For years I was a one to three blend kind of pipe smoker. Now I find that I like variety. I've collected some unobtainium ( at normal retail) and waited for shipments from Germany. My only regret is the last shipment, one that went wrong. So I don't need to chase anything because I have what I want. Actually, I was never much for chasing anything. I found ways to get what I wanted without chasing it.
I won't pretend to lack curiosity, but most of the time I find that some new blend is pretty much the same as something I've already smoked. So a "new" blend, which is often just a renaming and retinning of some existing blend, holds little interest for me. Just because 1Q has been tinned under a couple of dozen different names doesn't mean I have to collect the whole set.
I agree with Cosmic about aging, though the 2012 St James Flake I recently opened aged wonderfully well.
Sometimes aging helps and other times, like with STG's version of Escudo, it's a waste of time. Most of the blends I have that have aged are that way because I didn't get around to smoking them sooner.
I like all kinds of blends, from OTC's to vintage tins, but I'm also not going to drop a lot of money on an old tin. My experiences with that have been decidedly mixed.
I certainly didn't spend a lot on the vintage stuff. I bought them before the vintage tobacco market became a thing. Spending $120 on a tin of Petersen made Escudo isn't for me. I bought mine for $20 to $25 when they were just old tins, not "vintage" tins. $300 for an 8oz tin of 2005 Best Blend? Not when I bought mine for $50.
I guess I'm a curmudgeonly codger, as I'm definitely eccentric and capable of delivering pure acid when needed.
My cellar is pretty modest compared to some of the brobdingnagian hoards described here, a little north of 100 lbs. I'll be dust before I get through all of it. But I like having what I want to smoke when I want to smoke it. I can still enjoy some favorite now extinct blends because I bought them before they became extinct. Better, I paid normal retail for them rather than being obliged to sell a kidney to afford a tin of vintage Smegma dark.
Some of the oldsters I know are advanced Luddites. But most of them are not only quite conversant with new technologies, they were involved in creating or expanding them.
I have definitely come to appreciate simplicity. It's the best way to go.
I won't pretend to lack curiosity, but most of the time I find that some new blend is pretty much the same as something I've already smoked. So a "new" blend, which is often just a renaming and retinning of some existing blend, holds little interest for me. Just because 1Q has been tinned under a couple of dozen different names doesn't mean I have to collect the whole set.
I agree with Cosmic about aging, though the 2012 St James Flake I recently opened aged wonderfully well.
Sometimes aging helps and other times, like with STG's version of Escudo, it's a waste of time. Most of the blends I have that have aged are that way because I didn't get around to smoking them sooner.
I like all kinds of blends, from OTC's to vintage tins, but I'm also not going to drop a lot of money on an old tin. My experiences with that have been decidedly mixed.
I certainly didn't spend a lot on the vintage stuff. I bought them before the vintage tobacco market became a thing. Spending $120 on a tin of Petersen made Escudo isn't for me. I bought mine for $20 to $25 when they were just old tins, not "vintage" tins. $300 for an 8oz tin of 2005 Best Blend? Not when I bought mine for $50.
I guess I'm a curmudgeonly codger, as I'm definitely eccentric and capable of delivering pure acid when needed.
My cellar is pretty modest compared to some of the brobdingnagian hoards described here, a little north of 100 lbs. I'll be dust before I get through all of it. But I like having what I want to smoke when I want to smoke it. I can still enjoy some favorite now extinct blends because I bought them before they became extinct. Better, I paid normal retail for them rather than being obliged to sell a kidney to afford a tin of vintage Smegma dark.
Some of the oldsters I know are advanced Luddites. But most of them are not only quite conversant with new technologies, they were involved in creating or expanding them.
I have definitely come to appreciate simplicity. It's the best way to go.
