How Much of Your Favorite Blend is Cellared?

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K.E. Powell

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 20, 2022
590
2,185
37
West Virginia
I don't stockpile much of any one blend, not even my favorites. I may change that someday, but for now cellaring pounds upon pounds of tobacco would be too costly and take up too much space. I smoke an average of once or twice daily. So even a regular 2oz tin can last me a long while.

I also like trying a variety of blends and, though there are some I love dearly, there are but a few I would seriously be despondent over for losing. Not to mention some blends don't age well, and even those that do offer diminishing returns at some point.

I got about 30 or so jars of different tobaccos, more than enough for now.
 

FLDRD

Lifer
Oct 13, 2021
2,229
9,037
Arkansas
Don't have "favorites" that I can't live without. I have some "preferred" that I have multiples of, but I enjoy variety.
Still, once I started calculating and actually thinking about all I've purchased over the last few years, I think at my modest consumption I've easily 30 years of leaf for me.
I sort of like that.
Feels good to be stocked.
 

JoeW

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 1, 2024
630
4,395
Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA
I am in the “Not enough” camp too. I’m new to the pipe world, and am still finding favorites; meanwhile, the world is becoming more hostile and brands are being lost. I’m falling into the tobacco prepper mindset (not that there’s anything wrong with that), looking for things to try so I can stock up on new favorites while they’re still available. Although usually lately it seems I just smoke Pegasus in a Falcon.

My largest amount today is a pound of Red Rapparee, though that will change in a few days when USPS brings me 2 pounds of Pegasus. I missed the C&D sale last time, and wasn’t going to miss it this time. Next largest is 8 oz of Blood Red Moon. I’ve heard rumors of a ban on flavored tobacco next year in Michigan, and I’ll probably buy another 4 tins just in case, and a few pounds of 507c while it’s still around.

After that, orders are going to be a mix of things to sample and things to cellar. Realistically, I probably have a few years worth already, since I don’t get to smoke as often as I’d like, but I would really rather that my supply outlasts me than vice-versa.
 
Jan 28, 2018
13,911
155,475
67
Sarasota, FL
I don't keep really accurate counts these days. I think I have around 150 tins of Sir John's Flake Virginia in hand. Something around 10 lbs or more of McClelland 40th Anniversary and Christmas Cheer in tins, probably around 5 lbs of McClelland Virginias in Mason jars. Somewhere around 10 lbs of MB HH Pure Virginia and 7 lbs of Virginia Flake. And around 75 tins of F&T CVP and Vauen No 14 in tins. I will buy more of those two when I can.
 

Servant King

Lifer
Nov 27, 2020
4,731
27,422
39
Frazier Park, CA
www.thechembow.com
As someone who seemingly has extra TAD as though to make up for a lack of PAD, I knew that I had to draw up a plan in order to build up a cellar I feel confident in, and not leave either my marriage or my bank account with the short end of the stick. It has been a process, but with logic, discipline, and a little bit of help from this thread, I managed to basically accomplish my goal over the course of the last 4+ years (though most seriously within the last year).

Would I like to have more tins of my absolute favorite, Drew Estate Gatsby Luxury Flake? Certainly. But that's a tall order, given that DE only made blends between 2013 and 2017, and I simply don't have the budget for extravagances like that. I built my cellar with a focus on bulk bargains, and secondarily on shrewd trades. I doubt I'll ever be someone who only smokes a couple blends--I love the variety out there way too much for that, at least at this time in my life.

I made sure to get 16 oz. bags of a core group; mostly VAs and VaPers, with a few aromatics and a couple Englishes in there as well. I live in a small house with minimal storage space, so I've learned to favor bulk over either tins or jars, chiefly out of necessity, but it has worked out in a way that I feel good about. My cellar currently would clock in at about two dozen pounds, give or take, and even if I tripled my current 0-5 bowls per week intake, I'd likely be set for life. I plan on using the upcoming holiday sales to round things out a bit more, and then after that, I do think my work would be for the most part done.

Without doing an official weigh-in, the largest amount of any one blend I have is probably Sutliff Balkan Sobranie Original Mix Match, with a 1 lb. bag and perhaps another half pound in a 32 oz. Ball jar. My largest total that is exclusive to tins would probably be Orlik Golden Showers Sliced (sorry Jesse), at three big tins, one small, and a 4 oz. Ball jar with a few flakes still left. I've got lots of blends that I have only one or two tins of, and I'm fine with only that. I'll sprinkle additions in here and there so long as my wallet and the current fascist tendencies within California's public oppression campaign allow me to, but even with the latest STG news making the rounds, I'm not freaked out. I'm simply glad I took the task seriously, and stocked up when I can/could.

Now, so long as I can still get pipe cleaners, I should be set... 😰
 

atwaterville

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 15, 2021
262
3,153
Los Angeles, CA
I don't have a favorite blend since I haven't tried them all, which is almost an impossible task. But if a blend that I like goes on sale, I tend to buy a one pounder in bulk or 2-3 tins if bulk version isn't available.
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
44,906
117,149
Do you have a picture? That‘s the equivalent of more than 4000 2 oz tins?
A 50g tin only lasts for two smokes with my pipes so tins just aren't economical. Most of my cellar is bulk but I do have a dresser full of tins. I pack one pound into a pint jar with a caulk gun and have hundreds of them. Due to an online stalker incident I seldom do home interior photos but here is some of it.

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AirOne

Lurker
Mar 6, 2024
18
59
Paris, France