EA Carey Europe Closing?

[smudgersmissingleg]

EA Carey Europe send a catalogue to my mum's house every few months, apparently they're closing after 45 years business.
I Googled it and couldn't find any info. I've ordered 5 x 50g pouches of their wonderful Dark Flake No7 which is the now discontinued Sinclair's Highland Sliced but under a different name.
Apparently they blame problems that BREXIT will bring with shipping tobacco to Europe and increased regulations and declining customers etc.
Sad news indeed.

 

[hawky454]

Very sad news! I know they where held in high regard. So sad to see another loss like this for the industry.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Very sad news! I know they where held in high regard. So sad to see another loss like this for the industry.

Yeah I didn't wanna jump the gun and announce they're closing if it's wrong. My mum got the catalogue and told me the news, I made her read it to me 3 times as she's been known to make the odd mistake from time to time?.
At first I told her she must've got mixed up and they're stopping the catalogue or something. But she read it to me and it definitely says they are shutting.

They did about 20 or so bespoke blends so that's more choice gone for good?. I had tried a couple of their other ones but Dark Flake No7 was something else, strong in the Irish Flake mold.

Definitely a very sad day. Any shop closing is bad but when it's one thats been around for nearly half a century and offers so many blends you can only get there then it's a double shame.

My advice to anyone who likes Irish Flake or Gawith Dark Plug is to get some Dark Flake No7 while you still can.

 

[Seamaster]

Blaming Brexit is a load of bollocks, the Channel Islands were never in the EU.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Blaming Brexit is a load of bollocks, the Channel Islands were never in the EU.

I don't know exactly what they said as I don't have the catalogue in front of me. Off the top of my head I think it was about BREXIT being a problem for them with sourcing products from the continent. I'm not 100% on that though so don't quote me, all I know for sure is BREXIT was one of the reasons given for why they are closing.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Here's a little video The Telegraph did on EA Carey 9 years ago.

 

[Seamaster]

I don't know exactly what they said as I don't have the catalogue in front of me. Off the top of my head I think it was about BREXIT being a problem for them with sourcing products from the continent. I'm not 100% on that though so don't quote me, all I know for sure is BREXIT was one of the reasons given for why they are closing.

When any failed or failing business lazily blames Brexit for their woes, take it with a pinch of salt. Their demise was well underway before Britain regained her independence.

 

[mso489]

I bought one of their little carburetor pipes from E A Carey U.S. decades ago, and I had to tape up the little vents, and it never smoked well anyway. That put me off the brand, so I've never tried their blends. I don't hear from them in the States either, though perhaps they are still in business here.

 

[EACAREYUSA]

EA Carey Europe send a catalogue to my mum's house every few months, apparently they're closing after 45 years business.
I Googled it and couldn't find any info. I've ordered 5 x 50g pouches of their wonderful Dark Flake No7 which is the now discontinued Sinclair's Highland Sliced but under a different name.
Apparently they blame problems that BREXIT will bring with shipping tobacco to Europe and increased regulations and declining customers etc.
Sad news indeed.

Hello, I am from EA Carey in the United States, we are still open for business and ship internationally to the UK!

 

[verporchting]

Hello, I am from EA Carey in the United States, we are still open for business and ship internationally to the UK!

I didn’t see dark flake #7 listed on the US site, did I just miss it somehow? Are all of the same blends available? That would be so cool, I’m hoping the answer is yes!

 

[EACAREYUSA]

We do not sell all of the same blends unfortunately, but who makes the dark flake #7? We can see if it is something we would be able to pick up and start selling. I can also recommend some of our popular tobaccos if interested!

 

[verporchting]

Maybe smudgers can fill in some information on who makes the no. 7 flake?

I definitely like Irish Flake and the G&H Dark Flake that he compared it to.

I was hoping to get access to some of the UK/EU blends here in the states that are otherwise difficult or impossible to get. I thought perhaps the proprietary house blend recipes were the same....

 

[cosmicfolklore]

45 years is a hell of a run. Good for them.
Why is it that every time a business closes people assume it is a bad thing? I know that when my wife and I closed ours people were posting all over the town forum all sorts of bullshit about us closing for stupid reasons. Some blamed customers, some blamed the town, some blamed us. Really, we had just paid off the mortgage on the building, and we were exhausted. Some times closing means you get to enjoy the rewards of having done a great job. It is exhausting to own your own business. And, 45 years is awesome. I say it means they fucking WIN. Screw making up bullshit reasons. I applaud them.

 

[brut666]

Yes unfortunately.
I received this email in November

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Maybe smudgers can fill in some information on who makes the no. 7 flake?

I definitely like Irish Flake and the G&H Dark Flake that he compared it to.

I was hoping to get access to some of the UK/EU blends here in the states that are otherwise difficult or impossible to get. I thought perhaps the proprietary house blend recipes were the same....

From what I remember their website said it was exactly the same tobacco as the discontinued John Sinclair's Highland Sliced just under a different name.
I believe Orlik made the Highland Sliced so I'd assume they produced it for Careys but that's just guess work on my part.

Before they shut up shop I ordered 250g for the cellar (all I could afford at UK prices), it'd be a great addition to US EA Careys as it's a truly wonderful tobacco that you rarely see mentioned.

From tobaccoreviews.com:
"This blend is a heat treated Virginia and burley flake matured in the press for 8 weeks to allow the natural prune and chocolate notes to come through. Full bodied with superb flavour and cool smoking qualities."

If you like VaBurs and you get the chance to try it you should definitely do so as it's a marvelous blend.
I'm guessing Sinclair's Highland Sliced tasted the same but I don't know for sure as I sadly never got to try it.

 

[condorlover1]

No more 'Magic Inch'

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

45 years is a hell of a run. Good for them.
Why is it that every time a business closes people assume it is a bad thing? I know that when my wife and I closed ours people were posting all over the town forum all sorts of bullshit about us closing for stupid reasons. Some blamed customers, some blamed the town, some blamed us. Really, we had just paid off the mortgage on the building, and we were exhausted. Some times closing means you get to enjoy the rewards of having done a great job. It is exhausting to own your own business. And, 45 years is awesome. I say it means they fucking WIN. Screw making up bullshit reasons. I applaud them.

From what I can gather the kids of the original owners took over running the shop a few years back and in the announcement they made in the magazine they seemed sad about closing the family business.

45 years is a good run but I'd have liked to see them carry on as I love shops/manufacturers with long histories. That's one of the things I love about Gawith, their long storied history. They've been through a couple of World Wars, many recessions and the ups and downs of the last 200 years but they're still here producing the same quality products.

Another purely selfish thing was I felt sad that we lost about 20 bespoke blends when Careys shut up shop. That probably doesn't sound like too big of a deal to Americans what with your 2 trillion blends to choose from (and more being released every other week) but here in the UK we don't get a fraction of that choice.

I still held a minutes silence for the demise of Dark Flake No7?

 

[anotherbob]

When any failed or failing business lazily blames Brexit for their woes, take it with a pinch of salt. Their demise was well underway before Britain regained her independence.

companies love blaming things for their shuttering. Kind of like how people love to blame anything but themselves when they get fired.

 

[anotherbob]

who knows maybe they will be like that furniture store on the highway that has a going out of business sale every year.

 

[python]

No more 'Magic Inch'

That's what I tell my wife when she makes me angry.