Where are all the Peter Stokkebye blends?

[admin]

Uncle Arthur's first post is correct, and Bob's post is right on target too.
I just put a call into Stokkebye to see if we can get any more info on stock coming back in, but had to leave a message. They are running as fast as they can to keep up.
Stokkebye is coming back as an advertiser next month, just as a side note, they will be running a 3-month campaign on the site from April - June.
Maybe that means that is when they will be back in stock?

 

[tedswearingen]

William, while I agree with your comments I think that the new wave of pipe smokers is taking a bigger toll on the tobacco supplies than hoarders. You can see it on the various forums (how much activity has this board seen compared to last year, Kevin?) and in other aspects of the industry. Take for instance that Peterson is months behind their production. This has less to do with old consumers hoarding new Petersons and more to do with new pipe smokers really getting their feet wet in the hobby.
I think we need to be careful throwing around terms like 'hoarding', which really does come loaded with a not-so-pleasant implication, when their are dudes who have been buying a five pound bag of PS Luxury Twist every month for the last 20 years (because it's the only thing he ever smokes) and suddenly can't get any anymore and doesn't have the internet to research why this is so.
Of course, and as always, this is simply my humble opinion.

 

[admin]

@Ted

how much activity has this board seen compared to last year, Kevin?

The site's traffic has tripled from one year ago at this time. :D
And it is continuing to climb.

 

[admin]

Here's the official word from Villiger Stokkebye:
"Villiger Stokkebye International apologizes for the out of stock problems with some of our pipe tobaccos. These problems were caused by several factors including new systems and processes being implemented at manufacturing, and – in some instances – waiting to see what kind of regulatory changes going to make in that category. We appreciate your patience with these challenges; rest assured we are working diligently to address each of these issues, and to get inventory levels back to normal to meet your needs. We can confirm that several of the products in question here are already in route to our retail partners."

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

Yeah, now hopefully people don't freak out and hoard them like they've done with other blends, lol.

 

[unclearthur]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[sparroa]

I'm pretty satisfied with that response, sounds like they are being forward with us and are acting with responsibility and accountability in striving to fulfill our requirements and answering our questions. It is very easy for big companies to ignore our inquiries; I hope a new shipment of Peter Stokkebye products that we know and love will be coming on stream very soon.
Ted,

I know "hoarding" is loaded term and I don't mean to bash anyone here in using it. I pull no punches, however, with the people that buy up lots of popular pipe tobaccos and sell them online just to take advantage of the rest of us. (If you don't like your tobacco or regret your purchase - fine, sell it on eBay - just don't buy a load of a blend that's in demand and try to make a massive profit from it at our expense.) Some people do buy a lot of tobacco, often on one blend - if they smoke it, that's fair and its not speculative. For example, from his own words, Uncle Arthur seems to have a few standbys that he likes and buys in sizable bulk quantities - that's great, I respect that. I just don't like if people, through their actions, limit the choice and selection and by extension liberty of those around them.
It's too bad there are people out there who don't know the reasons why their favourite tobacco is off the market; I hope they find some good replacements soon!

 

[unclearthur]

Rather than hoarding how about "Acquisition and storage" ?

 

[papipeguy]

Try this one on for size. The CHIPS tax on container loads of tobacco coming in to the US must be paid before the ship reaches port. That's a lot of upfront dollars that the shippers don't get back until they invoice their distributors and tobacco stores.

Not mentioning names but a pipe tobacco company has been asking their retailers to establish accounts that they can sweep for the cash to pay the CHIPs taxes. It always comes to the money and in this case and, undoubtedly, with other of our beloved blenders the burden of extortion named CHIPs is becoming too much.

Write to your reps and thank them in a proper manner.

 

[admin]

I must be an oddball of sorts in the tobacco purchasing department.
I like a LARGE variety of blends, of many styles and many makers.
Even on my most, most favorites, the ones that I think are just a dream blend, I never have more than two tins in my inventory at a time. Maybe it's a space issue, and maybe it is just that I like such a wide variety.
On one occasion only, I bought two tobaccos in 1 lb bags each. They were the two Nat Sherman blends that you can only get from their store in NYC, and I love them.
I am an anti-hoarder. LOL.

 

[jimbo]

I know what you mean, Kevin.
My "hoarding" consists of buying 4 oz. next time of a 2 oz. sample I liked. :lol: And just last year I reordered a certain P.S. flake that I loved, and the new batch tasted totally different!. :evil:
"So many blends, so little time!" I'm afraid of stocking up on something and then finding one I liked better! :roll:

 

[admin]

This is one of the best times ever for pipe smokers. There are more tobacco blends than ever that are so amazingly awesome.

 

[papipeguy]

Good point Jimbo. With the wide variety of offerings today it is so much fun to "move around" a bit and trying different things. On the other hand, my favorite blend in life was from Lane Ltd. and sadly disappeared. I had to cope with the lose and have chased the elusive blend for 30 years. The path has been fun and I've decidided not to fall in love with a blend again but rather enjoy today's new blends.

 

[python]

Ted, you are right. Hoarding could be a loaded term.
I think that I should have made myself a little clearer.
In my opinion, there is a difference between cellaring tobacco and hoarding tobacco. This is how I distinguish between the two terms:
Cellaring

Building a cellar is a great thing to do. I have my own cellar that has about 75lbs of tobacco in it that I have built up over the years. I think that building a cellar is vital if you want to let blends get some age on it. Building a cellar is done over time by adding some here and some there.
Hoarding

Hoarding is when someone continues to buy large quantities of a popular blend every time that it reaches the market, just because it is a popular blend. Sometimes they do this without ever having tried the blend. I mean, does someone really need to buy 20 tins or 5 lbs of Full Virginia Flake, Penzance, Stonehaven, etc. every single time that it is available? I have seen people say that they do this and this does not include their other tobacco purchases. There is a large portion of people who do this with the intention of reselling it at a higher price.
I don't want to speak for all pipe smokers, but most pipe smokers that I know would never buy 20+ tins or 5+ lbs of a tobacco that they have never tried. Regardless of how popular it is. If you are actually smoking that much tobacco, that is great and you obviously are not hoarding it.
(Maybe I should have used the term 'Excessive Hoarding')

---------
Another thing that I failed to mention that has been brought up is; tobacco taxes and tobacco regulations. This also has a lot to do with the availability of blends as well.
For example: Mac Baren used to have a huge warehouse that was full of tinned tobaccos that were ready to be shipped when needed. But due to the warning labels that are needed on the tobaccos, they stopped doing this because every country has different warning label laws. Now they make the tins as they are needed because depending on what country the tobacco is shipping to, determines what label that needs to go on the tobacco. This slows down production a lot.

 

[tedswearingen]

Bob, very well said and quite informative. Thank you!

 

[igloo]

For those of us who make our own cigarettes and believe me there are a lot more of us than one would think , we can go through a two to two and half pounds of tobacco per month . Stokkebye has always had the best RYO tobacco made for that purpose and that purpose only . The RYO has already seen a huge increase in taxes and premade smokes are up and over five dollars a pack . This has led many a smoker to switch to the pipe as it is less wastefull . Some would think that RYO smokers are only trying to save money , this is a misconception ,it is about smoking additive free or as close as we can get to it . I have seen people who make a cigarettes out of fifty and sixty dollar a pound tobaccos . For those who custom blend they can buy up Virginia , Burly and Halfzwares as well as Turkish by the pound . As some of the RYO have changed there forumlas to the papersack tobacco used by the cigarette companys a lot of the base tobaccos in bulk have become scarce . Did anyone else notice that the straight blends were the first to go ? Meanwhile most of the ARO blends are still in stock .Never had a problem getting any pipe blend I wanted from somewhere on the net , until the RYO taxes took effect last year . First the cigarettes ,then the smokeless snuff , make your own , heck they even tax the rolling papers and tubes . Next the pipe tobacco and then the cigars . Who do I blame for the shortage the Insurance companys Google any stock ticker symbol and look who has the most shares . What cuts into thier profits , health care .So they attack tobacco , high fat foods ,sugar , salt it is all about profit . Ok I will get off my soap box , maybe Iam wrong but I believe it to be a valid point or at least a contributer . Now where is my pipe and the last of my PS Swiss Delight that has been discontinued .