Esoterica question
- Thread starter dkaye201
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Unless upon buying it, you find you don't like any of it. :
:Well that cuts it. I have the former and if it is even fairly close at all, that is OK. I have a 35mm, 38mm and 40mm socket, I don't need a 36, 37, 39 and 41.5mm one as well. :mrgreen:
Maybe his idea of "fair substitute" is just a little different from yours. I'll take him at his word. I like a universe where 20 different blends covers everything I want and like a lot better than 50, 30 of which are very hard to get and maybe disappearing. Growing up, everyone I knew smoking, their universe covered amounted to maybe 1, 2 or 3.
When I use the word "similar," I am referring to flavors. Silly me, I wouldn't have thought of strength of nicotine. In that case, Prince Albert would make a fair substitute. ::
Brown Sugar Flake is about the closest to taste that I could think of. It is a very, very subtle flavoring. ODF is a smokey, leathery, semi-sweet non-topped flake. Night and day to me.
As far as price... I get an 8oz bag for $40, which is right at the $5 an oz mentioned above.
:Brown Sugar Flake is about the closest to taste that I could think of. It is a very, very subtle flavoring. ODF is a smokey, leathery, semi-sweet non-topped flake. Night and day to me.
As far as price... I get an 8oz bag for $40, which is right at the $5 an oz mentioned above.
It wouldn't be a day at PM without an Esoterica, or Esoterica related thread.
So here it is dkaye.
Hire a small British blending concern to produce a variety of blends in small batches, on ancient equipment, by a small workforce rumored to have an average age of 120. Produce a line of blends priced at the level of cheap bulk that is put into 8 oz bags and shipped to the colonies.
Produce batches erratically and sometimes not produce a particular blend for a long time, while acquiring production rights to other blends that their capacity can't handle, thus ensuring additional well known blends will be produced fitfully if at all.
Unexpected delays in shipments create hysteria among a few, which gradually spreads to the many, as everyone clamors for Unobtanium that only a few years before, few cared about at all. The Psychology of Scarcity/Exclusivity, along with Piper Lemming Syndrome, has become a pipe worldwide contagion.
Watch as retailers, seeing that their prey is helplessly in thrall, jack up prices on the bags by 70%, pricing Esoterica blends at the same price per ounce as quality tinned stuff, even though it's still sold by the manufacturer and distributor at bulk prices.
But the question remains. Are these blends worth all of the attendant hysteria, pained longing, crazed jealousy, and deeply rooted FEAR of losing what one has clawed to acquire over a river of blood and mangled bodies?
Well, ARE THEY?
Jeez. It's just tobacco.
I like a few of the Esoterica blends, Dunbar being a favorite, and others either do nothing for me - Knightsbridge - or I dislike the taste - Penzance. Dunbar is a favorite and I like Stonehaven when it's delivering - which it often as not fails to do. None of them would I miss for very long. They're not the best, nor the worst. Overall pretty good. Best enjoyed, not desperately held onto. Not worth extreme efforts to obtain when there are so many easily obtainable blends that are of equal and better quality. Certainly NOT WORTH BEING GOUGED OVER.
All that said, there appears to be no cure for Piper Lemming Syndrome which is always fatal when combined with the Psychology of Scarcity/Exclusivity.
So here it is dkaye.
Hire a small British blending concern to produce a variety of blends in small batches, on ancient equipment, by a small workforce rumored to have an average age of 120. Produce a line of blends priced at the level of cheap bulk that is put into 8 oz bags and shipped to the colonies.
Produce batches erratically and sometimes not produce a particular blend for a long time, while acquiring production rights to other blends that their capacity can't handle, thus ensuring additional well known blends will be produced fitfully if at all.
Unexpected delays in shipments create hysteria among a few, which gradually spreads to the many, as everyone clamors for Unobtanium that only a few years before, few cared about at all. The Psychology of Scarcity/Exclusivity, along with Piper Lemming Syndrome, has become a pipe worldwide contagion.
Watch as retailers, seeing that their prey is helplessly in thrall, jack up prices on the bags by 70%, pricing Esoterica blends at the same price per ounce as quality tinned stuff, even though it's still sold by the manufacturer and distributor at bulk prices.
But the question remains. Are these blends worth all of the attendant hysteria, pained longing, crazed jealousy, and deeply rooted FEAR of losing what one has clawed to acquire over a river of blood and mangled bodies?
Well, ARE THEY?
Jeez. It's just tobacco.
I like a few of the Esoterica blends, Dunbar being a favorite, and others either do nothing for me - Knightsbridge - or I dislike the taste - Penzance. Dunbar is a favorite and I like Stonehaven when it's delivering - which it often as not fails to do. None of them would I miss for very long. They're not the best, nor the worst. Overall pretty good. Best enjoyed, not desperately held onto. Not worth extreme efforts to obtain when there are so many easily obtainable blends that are of equal and better quality. Certainly NOT WORTH BEING GOUGED OVER.
All that said, there appears to be no cure for Piper Lemming Syndrome which is always fatal when combined with the Psychology of Scarcity/Exclusivity.
That's OK too, Michael! I'm a very easy guy to please (just don't ask my ex-wife to attest to that), I have things very close to Brown Sugar Flake and I really like that smokey, leathery taste of ODF! I'm the kind of person who does not view life as a half empty glass but rather one as half full. Rather than bemoan the blends I may never try as missing something, I am appreciative of all the (damn! I just counted them!) 64 different blends I do have cellared! Never thought I already had that many.
If my Dad and Uncles were alive, they would partly drool over my collection while telling me I must be a tobacco nut! :crazy:
Its more than just having them.
When you do get them, try them. Run through the bag and see how much you like it. Personally, they have four blends that I enjoy. Two that I cellar and smoke regularly. Stonehaven and Dunbar. Both are what I really enjoy and represent their niche very well.
Stonehaven isnt really replaceable. To me. It's unique. It hits a certain spot for me. Ive also been smoking it since the early 2000s. I manage two or three bags a year. It works to build my supply, age a little, and have it to smoke.
Dunbar is fantastic. Germain has a way with Virginia's. From Brown Flake, Stonehaven, medium flake, and all the other, their Virginia's are amazing. Very different.
My point is this, get a bag. Or a tin. Of something you have been wanting to try. Smoke it. Decide after that if its worth it to you to find them.
Its fun. Fun to chase the bags, and even more fun to load a bowl. Yes its hard to get, sometimes its expensive, but if youre patient, its 40 a bag and thats more than reasonable. If none of the above is for you, or you get frustrated because people want them more than you do, and put in more time (or money) than you do for it, don't bother. It will just poss you off. You'll see bags for 150 on eBay, when all you want is to try it. You'll see some guy post how he got two bags of every Esoterica made. I applaud them. Those blends are hard to come across, and if I came across bags and bags, I would drop the cash for it. I have before. But nothing about the blends upset me. Not the current market state, not the limited release and availability. If you'd like, I can send some samples to you, and you can see for yourself.
When you do get them, try them. Run through the bag and see how much you like it. Personally, they have four blends that I enjoy. Two that I cellar and smoke regularly. Stonehaven and Dunbar. Both are what I really enjoy and represent their niche very well.
Stonehaven isnt really replaceable. To me. It's unique. It hits a certain spot for me. Ive also been smoking it since the early 2000s. I manage two or three bags a year. It works to build my supply, age a little, and have it to smoke.
Dunbar is fantastic. Germain has a way with Virginia's. From Brown Flake, Stonehaven, medium flake, and all the other, their Virginia's are amazing. Very different.
My point is this, get a bag. Or a tin. Of something you have been wanting to try. Smoke it. Decide after that if its worth it to you to find them.
Its fun. Fun to chase the bags, and even more fun to load a bowl. Yes its hard to get, sometimes its expensive, but if youre patient, its 40 a bag and thats more than reasonable. If none of the above is for you, or you get frustrated because people want them more than you do, and put in more time (or money) than you do for it, don't bother. It will just poss you off. You'll see bags for 150 on eBay, when all you want is to try it. You'll see some guy post how he got two bags of every Esoterica made. I applaud them. Those blends are hard to come across, and if I came across bags and bags, I would drop the cash for it. I have before. But nothing about the blends upset me. Not the current market state, not the limited release and availability. If you'd like, I can send some samples to you, and you can see for yourself.
Cosmic, I guess I need to go back and taste Stonehaven this afternoon.
I just had a bowl of ODF, so I can sample Stonehaven with that in mind.
ODF has a smokey edge, with a little sweet/spicy note, and is more Burley-forward,
but that's about all I can say for the differences. We'll see what I think later today.
In the meantime, I did a little word search at TR.com, and there are a few people who seem to agree with me.
Maybe you are able to discern nuances that go right over my head. It's been known to happen.
I just had a bowl of ODF, so I can sample Stonehaven with that in mind.
ODF has a smokey edge, with a little sweet/spicy note, and is more Burley-forward,
but that's about all I can say for the differences. We'll see what I think later today.
In the meantime, I did a little word search at TR.com, and there are a few people who seem to agree with me.
Maybe you are able to discern nuances that go right over my head. It's been known to happen.
I've got plenty of stonehaven but personally I would much rather smoke PS luxury twist flake. Last time I stocked up it cost me $1.98 per ounce.
I do love Penzance and have about a pound stocked up but I really would like to pick up more if I ever see it available.
I do love Penzance and have about a pound stocked up but I really would like to pick up more if I ever see it available.
Sable, friend, you've been getting a tad sardonic lately. Do you have any vacation time coming up?
120 employees? I find it hard to believe that any tobacco manufacturer has 120 employees. I am astounded. We have factories making products that reach a much more vast audience than pipe tobacco that has far fewer employees. Antiquated equiptment probably requires about 65 people just to operate it. ::
120 employees? I find it hard to believe that any tobacco manufacturer has 120 employees. I am astounded. We have factories making products that reach a much more vast audience than pipe tobacco that has far fewer employees. Antiquated equiptment probably requires about 65 people just to operate it. :
:
:rofl: :clap: :rofl: :worship: :rofl:
Sable, my hat is off to you for the most deliciously worded, poignant, politically-honest treatise on modern tobacco smoking I have ever read! With just the right topping of anger - exasperation - disgust! I loved it. Your post above deserves being put up as a Sticky in gold letters for all time. Thank you for your ever-so-elegant verbosity.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Let me tell you, destroying Metropolis on a daily basis gets a bit grueling. 2 1/2 weeks and it's all done!
I didn't say that Germain's had 120 employees, I said that their rumored average age was 120. They supposedly have something like 6 or 7 people on the floor? The blending happens between naps and bus trips to Brighton.
Not exact, but related. My number one bit of advise to new folks coming into the jewelry field is to raise your prices. The higher they are, the more business you will do. Psychology. No one wants to buy a novel cheap trinket to wear. But, they will wreck their credit to buy something expensive. 17 years in a B&M, and I have seen many things.
I'd hit a small dry spell, and put up "SALE" signs, and then double the prices and people would fight over stuff.
Humans are both simple and more complex than "common sense" or theories of economics would have us believe.
If you want to drive up sales, make "less," which is what Skip tells me that SG is starting to do, as well as a few other blends.
I'd hit a small dry spell, and put up "SALE" signs, and then double the prices and people would fight over stuff.
Humans are both simple and more complex than "common sense" or theories of economics would have us believe.
If you want to drive up sales, make "less," which is what Skip tells me that SG is starting to do, as well as a few other blends.
Fitzy, I am with you. I tried Penzance and Stonehaven at one time and I liked both of them! Just that there are lots of other things I like as well. Far too many to keep buying new things at a risk while already having lots of others that I know I'll really enjoy. That LTF, you can do amazing things with it aging it, blending it with other things, etc. I really enjoy the rewards of blending my own to what tastes good to ME, so few blends come off the shelf that I'm content to smoke for very long just as they are. And when you consider most tins cost you between $5 and $7 an ounce, I tend to buy them in limited supply when so many good bulk blends can be had for much less that can be blended and processed yourself with great consequences! :
:Cos, I grew up in the tiny kingdom of Mountain Brook. Back when there was a Parisians dept store, they could put out a table of polo styled shirts at $10 and they'd sit. Mark them at $50 and they fly off the table. This irrational logic only holds true in certain communities. There are other communities where a more reasonable logic holds true.
Yep, take a $100 Chacom pipe, put a white spot on it, and watch people line up to buy them. Funny thing is that you never hear anyone really vocal about how fantastic French pipes are, but take one and put the Dunhill name on it...
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