Tobacco Source

[goalee1]

General question on where companies and shops source their tobacco from. Do companies and shops which blend tobacco have certain places where they get their tobacco's from and are they exclusive to per say the individual company/shop? For example, in the cigar world, every company has a specific farm which they get their tobacco from which in turn gives the specific company its profile i.e. Arturo Fuente has their own farms where they produce tobacco and this tobacco is what Fuente uses in rolling their cigars.
I was curious about this as through my travels, I see a lot of shops that have their own blends. Are they bought by the shop and rebranded with the shops given name by a specific company?

Are there tobaccos that are bought and then mixed by the shop, with the shop not sure of origin (is there one location where shops get bulk tobacco's and then blend these to create their "house" blends?

I know that C&D grows, cures and blends their own tobacco but that seems to be the minority of available tobacco's. G1

 

[papipeguy]

Based on what I know from hanging out at the B&M for 20 years the shrt answer is both. Many B&M "house blends" are from Altadis and Lane Ltd. 1Q is a popular example. For the "custom blends" that are done in house the B&M's

purchase the blending tobaccos from the two mentioned and probably others. They then add their own sauces and/or toppings and perform any of the other presses that are required for their blends and mixtures.

So while some are pretty univerals with ionly the shop's name on them making a difference there are some very fine blends executed on site. Hearth&Home is just one example. I sincerely doiubt that any have their own tobacco growing operations as it would be too cost prohibitive for small operations.

 

[judcole]

Papipeguy's statements go along with what I know. Has Greg Pease touched on this in any of his Q&A sessions?

 

[cigrmaster]

I just ran into a situation last night when I visited a tobacconist who allegedly has custom blends. I picked out a couple of samples and lit one up this morning and was disappointed. The sample had to be something from McClelland because the minute the smoke touched my tongue, I got that acid burn that only McClelland can deliver. Needless to say I will be giving away the 2 samples I got. I honestly don't know how anyone smokes any type of Virginia blend that McClelland makes. I have tried so many over the years and always get the same acid burn.

 

[photoman13]

I have been curious about this myself. I am a lot less experienced then most of you guys but I would assume most of time the little b&ms don't cure their own tobacco. Just as papipeguy stated I suppose.
Oh and on a side note, you could always give your samples to this guy.