakelands. Sounds intriguing, and I want to try it. I can’t find the stuff ANYWHERE! An entire genre missing? Can any pipe scene veterans here give me some perspective on this?

There's LOTS of good stuff out there. Discussions here and elsewhere are skewed by talk about what isn't available. Unless you've already developed a taste for certain unobtaniums, I wouldn't sweat it. The number of blends that have come and gone exceed the collective memory of everyone here, by far.

 

[Elric]

It's still pretty much a golden age. There are so many great boutique blenders now that there is a blend for every taste. G.L. Pease, C&D, Home & Hearth, Watch City, Seattle Pipe Club, plus some of the blending houses like Solani, Wessex, McConnell, Rattray's, etc. You can and will spend the rest of your life finding your personal Arcadia Mix.

 

[mso489]

Blends come and go, and brands come a go, and that has been happening for centuries. You've pointed out a couple of the departures or scarcities of recent time. This is still the golden age of pipe tobacco in terms of the numbers of brands and blends relatively available to today's pipe smoker, so bask in that while it lasts, and don't go into mourning. There is currently more variety and more genres than you will ever be able to sample. However, the big picture is that a regulatory boom is about to lower that will eliminate many blends, probably some brands, and perhaps a lot of the distributions and availability of blends. This has pipe smokers hoarding into the foreseeable future. Keep track of that.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yep, you missed it. They've arrested all of the tobacco cartels, and I believe that they are going door to door smashing pipes now.
It was all fun while it lasted.

 

[sablebrush52]

Can any pipe scene veterans here give me some perspective on this?

I don't know if I would qualify as a pipe scene veteran as I've only been smoking pipes for about 48-49 years. But I'll share my thoughts about this.

Many blends and blenders have come and gone. Sometimes the blend returns, made by a different company and sometimes that blend is gone for good. Supplies for different blenders wax and wane, then wax and wane again. Part of the situation is that the Chinese pipe smoking community has expanded in recent years and are now getting a significant portion of production. This results in somewhat smaller amounts of blends making it to the US. This will adjust in time.

People are always pining over what they've lost or have difficulty finding. They bestow legend and greatness on hard to find blends. This is what I refer to as THE PSYCHOPATHY OF SCARCITY.

Most of it is bullshit.

There are plenty of great blends available for purchase. You get to start with a blank canvas and paint your own picture.

If your curiosity needs to be satisfied and your pocketbook is bottomless you can find most of these fabled blends. In my experience it's rarely worth the cost.

Welcome to the hunt! Have fun!

 

[BROBS]

Yep, you missed it. They've arrested all of the tobacco cartels, and I believe that they are going door to door smashing pipes now.
It was all fun while it lasted.

THIS IS THE CONFISCATION THEY WARNED US ABOUT

 

[shanez]

People are always pining over what they've lost or have difficulty finding. They bestow legend and greatness on hard to find blends. This is what I refer to as THE PSYCHOPATHY OF SCARCITY.

Most of it is bullshit.

^^^^This.

I picked up pipe smoking as a quarantine hobby back in the Spring, and I love it. Diving in and exploring/researching the pipe blend world, I feel like I may have missed some sort of Golden Age. For example, my local shop has a house blend that is an all time favorite of mine, and the owner there says he based that blend on Frog Morton Cellar. I look for that...gone. I read online how McClelland had been around for years cranking out an array of beloved and praiseworthy blends until they closed their doors just a while back. With the holidays coming up, all my searches for holiday blends show people raving about McClelland Christmas blends, with comparatively sparse and lackluster mentions of any other. Also, I keep finding mention of Penzance - gone. Elsewhere, I read of Lakelands. Sounds intriguing, and I want to try it. I can’t find the stuff ANYWHERE! An entire genre missing? Can any pipe scene veterans here give me some perspective on this?

What have you smoked that you have liked? People here can make some very good suggestions tailored to your tastes if they know the answer to this.

P.S.: Arango Balkan Supreme is a perfectly acceptable substitution for Penzance. Yes Penzance is great but barely worth the regular retail price vs Balkan Supreme and not even worth considering at scalper prices. So that's one hard to get blend sorted for ya.

P.P.S.: There never was any "Golden Age". Sure some fine blends are gone but there are many, many fine blends available. Actually, considering the sheer variety of blends on the market today, one could conceivably consider this to be a rather "Golden Age".

 

[BROBS]

I don't know if I would qualify as a pipe scene veteran as I've only been smoking pipes for about 48-49 years. But I'll share my thoughts about this.

Many blends and blenders have come and gone. Sometimes the blend returns, made by a different company and sometimes that blend is gone for good. Supplies for different blenders wax and wane, then wax and wane again. Part of the situation is that the Chinese pipe smoking community has expanded in recent years and are now getting a significant portion of production. This results in somewhat smaller amounts of blends making it to the US. This will adjust in time.

People are always pining over what they've lost or have difficulty finding. They bestow legend and greatness on hard to find blends. This is what I refer to as THE PSYCHOPATHY OF SCARCITY.

Most of it is bullshit.

There are plenty of great blends available for purchase. You get to start with a blank canvas and paint your own picture.

If your curiosity needs to be satisfied and your pocketbook is bottomless you can find most of these fabled blends. In my experience it's rarely worth the cost.

Welcome to the hunt! Have fun!

Absolutely. There are very few Great Ones gone compared to all the excellent, widely available, and cheap blends out there.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I picked up pipe smoking as a quarantine hobby back in the Spring, and I love it. Diving in and exploring/researching the pipe blend world, I feel like I may have missed some sort of Golden Age. For example, my local shop has a house blend that is an all time favorite of mine, and the owner there says he based that blend on Frog Morton Cellar. I look for that...gone. I read online how McClelland had been around for years cranking out an array of beloved and praiseworthy blends until they closed their doors just a while back. With the holidays coming up, all my searches for holiday blends show people raving about McClelland Christmas blends, with comparatively sparse and lackluster mentions of any other. Also, I keep finding mention of Penzance - gone. Elsewhere, I read of Lakelands. Sounds intriguing, and I want to try it. I can’t find the stuff ANYWHERE! An entire genre missing? Can any pipe scene veterans here give me some perspective on this?

You can focus on what's gone or difficult or enjoy the multitude of tobacco available. Of course a few of those get lots of press just like bad need. The reality is, there's thousands of blends readily available. Your first order of business should be to develop an idea for what genre you prefer. Then you can start smoking blends within that genre.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I read online how McClelland had been around for years cranking out an array of beloved and praiseworthy blends until they closed their doors just a while back.

I was a huge McClelland fan, but it wasn't outrageously popular on here. Non-aromatic smokers make up the smallest percentage of pipe smokers, making us an obscure minority that makes up this forum. When McClellands would come up on here, more people posted making fun of the blends than singing their praises.
But, when they announced their closure, a few days later people were all of a sudden their biggest fans.

Anytime a tobacco company closes, or a blend goes away, the same damned people who made fun of it are all all of a sudden boohooing in the streets. Which, then makes newcomers all think that the blend or company was much loved across the prism.

Take the advice of those above, find what you like first. Then worry about the bullshit later.

 

[Elric]

I was a huge McClelland fan, but it wasn't outrageously popular on here. Non-aromatic smokers make up the smallest percentage of pipe smokers, making us an obscure minority that makes up this forum. When McClellands would come up on here, more people posted making fun of the blends than singing their praises.
But, when they announced their closure, a few days later people were all of a sudden their biggest fans.

Anytime a tobacco company closes, or a blend goes away, the same damned people who made fun of it are all all of a sudden boohooing in the streets. Which, then makes newcomers all think that the blend or company was much loved across the prism.

Take the advice of those above, find what you like first. Then worry about the bullshit later.

^^^^^ This!

 

[stevecourtright]

Not only is there no time like the present, the present is the only time we have. (I just made that up.) Embrace today, there are lots of great, great blends to enjoy.

 

[mso489]

A few suggestions: Shop a lot more for tobacco than you buy. Know what constituent tobaccos are in the blends you sample, and look for those you enjoy in other blends. For a few years, don't buy big quantities of any blend, even if you love it; your tastes will change. Blends you don't like, store in a jar and try again in a few years, when your tastes may have changed or aging has improved them. Buy just an ounce or two of bulk, one tin, or a pouch. If you are a note-taker, keep a log of what you try and how you like it, or do that by memory.

 

[wyfbane]

Welcome to pipe smoking!

I agree with all said. You missed out on McClelland and Syrian Latakia... So you won't miss McClelland or Syrian Latakia.

There truly are 1000's of blends out there. Focus on your flavor profile and buy tobaccos in that vein.

Sample EVERYTHING you can get your hands on.

Join pipe clubs, do meet ups with site members near you, and go to pipe shows if they ever happen again.

Once you have a decent stable of blends, buy them.

Opinions vary, I buy til it hurts. Others don't.

I have enough tobacco to last me 3 lifetimes and my son's as well once he is old enough, unless he becomes a nic fiend.

It can be done efficiently, shop sales and use many different websites, folks on here when you have posted more, and club meetings/shows.

Focus more on tobacco than pipes. Pipes will always be around.

 

[Magpiety]

For the lakeland stuff, or imported tobaccos in general, you can order from overseas. It usually needs to be a big order to justify the shipping. Most use estervals.

 

[gerryp]

Sam Gawith and Gawith & Hoggarth are in stock at a number of online retailers about every month or two, I think. As a matter of fact, I just checked and Tobacco Pipes has several Sam Gawith blends, including Squadron Leader, Kendal Cream, and St. James Flake in stock now.
I, too, mourned the loss of Frog Morton's Cellar. Then I found Seattle Pipe Club's Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrel, which pulls FMC's pants down to its ankles then stuffs it headfirst into a garbage can. You should try it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

All said above! You can find any of the above if you look hard enough and are willing to pay dearly. Not worth it, imo.

You can put your location in your Profile—(please!—because people will forget!) That will save questions in the future as to where you live when you later mention local stores, weather, tobacco prices, availability, regulations, location of photos, wildfires, air quality, etc., etc..
Under your avatar, (top right, left most of three symbols) you choose "Account Details", which brings up "My Account". "My Location" is halfway down. Whatever you're comfortable with- town, city, county, state. Just country if you must.