Buying American tobaccos in Europe?

[cosmicfolklore]

Certainly not!

I was talking in broad cultural strokes. Definitely not about "every American". America produces perhaps the the widest and most diverse and most friendly and welcoming population of people in history. I would never intentionally paint all with the same brush.

In the same vein, what I said was not intending to derogatory at all. Not any more than "Europeans don't care about money and they're all stuck-up and unfriendly", which would be equally untrue if applied to every person.

But still there is a slight difference in mentality the has deep cultural roots. The USA is a nation founded largely on self-sufficient, can-do, frontier type folks. And they value their independence and their freedom and respect those that are successful in enterprise and business. It's not a bad thing. It's just a bit different to Europe. And again, very broad stokes. Definitely not "everybody" ... that would just be silly.

We Americans are fragile and don't like to be labelled... except for the ones who do like to be labelled.

 

[mso489]

It is noteworthy that in the compulsory global world in which we live, where we share everything from viruses to cookware, when it comes to tobacco, people are extremely provincial, because of tariffs, customs, taxes, and supply chain problems, and probably other factors of which I'm not even aware. It's hard to find electronics or clothing that isn't manufactured somewhere else than the U.S., but it's an exercise in patience buying tobacco from U.K. in the U.S. and vise versa. We're all one world unless we're not, and there's no accounting for the reasons why or why not.

 

[pappymac]

Personally I don’t find US pipe tobacco to be that much better than European blends.

 

[DedHed Piper]

There are some reasons I can think of. Maybe they're not the right reasons, and maybe they're not good reasons, depending on your perspective, but I can imagine some.

In the United States it seems that making money is the alter on which all else is sacrificed. Not a judgement, just an observation. The attitude in Europe is slightly different, although making money is still important.

For example, I work for a small games studio in Stockholm. And they are explicitly trying to stay small, even though we have been enjoying a few successful releases back-to-back and hiring new people. The policy is that if we ever get too big and successful, we're going to break up the company into two smaller, independent studios.

Why? Because there's such a thing as too big. And also, believe it or not, too much money. The bigger and richer the company, the more generic, cautious the product. But that's not all. It's also usually a less fun place to work (and life quality is just as, if not more, important than financial success - what's the point of making stacks of cash if you were comfortable and happier before?), and lastly, waste goes through the roof.

For example, in my previous job (also a games studio, but a huge, rich, ultra-successful one), there was entire department of people who basically walked around with a cup of coffee, made power-point slides and had "important sounding" discussions using a lot of marketing and industry buzz-words around the water-cooler.

I have absolutely no idea what these people did. But we have zero of them, let alone an entire department, in my new job, and I have noticed zero difference in the quality of our product. God knows what it cost to pay them all to stand around and look important. I was once flown across the country and put up in a 4-star hotel in order to attend a meeting where I was asked one question to which my answer was, "yes". That could have been a 5-second phone call or even a phone message.

You might say (and you might be right), "well, they just got big in the wrong way". Sure. But in my experience, companies over a certain size tend to have a mind of their own and they always go that way. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

The product was also far more bland, generic, risk-averse, politically-correct and less fun.

Working there was more rigid, less free, less fun, more suffocated with bureaucracy and superfluous opinions.

And that is not the only example. That pretty much described every large company I worked for in every country (I've worked in three different ones).

Does this translate to tobacco production? Maybe. Maybe not. Is there a better way to do it? Maybe.

Long story short: I can see why some people are willing to sacrifice making more money for other benefits.

Just hijacking thread quickly to see if Anchovies is still around. And if so?
What company was the BIG succesful one? The BF one?
Don’t remember seeing any pipe smokers there…

 

[jpmcwjr]

Said OP hasn't posted since June, '22.
You might PM him, as it might reach him.

 

[Zamora]

What are you guys talking about, "seized and destroyed", "losing a package"?

... all that happens is that you have to pay a moderately expensive tax bill. It's not the end of the world - it just makes it only a little bit cheaper than buying the same thing domestically instead of far cheaper - although I'd rather avoid it if I can.

I'd just be grateful if ordering online was an option for me, it's a felony in my state. I just paid $150 for four tins at a B&M because my state's loose tobacco taxes are at 95%. Don't get me wrong I'm staunchly pro B&M but I'd like to have cheaper options too

 

[DedHed Piper]

Said OP hasn't posted since June, '22.
You might PM him, as it might reach him.

Yes, I saw that and tried a direct mess instead.
Thank you.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Did you get that back-to-front? I mean, I'm no pipe expert but I'm pretty sure it's the Americans who are famous for aromatic blends while in Europe (particularly England), un-flavoured tobacco is the tradition.

In fact, I believe it only became legal to add topping to tobacco in England in 1985!

I think you'll find that many, if not all UK tobacco manufacturers have been using toppings to some degree from the get go.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I'd believe that about casings...

 

[Yambo]

To get back to the original topic,

I would not buy from 4noggins under any circumstances, I bought from them and the package was rejected from customs, with no furthers answers from the seller. Never again.

Their customer service is not great (to say the least), but they get the job done most of the times. I've ordered from them six or seven times this year and every package has arrived without any kind of problem. I just keep them small (5 2o. tins or 2 8 oz tins). Synjeco is great. Customs in Spain charge a little tax (I think it was about 7 euros last time) from Switzerland and they are a little pricey, but Daniel always answers.

Anyway, We're going to have some Cornell & Diehl tobaccos distributed in Germany pretty soon (less than two weeks):

Big news for EU: Cornell & Diehl :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion

Its not that easy to just find a distributor, they need to be able to bond the tobacco, deal with all the import paperwork and tobacco registrations, have a good understanding of what the packaging and health warning regulations are for their country etc and have a good network of shops and...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[Yambo]

Yep, 4 noggins and try contact Premal Chheda from Smoker's Haven.
Super nice guy.

I just checked Smoker's Haven but I only see pipes, no tobacco...

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

I've never ordered from Synjeco but they're in Switzerland which isn't part of the EU. They are part of the single market, though. What that means for importing tobacco from them I honestly don't know. Apart from that, the only thing I know about Switzerland I learned from Harry Lime.

"You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly."

 

[zenistar]

Switzerland is an oddity in that it has a privately-operated, but government-regulated healthcare system which ends up being both cheap as well as very good.

Very good yes, cheap - not so much! Health insurance premiums are rising all over.

 

[zenistar]

I've never ordered from Synjeco but they're in Switzerland which isn't part of the EU. They are part of the single market, though. What that means for importing tobacco from them I honestly don't know.

For those wondering about Synjeco they are good to order from, at least for me being in Switzerland. With regards to Switzerland and the EU, we are absolutely not part of the EU and my experience of importing tobacco from the EU (mostly cigars in the past) and sending to friends in the EU - EU customs seems to treat things exactly the same as if you were to import from the US etc.

 

[vosBghos]

word to the wise small amounts per order ask for padded envelope NO BOXES, space out orders by 3 days at least , THE TOBACCO MUST FLOW

 

[Doctor Chopper]

You can't. US manufacturers do not supply or make tins which are fit for the EU market. I also think there are US members overhere that can confirm a lot of European manufacturers and blenders are quite on par or blend/produce better blends than the USA blends. The only downside I think European tobacco has it isn't to much concentrated on straight tobacco but rather on the aromatic side of it and there are not a lot burley or VaBur blends available where USA tobacco producers seem to shine.

^^^^
This is exactly what I saw in EU tobacco shops.
Interestingly, they had a huge choice in Vape flavors that are not available in the US.

 

[Zamora]

I think you'll find that many, if not all UK tobacco manufacturers have been using toppings to some degree from the get go.

Regards,

Jay.

I'm no expert but it does sound like the sort of law that stays on the books for decades but is rarely if ever enforced.

^^^^
This is exactly what I saw in EU tobacco shops.
Interestingly, they had a huge choice in Vape flavors that are not available in the US.

From what I've heard the UK (no idea about the rest of Europe) is heavily promoting vaping as a cigarette sensation treatment and they've done studies that find flavored vapes are more effective for that than unflavored. Here in the US of course flavored stuff is being banned in more and more jurisdictions because "think of the children!"

 

[karam]

Very good yes, cheap - not so much! Health insurance premiums are rising all over.

Eh, I've debated this a lot. Having had the bad luck to develop a serious condition, I tend to say that CH health insurance is expensive until you use it

 

[zenistar]

Eh, I've debated this a lot. Having had the bad luck to develop a serious condition, I tend to say that CH health insurance is expensive until you use it

I hear you there, I also ended up on crazy expensive medication since a few years hope things are going ok for you.

 

[karam]

I hear you there, I also ended up on crazy expensive medication since a few years hope things are going ok for you.

Yeah, same to you. Things have been under control for two years now, expect to stop treatment in 6 months’ time and see what happens. But that’s what I mean, the moment you start using long-term meds, multiple specialist visits, exams, even minor operations then the insurance kicks in pretty fast and you pay very little. Case in point, the first year I developed my condition i maxed the 2500 CHF franchise in basically two months, and all the rest was very little out of pocket. Plus as you’ll know, CH health insurance cannot deny anyone, or any payment.