Update on the STG Closure Of Sutliff and Mac Baren

[sablebrush52]

I'm sure there's enough shelf space for the Mac Baren/Suliff big sellers. But Brian mentioned that STG's minimum batch size is 4,000 lbs. That's 32,000 2 oz tins. They can probably sell that many St. Bruno's but what else? Virginia No. 1? Ugh.

Might work for bulks and blending tobaccos. No fancy packaging expense.
Just keep in mind that all of this will likely be subject to tariffs. so buy now, or pay 20% more in the not too distant future.
Hmmmm...this will give C&D a virtual monopoly on the domestic market. Monopolies are never good for consumers.

So glad, so very, very glad, that I bought what I did when I bought it and don't have to deal with any of this.

 

[buroak]

Per Jenson no longer works for STG/Mac Baren/ Sutliff.

Thanks for that (no sarcasm). I thought this was the case, but then all those Per Jensen creations kept rolling out.

 

[georged]

As someone who ran a small pipe tobacco brand for a few years, I can tell you that there just aren’t enough people who buy quality pipe tobacco to support more than a handful of manufacturers. You need to move a lot of product to make a profit, you need to buy a lot of leaf to be able to dictate what farmers grow, and what you will pay for it. Until you can work on that kind of scale, you will be at mercy of others for the quantity, quality and price of leaf (or processed tobacco), and your profit margins will remain slim.

You can call it “greed”, but I call it being able to keep the lights on and doors open.

I love this kind ^^^^ of silly post.

Has absurdity become an art form, or something???

You actually think on-the-ground, real-life experience counts for more than a basement kid's daydreams at his keyboard, or some newcomer's speculation based on dodgy sources?

Take a lesson from the Dude, Mr. Woodsroad:

 

[woodsroad]

I love this kind ^^^^ of silly post.

Has absurdity become an art form, or something???

You actually think on-the-ground, real-life experience counts for more than a basement kid's daydreams at his keyboard, or some newcomer's speculation based on dodgy sources?

Take a lesson from the Dude, Mr. Woodsroad:



View attachment 350903

Danes.

 

[Peterson314]

As someone who ran a small pipe tobacco brand for a few years...

I just bought a decade's worth of Bengal Slices. Thank you for the chance.

 

[sardonicus87]

Danes.

Someone had to do it...

 

[buroak]

Might work for bulks and blending tobaccos. No fancy packaging expense.
Just keep in mind that all of this will likely be subject to tariffs. so buy now, or pay 20% more in the not too distant future.
Hmmmm...this will give C&D a virtual monopoly on the domestic market. Monopolies are never good for consumers.

So glad, so very, very glad, that I bought what I did when I bought it and don't have to deal with any of this.

I stocked quite a few things. My old oriental blends with Yenidje and some others were accidentally fortuitous hoarding decisions. I did not see the death of Sutliff coming, though. We will probably see an event nobody would have bet on: a scramble for Mixture 79. Unfortunately blends with prominent toppings, like Mixture 79, Mac Baren Scottish Mixture, and even St. Bruno are unlikely to fare well in long storage.

 

[Auxsender]

Define “greed”, please.

Did “greed” kill McClellands? D&R?

As someone who ran a small pipe tobacco brand for a few years, I can tell you that there’s just aren’t enough people who buy quality pipe tobacco to support more than a handful of manufacturers. You need to move a lot of product to make a profit, you need to buy a lot of leaf to be able to dictate what farmers grow, and what you will pay for it. Until you can work on that kind of scale, you will be at mercy of others for the quantity, quality and price of leaf (or processed tobacco), and your profit margins will remain slim.

You can call it “greed”, but I call it being able to keep the lights on and doors open.

Greed: Intense and selfish desire of something, especially wealth, power, or food.

I suspect it was not greed that killed McClelland or D&R but those were much smaller businesses than STG is running. Also, no one bought McClelland. I’m not sure what happened with D&R.

I totally agree with you on the scale you’re talking about here but I don’t think that’s the same scale as this STG situation. I think it’s a monopoly play by a giant international tobacco conglomerate but I could be wrong.

 

[buroak]

One thing has been gradually working its way into my thoughts on STG and our concerns about what it might do to blends we love: STG-made Warrior Plug, Mick McQuaid Plug, and Velvan Plug were highly sought after for good reason. STG don’t ruin everything. I hope they will be good to their new product lines. I may be grasping at straws again.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Pipe smoking is about as rare and bizzare as any activity you can think of.

Smoking cigarettes is rapidly going away, and that's a normal and semi popular thing to do.

Pipe smoking is going to die, this is a symptom of that... We all know it's coming. Will we act suprised when there's no pipe tobacco to buy?

RED ALERT!!!!: Buy tobacco now, or prepare to be without it.

Greed doesn't have anything to do with this... People weren't selling pipe tobacco in the past because they are friendly, they were selling it because there was a market.

As the market dies, so does the pipe tobacco business.

 

[PipeIT]

Per Jenson no longer works for STG/Mac Baren/ Sutliff.

Speaking of, I thought he’s consulting with Sutliff, and here’s a video he did 11 days ago. hmm

 

[Chasing Embers]

Unfortunately blends with prominent toppings, like Mixture 79, Mac Baren Scottish Mixture, and even St. Bruno are unlikely to fare well in long storage.

I've got Sutliff aromatics from the late 2000s when they were still Altadis and 10 year old Mixture 79 in jars that are nearly identical to the fresh samples.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Greed: Intense and selfish desire of something, especially wealth, power, or food.

I suspect it was not greed that killed McClelland or D&R but those were much smaller businesses than STG is running. Also, no one bought McClelland. I’m not sure what happened with D&R.

I totally agree with you on the scale you’re talking about here but I don’t think that’s the same scale as this STG situation. I think it’s a monopoly play by a giant international tobacco conglomerate but I could be wrong.

It's mostly the decline of the tobacco market. I rarely see anyone smoking cigarettes anymore and pipe tobacco needs that market to survive.

 

[Terry Lennox]

I would guess one of the most valuable brands in the Mac Baren portfolio is Capstan. It is consistently on the SP best seller list. The association with Tolkein is gold from a marketing point of view. You see many new to the hobby eager to try Capstan because of that.

Capstan was originally an Imperial (UK) brand (from WD and HO Wills) that later became owned by BAT in a merger. STG's Orlik factory licensed it from BAT and made it for years at the Assens factory. Then Mac Baren bought the rights from BAT and moved production to their factory. Now, under STG, it is headed back to Assens!

 

[damacene]

Pipe smoking is about as rare and bizzare as any activity you can think of.

Smoking cigarettes is rapidly going away, and that's a normal and semi popular thing to do.

Pipe smoking is going to die, this is a symptom of that... We all know it's coming. Will we act suprised when there's no pipe tobacco to buy?

RED ALERT!!!!: Buy tobacco now, or prepare to be without it.

Greed doesn't have anything to do with this... People weren't selling pipe tobacco in the past because they are friendly, they were selling it because there was a market.

As the market dies, so does the pipe tobacco business.

The real dilemma is we need more pipe smokers to keep it alive; however the more popular it gets the more the hammer will come down on it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The real dilemma is we need more pipe smokers to keep it alive; however the more popular it gets the more the hammer will come down on it.

Realistically we need more cigarette smokers for it otherwise the market isn't financially stable enough for farmers to grow it.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

The real dilemma is we need more pipe smokers to keep it alive; however the more popular it gets the more the hammer will come down on it.

Government regulations and anti smoking laws killed smoking.

And you're right, any kind of increase in smoking will be met with a heavy hand.

 

[buroak]

I've got Sutliff aromatics from the late 2000s when they were still Altadis and 10 year old Mixture 79 in jars that are nearly identical to the fresh samples.

That is encouraging. I keep hearing they “go rancid.” I have not experienced that, but the oldest I have smoked out of a jar from my cellar was eight years old.

 

[buroak]

The real dilemma is we need more pipe smokers to keep it alive; however the more popular it gets the more the hammer will come down on it.

The hammer will come down anyway. It is a hammer, and all tobacco products look like nails to that blunt instrument.

 

[damacene]

Realistically we need more cigarette smokers for it otherwise the market isn't financially stable enough for farmers to grow it.

I think that's why a lot of people are looking to East Asia to keep the tobacco industry going. That's why a lot of the anti-cigarette stuff I hear from some pipe smokers irks me. No cigarettes = none of that lovely Virginia tobacco we all love.