Cellaring...How Much Should a Person Cellar?

[timt]

I'm 51. If I smoke 3 bowls a day for 30 years, supposedly I'll need a little over 200 pounds. I've got around 50 now and I'm a little unnerved by it - especially since I didn't have any less than a year ago.

I have about 55 pounds in my cellar, but that total amount includes a lot of mistakes. My cellar includes blends that I ended up not liking. I haven't precisely measured the good the bad and the ugly in my cellar, but I estimate that I have some 40-45 pounds of the good stuff.

That's me almost exactly. When I get down to the lat blends, it's probably over.

 

[brassmonkey]

I dont smoke a lot and my cellar is very small. It only makes me cry when I try to figure how much I would need to cellar to last a lifetime. Even if I only wanted to cellar 20 pounds, it would cost me $18,000 here :crying:

 

[briarbuck]

I was lucky. 4 years ago nobody was buying aged stuff on EBAY. I picked a a ton (50-100) old cans for a small premium over retail. I was regularly buying early 2000's CC for around 25-30$ for 100g. Prices were low (comparatively). Built my aged collection first to a point where I was all set up, and then I went after purchasing in bulk to cellar. I have been smoking old stuff for years and years before I have to even touch my actual cellar. I didn't have to pay huge premiums for the old stuff and now I have accumulated 30 or so lbs of stuff to age.
Going forward I will probably buy 5-10 lbs or so a year and just keep layering it in so it doesn't turn to shitdust.

 

[mso489]

Expecting to expire when you are 97 is a good plan, until you're 96. About cellaring, the predominant philosophy on Forums is embodied in the question, how big is your warehouse?

 

[sparroa]

I certainly don't cellar enough to cover my hypothetical needs if I desired to smoke X amount over Y years.
I've come to terms with the reality that I can't possible afford to buy as much as I want so I have settled for a comfortable stash that will give me years of enjoyment at my current pace if I choose to continue smoking. I am a low-volume pipe smoker who already quit for years so I just treat it as a (fairly) affordable luxury and an enjoyable pastime.
I advocate for people to be reasonable and buy as much as they can afford of what they have consistently enjoyed because we're in a rapidly changing regulatory environment when it comes to tobacco laws and taxation. With that said, I also think people who are new to pipe smoking shouldn't start rushing to acquire hundreds of pounds of tobacco - especially if they are buying blind or based on heresay instead of personal observation/experience.
This may sound like common sense, but don't cellar a tobacco that you haven't tried and certainly don't take for granted that it will be the same when you crack it open in 5-10-15 years...

 

[pipestud]

I simply advise people to cellar until their money runs out. (-:

 

[sablebrush52]

I have about 15 years worth, based on my smoking habits. That will probably be way more than enough.

 

[prairiedruid]

I have about 55 pounds in my cellar, but that total amount includes a lot of mistakes. My cellar includes blends that I ended up not liking.

Your mistake blends may taste great to you in a few years. If nothing else you can trade them for things you like hopefully.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Not concerned, though my cellar is modest, well under 1,000 pounds..... Probably under 30, too. I just like having a few years' supply, and add to it on occasion.

 

[timt]

Not concerned, though my cellar is modest, well under 1,000 pounds..... Probably under 30, too. I just like having a few years' supply, and add to it on occasion.

I like your attitude. It's the adding to it on occasion part that might trip me up.

 

[npod]

I know a guy (honestly) who is 76 years old. He has over 500 pounds of tobacco cellared and he KEEPS BUYING tobacco. He also has hundreds of pipes. The guy lives alone. I have had serious conversations with him to stop buying, but he just can’t stop. He recently baught many (many) tins of the new 3 Nuns when it came out just to have some cellared. And he already has tins of the freaking original 3 Nuns!
Sometimes enough is enough.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hope he has heirs who like to smoke or are aware of Pipestud!

 

[ukbob]

Going to stop buying in 4 years time when I'm 65, hopefully should have enough stashed away to last me out .

 

[mikethompson]

I smoke a bowl maybe every few weeks if I am lucky. I have enough tobacco to last me well into the next ice age.
The danger of no internet sales is pretty real though, as I wouldn't be able to afford it otherwise.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I never really did the math till just now, but it works out for me to be 242 lbs.
I haven't cataloged it yet, but off the top of my head with all the tins and bulks I have it's probably somewhere around 20-30 lbs right now.

 

[bigpond]

I know a guy (honestly) who is 76 years old. He has over 500 pounds of tobacco cellared and he KEEPS BUYING tobacco. He also has hundreds of pipes. The guy lives alone. I have had serious conversations with him to stop buying, but he just can’t stop. He recently baught many (many) tins of the new 3 Nuns when it came out just to have some cellared. And he already has tins of the freaking original 3 Nuns!
Sometimes enough is enough.

Does he need a friend?

 

[pylorns]

Yeah now that I'm working from home and smoking all day.. I have to re-check my calculator, I think I'm in trouble.

 

[mso489]

npod, that 76-year-old is obviously bidding the live to be 176. When pipe smoking meets an obsessive compulsive person, it often spells trouble. Locally, the classic case is the woman who published a letter to the editor accusing the local pipe shop owner of alienation of affection because her husband spent all his time at the pipe shop, and when there one time, I heard him say he had over 200 pipes under his bed. There's a l little of that in many of us pipe smokers. Keep it in the road, guys.

 

[npod]

@mso489. I totally agree! That’s why I said sometimes enough is enough. The example I gave is sadly true, but it is not an isolated occurance. Unfortunately, addiction and pipes sometimes collide. It’s never pretty. Everything in moderation. However, that said, I honestly recommend buying what one can afford and within means. It is in fact important to cellar away pipe tobacco in the current state of things.

 

[sablebrush52]

Does he need a friend?

No. He needs a straight jacket. Actually, he probably does need friends, or something else in his life. But if he's happy, then he's happy.
I see a lot of obsessiveness in this population. I get it. I definitely have my own obsessions. Fortunately, I've recovered from PAD and TAD. I look at my holdings and ask myself do I seriously lack for anything? The answer is no, so I'm now only replenishing when I'm out of a blend that I like. And, I've started selling off tins.