That's me with my McClelland collection.
Selling Valuable Cellared Tobacco
- Thread starter pcfdave
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Me too, and it makes me realize that holding onto to my stash at this apparent objective value when I would never pay those prices to get more is a bit contradictory. But hold on and smoke I intend to do, contradiction or not
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.
At least you are not a FIB.
I do long distance riding, so the Penzance night is still on!
Hopefully pipe stud will share is views. It was toxic, a few years back, if you asked $40 for a bag of Stoney here. Things are improving and the mods do a good job now, for the most par, if you decide that route.
I bought to smoke but have moved some blends around just to buy more tobacco or a new pipe. Wasn't there someone here who bought a huge cellar just to sit on? Fancy pipe collection as well if irc.
I bought to smoke but have moved some blends around just to buy more tobacco or a new pipe. Wasn't there someone here who bought a huge cellar just to sit on? Fancy pipe collection as well if irc.
Last edited:
Myself as well. It is nice when Christmas rolls around to be able to open a tin of Christmas Cheer. It's like saying hello to an old friend. It is something I took for granted for years thinking it would never end. Let this be a lesson. All things end.
Tobacco is a personal luxury, it's not for profit, well only if you produce tobacco, just get on and smoke your pipe 
Value for me is all preference. Sure, there's a numerical value for certain blends/brands. But personally, I place value on what I like.
One of my earliest trades was with an older member here, a respected collector. He traded me some Esoterica for D&R Picayune. I thought surely i was ahead in the trade, but we were both happy in the end. This trade taught me id rather have what I like in my cellar than what's valuable. Sometimes it's the high dollar stuff, sometimes it's bulk blends for $30/lb. I don't care about resell value on my tobaccos. I dont stock up to sell. I could understand that being a factor with pipes for some people though.
As far as the market, I think there will always be one. It may eb and flow, sometimes being a slow market. But we've seen over time that people are willing to pay just about anything for some of these blends. And they can have at it.
One of my earliest trades was with an older member here, a respected collector. He traded me some Esoterica for D&R Picayune. I thought surely i was ahead in the trade, but we were both happy in the end. This trade taught me id rather have what I like in my cellar than what's valuable. Sometimes it's the high dollar stuff, sometimes it's bulk blends for $30/lb. I don't care about resell value on my tobaccos. I dont stock up to sell. I could understand that being a factor with pipes for some people though.
As far as the market, I think there will always be one. It may eb and flow, sometimes being a slow market. But we've seen over time that people are willing to pay just about anything for some of these blends. And they can have at it.
The way I've been doing it is: if I like it, I smoke it regardless of value; if I'm on the fence, it depends. I don't like to sell, but will if the price is right. I prefer to trade, which I did several times in the past. I would send some to Pipestud and other vendors, but I find their commission too high. I would rather sell directly for less. Trading works better because I can exchange for tobacco I like better, and usually more of it. Recently I traded a tin of Murray's Nightcap for 500g of G&H No. 7, a trade that worked well for both of us.
It's a fascinating topic. On the surface a tobacco cellar seems like it would be an excellent long term investment
I wonder if a similar thing happened between the time Dunhill announced they were getting out of the blend business and Peterson's announcement they took over most of Dunhill's blends. I can imagine lots of fans paid a pretty penny thinking they'd never get those blends again. I know the ones branded as Dunhill go for more since they've been cellared for six years, we're very lucky the only thing that changed was the logo on the tins; which of course was possible since Dunhill didn't actually produce them and neither does Peterson.
I don't understand your question. Why can't someone sell their aged tobacco for what they're worth? Are you saying that people are undervaluing aged tobacco in general?
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.
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.
The allocated bourbon market is just insane. I actually had a guy approach me in a liquor store, asking me if I had any rare bottles I wanted to sell. Apparently he overheard my conversation with the store owner, surmised I knew what I was talking about, and assumed I had rare bottles. He then told me he didn't actually drink bourbon, but had several storage units he was hoarding it in as an investment. I genuinely hope those storage units collapse.
As for the OP, it would seem the tins that go for the most money are those that are A) Popular and B) No Longer Available. If you could predict which popular blends will become unavailable, such a plan would have value. But absent a crystal ball, it would seem unlikely to prove profitable.
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.
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.
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.I don't understand your question. Why can't someone sell their aged tobacco for what they're worth? Are you saying that people are undervaluing aged tobacco in general?
I don't think that the whales are full. Not from what I'm seeing on tinbids and pipestud. Even if they are, I'm didn't buy to sell so no, I wouldn't feel stuck.
Markets for anything rise and fall, expand, and shrink. If I need to liquidate holdings, then I liquidate them. If I can hold and that would be more advantageous, then I hold. It's risk, so I either accept it or don't take risks. So, no, I don't feel stuck. It's the luck of the draw. And in this case, selling for a 500% profit rather than a 1000% profit and being disappointed seems clueless to the rest of the real world.
A lot of things do, in retrospect. But to be successful, you have to make your move beforehand. People have a bad habit of buying high and needing to sell low because they thought past trends would continue...