Most Sought After Unicorns...

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hoipolloiglasgow

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 14, 2023
635
4,758
United States
For me, I'd rather have Gl Pease English blends and the few Gawith Englishes/Virginias I smoke are typically in stock. Skiff, Bob's Chocolate, Dark Flake Scented, a few others. Also, I very much enjoy Nightcap, EMP, McConnell's Oriental. All of those are almost always in stock. I only occasionally enjoy Esoterica Englishes, of which my B&M will get often enough for me to enjoy those. Fortunately, all the not so available stuff doesn't bother me.
 
Apr 26, 2012
3,625
8,565
Washington State
Since I began smoking a pipe in 2011, Esoterica, Germain, Peter Heinrichs, Butera tobaccos, and Balkan Sobranie were all very difficult to obtain, and still are. Over the past 6 six years, since the closing of McClelland, and then the license of Dunhill going away, and then being re-sold as Peterson; I think many pipe smokers have begun to cellar tobacco's more so than they would have in years past. Since the above-mentioned events I've noticed that brands such as Samuel Gawith, Gawith and Hoggarth, Dan Tobacco, Wessex, and Fribourg & Treyer tobaccos have been difficult to obtain as they always seem to be out of stock at many online retailers. I'm not sure if this is due to a limited release like Esoterica and Germain's blends, or if it's due to people buying these tobaccos in large quantities when they become available. Either way they always seem to be out of stock.

Within the last few years many online retailers have listed restrictions on the amount of tobacco one can purchase (i.e. Carolina Red Flake, Anthology, etc.). Again, something that I didn't see prior to the above-mentioned events. At this point I don't think there is one unicorn, but a herd of unicorns being sought after. If I'm lucky enough to stumble across one of these "unicorn" blends then I'll purchase it, but I'm not one that goes out of my way to acquire them. I don't put myself on the email list, I don't check secondary sites, etc. I have enough tobacco to last me 10+ years at this point. I occasionally acquire tobacco's still, but I don't go out of my way to hunt down any particular blends.
 

Sobrbiker

Lifer
Jan 7, 2023
4,219
55,321
Casa Grande, AZ
….more that the drops happen right after I’ve dropped money on tobacco and don’t want to spend more at that time. So it’s basically a me issue lol
Story of my pipe journey so far, but I usually spend tobacco money on estates. When I’ve got a few bucks and go to look at estates, I should rather just go order some tobacco until I’ve got a better supply.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
21,022
50,376
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Y'all kill me with the unicorn stuff. If it's hard to get I don't even want to try it.
But...but...but...

The thrill of the chase is everything!!

And then...
The Moment Of Triumph!!

The hunter returns from the hunt.
Tales of great deeds are told around the campfire, along with copious amounts of ale and mead.
A saga is created, which is handed down from generation to generation.

Who could resist!
 

LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,284
20,141
Oregon
But...but...but...

The thrill of the chase is everything!!

And then...
The Moment Of Triumph!!

The hunter returns from the hunt.
Tales of great deeds are told around the campfire, along with copious amounts of ale and mead.
A saga is created, which is handed down from generation to generation.

Who could resist!
Haha damn I love mead. I recently had a friend relocate up to Washington that brewed incredible mead. But I digress...

Maybe if I wasn't satisfied with the regular offerings available today I would be more likely to at least dip my toe in the unicorn pool just to see what all the fuss is about. The problem is that I'm perfectly satisfied with the tobaccos that are readily available, especially those from C&D.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
21,022
50,376
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Seriously, I never found unicorns all that difficult to obtain, though the Esoterica market does appear to be more difficult and fucked up in the past couple of years.

Before that I made an effort to establish connections to sources, B&M's, was a regular customer and they took care of me. Never had to pay more than retail, though some B&M's added a few bucks to the "retail" price.

When the inevitable whining about never being able to buy it on line would follow every drop, several of us would share how to go about acquiring it, and it seemed to fall on deaf ears. so, now we don't bother.