The Psychology Of Cellaring

[akfilm]

A good read with the OP. I fall in between. I have a small cellar that gets built up for when my contract jobs are going well, and I stock up, there's also a few blends that I find I like better after a year or so mellowing out. Then, when times are lean, I have a stockpile of my favorites to lean on. Sadly, the state of my cellar is starting to look quite bare as I have gone through the longest stretch of slow times in a long time, but I still have some fine tobacco to smoke which always brings a smile to my face and warmth to my soul. When next I come into some money I'll rebuild my stash.

 

[sablebrush52]

If someone posts anything about a favorite blend, they generally sell out quickly, and not necessarily from just one person. This is why I would discourage anyone from posting what their favorite blend is. Have you ever heard Brian Levine tell what his favorite blend is on the radioshow? Nope, because he knows there would be a mad rush to buy it up.

Exactly. This is why I extol the virtues of Dan Tobacco's Holly's Non Plus Ultra.
The Charles Foster Kane theory of cellaring aside, which Orson Wells admitted was "dime book psychology", there's one phrase I like that the OP wrote:

Awareness and free choice underpin whether our decisions are rational or not.

though awareness and free choice clearly aren't a bulwark against irrationality. I'm more in the Samuel Clemens camp that people are largely crazy monkeys, including me. After all, if we were perfectly rational, none of us would smoke.
Having been a pipe smoker for about 45 years, I have more of an expectation that I will continue to do so, than not, though I can't predict the future, or when my ticket will get punched.
But the reasons that I cellar are simple and I stated them in another thread here just a few days ago. For me, smoking a pipe is all about flavors. I like that I can enjoy the flavor of a particular blend when I want it, because I've stocked it. I like that I'm largely immune to supply and demand, tax increases, price increases, changes to blends that make them less enjoyable, production bans, potential internet sales bans, or crazed hoarding. I like to have blends to share with others. I like the flavors of many blends that have aged for at least 4 years and I'm not going to get to enjoy that if I don't put them away to age.
In other words, I cellar tobacco for the same reasons that I used to cellar wines.
I cellar what I like to smoke, with the exception of Penznace, which I dislike, and the reasons that I cellar that particular blend is so that I can share it with friends who can't ever find it, or for trading.
If none of this matters to you, then don't cellar. There will still be a lot of good choices, even after the ax falls in August of 2018.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I'm Irish. I only cellar because it pisses off the Brits, and that brings me great joy.

Careful! It may be a cunning plan on the part of the Brits to get you to buy more and more!!
Good to see the hombre posting again.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have seen many blends that I have enjoyed over the past three decades go extinct, and prices are ever on the rise, so cellaring is far from crazy. And as for clearing the shelves, it's less about consideration for others, and more about having it there when you want it. Buying it up keeps it in demand, and keeps it in production.

 

[jpmcwjr]

There are crazies in both camps, and not because of tobacco hoards or lack thereof!
Both are rational choices, and I am closer to the non-cellaring "model" than the other. I have a couple years supply, and will add Margate whenever available, as well as regular-ish purchases of other favorites, plus the "try something new now" B+M purchases.

 

[monty55]

+1 what sablebrush said.
The OP left out a very important reason for cellaring, at least for me. The aging of the tobacco greatly increases the pleasure of the flavors, for me. Much like cellaring wine.
Do I cellar because I'm anxious about the future price or availability of pipe tobacco? No
I cellar because I treasure the flavors from a 5+ yr old tin, and at the time I have the funds to do it. Five yrs from now I might not have the funds. And if I wanted a 5 yr old tin of my favorite I'd have to pay quite a premium, assuming I could find what I wanted.
Case in point yesterday I ordered 15 tins of one of my new favorites. Not because I'm worried it won't be there or that it might increase in price, although that's a consideration. The main reason was because I bought a 7 yr old tin of the same from Pipestud a few yrs back, and it's the finest thing I've ever smoked. I bought a new tin, and while it was good, it was nothing like the aged tin.
It's much simpler and less expensive to buy it myself now, and enjoy it down the road.

 

[iamn8]

I believe you made a mistake in titling this thread. Likely just a typo or small oversight. I believe what you intended to say was "The Psychopathology Of Tobacco Hoarders". Not a huge deal, but I felt it needed addressing

 

[bigbee]

+1 on cellaring for flavor evolution.

People's ingenuity goes a long way, should the tobaccoalypse happen or is happening at this moment, we'll find a way to get a pipefull of tobacco . Grow your own, black market, ... buying second hand cellars of those who quit smoking...

I still have to find a country where forbidden substances like tobacco or alcohol are in fact really unavailable.

 

[philobeddoe]

To the O.P....1) I enjoy smoking my pipes. 2) There is now and has been for several years now, a trend of tobacco prices rising and of tobacco blends disappearing and this trend is very likely to continue towards an unpleasant endpoint of zero online sales of tobacco products and a greatly reduced local availability of very expensive and limited stock. 3) I would like to keep on enjoying my pipes. 4) Therefore I cellar tobacco.

 

[simong]

Tobacco cellaring: common sense & makes perfect sense to me.
Tobacco hoarders: to quote the late, great terry thomas, 'an absolute shower'!

 

[mackeson]

there are lots of guys who make big bucks turning the Esoterica trick. Easy money.

You are right Cosmic.

That was one of my motivations for giving out samples of Stonehaven a while back. I enjoy the tobacco, but do not like the "Unicorn" aspect of it. Everyone has their own sense of right and wrong, but the $150 for 8 oz of Stonehaven has always seemed like an asshole move to me.

 

[cally454]

It's economics to me too. I just smiled at my mac barren hh stash when ol per put the hammer down

 

[mawnansmiff]

"Jay, I still don't understand why people buying tobacco in large quantities bothers you."
Ash you have totally missed my point which was by all means buy tobacco in quantity but do leave some behind for your fellow smoker to buy.
How difficult can that be to understand?



"It's a dog eat dog world whether we like it or not"
Mothernature, that is a very sad indictment to hear.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[mackeson]

I agree and dis-agree with you, Jay. While I personally don't cellar a large amount, I can certainly understand the idea of stocking up on one's favorite blend(s). I've stocked up on a couple, within my financial comfort zone, of a couple of my favorites, but I don't buy more than a few tins at a time. I understand that those with the means or desire to go a little deeper may be right and those of us who just buy a couple may be shorting ourselves. I will not, and cannot, go crazy with the cellaring/collecting, but to each his own.

 

[sablebrush52]

Ash you have totally missed my point which was by all means buy tobacco in quantity but do leave some behind for your fellow smoker to buy.
How difficult can that be to understand?

I happen to agree with this sentiment and don't ever wipe out the unobtanium stock. But you have to remember that you're reasoning with people with severe anxiety disorders.

 

[mackeson]

It's a dog eat dog world whether we like it or not

I completely agree, but think it's a sad reality rather than a philosophy to be embraced. At least that's what I teach my two young boys while trying to get them to be kind, caring, compassionate men.

 

[jefff]

I until this last year I cellared Virginias and VaPers exclusively. Mostly because I love then, I had the money, and I have never been disappointed in a 5-10 year old Va. I have never cellared and tobacco I didn't really enjoy. I don't have 10 tins of Chelsea Morning for any reason other than I really like it.
This last year I have added a few Lat blends... maybe 30 -40 tins that might soon be gone.
The one thing I know for sure is that tobacco will never be cheaper than it is today. If you have a few bucks, why not buy a few more tins?

 

[fishingandpipes]

Interesting thread.
I have a sizeable amount of tobacco. Other than this and outside of books, I'm not much of a "hoarder". I also don't buy too much in to the aging of tobacco as I like what I like as it comes, as well as aged, and I can't say I noticed a huge amount of difference between the two. Though perhaps that's just because I don't have a strong palate.
I think it ended up like this for three reasons:
#1, my local tobacconist has a limited number of blends. Don't get me wrong - they're one of the best in the country. But no physical shop has everything.
#2 - it costs a LOT more. I love going there, I still spend my money there, but it's rare that I'll buy a number of cans of something from them at one go, and I like to switch things up from bowl to bowl and day to day - variety is the spice of life.
#3 - well, if I'm buying online, I don't want to pay shipping for just one or two cans. Poor logic, but, there you go. This is certainly a psychological reason.
So, it just kind of accumulated. In the grand scheme of things, I remember pounds of Sam Gawith blends being under $30, and now they're around $60, so, I guess it's working out. But I won't say that it doesn't feel odd and that I wouldn't prefer Jensen's method he describes above.

 

[fitzy]

It's all Harris' fault. Aka Cigrmaster

:nana:

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

Mothernature, that is a very sad indictment to hear.

I'm sorry it makes you sad, but dire times call for dire action. I can't be alone in my sentiment, but may be alone in my willingness to state it. We live in a day and age where there has been a war on tobacco waged and tobacco isn't winning. It will never be cheaper nor more available than now. I'm only responding to the current landscape. I wish it were different, but it's not.

But you have to remember that you're reasoning with people with severe anxiety disorders.

This is the truth. I'm 40 years old and want to smoke the blends I like now for the rest of my life. It's not a matter of if, but when (in some cases it's already begun) will access to tobacco become more restricted, blends cease to exist, and prices significantly increase. Also, I work in non-profit and I'm here to tell you that there is absolutely no security in this field. I must buy tobacco now because I may not be able to tomorrow.

I happen to agree with this sentiment and don't ever wipe out the unobtanium stock.

I do too, and I don't have the funds to wipe out stock even if I wanted to. I buy the limits placed on hard to find blends like Stonehaven and Penzance when they come around which is usually 1 or 2 bags or tins. That's if I'm lucky enough to get in on them before they're gone. There are sometimes limits of 10 tins a day on blends like Aylesbury Luxury Flake, and I can't afford 10 tins at $13 a tin. I usually buy 5 tins every month or two if they're in stock. In fact, I can't ever recall ordering more than 10 tins of any blend at a given time. I know there are people that will order hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars worth of tobacco at a time, but that's not me. I buy what I can when I can.