Top Tier Tobaccos

[BriarLinedMeer]

Very subjective I know, I've recently had the chance to try some premium English blends (Thanks heaps aye, you know who you are) and I had a bit of a thought.

Penzance is hyped up massively, for good reason mind you, however, while its an amazing blend, I have to say I can't say its better or any worse than Plum Pudding Special Reserve.

I think it's way overpriced for what it is, and was wanting to know where the hype came from?

 

[woodsroad]

Neither the price or the hype surrounding Penzance come from the manufacturer. They come from consumers, driving the secondary market.

As for Penzance and Plum Pudding Super Duper Very Extra Special Reserve, I would beg to differ.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Penzance is hyped up massively, for good reason mind you,

Get some LJ Peretti Royal and you'll forget you ever smoked Penzance or anything from Seattle Pipe Club. The only thing that made Penzance highly desirable were a few missed shipments in the late 2000s. It can often be found at retail at B&Ms.?

 

[judcole]

Very subjective I know, I've recently had the chance to try some premium English blends (Thanks heaps aye, you know who you are) and I had a bit of a thought.

Penzance is hyped up massively, for good reason mind you, however, while its an amazing blend, I have to say I can't say its better or any worse than Plum Pudding Special Reserve.

I think it's way overpriced for what it is, and was wanting to know where the hype came from?

Back in the early 2000s, I smoked some Penzance, when it was easy to find, and thought it was pretty nice. Set aside a few extra tins.
The, all of a sudden, there's all these folks going nuts over Penzance, and it's not so easily available - mixed shipments, whatever it was - and high prices on the aftermarket, and I just thought to myself, "Screw it, I am not going chasing after this." I smoked what I had, over a few years, and stopped worrying about it.
There's an awful lot of nice blends out there. I refuse to play these chicken little, the sky is falling, the Feds are gonna ban mail-order sales, it's the end of the world because I can't buy 150 tins of whatever it is, games. It's tobacco that I smoke in my pipe.
YMMV.

 

[FurCoat]

I agree with @Chasing Embers. LJP makes great English blends. Royal, Omega and Tashkent are wonderful.
Lancer Slices might be an option if you like Penzance and comes in bulk.
I bought a 8oz bag of Penzance last month for 46 bucks at a B&M which comes out to 5.27 an oz. SPC Plum Pudding and Reserve comes out to 8.25 an oz.

 

[captpat]

Well, we're all a bit different when it comes to taste in tobaccos; one man's treasure is another's dreck. I like Penzance, it's not my favorite English but it's pretty good (IMO And so to Bed is better). I haven't purchased any for the cellar since the price went out of control. That said deals can be found if one is patient and looks around at B&Ms. SPC Plum Pudding SR is good, though not as good as Penzance.

Part of the fun of pipe smoking is the wide variety of blends and blenders to be sampled, some are widely available and relatively inexpensive as well. Enjoy the journey.

 

[WNCLEE28466]

I agree with you. SPC's Plum Pudding is a "special" tobacco in its own right. Still my favorite after all these years. If folks tried Plum Pudding Special Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged, they wouldn't worry so much trying to get the much heralded Penzance...

 

[ak2000]

I always thought C&D Sunset Harbor Flake was better than Penzance back when I smoked Latakia blends more often. Never cared for Plum Pudding, something in the casing didn't agree with me from what I recall.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

Neither the price or the hype surrounding Penzance come from the manufacturer. They come from consumers, driving the secondary market.

Seconding this, 8oz bags of Esoterica retail for 37.50 for me. Which comparatively is fairly cheap, and far and away from being overpriced.

That said, the Esoterica I've tried I have enjoyed but wasn't blown away by. It's good tobacco and worth it's asking price, but that's it. The secondary prices are insane.

I guess I'm thankful it doesn't happen with the tobaccos I really enjoy and smoke a lot.

 

[bullet08]

Don't know Panzer or whatever that's called. Balkan Supreme is nice Oriental forward Latakia at basement price for every man.

 

[shanez]

Penzance is quite nice and worth its retail price but worth nowhere near scalper prices.

For a cheap bulk blend that's maybe not quite as good as Penzance but still great, and affordable, try Balkan Supreme.

Lately I've really been liking From Beyond but it was a limited edition.

Probably my favorite English, and one of the best, would be Squadron Leader.

 

[SmokeClouds]

Look at the LJ Peretti catalog. Many of their tobacco blends are excellent.

 

[MRW]

Look at the LJ Peretti catalog. Many of their tobacco blends are excellent.

I ordered three 8oz tins yesterday from LJP yesterday and I am looking forward to trying their products.

 

[Streeper541]

In my humble opinion, Penzance is to pipe tobacco what OBJ is to the NFL... overhyped, overpriced and underperforming.
Yes, I said it. No, I didn't stutter.

 

[Philosopiper]

Original plum pudding is better than special reserve.

 

[woodsroad]

In my humble opinion, Penzance is to pipe tobacco what OBJ is to the NFL... overhyped, overpriced and underperforming.
Yes, I said it. No, I didn't stutter.

You are conflating Penzance (the tobacco blend and brand name) with the hyperbole created by people who have absolutely nothing to do with the creation, manufacture and distribution of the product. On it's own, Penzance is a fantastic blend. At the distributor MSRP level, it is fairly priced. Everything else is external to the product and created in the secondary market, something that he manufaturer has zero control over.

 

[kcghost]

Plum Pudding is just another tobacco. Some people like it and some don't.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

View attachment 127071


Get some LJ Peretti Royal and you'll forget you ever smoked Penzance or anything from Seattle Pipe Club. The only thing that made Penzance highly desirable were a few missed shipments in the late 2000s. It can often be found at retail at B&Ms.?

Capt., the B&M tip is frustrating for the crew that just wants the answer. ??️

 

[SmokeRings79]

Plum Pudding is very nice. Never smoked Penzance. But on that note - what the f**k is national plum pudding day? I like the blend, but if we are going to have a day for a specific blend I have some better ideas... Isn't it how the whole Santa story began?

 

[sablebrush52]

I thought this was going to be a discussion about how people rank different tobacco brands, not another diss on Penzance. Very disappointing.

So what do y'all think of Borkum Riff? Isn't it just the BEST quality tobacco? Why are you wasting your hard earned dollars on Limey crap when you could smoke the Riff? Seattle? That's pansy land.