Availability In UK Tobacco Market.

[John_B]

So it would seem, we UK pipe smokers are getting the thin end of the wedge after leaving the European market. Kohlhasse and Kopp products are scarce as Unicorn poo which includes Robert McConnell, Rattrays, Solani and a few others. MacBaren have very few products still available, (codger blends) and the flakes are gone. Is it worth taking the risk of an order from the US, which may be seized in transit ? I'm hoping the K&K shortage is just that, a seasonal shortage, but I don't trust MacBaren, after pouch sizes shrank to 40g ....... Anyone know what's going on please ?

 

[jpberg]

But you already have all the good stuff.

 

[John_B]

But you already have all the good stuff.

Hi there. That's a matter of conjecture. The market is very limited in some respects. VaPer blends in particular are in short supply. I want to try Old Gowrie and Hal of the Wind but nowhere to be found. I also want to try MacBaren Vanilla Flake but its "up and gone like a fart in the breeze", to quote a line from Shawshank Redemption.

 

[simong]

Is it worth taking the risk of an order from the US, which may be seized in transit ?

You’re not the first to ask that question & you won’t be the last.
You pay your money & you take the chance, like everyone else.
Personally, I’d say no, it’s not worth it. I’ve seen a few people get carried away with the hype of buying loads of tobacco from abroad. They end up buying too many different blends, then they’ll get stung by customs.
Usually their tastes have changed by then & they’re stuck with a load of tobacco they don’t want to smoke.

If you want a Va/Per, St. James’s Flake & Plug is the best you can get for my money. If you don’t like those & prefer the continental blends you’ve still got petersons Elizabethan available. You should try the Comoy’s line, they’re made by K&K, they’ve got the Rattray’s vibe going on. Irish Mixture is a good one. Not a Va/Per but an excellent tasting blend nonetheless.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Hi there. That's a matter of conjecture. The market is very limited in some respects. VaPer blends in particular are in short supply. I want to try Old Gowrie and Hal of the Wind but nowhere to be found. I also want to try MacBaren Vanilla Flake but its "up and gone like a fart in the breeze", to quote a line from Shawshank Redemption.

Yep! The UK market has taken an absolute kicking since we left the EU. So many blends are no longer stocked. I'm thinking of firing off a letter to the Prime Minister, telling him that we need to IMMEDIATELY apply to rejoin the EU so I can once again purchase my Rattray's Marlin Flake. Nigel Farage probably wouldn't be too happy, but he's a smoker so i'm sure he'd understand.

Matters are made worse by what's happened to the Germain's tobaccos. You go back 3 years and Germain's were often in stock and you could buy what you wanted, but not any more. The second it comes into stock it's gone. I believe it's the massive Chinese market that is buying all the Germain's tobacco and I don't see it changing anytime soon. I keep hoping the Chinese will go off Germain's and get a sudden, insatiable appetite for Clan.

I've ordered plenty of times from the US but always got hit with large import duties. The tobacco over there is a lot cheaper though, so once the import duties were added it worked out about the same or a bit more than what I'd have paid for a 50g tin in the UK. It was worth it to be able to buy the myriad different tobaccos that aren't available over here.

 

[RookieGuy80]

I swear we need a tobacco exchange program from private seller to private seller. Like send out an amount of tobacco and you should be able to revieve an equal amount.

 

[paulfg]

Yep! The UK market has taken an absolute kicking since we left the EU. So many blends are no longer stocked. I'm thinking of firing off a letter to the Prime Minister, telling him that we need to IMMEDIATELY apply to rejoin the EU so I can once again purchase my Rattray's Marlin Flake. Nigel Farage probably wouldn't be too happy, but he's a smoker so i'm sure he'd understand.

Matters are made worse by what's happened to the Germain's tobaccos. You go back 3 years and Germain's were often in stock and you could buy what you wanted, but not any more. The second it comes into stock it's gone. I believe it's the massive Chinese market that is buying all the Germain's tobacco and I don't see it changing anytime soon. I keep hoping the Chinese will go off Germain's and get a sudden, insatiable appetite for Clan.

I've ordered plenty of times from the US but always got hit with large import duties. The tobacco over there is a lot cheaper though, so once the import duties were added it worked out about the same or a bit more than what I'd have paid for a 50g tin in the UK. It was worth it to be able to buy the myriad different tobaccos that aren't available over here.

At least you’re legally allowed to import it,even allowing for taxes.Many places your forbidden to import,if customs find it then it’s seized

 

[sablebrush52]

Matters are made worse by what's happened to the Germain's tobaccos. You go back 3 years and Germain's were often in stock and you could buy what you wanted, but not any more. The second it comes into stock it's gone. I believe it's the massive Chinese market that is buying all the Germain's tobacco and I don't see it changing anytime soon. I keep hoping the Chinese will go off Germain's and get a sudden, insatiable appetite for Clan.

Bad in more ways than this. Germain's Virginias have seen some substitutions in the past 3 years and not for the better. I wouldn't spend a nickel on any Esoterica blend made after 2019. It's just not good.

 

[Ahi Ka]

Bad in more ways than this. Germain's Virginias have seen some substitutions in the past 3 years and not for the better. I wouldn't spend a nickel on any Esoterica blend made after 2019. It's just not good.

Kinda genius move though. Use inferior leaf and sell it to a market that will unicorn prices for the tin art alone.

 

[kcghost]

The last thing you want to try is ordering from the U.S. and see if you will get lucky. You'll just have to wait and see if
supplies improve from Germany or switch your focus to U.K. producers. I understand your reluctance towards Mac Baren, but they do make few good blends. Try the selections in HH series of products though not Rustica unless you have exceptional resistance to nicotine. Old Dark Fired Kentucky is a favorite of mine.

 

[simong]

john, here

Bad in more ways than this. Germain's Virginias have seen some substitutions in the past 3 years and not for the better. I wouldn't spend a nickel on any Esoterica blend made after 2019. It's just not good.

substituted with leaf from where would you say? Anything known for certain or just musings?
I think they definitely had some dodgy batches of leaf after covid, the last few tins I’ve had have been fine though.

 

[John_B]

The last thing you want to try is ordering from the U.S. and see if you will get lucky. You'll just have to wait and see if
supplies improve from Germany or switch your focus to U.K. producers. I understand your reluctance towards Mac Baren, but they do make few good blends. Try the selections in HH series of products though not Rustica unless you have exceptional resistance to nicotine. Old Dark Fired Kentucky is a favorite of mine.

Thanks for the advice, although there are very few MacBaren products getting through at all. Just the Codger blends like St Bruno.

 

[sablebrush52]

Kinda genius move though. Use inferior leaf and sell it to a market that will unicorn prices for the tin art alone.

Why not? Works for their awful version of Balkan Sobranie.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Bad in more ways than this. Germain's Virginias have seen some substitutions in the past 3 years and not for the better. I wouldn't spend a nickel on any Esoterica blend made after 2019. It's just not good.

That's a real shame. The only Germain's I've bought in the last 3 years was a couple of tins of Medium Flake, which I haven't smoked yet. Luckily i've got a few tins of Brown Flake and RDF in the cellar that are over 5 years old.

My cellar has come up trumps once again, it seems

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

This is another great reason to cellar, btw. Blends can dissappear without much notice. If you aren't keeping an eye on things, the next time you go to order a favourite blend it might not be available.

 

[sablebrush52]

john, here

substituted with leaf from where would you say? Anything known for certain or just musings?
I think they definitely had some dodgy batches of leaf after covid, the last few tins I’ve had have been fine though.

I've sampled different Esoterica blends from '20,21, and 22. The base now has some of the same stringy hard Virginia that K&K started using a few years ago in their HU blends. It has an unpleasant flavor that doesn't harmonize with their other components. This particular leaf wasn't in their earlier releases. The difference in the flavor of the base is pronounced. FWIW, I'm hardly the only person who's noticed the change.
I have no idea from whence that leaf is sourced, but I certainly wouldn't cry if those fields burned to the ground prior to harvesting.

 

[jpberg]

Hi there. That's a matter of conjecture. The market is very limited in some respects. VaPer blends in particular are in short supply. I want to try Old Gowrie and Hal of the Wind but nowhere to be found. I also want to try MacBaren Vanilla Flake but its "up and gone like a fart in the breeze", to quote a line from Shawshank Redemption.

If you’re trying to explore the world of mediocre tobacco, then your options are limited.
Skip the heartache and just start trying some GH blends.

 

[John_B]

N

If you’re trying to explore the world of mediocre tobacco, then your options are limited.
Skip the heartache and just start trying some GH blends.

Nothing wrong with Gawith Hoggarth. I'm not a huge fan of Lakelands per se, but I recently bought some Pigtail Twist and curly cut Deluxe and found both excellent. I also very much enjoy RB plug from their sister company.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

I must have been seriously lucky, because I have ordered plenty from smoking pipes and nearly all of it has made it through. One has been stopped recently, it was for two tins of that Privateer stuff. They want 80 quid from me, but they can destroy it, I'm not paying that. But it still works out well, I went back and counted up the tobaccos I have ordered, and there were 21 orders made before one got snagged. Massive savings. I have also ordered cigars, which also came through unmolested (although I now know I am not really a cigar man). I have always kept my orders small, two tins tops. When ordering from smoking pipes, there are no real delivery savings to be made when ordering internationally (one tin will cost you $4, two about $7, three tins about $10, and so on). So one tin of tobacco which cost say, $11, plus $4 delivery, equals $15, which is about 11 quid. Factor in the convertion charge the back will apply, and it is 12 quid. A tin here is 20 at least. If you can afford to lose 12 quid, put an order in, and see what happens.

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

Also, you can try Estervals, a German company who sell all the Rattray's blends you mention. I have only had one order from them, but I suspect that post Brexit, that stuff will always get through unmolested, given that the idiot Tory government who encouraged people to vote for Brexit, have been singularly unable to arrange the customs checks that should be a part of it. But the time they get round to doing it, we'll be back in the single market anyway. That's where I'll be placing my international orders from now on. But until then, I will continue to enjoy the tobaccos of my three favourite blending houses, the Gawiths, and Germains, all readily available (mostly).