Absolutely nothing stays the same in any category for any extended period of time. Pepsi is still Pepsi though.
HU Tobacco Coming to the States
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Well, You used to be able to rely on reviews to let us know how a particular blend is going to taste. Most companies still do their best to keep their blends consistent year to year.
But, lately GH and and a few others have become rather unpredictably random. Making reviews totally unusable for their blends.
Also, people reviving or keeping a blend alive where the main leaf that made that blend famous has disappeared, as in Escudo and Baltic Sobranie. They make money off people buying them based on the blends reputation. However, in reality, it is a totally different blend posing as that blend in a tin. They make money off of people buying the tin art.
Meanwhile, Sutliff, C&D, MacBaren, and Stokkebye are doing their best to keep blends as consistent as possible.
Blends by these companies, where they are aware that the leaf is going to be rare to find later are sold as LTD releases.
So, in my eyes some companies are doing their best to be loyal to their customers, and others would be willing to sell any ol shit in a tin to make a buck.
Just how I see it.
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Sure, but that's the case of all brands across the world across all of time for any product. No company is going to build a brand, then start a new brand when they have change a process or ingredient that may alter that product in someway.
I also wouldn't even call it new to pipe tobacco. I know it's cool to blame the current space, but everyone has their favorite years or eras of blends of the past. Maybe it was the 2005 year that's a favorite, maybe it was 1998, maybe it was the Cope's era or Murrays?
It's nothing new, but many treat it like it is which is what I find most confusing.
I also wouldn't even call it new to pipe tobacco. I know it's cool to blame the current space, but everyone has their favorite years or eras of blends of the past. Maybe it was the 2005 year that's a favorite, maybe it was 1998, maybe it was the Cope's era or Murrays?
It's nothing new, but many treat it like it is which is what I find most confusing.
Unfortunately, we have entered the era of The Great Homogenization, a confluence of multiple events motivated by a shrinking consumer market. Less tobacco is being planted, more of that tobacco is contracted (not going to auction), almost all of it is mechanically harvested. This means that tobacco being planted is much less diverse, isn’t being sorted and sold by stem position and quality, and is sold before it’s planted.
Meanwhile, as the market shrinks, the tobacco processing industry is consolidating. STG now controls a large majority of the market, and that share will only get bigger with time. Their recent acquisition of Mac Baren is further proof that homogenity has triumphed over individuality. Economy of scale is always the enemy of excellence.
It is long past time to stop referring to brands such as Balkan Sobranie, Peter Stokkebye, Mac Baren and Sutliff as separate companies. They aren’t. They are all part of the STG soup.
Meanwhile, as the market shrinks, the tobacco processing industry is consolidating. STG now controls a large majority of the market, and that share will only get bigger with time. Their recent acquisition of Mac Baren is further proof that homogenity has triumphed over individuality. Economy of scale is always the enemy of excellence.
It is long past time to stop referring to brands such as Balkan Sobranie, Peter Stokkebye, Mac Baren and Sutliff as separate companies. They aren’t. They are all part of the STG soup.
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Definitely do not call Ernie at WCC today. With the HU and Roux blend releases, I would be surprised if they even answer the phone. No phone orders.
Thanks for the heads up, I didn't realize rouxgaroux was out tonight. RIP my wallet
I didn't realize that the bastard company, STG had bought the others. Damn. Glad that I have enough to live on now. Expect lots of blends to change as STG pinches pennies and fucks everything up.
I will only buy from C&D now. Fuck 'em all.
There have been changes in blends, going back decades. So, that's not new.
What is different is what's behind the curtain.
We don't have a wide variety (dozens) of different manufacturers, with different house styles, different sources for tobaccos, different visions for what their blends should taste like. That's almost completely gone. We have K, STG, Germain's, Gawith, C&D, Dan, and not much else. There's a loss of individuality to the many blends under one roof. It's homogeneity on an unprecedented scale. The results taste a couple of steps removed from "one blend with different labels".
There are less sources for tobacco as growers get out of it. Blenders use what they can find, some of it good, some not so much, but it gets used. Years ago, if the leaf wasn't of sufficient quality it wasn't used, now it is.
The way that crops are harvested has changed from handpicking leaf as it becomes ripe on the plant, to machine harvesting, which blends ripe and unripe leaves, and that affects the flavor and quality. That's different than before.
When Gallaher took over production of Cope's Escudo in 1953, they produced an identical blend, because they had the resources to do that. Then A&C Petersen took over Escudo and their version was a little different, but still recognizably Escudo, because they had also bought all the original equipment. That's no longer the case, and today's Escudo ain't Escudo. It's just a name on a tin, squeezed out by STG, the McDonald's of pipe tobacco makers, big, reliable, mediocre overall.
Every long time pipe smoker is aware that the overall quality of pipe tobacco and it's blends, have slid in quality, first in the 1990's and again since 2016. Today's blends would not have been seen as quality, too unfinished, but OK for discount blends. It's where we're at.
Germains is pretty much history. I dont think the young generation of the family are interested in keeping it running. Or so I was told. If they did have an interest you would be able to buy it. I havent seen anyone with it in stock for almost a year
Dan is kopp
Dan is kopp
Hopefully Germain's will continue production. Sadly most of their exports are going to Asia instead of the US
There was a drop of Germain’s blends a few weeks ago in the USA, I was fortunate to grab a few blends.
I feel like now, if you really want something, you either need to be on email notifications with companies, if you’re lucky to get them, otherwise, you always have to be looking online or calling around.
I just happened to be online looking at the right time is all…
Never thought getting back into pipes 4 years ago, the work it can take to get stuff, pipes too…
No, they are alive and well. They mostly work with Arango now, though, and sell in the states.
Escudo is still Escudo. Variances in crop, flavor, etc. are just variances of the same blend. This just sounds like the "good old days" stuff I posted about before. Also, lets not confuse distributors with manufacturers. There may only be a handful of people tinning/distributing tobacco, but still quite a lot of places where the tobacco grows, the blends are honed, and particular techniques are used.
I smoked Escudo a lot. Still have a few tins of the Petersen product. Today’s Escudo ain’t Escudo. It’s “whatsis” in a tin. Real Escudo had a nice pepperiness when fresh, and developed a wonderful fruitiness with age. This STG stuff doesn’t have either and doesn’t change appreciably with age.
Processing matters, and shortcuts make a difference.
Like it or not, the blends I smoked, and remember vividly, were smooth, rich, and deep, not like today’s blends. They didn’t need to be aged. They were aged for years before release. Ogden’s St Bruno ain’t MacBaren’s St Bruno. The Virginias are different. I like the MacBaren version but it’s lighter, and less pungent. Some 8 year old tins I’ve opened are flat. The toppings have gone bye bye. At least the Virginias are decent.
The economics have changed. Manufacturers push their products out the door.
Maybe you never experienced those blends. Maybe you never experienced Dunhill made Dunhill tobaccos, or the Murray’s version. Maybe you never smoked Rattray’s made, or McConnell made versions.
Then you would know better.
Comfort yourself that it’s nostalgic BS all you want. It’s not.
But I DID smoke those blends. Been piping since the late 80's. Are the current versions the exact same? No. Are they still good? Yes. I'm fine with the current versions of things--and many of my favorite tobaccos weren't around back in the day (like Pease and Hearth & Home). I guess I'm just not bothered by things changing and tobacco is going to be distributed by SOMEBODY until it isn't, so I'm not much bothered by STG or anyone else buying up brands that would probably otherwise disappear. No need for me to "comfort" myself about anything; I'm happy with the state of pipe tobacco and would argue we are living in a great time to be a piper.
I don't think you are going to win this argument, despite the fact that you are correct. Tinder Box blends and old Sutliff Blends and Lane Blends that I enjoyed in the 80s are NOTHING like what is sold using the same name today. Peter Stokkebye Vanilla Creme - a favorite of mine back in the day is now unrecognizable. Lane BCA and Sutliff Nougat - all less than what they were before. The depth and complexity has been replaced with one to two notes of flavor that quickly vanish into a mediocre smoldering of generic Cavendish. You are correct - quality leaf - diverse leaf - are either gone or replaced and blended into something that is a place holder for what was something wonderful and complex long ago but is now just a memory except for the brand name. Unlike automobiles and commodities that utilize technology - commodities that are dependent on agriculture and a whole lot of manual manufacturing - don't improve in our modern age. There are too many variable that simply cannot be improved with modernization - especially when much of what once was is no longer available. Just as the flavor of a Walley, caught in newly melted virgin glaciated waters can never be reproduced by modern fisheries or from lakes that are now polluted and spoiled, specialized leaf, hand picked and hand processed in small production facilities will always produce flavors that can not be reproduced using less diversified leaf and modern manufacturing.
Those who might suggest that what you are stating is just the ramblings of an old man stuck in the past and howling into the wind about the good ole days will never be convinced otherwise. I'll leave it at that.
I agree that those who say some blends are ruined or less than the past are probably right. That said, you can only beat a dead horse so long until its pulverized. Its dissapointing that things change like this but its a shrinking world of customers and we are at the mercy of big business. There are small companies but eventually they tend to get absorbed. This especially happens when the heads of businesses get old. They decide to sell and take the cash to retire. I dont think it is the rambling of mad men, however, there comes a point where you have to find what works for you and let go. Some blends are still good. Yes, they cut the costly perique. I adapt by adding perique. Sure, its not exactly the same but one has to adapt.
I have often stated that people should accept what they smoke at face value and if they enjoy it, that’s what counts. There are great blends to be enjoyed today. They are not in the style of what could be had 30-40 years ago.
I’ve also said that companies are putting out blends with famous labels that are nothing like the actual blends that earned that fame. Even then, I also said that if you like the blend that’s what counts.
But some honesty, a trait not much in evidence in the tobacco world, would provide a refreshing change.
Don’t call your whatsis by a famous name it doesn’t resemble. Accurately recreate that famous blend or call it something else.