Your Cellar Size

[sablebrush52]

Here’s a question…why don’t we as pipe smokers simply buy as we go.

That's pretty much how i did it for decades. I decided to "cellar" very late in the game, which is why I don't have deep piles of extinct blends to gouge you with. I'd make a monthly, or twice monthly, trip to my local tobacconist to "top up".

But the continuing disappearances of blends without warning, changes to blends that crapped them up, and an increasingly unfriendly regulatory environment changed all that. Couple that with an interest in smoking a wider range of blends and I now have a cellar, relatively small, but amble for my needs.

Besides, Los Angeles is a pipe tobacco desert. All of our wonderful pipe shops are gone. It's all cigars here.

 

[cigrmaster]

I decided that if I do out last my tobacco, I can start smoking hossierguys. He lives ten minutes from me in Florida. He would feel honored to supply me tobacco and the best part will be it will all be nicely aged by that time.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

That's pretty much how i did it for decades. I decided to "cellar" very late in the game, which is why I don't have deep piles of extinct blends to gouge you with. I'd make a monthly, or twice monthly, trip to my local tobacconist to "top up".

But the continuing disappearances of blends without warning, changes to blends that crapped them up, and an increasingly unfriendly regulatory environment changed all that. Couple that with an interest in smoking a wider range of blends and I now have a cellar, relatively small, but amble for my needs.

Besides, Los Angeles is a pipe tobacco desert. All of our wonderful pipe shops are gone. It's all cigars here.

I hear ya Jesse. And, at one point I was no different than the rest. We do encourage the stacking of countless tins though, especially with the newbies who’ve never even sampled the “good stuff”. And, those folks that are gonna die with massive war chests of blends…?‍
I mean, what the hell is a fella of 70 or more gonna do with > 200lbs of ?? ?‍…I’ll tell ya what…be a POA for the estate determiners. ?

 

[cigrmaster]

That's pretty much how i did it for decades. I decided to "cellar" very late in the game, which is why I don't have deep piles of extinct blends to gouge you with. I'd make a monthly, or twice monthly, trip to my local tobacconist to "top up".

But the continuing disappearances of blends without warning, changes to blends that crapped them up, and an increasingly unfriendly regulatory environment changed all that. Couple that with an interest in smoking a wider range of blends and I now have a cellar, relatively small, but amble for my needs.

Besides, Los Angeles is a pipe tobacco desert. All of our wonderful pipe shops are gone. It's all cigars here.

Since 2012 I have seen Rotary Navy Cut, Brigham Klondike Gold, Butera Dark Stoved all get taken off the market. I have also seen Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky taken off twice from the US market.

i decided that if I really like something I was going deep and nothing was going to stop me. I thought Wessex was going bye bye so I bought over 200 tins of their Brigade Campaign Dark Flake and around 100 of Wessex Brown Virginia Flake mostly in 2012. I also grabbed a bunch of Gold Brick, a little bit of Gold Virginia. I bought a ton of Astleys no 44, and some Astleys no 109. That was bought aged and some fresh which is nicely aged. There are too many blends to list here, but when I like something I go balls to the walls as you never know when it will get discontinued and I ain't taking chances.
If I am wrong so be it, I have some great tobacco to smoke. Evert favorite I could think of I bought at least 100 plus tins.

 

[wyfbane]

I have more than most, but far less than some. Tobaccocellar.com is what I used, but its kind of clunky.

 

[originalnutcracker]

More than I would ever need. Not complaining and still buying what I fancy.
One day when it is impossible to buy the stuff, I will be set.

I have no doubt that day is coming. It's just a matter of when.

 

[Etipton]

Get the blends you like now as we all know the day is coming when tobacco will either be taxed so high you won’t be able to afford it regularly or like McClelland’s those blends will go by the way side

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

37lb
It makes sense to cellar because it keeps getting more expensive and blends can disappear at any time. Warrior and Carey's Dark Flake No7 have both gone the way of the dodo and they're 2 of my favourites. Luckily I managed to squirrel some away but due to the high cost here in England I couldn't afford to buy as much as I wanted.

 

[briarbuck]

Maybe I'll just get wifee to dump it all in the coffin before they close the lid...kinda like the Pharos.

 

[karam]

Due to a high cost of tobacco products and restrictions on imports from overseas an average pipe smoker in EU is very seldom able to build any significant 'tobacco cellar, (those folks who reside in Spain &Gibraltar are exception)

Not sure about that Paul, it just takes some time. I know Greek pipe smokers with very sizeable cellars, and recall Hans Wiedeman saying in an interview that there were some German pipe smokers who were annoyed at the 100g tins, they wanted bigger. Ultimately it’s just money, just like there are people anywhere with huge humidors, people with thousands of bottles of wine, stamps, coins, books, vinyls, anything. Hell my father in law had a record collection of 40,000 vinyls, my dad has three houses filled with books, it’s not impossible.

edit: import restrictions always existed for Greece, just packets were not getting checked, 4noggins and sp.com used to send to Greece, as did the Danish Pipe Shop, GQ tobaccos and smoke-king from the UK (used them for years - they stopped around 2019) now it’s only estervals, motzek and a Czech shop who do, but cellar building is still possible. You can send to friends and relatives, colleagues, to an office, you can send to a hotel even or a remailing service - I did it all before moving to CH.

 

[Egg Shen]

Guestimate 30 lbs.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Maybe I'll just get wifee to dump it all in the coffin before they close the lid...kinda like the Pharos.

You’d need one mother of a brotha!??️

 

[craig61a]

3’ x 8’ x 6’

 

[varrj]

While we are at it. Any one use a helpful format or program to catalog your cellar. I'm starting a doc with google sheets but was thinking into helpful columns and organization

Tobaccocellar.com easy to set up and manage.

 

[boston]

I never counted. But have collected for some time, less in the last few years. I guess I may have acquired more than I need, and that slowed me down because I'd like to be around to enjoy the tobacco. If I smoke too much (heresy...ok, I get it) I won't. And some of the blenders I used to buy changed or got acquired, and that changed the romance for me. So, I have dunhill from the shop in England and from the multiple houses. McClelland to be sure, and love them. And esoterica from when it was new. And schurch when it was new. And C&D when I could call and order from Craig or Patty. And from Smokers Haven from when they still have sample tins of Krumble Kake at pipe shows; although I purchased outside of that. And I have Chief Catoonah before it was a very short flash in the popular pan. And Gawith etc when they were boutique and $8 a tin. Who knows what else. Too busy too inventory. Enuf for sure for me. Carefully stowed away.

 

[pcfdave]

Tobaccocellar.com easy to set up and manage.

wow thanks for pointing me in the direction of the website. A little prehistoric but a helpful tool to catalog for sure.

 

[judcole]

When I picked up my pipe again after several years just smoking cigars, I started hanging out on the old Yahoo group, Pipesmokers2. Nice folks, and a lot of knowledge.
When they talked about "cellaring" tobacco. they meant deliberately aging tobacco - not setting aside a vast amount of tobacco for an apocalypse that may happen any time!
That's how I still think about my cellar. Most of that is blends that I am deliberately aging. Yeah, I'll keep several tins of faves that I am not aging on hand, just 'cause I can't easily go out and buy a tin of Old Dublin, or whatever.
All that said - I have no damned idea how much I have, and am really not too concerned about it. If something disappears - oh, well - raise my glass and find something else to smoke.
YMMV.

 

[wyfbane]

More than I would ever need. Not complaining and still buying what I fancy.
One day when it is impossible to buy the stuff, I will be set.

I have no doubt that day is coming. It's just a matter of when.

I have enough for myself and, if he doesn't become a nic fiend, my son to last to our ends.

 

[FLDRD]

can't easily go out and buy a tin of Old Dublin

Mmm, one of my new fav's that I might have to get a big ol' stash of

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]