Pipe Tobacco Market vs. Bourbon Market (Buying)

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jerseysam

Can't Leave
Mar 24, 2019
456
4,566
Liberty Township. OH
Howdy folks, first post from a near-term lurker....absolutely great site/kudos to many of the posters here. Long-time cigar smoker, touched pipes on and off for about 12 years. Recently started pipe smoking with regularity as I moved into my new home over the winter, I've got a glass-paneled four-season room off my walk-out bar that I can puff away in without offending the olfactory sensibilities of other occupants. PAD/TAD quickly developed from there.
I too was caught in the great P&C Esoterica kerfuffle of 19'....I'm also eyeballing two large placed SG orders from separate retailers that haven't shipped yet and I believe UPS just 'lost' a rather minty 6139 early-proof 'Pouge' I got for a song so I'm rather salty as the kids say. In my distress and 'newness' back to pipe tobacco buying I may be off-base, but it seems like the pipe tobacco market is at least heavily reminiscent of the current bourbon market. Just like the bourbon market, in whole, there is a lot of very solid, commonly/semi-commonly available product out there......and also like bourbon the 'perceived' cream of the crop disappears within moments of touching retailers shelves. Having to establish relationships with distant B&M's, secret squirrel sub-forums to hide honey-holes, dedicated snipers buying inventory to mainly flip on the secondary market, a 1% 'super-fan' hobbyist group growing large cellars...it's a lot like navigating waters on the latest BTAC releases.
In the bourbon market, where I've bought for 15 years and live right outside KY, I'm fortunate enough to be on the inside track of most all rare/limited releases.....'back-bar'ing' away hundreds o' bottles of the good stuff over the years. In the pipe world however I'm just a stinking civilian, desperately trying to make time to even find a few tins of Squadron Leader let alone the Butera's of the world. Like an animal. Two questions for the esteemed forum:
1. What is the typical 'size' (lbs/selling units) of tobacco drops into the market from 'boutique' manufactures? I realize that Esoterica may be 'X' vs. a G&H 'X*3'....but I don't have the experience to know the relative size of market/typical inventory/release sizes in the pipe world. Does a P&C get 50 bags of Penzance...500.....5,000? Just an interesting data point.
2. Are there any major retailers that use a 'frequent buyer' or lottery-style system for the 'rare' stuff? Very common vis-a-vie the bourbon market.....unless inflating price ala' the secondary market to control demand (I'm not opposed to that) a lot of retailers on the bourbon side will use a lottery-type scheme or reserve a portion/offer to their top buyers (how I often score mine). The retailers (in the latter) don't make any more margin off 'white whales' than standard, in fact often less......and the headaches/emotions around the releases is often more painful for them than any monetary gain. Hence going to certain selling approaches to reward frequent buyers/etc.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
Welcome to the site. Don't get caught up in the Esoterica bullshit. Their blends just aren't good enough. The only one worth chasing in my opinion is Stonehaven. I bought most of mine from a small mom and pop in a low tax state. If you are depending on the large retailers like PC,SP and others, you will have to be on your computer 24/7 looking for a drop.
As far as quantity goes, no one knows what places like Sp or PC get, anyone who tells you a number would only be guessing.

There are tons of other readily available smokes that are very high quality. Here is a list of some of my favorites that I cellar.

Escudo everyone has this

Capstan Blue and Gold Flake smokingpipes.com and tobaccopipes.com

Mac Baren Old Dark Fired smokingpipes.com and tobaccopipes.com

Solani 633 and 660 tobaccopipes.com

Savinelli Doblone d'Oro on sale at Smokingpipes.com

St Bruno Flake everyone has it

Wessex Brown Virginia Flake and Gold Slice available at tobaccopipes.com

GL Pease Navigator - needs a good 5 years before it shines. everyone has it

john Aylesbury Classic Flake at tobaccopipes.com

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,632
44,859
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Welcome to the forum.
Your summation of the tobacco marketplace is pretty spot on. The panic buying and obsessive hoarding really took off about 12 to 13 years ago when Germain's stopped their regular shipments of Penzance. Suddenly this highly regarded, though not standout, blend became the idée fixe of every wanna be connoisseur in the piping community. Cellaring became a widespread practice at around the turn of the millenium though it had been growing in popularity since the 1980's.
As for boutique amounts? Who knows? McClelland was a boutique blender and their runs were in the tens of thousands. They output millions of tins over the years.
I suspect that the psychopathy of scarcity plays a role in every enthusiast market, booze as much as tobacco. And one person's nectar of the gods is another person's swill. So it is with tobaccos. There are hundreds of excellent blends that don't get much attention and that's where I go to find the good stuff.
Harris has offered some great recommendations, and some, like John Aylesbury Classic Flake, were once very hard to get.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I try to rebel by favoring brands/blenders that produce to meet demand and distribute consistently. When I want something unique or special, I try to select something that doesn't tease the consumer. I'll pay a little more, but I don't want something that does a fan dance with availability. My motto is out of stock, out of mind.

 

jerseysam

Can't Leave
Mar 24, 2019
456
4,566
Liberty Township. OH
Thanks for the replies gents, appreciated. Very much spot on with the comments about the breadth of quality, commonly available blends....coming back to the world o' pipes over the last few months, I've been very impressed with a lot of blends out there. From the call-out above I've been smoking the heck out of Savinelli's Doblone d'Oro, an awesome blend I don't even recall when I was last seriously pipe-smoking back in 2014. A lot of the GL Pease and SPC mixes (beyond even the 'special reserves') have been dynamite by my standards.
As a fairly shallow, rotten person I do like to get my hands on the 'white whales' time-to-time, hence the question if any of the major retailors have a "frequent buyer/first offer" program.....I'd try to steer some of monthly spend that way. Fully agree though, just like the bourbon market, if not obsessed on certain 'name' releases there is a world of good-to-great product out there sitting in-stock at many places.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
jersey, no retailer has any sort of program for big spenders or really good customers. They have an email alert system that you can sign up to along with the thousands of others out there. You will get an email alert that something is in stock and you have only a few minutes before most blends are sold out. They also put limits on everything.
Your best bet for the unobtanium is to develop relationships with small mom and pops. One of the last times I bought some Stonehaven my guy sold me 12 bags in one shot and offered me 15 bags of Penzance. I don't smoke Penzance so I told a buddy who did and he bought them all.

 
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