Pipe Tobacco is no Good Anymore/Better Than Before

[fireground_piper]

That's an honest question.

You'd think who ever was in charge would intend to keep it the same. Seeing as it's a well loved product.

A follow up question would be:

Would the expected changes increase or decrease quality?

Are Doritos better or worse because of the changes?

eye of the beholder, just like tobacco.

 

[Zamora]

I wouldn't say that Escudo sucks now. I am just saying that it's not really Escudo. If you just want a pretty good VaPer with an iconic name, then sure, go ahead. You'll probably love it. But, just know that what is in that tin is nothing like what pipesmokers of old smoked. And, in knowing that, ask yourself is it worth the premium price that they are charging for those tins?

As I will say over and over, there is no better or worse. You may buy a fake Rolex in an alley that keeps good time. It might even draw some compliments from passers by, but that isn't a real Rolex... if that makes any difference to you.

Yeah I want to try it simply because I'm a big VaPer fan and I prefer coin cut over flake or cake, I didn't even know it was a long established name when I first added it to my to-try list. Hell the current Three Nuns is one of my all time favorite blends and that's even further removed from the original since it's not even the same type of blend, I think it's a bizarre situation but I like it for what it is not for the fact C.S. Lewis and Graham Chapman smoked something completely different with that name.

You're in the minority. People rely on labels for everything and rely on the marketing that surrounds those labels. Therefore that 1985 Escudo review has an effect. That's precisely why conglomerates like STD buy IP rights. Much easier to monetize a known entity than to create a new one and sell that.

But as I wrote just above, what ultimately matters is whether you enjoy what you're smoking.

The only advice I'd offer is to ignore any reviews more than a year or two old, as what's in the tins keeps changing

That's exactly what I do, I always seek out the latest reviews. Sometimes there hasn't been a review in years but probably means most often the blend a big seller

What if you bought Doritos one day and you really liked them, and the next day, same looking bag, but what is inside burns your mouth?
We've come to expect some level of consistency in the things we buy. That's just perfectly normal. It would be abnormal to not care what the things are we buy. Maybe the McCheese burger has pickles one day, and the next it has tarter sauce? To say, "I don't care" become a little crazy.

Funny I loved Doritos when I was younger but I can't stand them now. I haven't noticed any difference in taste so it never occurred to me there were possibly changes in production, I thought my tastes just changed.

A brand builds its reputation over the years for being a certain way. the when what's inside the package changes, it is still relying on its reputation for how it was over the years in the past, to sell what is in there now.

Otherwise, why not just put what is different now into a totally different tin with different branding and start over?

If someone packed some bright leaf into a McClellands tin and sold it to you for $100, are you going to be pissed? I mean, you bought it hoping to experience what smokers in the past were smoking? Right? Otherwise, you would call it fraud, ammi right?

I mean, if you just want any old shit in a tin, why not buy something else, maybe something cheaper. Otherwise you're a fool. IMO

Yep I've always maintained if McClelland sold any of their brands we'd have people complaining about the current iteration of Frog Morton

 

[Zamora]

I've only been smoking for a tad less than 15 years, and many blends have changed in that time. I am not like Sable, drawing on my memory from the 80's. The blends that I am disappointed in have made their changes much more recently.

Three years for me, I didn't think I'd be able to witness blends change anytime soon but now I will with Capstan Blue and Three Nuns.

I have no doubt that high quality tobacco is being grown, but there are several important caveats:

• Fewer varieties/strains are being grown. Much of what is grown today is contracted to the cigarette industry, which tells the farmer (and sometimes provides) specific varieties to plant.
• Those high quality tobaccos in specific leaf positions, or those less common leaf varieties, are often mechanically harvested and mixed in with everything else. It's why there is such a thing as "Blended Turkish Ribbon"

Yeah there's so many Orientals that used to be fairly common but now are exceedingly rare and not many blends now specify anything other than Latakia, with the rest just being labeled as "Orientals".