I did try. I told Simong that I wasn't going to give a stranger 160£ (St Bruno is 20£ in the UK) until I saw some kind of proof. I'm happy to report this shop to Mac Baren (actually, SB is distributed by STG, which is odd), but I need to be copied into this email first.
4 packs of St Bruno for one 50g tin of 1776.
I don't know about Gibraltar, but in the UK St Bruno is a big seller. It's one of the few blends that they still sell in supermarkets. I've bought the Flake version a couple of times from my local supermarket.
It is, but I would also say that it was less a request than a demand, under the threat of legal action and public shaming.
St Bruno is £20 a pouch over here and I bought some 1776 that is 12 years old for £30 a tin so 4 packs of St Bruno for one tin of 1776 seems fair if you're paying €8 a pouch.
8£ (we don't use euros here) but yeah I thought so. If I'm honest, I've tried the 1776 and I dont know if I like it all that much. I don't know if my palate is refined enough to appreciate McClelland virginias, but then again I usually smoke burleys.
Yeah, you are right, I sometimes forget that it's a bestseller over there. It's probably comparable to Captain Black in the US. I don't think I've ever seen it in any of the better B&M let alone a supermarket here. I've always had to order it online.
I love Mcclelland Virginias. They don't sell anything like it in the UK. I have a few tins in the cellar.
I've asked Simong to show me or copy me the email where Mac Baren states that the tobacco is fake, but he refuses to do that until I pay up 160£. Something isn't right here. See below for the messages in our pms.
He wants me to buy him the pouches from a tobacconist in the UK. We traded 1 tin of McC 1776 and a lot of beaten up basket pipes for 8 pouches of St Bruno. Simon now wants 8 fresh pouches from a UK vendor, where SB is 20£ each. So he wants 160£.
I'm pretty simple when it comes to tobacco. I like burley flakes and spicy VaPers. Being in Europe I never got to try McClelland when they were available. I mostly smoked university flake. But since everyone is always raving about McC I thought I had to give it a try. I will freely admit now that I am too dumb to appreciate straight virginias - but not so dumb that I would buy counterfeit pipe tobacco (does it even exist?).
You can always jar it for later. My pallet changes. I'll have months and months where i'm into burley blends then i'll get back into the Virginias & vapers.
Counterfeit cigarettes are big business in the UK because of those high taxes. At £14 for 20 it can save a person a lot if they're buying counterfeits for half price. A lot of pubs will have someone who can hook you up.
I just don't see the rationale for counterfeiting pipe tobacco. Pipe smokers are literally a dying breed, and there's nowhere near the resurgence of pipe smoking in the UK like there is in the US.
