Cellaring...How Much Should a Person Cellar?

[scloyd]

Wow! When I started this thread I thought it would be fun to see other smokers estimates of how much they might need/want to cellar. I know it's just a crap shoot and we could all drop dead tomorrow.
Anyway...since I started this thread I cellered another pound. Only 35 pounds to go. :D

 

[lawdawg]

Aside from the fact that members here are free to spend their money however they want, cellaring tobacco right now is an eminently reasonable course of action. It is not necessarily some consumerist emotional overreaction or whatever type of picture "happypiper" is trying to paint here. I say this as someone with a modest "cellar" of maybe 10 or 15 pounds, and an equally small and modest collection of pipes.
The FDA regulations enacted over the past ten years have created a stifling environment for pipe tobacco. Manufacturers are going out of business or retiring from the market, and no new blends are being introduced. At the very least, taxes and prices will go up. In fact, there is pending legislation that would skyrocket pipe tobacco taxes exponentially so that they are on par with cigarette taxes. In this sort of environment where there is every indication of skyrocketing prices and lowered availability of product, it is prudent to stock up. Some blends (Virginia based mainly) improve over time, as a bonus.
All that being said, I intend to drastically increase my cellar in a non-emotional, well-planned, and financially responsible manner... because its simply a good idea.

 

[piper64]

Good post sablebrush, I agree with you on the life expectancy angle. Four years ago I dropped in our kitchen paramedics brought me back i went on to receive 5 bypasses next day. Enjoy what you have now tomorrow is promised to no-one.

 

[ashdigger]

Lawdawg, well stated.

 

[thehappypiper]

Well I had no idea my post would prove so contentious and I did not post it to ruffle feathers. I have expressed my opinion and I stand by it. Others are free to react in any way they like.

 

[woodsroad]

Happy, this forum thrives on posts like yours. Keep 'em coming, and soon you will join the ranks of fabled members.

 

[thehappypiper]

Fabled or infamous?
I genuinely did not expect such indignation.
Or inability to understand or relate to my point.
Oh well....moving on.

 

[sablebrush52]

Well I had no idea my post would prove so contentious and I did not post it to ruffle feathers. I have expressed my opinion and I stand by it. Others are free to react in any way they like.

Welcome to the collecting mentality, of which I am a true practitioner. I no more need another pipe than I need another head, but the collector in me is constantly intrigued. I don't need another shred of tobacco, but I just added a few tins to the pile during P&C's 20% off flash sale. I wasn't offended in the least.
Do I need a pile of Barlings? Hell no, but I have a fascination with the brand and an appreciation for the history of the British pipe and tobacco trade. So I collect vintage Barling pipes. Fortunately, they happen to be great pipes.
It's unreasonable to expect that collectors talking to other collectors on a subject about which they share a mutual interest, aren't going to show off their collections and share their passion and pleasure in collecting. And when the subject turns to cellaring, the conversation is going to be much the same. This is the place to do that.
This may be of no interest to you, but it is of interest to us. And I'm quite aware of the element of absurdity that accompanies it and couldn't care less. Most of us have very busy and demanding lives away from this place and this forum provides a respite from all the other stuff. For a little while, we get to drop being adults and enjoy playing in this sandbox.

 

[bluto]

Uh , what are we talking about ?

 

[thehappypiper]

Thank you sable.
I know about the collector's bug and have fallen victim to it, embraced it gleefully in fact at times. I own about 20 pipes and have...let me seeeee....maybe about 1lb of tobacco, which will last me a long while.
I was just taken aback at the supposed normality of stocking up so much tobacco. It really smacks of a siege mentality.

 

[lawdawg]

Fabled or infamous?
I genuinely did not expect such indignation.
Or inability to understand or relate to my point.
Oh well....moving on.

I meant no offense. I do understand your point. I just think you're wrong. Your comparisons to "needing" ten high-end watches, or multiple $15,000 hand bags are apples to oranges when compared to cellaring pipe tobacco. Of course, some may cellar out of some consumerist compulsion, but most of us just see the writing on the wall. I'm essentially a consumer minimalist myself, so I understand the aversion to the consumerist / scarcity / irrational fear-based mentality. The fact is, it simply makes logical sense to stock up on what you like to smoke at this point in time.

I was just taken aback at the supposed normality of stocking up so much tobacco. It really smacks of a siege mentality.

You speak of a "siege mentality" as if the concern is not warranted, even as the FDA, spurred on by anti-tobacco zealots, is currently implementing regulations so cumbersome that no new pipe tobacco blends are coming to market. There's paranoia on one hand, and reasonable response to a stimulus on the other hand. Tobacco cellaring (in most cases) falls into the latter category.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It’s all in good fun. I’m glad you’re not taking it personal. If we’re being all too serious, it gets dreary. Very good friends of mine have posted opinions similar to yours. We all banter, but the fate of the world isn’t exactly resting on us all agreeing. So, good fun, trees falling in the woods, one hand clapping, and all that. ::

 

[ashdigger]

WFFS

 

[warren]

I love it when people are spending their moneys, especially on stuff which makes them happy. Some people can't resist sharing their good fortune. Some maybe simply bragging or trying to offend (One doesn't really need to try and offend any longer as there are so many willing to fake offense.) and others are enjoying having money to spend on whatever they desire.
I think "thehappypiper" might really be a misnomer.

It really smacks of a siege mentality.

Might just be a case of angst. If you have an angst, you gotta scratch it.

 

[sablebrush52]

I was just taken aback at the supposed normality of stocking up so much tobacco. It really smacks of a siege mentality.

Well, you're not entirely wrong about that. The term "tobaccopalypse" didn't get coined because we felt secure. Smokers are outcasts, pariahs, and the subject of a fair amount of demonization. More and more areas are closed to smokers. There are more and more restrictions on where you can smoke. There are higher and higher taxes. Less and less tobacco is being grown as growers turn to other, more profitable crops. Because of the announcement of the FDA Deeming Regulations, development of new blends has largely ceased and, thousands of blends will be forced off the shelves on 8/8/23. So there's plenty of good reasons for that siege mentality. It's not unlike that joke about the headstone that reads, "I told you I was sick!".
But while that siege mentality is part of the reason that smokers are cellaring, it's not all of it. When I began pipe smoking 47 years ago, cellaring was a pretty rare behavior. We bought what we needed as we needed it. And frankly, what we bought was often well aged before it was available for sale. That's no longer the case. If you want to enjoy the pleasures of a well aged blend, you have to buy it and hold it while it matures. And a great many blends that we enjoyed disappeared as blenders closed their doors or merged. And given that so many blends disappeared, we began to put some away so that we could continue to enjoy a favored blend. And so, the practice of building a cellar gradually grew for a number of reasons that had nothing to do with the present day situation. But current events do nothing to dampen the movement to stockpile, quite the opposite.
The cultural climate has radically changed in the years since I began smoking a pipe. It's not tolerated as once it was. I've given my reasons for cellaring earlier in this thread. A siege mentality is a depressing reality, but there are good reasons for it, just as there are good reasons not to smoke at all. So we make our choices.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

WFFS

Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Seige! Great term. Likewise, I avoid threads that use the term “community” too much. Just distasteful, IMO.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Damn, this is getting complicated. I started to worry about Peck and the somewhat sharp edges on bags of Esoterica. Foil cuts can be fatal! Then much more discussion ensued, and I got lost.

 

[ashdigger]

Cosmic, it means Well For Fucks Sake.

 

[techie]

I make about 40 posts a day, and this one was a week ago. It must have made an impression on him.

I remember that post and thought it was not only hilarious, but very well written. I guess it depends on one's own state of mind and mood when reading such things. But I don't get offended too easily either.
As for cellaring, I have no serious intent on building one, but it does seem to occur quite naturally in the course of just buying and accumulating tins and blends I want to try. Being new to pipe smoking, and the fact that I only smoke one to four bowls each day, my collection is growing simply because I want to try so many different ones.