Just in from STG/MacBaren/Sutliff

[Zamora]

The difference between before and today is that speculation has been replaced by reality and that reality is worse than anyone thought it would be.

The Sutliff hating was based on a misconception that all Sutliff produced was goopers, a misconception born of equal parts ignorance and posing.

Mac Baren always had its detractors, due to its “Macbite”, but it also had its supporters, people who loved ODF.

And some of the reaction is due to a fear of further marginalization.

Nobody loves you until you’re gone.

Exactly, at first it was stated that "only" 60% of the catalogs would be discontinued, that was a concerning ammount but easily could've been mostly the goopers so people were cautiously optimistic at least some of their favorites would be spared. Now we know over 99% are getting nixed and none of them are particularly well regarded beyond Three Nuns, Presbyterian, and Capstan.

I've also noticed how C&D detractors disapeared overnight when it was announced STG was shutting the doors of the Mac B and Sutliff factories, now C&D are suddenly the saviors of the entire industry. I never saw it here but in other pipe spaces I used to see tons of people bash C&D as essentially the pipe blend version of Gurkha cigars.

 

[Zamora]

From what I understand, there have been no true “new” blends in the US that aren’t grandfathered recipes. They had to be in the back catalog or in development before the FDA made the decision. So a C&D can get the rights and catalog to say Drucquer & Sons and reproduce those blends. And “small batch” blends that are new are also allowed. But C&D aren’t coming to the rescue anytime soon for a lot of blenders. Just because they don’t have the bandwidth to just start supplying them overnight. Missouri Meerschaum has said it may take a few years before they can bring back blends. SPC will likely have a gap between the Sutliff blends and whatever comes next.

Yeah C&D just doesn't have the means, maybe they could've if they bought the Sutliff factory or at least the equipment but of course STG prevented that.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I’m glad I panic bought a little last month.
A few years’ worth of Match Victorian, a few pounds of 515-RC-1, and a pound or so of TS20 Perique will assuage the transition period.

And it looks like everything is sold out on smokingpipes! Wonder if anything will be left by payday?

Heck, I was blocked by SPcom pretty much all day.

 

[cohibajoe]

The last great panic buying was McClelland (and I did snag alot). More than enough in the cellar so this does not affect my buying.

 

[Servant King]

Heck, I was blocked by SP.com pretty much all day.

 

[Sobrbiker]

View attachment 360403

Probably just for us bronze members….

 

[Zamora]

The last great panic buying was McClelland (and I did snag alot). More than enough in the cellar so this does not affect my buying.

I think it's going to take longer for most Sutliff and MacB stuff to sell out simply because of the shear ammount of stuff being discontinued, there's no clear point for focus beyond what you like best

 

[Servant King]

Probably just for us bronze members plebs….

Fixed that for ya!

 

[mr_future]

Long live C&D, GLP, and SmokingPipes. I only started pipes last year but I could smoke several of their blends for the rest of my life. Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing, but that doesn’t bother me. Sorry to all of you who smoked MB blends.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Fixed that for ya!

I prefer the term “proles”

 

[Staggerlee]

While this is a big shock to happen at one time I can say that after more than 40 years as a pipe smoker I’ve seen a lot of things like this. I’m still smoking great blends and the world hasn’t come to an end as of January 2,2025. Probably not tomorrow either ! Buy up what you can and start searching out new blends. You may even find one you like even better.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

Hey is this the obituary thread? I always got the MacBite, so I'm not going to miss the MacBaren stuff much but I'm really surprised they're axing all the HH stuff, hell even Dark Twist?

Also surprised to see Capstan Yellow getting canned.

My biggest loss will be Sutliff. Their bulks were just such great go-tos, not to mention all the matches that were sometimes better than the originals. Was this all a ploy to take down Victorian Match? That's my theory!

 

[lazar]

Nobody loves you until you’re gone.

That dynamic irked about McClelland, actually. They had many detractors, with ketchup jokes and even memes every week. Then suddenly people couldn't get enough of them when they became unavailable.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Seemed like a good time to place a nice sized order with Wilke - so I did!

 

[minerLuke]

This is a bummer to see Sutliff and MacBaren portfolios chopped to almost nothing. But trying remain positive, almost nothing is a little bit better than the nothing at all if Macbaren wouldn't have found a buyer and simply closed up shop. At least Capstan, St Bruno, 3 Nuns and Presby survived to live another day. Also Mixture Scottish, VA No1 and Navy Flake.

As has been pointed out here repeatedly, the huge variety of pipe blends we have recently been enjoying has not really been supported by the shrinking pipe smoker base. I wonder what the average age of us here on the forum is? 60? 65? That might be an interesting poll question. But this contraction was inevitable and realistically, probably necessary and with more to come in the future. Best to plan accordingly.

 

[Mike N]

Well, there must be enough left to justify a $77 million sales price to STG. It will be interesting to see if they sell off any of the discontinued brand names to C&D or another smaller blending house.

Scandinavian Tobacco to Acquire Mac Baren – Tobacco Reporter

tobaccoreporter.com

 

[Mike N]

Probably just for us bronze members….

I prefer SP also, but with many Mac Baren and Sutlif items sold out there, I was able to pick up several items on momscigars.com. No panic mark-up, quick shipping for about $9 and the website says Virginia law does not require them to collect sales tax on tobacco shipped out of state…

 

[Chasing Embers]

No panic mark-up,

Tobaccopipes.com and Cup o Joes had them marked at 40% off during one of their Christmas sales.

 

[Mike N]

Tobaccopipes.com and Cup o Joes had them marked at 40% off during one of their Christmas sales.

Yep. I got their emails ad nauseum all weekend. 20% off all the Stokkebye blends now too at SP… I assume these are made by STG.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I prefer SP also, but with many Mac Baren and Sutlif items sold out there, I was able to pick up several items on momscigars.com. No panic mark-up, quick shipping for about $9 and the website says Virginia law does not require them to collect sales tax on tobacco shipped out of state…

I was referring to their site being ran crashed by traffic, and joking that it was probably worse for those of us that aren’t “gold members”.
They didn’t have have anything marked up, and I was able to pick up some more Sutliff Perique.

I peeked at moms after your post, but they didn’t have (in stock or not) anything I’ll miss when the affected companies are gone. But thanks for sharing the site, looks like a good spot to pick some other things up at a decent price.