Rare Tobacco

[greeneyes]

Always strikes me as odd. I have often repeated the story about the tobacconist in Essex that went out of business circa early 1980s that had box loads of 'cutter top' tins for One Pound each. I purchase a few and smoked them and I should have purchased them all but I got talked out of it by my Father! I have often shared older 'cutter tops' with a chum on this forum who in turn shares them with any interested forum members. I have a bunch more that I am in two minds about ever smoking principally because they are probably something I wouldn't enjoy as they are all Rattray's blends from the 1950s or thereabouts. I think Sablebrush summed it up well when he said that 'Mummy dust just doesn't hold any allure for him'.

I love Rattray's mummy dust! If you have any interest in parting with Tutankhamun remains, please let me know!

 

[anotherbob]

the rocket-firing Boba Fett of pipe tobacco collecting?

I knew a kid that had that one. He lost the rocket because he was the stupidest kid I knew. Seriously.

 

[sablebrush52]

Dilligence, tenacity, your cell phone and Google are your friends in a quest for unobtaniums. And a thick wallet. Buy the good and premium stuff now at regular prices, in 5 to 10 years you'll have a cellar full of rare, difficult to find and unobtaniums. You'll have ten times as much and money left over. Then every day can be a special occasion.

You absolutely nailed it!

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

@americaman trouble with 'cutter tops' is once opened whatever is in them fades very quickly.

Most definitely not always true.

 

[sablebrush52]

I have a bunch more that I am in two minds about ever smoking principally because they are probably something I wouldn't enjoy as they are all Rattray's blends from the 1950s or thereabouts. I think Sablebrush summed it up well when he said that 'Mummy dust just doesn't hold any allure for him'.

Simon,
Simon, I'd be more than happy to be a rash test dummy of some of that Rattray mummy dust, should the opportunity arise. While cutter tops don't prevent blends from going tits up, they do a better job of it than other storage options.

My experiences with vintage blends is that it's largely a crap shoot, with the misses outnumbering the hits as the blends gather age. Everything in nature peaks and dies, and tobacco blends are no exception.

 

[sablebrush52]

Most definitely not always true.

Not always, but often. transferred immediately to a jar might reduce some of that effect, but many of the older tins I've sampled croaked out in a couple of days.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

What is “rare” and “unobtainum” in the US market is more often than not determined by decisions that distributors make as to how much and how often to order. Some very readily available bulks seem to benefit greatly with even modest age, as has been noted often on this forum, and most of them are fine smokes fresh.

 

[sablebrush52]

I realize that it’s all mostly subjective, but is their anything out their that’s widely considered a “holy grail” of pipe tobacco? Some fabled year or blend that’s so rare it’s reached mythical status? The Honus Wagner rookie card, the Inverted Jenny, the rocket-firing Boba Fett of pipe tobacco collecting?

Mostly I think it's a corolary to the Psychopathy of Scarcity. Something is now hard to get, scarcity gets conflated with quality. Just wait until people are paying $300 for a tin of Holly's Non Plus Ultra.

 

[oldgeezersmoker]

Not always, but often. transferred immediately to a jar might reduce some of that effect, but many of the older tins I've sampled croaked out in a couple of days.

A fair proportion of the cutter tops I have sampled from were opened and consumed immediately at shows. Of the ones I have acquired since I stopped going to shows in the late 1990’s, I never noticed any discernible fading out, but it didn’t take me more than 2 or 3 weeks to consume them.

 

[kola]

IMO, unless you have a a lot of extra cash laying around and a lot of time to play 'Hunt Down Rare Tobacco" just buy what's easily available. I highly recommend GLP tobaccos, C&D and Macbaren for quality tobacco. IMO GLP has just about any blend to suit your needs.

I buy some of the rare (or discontinued) stuff from the scalpers every now and then and I pay through the frigging nose for it. But for me, it beats kissing some B&M's ass ("loyalty member' - lol), calling and emailing every tobacco shop on the planet and staying online 27/7 in tobacco forums.

And honestly I won't gamble and buy anything over 15 years old. IMO something that "aged" isn't aged anymore. There's a good risk it's dried to a crisp and/or lost all flavor. YMMV.

 

[anotherbob]

I have to admit I'am not that into rare tobaccos. It feels like a fools mission. One I don't think I'll enjoy it more then what I can get now. And also I think if it is well that sucks too. Cause I won't get it again. And seriously just try some of the stuff you can get now because there are plenty of blends that are too good to smoke everyday.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

As opposed to hunting and paying for the rare/unobtanums...Why not just stock up on what you enjoy as it is readily available?
1. You absolutely save ?. Especially by not paying for sought after blends with no guarantee that you’ll enjoy them simply cause Tobaccoreviews.com said you would.
2. The value of your lot will improve with the investment.
3. You save time hunting down difficult to get blends.
4. If the blend is tasty to you fresh, it will likely meld and improve over time.

I’m sure there are more reasons, but my mind is drifting into a blissful state as I puff on this bowl of absolutely deliciously aged McClelland St. James Woods circa 2005. ??️

 

[wyfbane]

Dilligence, tenacity, your cell phone and Google are your friends in a quest for unobtaniums. And a thick wallet. Buy the good and premium stuff now at regular prices, in 5 to 10 years you'll have a cellar full of rare, difficult to find and unobtaniums. You'll have ten times as much and money left over. Then every day can be a special occasion.

THIS! I got serious about pipes in 2013. I bought quite a bit of tobacco that had just a little age on it, but tons of new (then) stuff. Now almost all of my tobacco is at least 5 years old, since I don't smoke as much as I thought I would and some of it is older. I am pretty much set for life and can buy new now, knowing it will be 5-10 years old before it comes up in my rotation.

 

[kola]

GLP blends may be the next ones to be MIA. (ala FDA )

: excluding Jack Knife Plug and Spark Plug. (horrid) Sorry Greg.

 

[cigrmaster]

There is only one blend that I will pay a premium for when aged 14 plus years and even then if it is over a certain price I will pass. If I were looking for hard to find tobacco blends today I would do what I did back in the day. I would call around the low tax states for small mom and pop stores with little to no internet presence and see what they had. I got almost all of my Esoterica Stonehaven and bulk Samuel Gawith Best Brown, Full Virginia and St James flakes this way back in 2012. I had a guy giving me 10% off on all the SG flakes when I was buying in 5 pound lots. I believe I was paying 52 and change for a pound back then with my discount.

There are plenty of great blends that are readily available today and smoke very nicely even fresh. I would be loading up on Capstan Blue Flake, Solani 660 Silver Flake and 633, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, Escudo, Peterson Deluxe Navy Rolls and Flake(the old Dunhill blends). I would also be buying Peterson Irish Flake, University Flake, 3P's. Here are a few others I would be buying if I were building my cellar today.
Savinelli Doblone d'Oro
Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky
Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs
GL Pease Navigator...needs a few years but worth the wait.

 

[mingc]

Just wait until people are paying $300 for a tin of Holly's Non Plus Ultra.

They will if you don't hush up! There's literally nothing better! ?

 

[americaman]

@americaman trouble with 'cutter tops' is once opened whatever is in them fades very quickly.

Well hey, old Rattray’s tobacco is amongst my favorites. So if you ever want to bring one out to a pipe show, or sell one, I would be quite interested.

 

[condorlover1]

Actually a chum of mine from PA and myself opened a cutter top tin from like 1903 last summer and it was accompanied by some genuine Prohibition scotch circa 1922 and that was pretty good. Its a crap shoot with this sort of stuff. Anyone remember Ash Digger organizing the original War Horse tasting with those early 1970s plugs last year? I was surprised how well that turned out and the low body count!

 

[rushx9]

Always strikes me as odd. I have often repeated the story about the tobacconist in Essex that went out of business circa early 1980s that had box loads of 'cutter top' tins for One Pound each. I purchase a few and smoked them and I should have purchased them all but I got talked out of it by my Father! I have often shared older 'cutter tops' with a chum on this forum who in turn shares them with any interested forum members. I have a bunch more that I am in two minds about ever smoking principally because they are probably something I wouldn't enjoy as they are all Rattray's blends from the 1950s or thereabouts. I think Sablebrush summed it up well when he said that 'Mummy dust just doesn't hold any allure for him'.

50's Rattray's cutter tops ? ? ? Let me know when you feel like popping and sharing!!!

 

[BROBS]

50's Rattray's cutter tops ? ? ? Let me know when you feel like popping and sharing!!!

Me too if it’s sans Latakia!! I’ll even send back some aromatic bulk in trade. ?