Why Esoterica?

[shanez]

I was just curious if these were "toe curlers" when you smoked them.

There lies the rub.

Even with the few blends I personally find to be "toe curlers" they can be less enjoyable if smoked at the wrong time. It's not only about your palate but also about choosing the right blend to suit your palate at the time. Sometimes you want something with latakia (or burley, or...) and sometimes you don't.

As you can see from the responses, some people love them, some people don't care for them, and others are simply :meh". You have to follow you own tastes.

Personally, in each blend they have that I like, I have other blends I either prefer or like almost* as much that are readily available.

*Almost but not enough to pay the price difference.

 

[cigrmaster]

I love their Stonehaven so I have around 14 pounds of it. The rest I could care less about. I have tried almost all of the rest of their lineup, I have a little bit of their other lines so I have less than a pound each of their other blends. I have tried almost every other blend of thei of theirs and don't feel like I missed anything. Their Vapers were all overrated in my opinion so I never chased them. I used to love Penzance but when I lost my taste for Latakia I lost my taste for theirs as well as well. If you love a good English blend try Two Friends Deacons Down Fall. I lost my taste for theirs longer than I did for their Penzance. I have only been smoking it for a year or two. I found all of mine from a guy who was getting out of pipes and paid only 83 a pound. He thought he was robbing me and I couldn't say yes fast enough. I think he felt bad charging me that amount.

I then began going to all kinds of tobacconist during that time period ask around and got 2009's, 2010"s 2011's and other dates. I felt people thought they were robbing me, but I was glad to pay it. Most people thought they were robbing me . When one guy sold me 12 bags in one shot, I could tell he felt shitty selling me 12 bags at 35 a bag over charging. I told him I was more than glad to pay it and not to worry . I think that purchase was his last large purchase of Stonehaven.

 

[Calvinandpipe]

I’ll say that Germain Special Latakia Flake, Brown Flake, and SH Krumble Kake are completely unique critters, you won’t find anything comparable.
Short of those, meh.
And for the record, there is zero nicotine amongst any of Germains offering, so don’t look for any.

I sent some Stonehaven to a guy on another forum and he ended up puking from the nicotine.
I guess that's what you call a lightweight.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I sent some Stonehaven to a guy on another forum and he ended up puking from the nicotine.
I guess that's what you call a lightweight.

No kidding. I've not noticed any nicotine in their entire lineup.

 

[Calvinandpipe]

No kidding. I've not noticed any nicotine in their entire lineup.

Well, I sent him some C&D Pegasus that I think made him woozy too, so...

 

[sandollars]

I’ll say that Germain Special Latakia Flake, Brown Flake, and SH Krumble Kake are completely unique critters, you won’t find anything comparable.
Short of those, meh.
And for the record, there is zero nicotine amongst any of Germains offering, so don’t look for any.

I JUST opened a J.F. Germain Special Latakia Flake from 2015.... The smell is wonderful, the Virginia's have darkened up and crystals have formed lightly on the whole flake. I am looking forward to firing this up!

 

[Dudditz]

Germain's - an old independent UK tobacco house using old machinery and processes - is the blender and manufacturer of the Esoterica brand which is only sold on the US market.

I don't know the specifics, but if Gawith run with less than 50 employees, I'd imagine Germain's being 10-15 people at most. That, combined with the fact I remember reading they pre-age their blends, means their shipping is sporadic. Add on top the hoarder/scalper/reseller/fear-of-missing-out/facebook pipe smoker hysteria you can understand why it is hard to get.

Thank you for the explanation!

 

[Dudditz]

For my taste, Esoteric is generally a more mature type of smoke. Very few raw edges. Most Esoteric are smooth smoke that I have found in McCelland’s. Many other blends seem young with raw edges. That doesn’t mean other blends won’t smooth out as they age but with Esoteric I don’t have to wait. If I want to set back and chill out, give me Penzance, Pembroke or Tilbury and I’m a happy piper.

Understood! Makes sense. Thanks for the input!

 

[Dudditz]

The Esoterica line was created for the American market, as a bespoke line for the Piedmont Tobacco shop in East Bay. This is sort of an equivalent to the blends Germain's makes for Smokers Haven. Germain's had a catalog of private label blends they had developed over the decades and these became the starting point for developing the Esoterica line as tweaks were made to them to satisfy Steve Richman, owner of Piedmont Tobacco. There are close equivalents to the Esoterica line that are released under the Smokers Haven label or Germain's own label.
They're worth a try, but not at any price.

Thank you for the information on that!

 

[Dudditz]

There lies the rub.

Even with the few blends I personally find to be "toe curlers" they can be less enjoyable if smoked at the wrong time. It's not only about your palate but also about choosing the right blend to suit your palate at the time. Sometimes you want something with latakia (or burley, or...) and sometimes you don't.

As you can see from the responses, some people love them, some people don't care for them, and others are simply :meh". You have to follow you own tastes.

Personally, in each blend they have that I like, I have other blends I either prefer or like almost* as much that are readily available.

*Almost but not enough to pay the price difference.

I completely understand. Where my curiosity lay was with whether the Esoterica Latakia blend for example (Whatever that one is) is THE LATAKIA BLEND TO END ALL BLENDS... My inexperience with all of this had me wondering, Is there that mythical blend that is the end all and be all of tobaccos. Of course, I understand it is subjective and everyone is different. Again, not having tried it, is what prompted the thread and question. THANK YOU for the input!

 

[Dudditz]

I love their Stonehaven so I have around 14 pounds of it. The rest I could care less about. I have tried almost all of the rest of their lineup, I have a little bit of their other lines so I have less than a pound each of their other blends. I have tried almost every other blend of thei of theirs and don't feel like I missed anything. Their Vapers were all overrated in my opinion so I never chased them. I used to love Penzance but when I lost my taste for Latakia I lost my taste for theirs as well as well. If you love a good English blend try Two Friends Deacons Down Fall. I lost my taste for theirs longer than I did for their Penzance. I have only been smoking it for a year or two. I found all of mine from a guy who was getting out of pipes and paid only 83 a pound. He thought he was robbing me and I couldn't say yes fast enough. I think he felt bad charging me that amount.

I then began going to all kinds of tobacconist during that time period ask around and got 2009's, 2010"s 2011's and other dates. I felt people thought they were robbing me, but I was glad to pay it. Most people thought they were robbing me . When one guy sold me 12 bags in one shot, I could tell he felt shitty selling me 12 bags at 35 a bag over charging. I told him I was more than glad to pay it and not to worry . I think that purchase was his last large purchase of Stonehaven.

Understood. 14 lbs huh? Wow. That would last me many moons...I have a little less than 2 lbs of Pirate Kake and am questioning my sanity...LOL!

 

[Worknman]

I just want to make one point regarding all the people saying they'd never pay more than retail and that it collects dust on brick and mortar shelves. Well for one thing the latter point may be true for some people, its certainly not true for the majority. Maybe if you live in the sticks but the shop where I normally get mine consistently sells out within a couple/few weeks. The best sellers are gone within days and whats left is Pembroke, And So To Bed, St. Ives, etc. And that's the only shop within several states that I know even carries it. These days you're lucky to find a shop that sells a couple codger blends much less Esoterica.

Also, its easy to say you'd never pay more than retail when you've either already tried their blends, already have a nice stash, or both. But for many its the curiosity about it that will have them paying double and the fact that its not as easy to get as some people think. There's a mystique about their blends and people want to know what its all about. That is why they pay premium. Ive done it as have many others, and not just for Esoterica. Ive paid alot for Mclelland simply because I came onto the pipe scene in late 2019 and wanted to find out why their blends are so sought after. Of course when it was plentiful nobody really thought much about it.

 

[Dudditz]

I just want to make one point regarding all the people saying they'd never pay more than retail and that it collects dust on brick and mortar shelves. Well for one thing the latter point may be true for some people, its certainly not true for the majority. Maybe if you live in the sticks but the shop where I normally get mine consistently sells out within a couple/few weeks. The best sellers are gone within days and whats left is Pembroke, And So To Bed, St. Ives, etc. And that's the only shop within several states that I know even carries it. These days you're lucky to find a shop that sells a couple codger blends much less Esoterica.

Also, its easy to say you'd never pay more than retail when you've either already tried their blends, already have a nice stash, or both. But for many its the curiosity about it that will have them paying double and the fact that its not as easy to get as some people think. There's a mystique about their blends and people want to know what its all about. That is why they pay premium. Ive done it as have many others, and not just for Esoterica. Ive paid alot for Mclelland simply because I came onto the pipe scene in late 2019 and wanted to find out why their blends are so sought after. Of course when it was plentiful nobody really thought much about it.

Good points. My reason for asking the question I did was (again not ever having tried any of the blends) was this stuff the the Holy Grail of whatever it it is that was offered...The creme de le creme of burley or latakia etc. Was it the stuff of legend? It has to me at least...a mystique...the forbidden fruit...(OK that's a stretch...) In other words, why was this stuff so hard to get? Was it hearing Pink Floyd in Joshua Tree on a tab of acid kind of stuff? Not that I would know...I read that somewhere...

 

[Chasing Embers]

Well for one thing the latter point may be true for some people, its certainly not true for the majority.

Sure it is. Most of us aren't getting it locally but calling B&M's that we found that did stock it. I found several shops that carry it just by calling the B&Ms on the forum's shop locator list.

Also, its easy to say you'd never pay more than retail when you've either already tried their blends, already have a nice stash, or both.

Nah, I just won't pay more than $5/ounce for anything I'm going to set fire to. Many "unicorn" blends I'll never buy that I've never tried because of the price.

There's a mystique about their blends and people want to know what its all about.

I never thought so even before trying them. The blend contents aren't much different if any at all from other blends that are readily available.

 

[Worknman]

Sure it is. Most of us aren't getting it locally but calling B&M's that we found that did stock it. I found several shops that carry it just by calling the B&Ms on the forum's shop locator list.

Nah, I just won't pay more than $5/ounce for anything I'm going to set fire to. Many "unicorn" blends I'll never buy that I've never tried because of the price.



I never thought so even before trying them. The blend contents aren't much different if any at all from other blends that are readily available.

All I can say is "good for you" ?

 

[sablebrush52]

Well for one thing the latter point may be true for some people, its certainly not true for the majority. Maybe if you live in the sticks but the shop where I normally get mine consistently sells out within a couple/few weeks.

LALA Land is a pipe tobacco desert. The B&M's where I've bought my Esoterica have been between 800 and 1500 miles away. Part of the deal is that I've been a regular customer, not a cherry picker, and buy other blends from them. They let me know if something I'm looking for comes in. One of the tobacconists who's been good to me was looking for a couple of OOP blends that I happened to have, so I sent some tins to him as a thank you. What do you want to bet that the next drop I'll be hearing from him? Building relationships is part of the process. Buying for me has always been at retail, and I've been able to get what I'm looking for and none of it is even remotely local.

I do understand wanting to satisfy one's curiosity, and have paid a premium to try something that is either no longer made, or has some age on it. But bends in production are something that I'll wait to try at retail.

 

[dcicero]

I'm not sure it's worth the quest as many have mentioned. I do like and so to bed, but there are others I'd grab and be just fine with. Dorchester is pretty good, but I grab Fillmore over that. For the price and the trouble, eh. I am happy I tried a few though.

 

[ncshawn]

No it's not worth it. A bit of a silly group think issue in my opinion. Get some and see for yourself.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I can say is "good for you" ?

The same for many forum members.

 

[Worknman]

The same for many forum members.

I can understand its nothing special for the old timers or experienced pipe smokers. But I can relate to the people that are still exploring the hobby. I know you've said before that you don't even consider it to be hobby but rather just another method to consume tobacco. Nothing wrong with that of course.