Thank you, Jens Therkelsen!

[eyjaygaming]

There are unsung heroes in the pipe tobacco world, and Jens is definitly one of them. Jens Therkelsen was the production manager for Mac Baren - and today we had to say goodbye, as he had to leave the company.
As production manager, Jens had been mainly responsible for half of the worlds pipe tobacco supply. For Mac Baren, Sutliff and countless private label brands around the world.

Brought on more than 10 years ago, he lead the production team, guiding our processes - and was traveling the globe, helping to grade and secure our raw leaf from exotic places. Whereas you had people like Per Jensen in the spotlight with pipe smokers, Jens was the guy making tobaccos with his team day to day. Cutting, flavoring, pressing, steaming, cavendishing, rolling good quality tobacco. Looking back, personally I think we at Mac Baren didn't do the best job highlighting these people to the pipe community. Because Jens is a rock star.

I have learned a great deal about tobacco from Jens... and to be honest, this is a really painful departure.

Jens, mission fuldført! Tak!

(I thought I should share this, and got Jens' permission to write about him.)

 

[wyfbane]

Hope he finds a great landing somewhere.

 

[JoburgB2]

Thank you for posting. We were the beneficiaries of the work of Jens and his team.

 

[BingBong]

I would have liked to quiz and cajole him over Three Nuns and the recipe. What was the story there, I wonder.

 

[NeoXerxes]

Thank you to Jens and good luck! I hope the industry continues to benefit from his experience. Mac Baren was consistently excellent and it sounds like Jens is part of the reason for that excellence.

 

[eyjaygaming]

I would have liked to quiz and cajole him over Three Nuns and the recipe. What was the story there, I wonder.

He can't know, and I'll tell you why! We produced it the same way with the receipe we received from Imperial when we bought the brand. STG had produced it for them for a long time before we took over - due to shortage issues Perique was removed back then (while also simultaneously removing the Perique from Orliks Golden Sliced). In short: we produced it the way we got it.

Our attempt to recreate an "original" version (whatever that means) was Three Nuns Green with Perique. Which didnt sell well at all and we had to discontinue. Hope this helps!

 

[Brendan]

Best of luck to you guys post MacBaren.
Did Jens have a favourite MacBaren blend? Assuming he is a smoker of course.

 

[eyjaygaming]

Best of luck to you guys post MacBaren.
Did Jens have a favourite MacBaren blend? Assuming he is a smoker of course.

Actually he was not, even though he is maybe only one of a dozen people on the planet that can grade and produce pipe tobacco on such a scale and intensity. Of course he test-smokes tobacco and even raw leaf when he visited Brazil or India and knew what good tobacco is. When asked regularly by people if I'm disappointed with a lot of the guys not being pipe smokers, I usually say "X doesn't need to be a pipe smoker. He/she needs to be a good producer". Jens had given his life to his craft with much more dedication than the a pipe smoker could ever do. For exampole: The two ladies hand producing our roll cakes have never smoked in their entire life.

His Dad, who is very fond of, was a pipe smoker. His favorite blend was Mac Baren Symphony/Harmony.

 

[BingBong]

He can't know, and I'll tell you why! We produced it the same way with the receipe we received from Imperial when we bought the brand. STG had produced it for them for a long time before we took over - due to shortage issues Perique was removed back then (while also simultaneously removing the Perique from Orliks Golden Sliced). In short: we produced it the way we got it.

Our attempt to recreate an "original" version (whatever that means) was Three Nuns Green with Perique. Which didnt sell well at all and we had to discontinue. Hope this helps!

Wow, that's interesting, thank you. I personally never saw the Green here in the UK, although some may have been around; pity it didn't take off.

I don't believe that present day OGS has any perique either, to my palate, although that blend is an STG thing now anyway.

 

[Snook]

Good luck to you, Jens!

 

[OzPiper]

@eyjaygaming
Thank you for posting.
And thank you Jens and to everyone at MacBaren for your work and dedication.
I hope you all land on your feet and go on to better things after the closure.

 

[sablebrush52]

He can't know, and I'll tell you why! We produced it the same way with the receipe we received from Imperial when we bought the brand. STG had produced it for them for a long time before we took over - due to shortage issues Perique was removed back then (while also simultaneously removing the Perique from Orliks Golden Sliced). In short: we produced it the way we got it.

Our attempt to recreate an "original" version (whatever that means) was Three Nuns Green with Perique. Which didnt sell well at all and we had to discontinue. Hope this helps!

My understanding at that time was that Mac Baren bought the recipe for the Virginia Kentucky version and Savinelli Doblone D’Oro was Per’s recreation of the Va/Per Three Nuns.

 

[jpberg]

Well, if he’s only been there ten years, then he’s not responsible for those mouth immolating tins of flammables that I learned to avoid in the late eighties.
Regardless, I’m always sorry when a guy loses a job he’s passionate about.
Best of luck to him.