Esoterica

[eightywon]

Having returned to the hobby after some time I recently became aware of the shortage of Esoterica tobaccos. I have a couple tins if Penzance and Margate from years ago but today just purchased a tin of Tilbury. It was found at a local cigar shop and was the only pipe tobacco tin they had in the shop. My question is how long has this shortage been going on and how old can anyone guess this tin is? I'm pretty sure it being the only tin of tobacco in the house, it has probably been sitting there long before the dry spell took place.

 

[mrenglish]

There should be a three or four digit on the tin, that can kind of give you a time frame. Its actually a batch code but you can generally give a general time frame based on it. When I smoked a lot of Penzance, the batch code was 780 and that was around 1999-2000 give or take. The tin art could also give an indication of how old it is.

 

[av8scuba]

Either way, it should be done good puffing. ::

 

[kcvet67]

The shortage began in late 2009, primarily with Penzance, Esoterica's most popular blend.
Esoterica has always been a fairly low volume producer and their blends require quite a bit of time before they're ready for market so they're not able to respond to large changes in demand. It took quite a while before Penzance became available again and when it did buyers bought it up quickly. It's a cycle that has fed on itself to the point that each new arrival is snapped up almost immediately.
Stonehaven followed suit around 2010 or 2011. Most of the other Esoterica blends seem to be in fairly short supply.

 

[eightywon]

Thanks for the info kcvet. Mrenglish, there are 6 digits, 335104, could that mean anything?

 

[woodsroad]

Yipes! That's the really dangerous stuff. Best send it to my lab for testing!

 

[mrenglish]

eighty - yes, it means something but I have no clue. I have not been keeping track and I have not seen that kind of date code. I will check my local B&M and see what stamps they have. Just a guess, maybe five years or so? Total guess though.

 

[rmbittner]

I've just finished a 2006 tin of Penzance, and the code on the bottom is 1023.
For whatever that's worth. . .
Bob

 

[cigrmaster]

When you have only 6 people working in a factory, there will always be shortages. I wish these guys would sell out to a real company like Mac Baren.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

^ Mac Baren sucks. No, seriously, while Mac Baren makes some decent blends, they pump out a lot or run of the mill stuff. I would imagine the reason why Esoterica blends are so popular is precisely due to the attention to quality only allowed by having such a small operation. To me, this is like saying, "Gee, I wish Budweiser would buy out Chimay so we can have more good beer". Uh, what?
I think that while the Esoterica shortage is real, it is definitely exaggerated in discussions like this. Unless you are blowing through an ounce a day or something, I think the supply is not all that inadequate. I was down to about 2 oz of Penzance before this week's influx of new Esoterica, but with a few calls I have enough to last me years. I want to rotate some other blends in too, I have no problem saving the Esoterica blends as a special treat. Many pipe smokers have no idea about Esoterica, which was very obvious from the number of shop owners I spoke to this week who didn't even know what I was talking about.

 

[rmbittner]

"I think that while the Esoterica shortage is real, it is definitely exaggerated in discussions like this. Unless you are blowing through an ounce a day or something, I think the supply is not all that inadequate."
It really does depend on your perspective. Prior to 2009, I could walk into any of my favorite pipe shops and find, literally, stacks of Esoterica tins and bags anytime I wanted them. I'd often pick up a dozen or so tins of Penzance at a time. That's no longer possible.
Also, some people smoke one blend exclusively. (I used to be active on a pipe forum where the moderator was outspoken about only smoking Penzance, and had been doing so for years.) Unless those people had the foresight to stock their cellar back in the day, or cut back on their pipe smoking, this would be nearly impossible to do today with any of the Esoterica blends. For my current rate of consumption, I'd need 52 2oz/50g tins a year -- or 13 8oz. bags. (Thankfully, I smoke dozens of other blends as well.) I can't imagine how much "phoning around" you'd have to do to obtain that kind of quantity nowadays.
Bob

 

[eightywon]

I remember that guy Bob.

 

[rmbittner]

eightywon:
Yeah, he was a little. . . um. . . dictatorial, let's say.
By comparison, this Forum actually seems to encourage people to participate. Imagine that. . .
Bob

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

Bob, you are right. I guess I smoke so much less that it isn't really a problem in my mind, but I can see that might be different for others. I witnessed a 'mad dash' to buy up various other Esotericas (not Penzance or Stonehaven) last night on one online retailer- that wouldn't have happened even a few years ago. Based on the way people are buying the stuff, it seems there is a prevailing suspicion that Germain will stop producing the stuff altogether. THAT would be a shame!

 

[rmbittner]

Does anyone else think it's surprising that we haven't seen any in-stock notices from SP.com this week? Possible they're waiting till they're geared up to handle the flood before sending out alerts? Of course, maybe they simply didn't get any. . . or not enough to publicize.
Bob

 

[peckinpahhombre]

We did see in stock notifications from SP of pretty much all the blends everyone else received except for SH and Penzance. I agree that is a bit odd.

 

[condorlover1]

Just a question. What is this tobacco and what could you compare it in terms of something I could relate too guys?

 

[mrjerke]

If I was SPC I wouldn't bother with alerts on those 2. Otherwise you're flooded with calls the rest of the day over the 5 bags you started with.

 

[hiplainsdrifter]

I spoke to the owner of SP.com on the phone on Thursday morning, he said they didn't get any Penzance or Stonehaven.