Tobaccos Exclusive To England

[condorlover1]

I do every Saturday as you well know my friend!

 

[Frozenoak]

I'd make my purchases from one of the many USA vendors of current production tobacco - especially the ones who are sponsors on this website. You'll pay a lot more by getting tobacco from almost every other country out there. We may complain about the USA (and often with good reason), but just ask those outside the USA what kind of taxes they are having to pay to get pipe tobacco and it'll help you realize that USA purchasing is a whole lot less expense and you get more variety, too. There are very few tobaccos exclusive to England that you can't get over here.

Approximately 70% of my cellar is from sponsors of this site (including yours). 25% is from one of 3 local-ish B&Ms. The rest is hard to find stuff. I'm not trying to circumvent the market, I'm trying to capitalize on an opportunity to have something hard to get in my cellar.

 

[northernpipeshed]

I'd make my purchases from one of the many USA vendors of current production tobacco - especially the ones who are sponsors on this website. You'll pay a lot more by getting tobacco from almost every other country out there. We may complain about the USA (and often with good reason), but just ask those outside the USA what kind of taxes they are having to pay to get pipe tobacco and it'll help you realize that USA purchasing is a whole lot less expense and you get more variety, too. There are very few tobaccos exclusive to England that you can't get over here.

Pipestud is about right..... I live in the UK. Unless you can find a tobacconist..... which are few and far between.... you will get very little choice in the supermarket / corner shop..... if any! Greens of Leeds have closed the B&m as far as I am aware.... They have a really good selection online.... as Smoke King.... There are literally a handful of good tobacconists left in the UK. As an example I live near Sunderland.... with a population of around 275,000.....no tobacconist! Sad times.... I HAVE 1 local B&M in Durham with a limited but good selection.... but as Pipestud says..... there's not much you can't get on line in the USA.... Maybe a few G&H...

 

[northernpipeshed]

and remember 2oz.......around £15!.....at least

 

[docrameous]

I HAVE 1 local B&M in Durham with a limited but good selection.... but as Pipestud says..... there's not much you can't get on line in the USA.... Maybe a few G&H...

Some tobacconists in the UK are combined with other goods, like candy or luxury men’s items. I.e. Thorns of Harpenden and Harrison & Simmonds of Bedford. Then there are a classic few like the Black Swan Shoppe in Wakefield, J.J. Fox in London, The Pipeshop in Edinburgh etc. B & Ms are a dying breed and usually their selection is not super wide.

Small shops and supermarkets don’t openly display tobacco and the packaging has warning pictures of victims of all sorts to dissuade you from buying. So there’s not a lot of OTC selling that I can see, or at least have bothered to really check out.

When I am over in England I always trying to pop into B & Ms for the pleasure and to support them, but sometimes traffic and parking are a pain and you can usually save a bit by buying online.

The upside is that Samuel Gawith blends are from my experience easy to find. Also Germains blends can be had over here pretty easily and I am not sure that I have ever seen them for sale in the US. If all I had was Samuel Gawith and Germains to smoke, I would be very happy... oh yeah, throw in some Mac Baren blends as well.

On the upside, when I was in the Black Swan Shoppe last month the owner told me that sales in the last few years have gone up every year, particularly in younger people getting into cigars and then they try out a pipe. There are a few pipe clubs around, with the most high profile probably being Pipe Club Of London.

I think similar to the US, specialty shops of any kind are difficult to maintain without a corresponding online business. Their reach and convenience of online is too hard to beat in what is a niche market. The good news is that we have access to way more blends than our grandfathers did who pretty much smoked one or two blends with a single pipe. They certainly didn’t have the means to cellar either!

 

[londonbriar]

I have a coworker going to Leeds for business next week. He’s amicable to buy me some tobacco and bring it back. What are some blends I should request? He passes a B&M in Leeds when he’s there. I don’t know how far $100US goes there but that’s my budget.

I guess that since this was posted back in February, you have your stash now. What did you go for in the end?

My advice would always be to go for JF Germain's. They are usually plentiful over here, yet rare as hens teeth in the USA. They also still exhibit that 'old world' quality, comparable to any vintage UK tobacco I have tasted.

Special Latakia Flake, King Charles, Rich Dark Flake and Brown Flake are particular favourites. But of course, being across the pond, you have access to Smokers Haven's JFG blends, which are superb.

Steve