Scarcity of Certain Pipe Tobaccos

[billjohnso20]

I studied economics extensively in my undergraduate work as I earned a degree in Secondary Education in History and the Social Sciences. I understand the concept of scarcity in relation to supply-and-demand quite well and the roll it plays in stoking demand to raise the price of a particular good. Basically, produce a high quality product people really want then create shortages of the product. That way consumers are willing to pay more for the product simply because they have been less able to find said product. This is the premise behind price gouging that has led some to pay $100 for a single roll of TP due to the shortage hoarders have caused. Normal scarcity is legal though.

For the most part, I prefer aromatic blends that are Black Cavendish based with a few exceptions of course which have no Black Cavendish in them at all. I have yet to find an English blend that I actually like. (Though, I just ordered an "Aromatic English" blend from P&C last week that I am looking forward to trying.) Latakia just tastes too much like my mother's cooking---big on aroma but it tastes like a burnt stick to me. (Yeah, my mom can bake with the best but she's given me food poisoning too many times with her regular cooking, bless her heart.) Sorry, I got a little distracted.

Back to pipe tobacco: I have found quite a few bulk blends that I really enjoy, however, I am highly fond of CAO Black and, to a lesser degree, Eileen's Dream along with a few other tinned offerings at P&C. I can always find Eileen's Dream and from time-to-time at Famous Smoke Shop just a little cheaper than what P&C wants for it---sometimes. However, CAO Black is "a-whole-nother-story." I like several bulk raspberry blends but CAO Black is a step above (in anything other than a brand new pipe for some strange reason). I refer you to the scarcity comments I made above; I get it. It is a popular Danish Blend and usually a little less per tin than the other CAO Flavors series. The problem is that it never stays in stock. Mind you P&C does seem to have it more often than any other online seller I have found but it is still out of stock far more often than not. It is subtle and less in your face than other aromatics out there with a richness in taste that lasts all the way to the end even in my larger pipes. It is in my top three favorite tobaccos.

So, does anyone know of a retailer out there that usually/generally has it in stock? I would love to restock my inventory. I have about two tins worth in a canister. I suspect I will be out of it in another couple of months if I cannot find any to replenish the supply. Most recently, P&C had a short run CAO blend called Black VR. While it's nice, it just isn't the same. I have run out Black before and I don't want to run out again, though we can all say that about one or more of our favorite tobaccos. I haven't found it anywhere for a few months now. Any ideas?

 

[Sonorisis]

https://www.turbotin.com/html_data/full_table.html

 

[robcapp]

People are hoarding CAO aromatics??

 

[mingc]

Shhhhhhhhh! ?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Never heard of it.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

The next time you find it, why don't you just buy a year to 5 years worth? That's likely what is happening that is causing the shortage. IMHO, contributing to the problem is the tobacco manufacturers seem to ship in batches and cannot maintain production for regular shipments. And when they do ship, it goes out to all the dealers pretty much at once. People looking for a blend see this, grab everything they can from as many shops as they can. It is sold out rather quickly.

So you have to stay on top of things, save your money and be ready when the opportunity knocks. It would be nice to be able to drive down to the corner B&M, buy your weekly or bi monthly smoking needs and return home to smoke. It hasn't been like that for quite some time and it isn't getting any better. Your other alternative is to find a blend less well liked by other people. That strategy most often has other obvious problems with it.

 

[condorlover1]

@hoosierpipeguy - I have elevated that strategy to an absolute art! So few people like what I like that I have no issues loading up with stuff. I have often wondered what the world would be like if I had developed a taste for Captain Black!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

@hoosierpipeguy - I have elevated that strategy to an absolute art! So few people like what I like that I have no issues loading up with stuff. I have often wondered what the world would be like if I had developed a taste for Captain Black!

That's a bit like hitting on the ugliest gal at the bar early and often. But then again, just like bad tobacco, how do you get that nasty taste out of your mouth? Or how often do you wake up and want to rip your eyeballs out before you seriously consider a different strategy?

 

[Chasing Embers]

That's a bit like hitting on the ugliest gal at the bar early and often. But then again, just like bad tobacco, how do you get that nasty taste out of your mouth? Or how often do you wake up and want to rip your eyeballs out before you seriously consider a different strategy?

It's okay to like Penzance from time to time, you need feel no shame.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It's okay to like Penzance from time to time, you need feel no shame.

Been a year since I loaded up a bowl of Penzance. And it's not because I don't have tins and bulk in the cellar.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Been a year since I loaded up a bowl of Penzance. And it's not because I don't have tins and bulk in the cellar.

Now come on, that ugly girl needs love too.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Uh, I was an eco major, and taught it in grad school. There's no relationship between price gouging on a staple such as TP and creating a fine product and keeping price high due to supply strategy.

Sorry, I don't smoke aromatics, so can't help you find the rarer ones.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Now come on, that ugly girl needs love too.

No doubt. And you seem like a perfect candidate to be the supplier. LOL Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Uh, I was an eco major, and taught it in grad school. There's no relationship between price gouging on a staple such as TP and creating a fine product and keeping price high due to supply strategy.

Sorry, I don't smoke aromatics, so can't help you find the rarer ones.

Agreed. The fact that the prices for the harder to obtain tobaccos are almost, or are, identical to the not so hard to obtain kind of blows holes in that theory. Now, there may be validity to the theory that scarcity encourages hoarding whether the scarcity is real or imagined. If applies to toilet paper, it could very well apply to tobacco. Coincidentally enough, TP is the same for both.

 

[billjohnso20]

Uh, I was an eco major, and taught it in grad school. There's no relationship between price gouging on a staple such as TP and creating a fine product and keeping price high due to supply strategy.

Sorry, I don't smoke aromatics, so can't help you find the rarer ones.

Any product can be price gouged whether it is fine wine or boxershorts and perpetrated by anyone in the market including a manufacturer. ,Scarcity is the norm on fine products but there have been examples throughout history of manufacturers hoarding a product and leaking just enough of that product to gouge those who buy it. Think of it as the reverse to the gas wars of the 1960s where oil companies glutted the market to drive competitors out of business so they could then severely limit the supply and raise the prices much higher later. That is what caused gasoline price fixing by law which in the 1970s had the reverse effect of causing gas shortages because they couldn't raise prices above the ceiling price. Granted, most gouging is not done by manufacturers and is instead perpetrated usually by wholesalers, retailers, and weasel consumers who create a false shortage of whatever (fill in the blank) product they think will be in high demand due to (fill in the blank) event or disaster.

 

[Casual]

I will note that the term “price gouging” is one of politics, not of economics. It is so obviously laden with moral approbation to be laughable as a term of study, rather than propaganda.

 

[jpmcwjr]

A manufacturer or retailer making non essential goods cannot, by definition be price "gouging". It's illegal, for starters, but gouging is limited to essential items, such as water, gasoline, batteries, and now, dammit, TP.

Gouging is a term too loosely thrown about. Is someone who buys Penzance for $50 a bag and resells it here for $160 a price gouger? No. I personally don't like it, but who cares. It's a free market, and I am free to smoke Balkan Supreme.

 

[tkcolo]

Spring is pretty stressful for us, trying to calve and lamb in spring snow and bears waking up hungry. So I bought some Cope after giving it up 10 years ago. At $7/day, that shit is expensive, and it puts pipe tobacco in perspective. Anyone you know smoke $7 of pipe tobacco in a day? I'm not buying anymore dip and fighting to scale scaling back nic addiction to normal levels. ugh. What a mistake!

 

[pitchfork]

Anyone know who manufactures CAO pipe tobaccos?

 

[briarbuck]

Spring is pretty stressful for us, trying to calve and lamb in spring snow and bears waking up hungry. So I bought some Cope after giving it up 10 years ago. At $7/day, that shit is expensive, and it puts pipe tobacco in perspective. Anyone you know smoke $7 of pipe tobacco in a day? I'm not buying anymore dip and fighting to scale scaling back nic addiction to normal levels. ugh. What a mistake!

Cope is brutal. General Snus help me ween off the nicotine. Kick that crap to the curb.