Update on the STG Closure Of Sutliff and Mac Baren

[Servant King]

I've bought more than I can smoke.

+1

About a year and change ago, I set out to do exactly that, and I'm glad I did so. Even if I tripled my current intake, I'm set for life. Nothing any of us can do about the vanishing product pool other than to get the cellar in order tout de suite.

 

[Homer]

I am guessing that the roll cakes will be discontinued since they are mainly hand made.

 

[Pipke]

I used to say this quite a bit, especially right after we toured LaPoche, but... if you saw how little the world's supply of perique is... I mean I could fit it all easily in my garage with enough room to park my car and store yard tools... you start to understand how small the pipe tobacco market is.

Wow. This is a revelation for me. If I buy a couple pounds of real St. James perique then I will have made a measurable dent in the world supply of this tobacco. Funny. Of all of the things I get interested in over my life, I always end up in micro, odd-duck hobbies.

I expect it all to get blown away. My only real interest in these products is the Sutliff blending components and the Mac Baren HH blends. So they say Mac Baren HH is "safe," but only time will tell. I have stocked up to last at least a couple years.

 

[PaulDM]

I always thought there are too many sutliff varieties. Rationalizing their catalog might make sense.

 

[Mike N]

Wow. This is a revelation for me. If I buy a couple pounds of real St. James perique then I will have made a measurable dent in the world supply of this tobacco. Funny. Of all of the things I get interested in over my life, I always end up in micro, odd-duck hobbies.

I expect it all to get blown away. My only real interest in these products is the Sutliff blending components and the Mac Baren HH blends. So they say Mac Baren HH is "safe," but only time will tell. I have stocked up to last at least a couple years.

Smoking Pipes has Sutliff TX020 Louisiana Perique Pipe Tobacco in bulk (8oz for $43). I always keep a bit on hand to spice up boring blends I purchased.

​

 

[sardonicus87]

I always thought there are too many sutliff varieties. Rationalizing their catalog might make sense.

Have you seen the C&D catalog?

 

[ThermionicScott]

Have you seen the C&D catalog?

View attachment 350661

I want to say they had over 400 blends when Laudisi bought them.

 

[Pipke]

Smoking Pipes has Sutliff TX020 Louisiana Perique Pipe Tobacco in bulk (8oz for $43). I always keep a bit on hand to spice up boring blends I purchased.

Got some. I used it to spice up a bit of Autumn Evening (which isn't boring), a sample of C&D John Marr (which is), and perform mad experiments with rum-soaking perique and then smoking it (which was not boring, but a little...much).

 

[Kollman]

I am trying to decide what I would really miss from Sutliff and some of these posts have helped me to identify a few things I might need to add. They really do have a massive catalog and could probably do with some thinning, but then I think about all the boutiques that use them for supply.

What is one blend you would keep and one you would drop?

 

[Hutch Piper]

I am trying to decide what I would really miss from Sutliff and some of these posts have helped me to identify a few things I might need to add. They really do have a massive catalog and could probably do with some thinning, but then I think about all the boutiques that use them for supply.

What is one blend you would keep and one you would drop?

I’m a big fan of Milan Tobacconist’s house blends and they source from Sutliff. So I am concerned about that.

I also really enjoy Sutliff Crumble Cake Red Virginia and John Cotton’s Double Pressed Kentucky. Those could definitely be affected.

 

[damacene]

I hope this doesn't ruin Boswell's Northwoods and Countryside...I heard that Sutliff was the main importer of orientals for most of the US blenders.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

I hope this doesn't ruin Boswell's Northwoods and Countryside...I heard that Sutliff was the main importer of orientals for most of the US blenders.

I have been wondering about Boswell’s and if they use Sutliff. I have enjoyed thoroughly a few of their non-aromatic blends.

 

[wolflarsen]

I hope this doesn't ruin Boswell's Northwoods and Countryside...I heard that Sutliff was the main importer of orientals for most of the US blenders.

Ouch ... reminds me of when McClelland shut down and we lost Shortcut to Mushrooms.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Have you seen the C&D catalog?

View attachment 350661

Cobblestone is K&K and Cult is STG.

 

[buroak]

I wish Laudisi would save Sutliff and partner it with C&D. If you combined both companies’ sourcing and produced the final product at Sutliff, the sporadic mold incidents would disappear and we would have great leaf in the hands of a world-beating blending team.

Is there any way this could be made to happen? Laudisi has done well by Peterson. I think they are more committed to pipe smokers than any company, bar Gawith & Hoggarth.

I am sure I am naively grasping at straws…but maybe I look like an adorably daft child while doing it.

 

[Auxsender]

Who knows, but the reason the industry is consolidating is that sales volume is dropping, so there is excess manufacturing capacity.

Is that why?
I thought it was because capitalists hate competition so they buy politicians to keep antitrust laws weak and then buy and shudder the competition so consumers have no choice but to buy from them.

How many airlines exist in the USA?
How many national grocers?
How many national retail chains?
How many tobacco manufacturers?

There’s plenty of market share, there’s just too much greed to share the market.

Consumer choice is an illusion.

 

[tfdickson]

Is that why?
I thought it was because capitalists hate competition so they buy politicians to keep antitrust laws weak and then buy and shudder the competition so consumers have no choice but to buy from them.

How many airlines exist in the USA?
How many national grocers?
How many national retail chains?
How many tobacco manufacturers?

There’s plenty of market share, there’s just too much greed to share the market.

Consumer choice is an illusion.

For real. Capitalists be like

Every. Time. When will people wake up?

 

[Peterson314]

Is that why?

I mean, the numbers are staggering.

Tobacco is a ~$870 Billion (USD) global industry, with about $78 Billion in the United States alone.

As big as Mac Baren is, STG bought Mac Baren for $76 Million. Mac Baren's revenue last year was about $100 Million, and they only made $12 Million before taxes (EBITDA).

Point being: the tobacco industry is fine, but pipe tobacco is a rounding error.

I have bought what I like now to wade through this upcoming pipe tobacco market recalibration.

 

[sablebrush52]

Is that why?
I thought it was because capitalists hate competition so they buy politicians to keep antitrust laws weak and then buy and shudder the competition so consumers have no choice but to buy from them.

How many airlines exist in the USA?
How many national grocers?
How many national retail chains?
How many tobacco manufacturers?

There’s plenty of market share, there’s just too much greed to share the market.

Consumer choice is an illusion.

It sort of depends on the capitalist. Some prefer competition because it sharpens their skills and they learn from other players. Insights you can appropriate can be very useful.

Others want an advantage, are willing to pay for it, and politicians, regardless of political affiliation, act like there's no such thing as a bad monopoly.

As my late Uncle Cas, the one who founded his own oil company, told me when I was but a young sprout, "Washington is a marble halled whorehouse. Every one of them can be bought and sold if the price is right."

Still...

Consumer choice isn't completely an illusion...

yet.

 

[buroak]

For real. Capitalists be like

Every. Time. When will people wake up?

I want to adhere to the no-politics proviso, but I think someone should point out that this may be payback for all the times Americans have railed against Scandinavian socialism. This might just be the Dane’s “Coward of the County” moment proving how wide of the mark all the taunting has been.