Everything is Sutliff now. Lane. Perhaps some Stokkebye. We're being led to believe that tobacco is undergoing a Renaissance yet diversity and quality are at all-time lows, at least domestically. Shops used to have something mysterious and proprietary when they made their house blends. Now everything tastes the same because it's all made from the same raw materials. It's an unpopular opinion but dammit if it isn't the truth.
We have to encourage the guys in the game to do better. They're not. They're pandering to a crowd who thinks tobacco has to burn and have nicotine and little else but fancy packaging. I think if we don't raise the bar we don't deserve any better. We're collectively in serious trouble if we keep deluding ourselves that quality hasn't taken a back seat to marketing.
I have to agree with Greeneyes. It is sad when a cheap pouch blend has more depth and flavor (to me) than the #1 selling aromatic for a company. I have gone through over 10 tins of tobacco from C&D and muscled my way through countless bowls trying to find the good in their product. I found that out of the 10, 3 have lived to be stored in jars. Yes, they do have a vast, inexpensive and readily available selection, but their tobacco just tastes like boiled cardboard. Let's go back to the quality over quantity days!
I have to disagree here Embers. I find there are a few places, although they may use the same leaf as everyone else, that are trying to provide you with a better smoking experience than the rest. Maybe I am a victim of marketing but the blends I have tried from The Country Squire are different and better than say C&D blends. In addition, there are plenty of good blends hiding behind hip tin art and cheesy names. I would hate to think that nearly all the blends out there now lack any positive qualities beyond the packaging. If that were the case I would no longer be enjoying this hobby.
Taste is subjective so by all means disagree. I'll still take C&D over the gold bagged Esoterica garbage any day. Good thing I'm a smoker and not a hobbyist I suppose.
Good call on not jumping on the Esoterica bandwagon, I am not a fan either. Also, good on you for being a smoker as opposed to a mere hobbyist. I guess in the end we all find a way to be better than the next guy even during a friendly conversation.
Not really as like I said too much is subjective. I like peanut butter and horseradish on toast many very likely don't. Not trying to be better than anyone, but pandering to everyone in the tobacco world is why we still have any at all. If companies only catered to selective tastes, the market would have gone under and the antis would have eaten us alive years ago. Just remember what Russ Ouellette said about aromatics being the main seller of any company. Once those go, this ship sinks.
