So What is the Latest on Dunhill?
- Thread starter elvergun
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According to Dunhill Tobacco's US distributor, yes.
It will be gone when there's nothing left to sell. It's not like there a firm date.
That is a matter of great speculation. Nobody knows.
Many Dunhill blends are top sellers. This makes no sense. I have several tins of my beloved "London Mixture" cellared, however this provides little consolation.
A revered name in tobaccos at one time, but there are many tobaccos that are superior to the fading Dunhill marque.
So, the King is dead; long live the Kings! (Pease, Std. Tobacco of PA, Hearth and Home, Daughters and Ryan, Wilke, Iwan Ries, etc.)
So, the King is dead; long live the Kings! (Pease, Std. Tobacco of PA, Hearth and Home, Daughters and Ryan, Wilke, Iwan Ries, etc.)
I have a little stash of Nightcap cellared for when its NLA. But with Dunhills departure its just an opportunity to try new blends.
I am tempted to hoard as much Dunhill I can get, but then again like these fine fellows mentioned: Dunhill is a good brand, but there are other tobaccos out there that are just as good. Whenever Dunhill will run out we will have to adjust and compensate with whatever else there can be found, and there is plenty of stuff to smoke out there.
I have mixed feelings about Dunhill, sort of like a spurned ex. "Oh, you don't want anything to do with me? Well, I don't want anything to do with you!"
Their blends are very good, but I kinda resent that they want nothing to do with pipe smokers. Sure, STG's licensing agreement is peanuts, and monetarily they won't loose sleep missing us lot, but my instictual reaction was to stop buying their blends.
That said, I got more Royal Yacht, Dunhill Flake and Elizabethan Mixture on the way. So much for my boycott. I'll just make sure to frown while smoking them, I guess.
Their blends are very good, but I kinda resent that they want nothing to do with pipe smokers. Sure, STG's licensing agreement is peanuts, and monetarily they won't loose sleep missing us lot, but my instictual reaction was to stop buying their blends.
That said, I got more Royal Yacht, Dunhill Flake and Elizabethan Mixture on the way. So much for my boycott. I'll just make sure to frown while smoking them, I guess.
It's not a US only thing. BAT is discontinuing the Dunhill pipe blends though Dunhill branded cigarettes will still be sold. It's simple economics. The Dunhill pipe tobacco blends were modest sellers and therefore a small source of revenue. The cigarettes are not.
Now is the time to experiment and find US blends that are as good as or better than whatever Dunhill blend(s) you like. Do it now while you can compare tin-to-tin directly.
I keep whining about this, so why quit now? But I can't imagine why a going brand would just close out. If they do, many others will dive in with matches that co-opt the brand and don't live up to the quality or flavor, and whatever money is made will be lost to the current Dunhill owners whether private individuals or stock owners. If this happens, there is a heck of a tale about business and legal entanglements behind it all, whether the story is told or not. Business news writers with an inclination to move into investigative reporting should take note. You don't just walk away and leave millions on the table. When that happens, someone at the table has the drop on everyone else. This isn't just someone deciding it's time to retire and spend more time with his family.
Obviously "Dunhill" is not a "going brand." Too few units sold to justify the monetary support of the company. Simple, no profit, no product. Nothing different than the "Sears" brand going away. Pontiac being given the "heave ho." BAT is not a "non-profit" company. Neither are they willing to sell part of the "Dunhill" name to keep a relatively small number of pipe smokers happy and possibly cause confusion with regard to a highly esteemed "marque."
Nothing sinister, just good business.
Nothing sinister, just good business.
They weren't making much money on these blends because these blends were no longer big sellers. That's the official line.
They didn't.
Note that Dunhill cigarettes will continue to be made and to be sold. That's where the money is. The pipe tobaccos were small potatoes.
Maybe they will license the recipes under a different name. They also saw the connection of the Dunhill name to tobacco as a fiscal liability.
Besides, outside of the branding, these blends bear little resemblance to the original Dunhill blends. The tobaccos don't go through the same maturing process as the original Dunhill blends. They don't use the same source tobaccos. It's just a brand name.
They may not be what they were years ago.......But, I smoke something Dunhill daily and would very much like to continue doing so. I hope somebody picks up the ball ....
I think Orlik/STG would be insane not to either buy the brand name, or make clones of the mixtures. Shit, K&K made clones of the Peterson mixes when they left them.
After the last post, it then occurred to me that Dunhill match blends might be blocked by the impending FDA regs, but that led me to wonder if, if that happened, some enterprising tobacco retailers wouldn't sell sample kits of various of the grandfathered base and condiment tobaccos to be mixed, in order to match the Dunhill blends. There will be work-arounds. You know they're coming. Dancing with the FDA.
There are, so I've read, matches out there now. Since I smoke Dunhill only occasionally, and am not a fan, I can't name them, but others may.
Besides, it's good to buy American.
Besides, it's good to buy American.
My understanding is that the owners of the Dunhill name wants to eliminate it's association with tobacco products (Can you say irony). I don't know all the particulars as to who owns what or if someone else owns the cigarette trademarks, or if they are going to disappear as well. I seem to recall Brian spelling out the details in one of the past radio show episodes, although I don't know which one. Of course, it could have been the voices in my head telling me all this (lol). If that is true, perhaps the recipes will be sold, maybe the blend names too...as long as they don't mention Dunhill? I gave up on the blend a while ago, in favor of McClelland, Gawith and GLP. I have not tried any of the currently produced stuff.
Mike S.
Mike S.
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