Tobacco Availability

[trucha]

Hi,
I recently decided to branch out into tinned tobaccos. It seems that a lot of these are hard to find or non-existant anymore. Is this normal? How does this compare with years past? Is it because there are alot more pipe smokers buying a lot more tobacco, or are there alot less and companies are producing fewer tins? Anyway, just curious.

 

[wnghanglow]

You gotta be a bit more specific here, a tin can be unavailable because it is discontinued or because whichever site your own is out of stock or any reason inbetween.

 

[timely]

Esoterica Blends can be hard to get, when it is in stock it sells quickly. This is one brand of tobacco that if you get a chance to buy, buy it. Penzance, Stonehaven among others are hard to get. There are also some other blends that sell quickly ODF comes to mind.

 

[rmbittner]

It seems that a lot of these are hard to find or non-existant anymore.

What wnghanglow said. I shop at smokingpipes.com regularly, and they have several hundred different tinned blends in stock, always.
Bob

 

[trucha]

Wow that was fast. My B$M had a really funny selection. But they did have Balkan Sobaranie which I can;t find anywhere online. Others that I looked for was penzance, Solani Silver flake, JF Germain (I cant remember which) and Kingfisher by Butera and SG squadron leader tin. All of these came highly reccommended and were all out. Reading other forums it seems like it is quite common for tobaccos to be out of stock and I am just wondering why that is. Is it temporary?

 

[wnghanglow]

I don't know every one of those brands but the ones I do know are just massively over hyped right now, luckily tobacco is an industry that will not lower it's production standards to meet passing phased of popularity. Uivky for us, the very popular blends sell out quickly. My suggestion is either call lots and lots of mom and pop shops or try a just as good less popular brand. My personal favorites are at pipesandcigars the bran is hearth and home. They have every type you could want, fair prices, and almost always have everything in stock!

 

[wnghanglow]

Also, welcome to the forums!

 

[rmbittner]

Balkan Sobaranie which I can;t find anywhere online. Others that I looked for was penzance, Solani Silver flake, JF Germain (I cant remember which) and Kingfisher by Butera and SG squadron leader tin

That's helpful! Here's what I can tell you: Balkan Sobranie is a reissue (I can't say how accurate it is, since i haven't tried this new version) of what is, for many, the pinnacle of English/Balkan blends. So you will definitely find it very scarce. If your local has it, you should pick it up. Pronto.
Most Germain/Esoterica blends can be tough to find at times, especially Stonehaven, Margate, Penzance, Kingfisher, and Pelican. Germain (which produces the Esoterica blends) is a very small producer and their blends are highly regarded. Demand frequently outstrips supply.
That said, both the Solani Silver Flake and Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader are in stock at smokingpipes.com. I don't think either of these blends should be hard to find (especially from online retailers).
Unfortunately, you've started out looking for some of the scarcest blends. But they are all still technically "in production" (as far as I know!), so you should keep an eye out -- and be prepared to move quickly -- for when they do come back in stock. (If you sign up at smokingpipes.com, you can set e-mail alerts for the specific blends you're looking for. But you should plan to purchase within minutes of getting the in-stock notice. Recently, Stonehaven's in-stock alert generated so much response that they sold out within minutes.)

 

[judcole]

rmbittner said it all.

 

[trucha]

I recently moved and my local bnm is a cigar shoppe really. And really expensive. Tins are 15-20 dollars lane bulks are $7-8 an oz. that is more than double from the last place I lived. Except for the balkan soberanie one of their cheapest. I really should go back and get some more. I am really not a loyal customer and he'd probably charge me an arm and leg if he special ordered something.
Anyway I am asking becasue I was wondering if the out of stocks are temporary or of a more recent phenomena. I was wondering if I should stock up if I see something or just wait and buy as they come available. I was also wondering if pipe smoking was becoming really popular lately.
One more question: Has pricing gone up substatially in the last 2-5-10 years? If so how much?

 

[trucha]

Oh that's interesting. I listened to the pipe show podcast last night and they said there is a spike in demand that has caught a lot of the small producers off guard. Interesting. Also, texas has high taxes is funny. I looked it up and my new state and former state are in the middle of the pack for tobac taxes so that doesn't explain the high prices at my local b&m.
Anyway, what is this new federal regulation? Who is sponsonring it? Bill #? I'd like to call my congressman. Has this been passed yet? I doubt it.

 

[cigrmaster]

trucha, welcome to the forum. People like me are the cause of many of the shortages you see at the online vendors. We are stocking up big time for when prices go through the roof. This is a fairly new phenomena because as early as this fall, shortages on many brands was not an issue. Yes Stonehaven, SG FVF, St James and Penzance have been in short supply for years, but many off brand flakes specifically were not. Flakes from Wessex were never an issue getting but now some are as hard to find as the above mentioned. Some of this has to do with people looking for alternatives to things like FVF and Stonehaven and finding they liked these blends and are loading up.
I believe these shortages will continue until legislation is passed jacking up prices, once that happens you will see a huge drop off in buying, mfgs will have tons of supply and many blends may be discontinued as some mfgs go out of business. If you are serious about pipe smoking my advice is to load up while you can before it is too late. Calling small mom and pop stores in the low tax states is one option that has worked well for me. it takes time and effort but it can pay off big time.