"Special Occasion Smoke" Cost or Scarcity?

[Briar Baron]

We often see the term "special occasion smoke" but I started to think that different folks may have different criteria for this allocation.
Myself it is usually scarcity but I also understand that some of the reasons to keep a tobacco back can be that said tobacco was double the cost say of their usual tobacco or there may even be other reasons (maybe too strong unless followed up after a big Christmas dinner?)
So for me it is scarcity and the unfortunate fact that more may not be able to be obtained (even if willing to pay the re-sellers inflated ebay prices). I say this so that the direct link between cost and scarcity is not made for the purpose of this discussion.
Any thoughts?

 

[ashdigger]

Scarcity

 

[davet]

Special occasion I'll smoke my favorite, that's what I enjoy the most. Simple as that.

 

[5star]

Scarcity in terms of my own cellar. I have relatively small amounts of aged, discontinued baccy that I know I won't be able to replace. Those are savored & smoked on special occasions.

 

[tennsmoker]

Scarcity is my mantra. I have been buying two to four tins at a time since the 1980s thinking that one day a manufacturer just simply might not consider it profitable to produce my favorite blend.

Today we have to worry about the tobacco Apocalypse. So, again, I have been stashing for the last years trying to keep my cellar full of favored blends.

I do like my favorites, however, and I grudgingly smoke them on special occasions. One is McClelland's 2015. No longer is the tobacco available, but neither is McClelland!

You have to be ready for any event these days, so it seems.

 

[dethmutt]

I have a couple pounds of Nightcap. I christin new pipes with it. and smoke it on special occasion.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I smoke what I'm in the mood for at the moment. McClelland, Dunhill, Esoterica, or Kingfisher. If and when I run out, there's always more tobacco in the closet or more to buy. You only live once and you may get struck down before getting to try that tin that's been put up for years.

 

[Chasing Embers]

savored

I've always found that an interesting choice for rarity. It means to completely enjoy. I completely enjoy every bowl.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Scarcity. My McClelland has all become special occasion.

 

[jaytex1969]

The closest I've come to a special occasion smoke was timing my start with LJ Peretti's Thanksgiving Blend to the beginning of November. Since I rarely seek out "aromatics:, I guess it was special.
To be honest, I have so much open tobacco and "sample" bags laying around, I consider it a special occasion when I finish one off and have one less to deal with.

 

[mikethompson]

Canadian here, so both.

 

[mrmachado]

I don't have this kind of self-control.
I always ended up smoking "special" cigars as soon as possible and the same is happening with the scarce tobaccos that I can't find locally.

 

[workman]

I don't get the special occasion thing. What I want to smoke changes from day to day, depending on mood and other things. A "special occasion" doesn't suddenly make me want to smoke something else. I have a few discontinued blends in the cupboard. I don't save them for a certain occasion. I might smoke them less frequently to make them last a bit, but when a tin is popped, I smoke it.

 

[sablebrush52]

There are a few blends that I smoke only occasionally, like Stonehaven or RDF, but not due to scarcity. I just don't feel like smoking them often, but fully enjoy them when the mood hits. I do have a couple of very rare tins that I'm holding onto for a special occasion when I can enjoy them in the shared company of friends.

 

[scloyd]

I only smoke one bowl a day. Every afternoon between 2:00-3:00 is a special occasion for me...a special occasion of the day.

 

[seanv]

When I have the time to sit alone and then the world off is when I smoke certain pipes and blends.

 

[kcghost]

I had 2001 OPusX Tribute cigar that the Fuentes had given all the proceeds to the 9/11 fund. I smoked it on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 shortly after Bin Laden had been killed. Never had a more satisfying smoke. I don't think most people have that kind of patience. So scarcity of the smoke plus a really good occasion.

 

[jpmcwjr]

What 5star said:

Scarcity in terms of my own cellar. I have relatively small amounts of aged, discontinued baccy that I know I won't be able to replace. Those are savored & smoked on special occasions.

 

[olkofri]

It'd be based on a favourite, rather than availability. Only... I don't have a favourite blend yet.
Truth be told, for especial occasions I open my humidor and grab a cigar.

 

[bnichols23]

Kind of a davet & Anthony hybrid here. I love my favorite blend so much that it's the go-to for nearly any occasion, but I have a few tins of my McC blends like FM or Erik Nording Hunter Retriever that I only crack when I'm in certain moods.
And then of course there's the ever-superior BF. Hard NOT to consider that for a special bowl.