Selling Valuable Cellared Tobacco

[jpmcwjr]

Investments! No one here will get rich hoarding tobacco even if the eventual markup is 1,000 percent on some blends. If you wisely buy $200,000 worth of tobacco, and sell it well, it might be considered an investment. Otherwise, no.
After all, people will say, 'I'm going to invest in a movie tonight" Or buy a car, TV, computer.

 

[huckleberry]

The blends i have bought and stashed in my cellar were bought for me to enjoy with my pipe smoking friends that I may have.

I feel I'd be depriving myself, if I sold them simply for money. Trading for something else though, is a different matter.

If my tastes change, which I doubt they will, I would much rather trade for something I like, than sell for any amount......

I can't smoke cash as I think the taste would be rather "inky", and have a metallic after taste.

BUT...those who DO sell some out of their cellar, they can do so with my best wishes, as I may just set back and watch the bidding begin...

 

[craig61a]

I just helped one of my daughters open up a luxury handbag store. We all set here complaining about this or that price, when my daughter sees hundreds of people a week buying $1200 handbags, and many of them buy many of these luxury handbags. I am really proud of how well she is doing.

Grown men line up at our local ABC store when a limited release of a bourbon comes around for $200 to $800 a bottle. They actually bring chairs because they realize that it might take hours to get to their place in line.

Can't we all just agree that complaining about prices for rare, aged, or discontinued tobaccos is juvenile and in bad taste?

So, you don't want to spend that much... DON'T. This is America, and if I want to offer up a can of Captain Black Grape for $1200, I can. And, anyone who complains can just go f%gk themself.

Would that be a 14 ounce or a 7 ounce can...? Asking for a friend.

 

[warren]

Again, it's more about brand recognition and its associated popularity than anything else.

I'd add personal ignorance about who owns/produces what. There's is a reason brand names can be very valuable, regardless of the caliber of the product wearing the marque.

 

[BriarsAndBottles]

As someone who spends a fair amount ($1,000’s/year) on aged and vintage tobacco I can let you know my primary reasons. One is brand identity, something about McClelland speaks to me in a way that Dunhill, Esoterica, Germain and Butera never will (naming those as they are some of the brands people seem to be willing to pay far above current or previous market value for). Second is rarity, maybe this makes me a snark, but I find it cool to smoke something not everyone has had. Another is time. Even a few hundred bucks is a pretty cheap Time Machine to experience something lost to history. Factored into all that is of course quality.

So a highly rated old rare McClelland would be a must buy, luckily I’ve gotten almost all (looking at you Kringle/Nutcracker flake). It’s kinda like Pokémon for adults.

 

[Chasing Embers]

So a highly rated old rare McClelland would be a must buy,

Most of that happened post closure. Many of their seasonal blends such as Christmas Cheer would set on shelves for months. CC was often released in August, and I'd buy a few dozen tins during the International Pipe Smoking Day sales the following year for $12-$15 per 100g tin. Many shunned McClelland tobacco for smelling like ketchup.

 

[BriarsAndBottles]

Most of that happened post closure. Many of their seasonal blends such as Christmas Cheer would set on shelves for months. CC was often released in August, and I'd buy a few dozen tins during the International Pipe Smoking Day sales the following year for $12-$15 per 100g tin. Many shunned McClelland tobacco for smelling like ketchup.

Fomo is a hell of a thing let me tell you. I feel like it’s the same for Syrian Latakia. Which I’ve also fallen victim to

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I’ve enjoyed every Esoterica blend that I’ve had thus far—I love their fine, thin cut ribbons—the quality of the cut is so nice and refined. I just wish they weren’t so difficult to get a hold of—I’d smoke them with greater frequency if they weren’t so difficult to get.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I’ve enjoyed every Esoterica blend that I’ve had thus far—I love their fine, thin cut ribbons—the quality of the cut is so nice and refined. I just wish they weren’t so difficult to get a hold of—I’d smoke them with greater frequency if they weren’t so difficult to get.

They frequently remain at B&Ms for some time often for less than $40/bag.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Fomo is a hell of a thing let me tell you. I feel like it’s the same for Syrian Latakia. Which I’ve also fallen victim to

Never really had that problem. There's a few blends I like but won't go chasing them when their gone. When Syrian was a regular thing, many of the tobaccos I've got put up have it but my favorite is Yenidje Highlander.

 

[Zamora]

STG produced the formerly known as Dunhill blends on license from BAT, which holds the rights to the Dunhill tobaccos. BAT decided to stop production of Dunhill tobaccos and gave notice about 18 months before production was shut down. STG successfully negotiated the rights to continue to use these blends under the Peterson name, for which STG owns the rights to Peterson Tobaccos.
Some people are convinced that the tobaccos with the Dunhill name on the tin are somehow better. So they're willing to pop for a tin that says Dunhill on it, even if it ultimately ends up in the trash. Again, it's more about brand recognition and its associated popularity than anything else. People can be competitive in that way.

Oh okay, sounds like that was plenty of time for people to stock up without breaking the bank. Like I said I'm sure the Dunhill ones are probably better simply because they've been aged longer, but the notion it's better because of the brand reputation is just silly. I'm glad Peterson took over for most of the blends, it would've been tragic to lose them especially since many of them are in the same age ballpark as codgers.

 

[Zamora]

Congratulations on being a proud poppa, and best of luck to your daughter's business..

Personally, I don't mind the bitching all that much, as long as it isn't incessant. It sometimes serves to question our values and that's not necessarily a bad thing. And yes, this is America, which to me means the ability to voice differing opinions of a principled and truthful content without being ostracized, demonized, or murdered for it.

It's also true that tobacco is a discretionary purchase, unlike medical treatment, food, and shelter. So bitching about possible abuses with necessities is a lot more valid to me than bitching about the prices of particular "star fucker" blends. But if one just has to bitch about that to vent and get it off one's chest, then bitch away.

For me I'm mostly upset my state's pipe tobacco taxes really screw over B&Ms. I certainly don't like paying 95% tax but I don't smoke often to buy more than enough to keep a rotation going anyway, so I'm really not paying too much at the end of the day and it's still much cheaper than cigars even with my state's reasonable 65 cents a stick tax cap. What's a star fucker blend?

Many years ago I acquired a scotch collection that had many bottles in it, with several of the same ones. I got tired of a few of them and sold off a few bottles. Not only have prices gone way up, but some of the malts I sold off are no longer available. To this day I regret it. Wasn't worth the few hundred bucks I sold them for.

My grandpa had a sizable Scotch collection and I got half of it when he died back in 2020. I haven't opened a single bottle, I love Scotch but it just feels weird drinking his stuff. I haven't done any research on the bottles, but I'm thinking I might end up selling them.

 

[paulfg]

Good question clarification. I mean an owner having tobaccos that have a perceived value to the seller that is reflective of some big sales on the market but are priced at a level that few can buy. Ie. You can sell a bag of esoterica for $400 bucks but there are only so many whales in the sea that can afford that amount I am assuming. If all the whales are full at the moment do you as a seller feel stuck letting your inventory go for significantly less. Don’t know if this clarified my thought at all. Lol.

or you can sit on it until the whales are hungry again.
depends on how much you need the sale.