One of the toughest things about living in the UK, for a pipe smoker, is the cost of tobacco. I still count myself fortunate that I can get a few tins whenever I visit the states, or when family comes over to visit me, or a generous gift from a fellow piper. It's impossible to build a cellar this way, though. I can order from certain retailers in the states, but safe or cheap delivery isn't always guaranteed. Tobacco prices in the UK is around £13.50 per 50grams, or $17, so about double the cost of tinned tobacco in the states. If for whatever reason, tobacco suddenly doubled in price, would you still continue to build a cellar? What would be your new strategy?
If the tobacco price doubled...
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Order half as often...I've been able to accumulate at a far greater pace than my current consumption. So I'm currently ahead and that coupled with future slower accumulation would likely see me through. I realize that may be cheating the question a bit inre to building a cellar, but so be it.
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I would probably be even more picky than I am now and just order/purchase my established favorites at that point.
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I'd smoke half as often or find something that I don't mind the taste of at half the cost.
But I have a few years worth of Escudo and LNF to get to before I have to think of that!
Might grow my own. Father in law is retired and needs another hobby right?!
But I have a few years worth of Escudo and LNF to get to before I have to think of that!
Might grow my own. Father in law is retired and needs another hobby right?!
Your price at $17 is cheap compared to all my brick and mortar stores. 50gram tins at any of my 5 shops is $20-25. You'll never find anything larger than 50g tins either. If you buy local here it's all bulk at $5-6 an ounce for run of the mill Lane 1Q and such. You'd never find a Samuel Gawith, Esoterica, Cornell & Diehl at my local shops. I have to resort to online for everything. So sad when I go into a shop on IPSD and they have no clue what I'm talking about.
If price were to double, I'd be so thankful Price and a few others showed me the reason early on to buy and buy and hoard and hoard. I never thought I'd buy this many mason jars in my life.
But if it did double and I'd be stuck buying, I'd ask vendors what discount they could help me with if I bought a sizable order and save on shipping and maybe a little room on a 5-7% discount. I would definitely have to focus on just 3-5 tobaccos and just strictly buy those. I would also limit my purchases to 2-3 a year.
If price were to double, I'd be so thankful Price and a few others showed me the reason early on to buy and buy and hoard and hoard. I never thought I'd buy this many mason jars in my life.
But if it did double and I'd be stuck buying, I'd ask vendors what discount they could help me with if I bought a sizable order and save on shipping and maybe a little room on a 5-7% discount. I would definitely have to focus on just 3-5 tobaccos and just strictly buy those. I would also limit my purchases to 2-3 a year.
"Buy early, buy often."I'm sufficiently provisioned at this point that I could stop buying completely and never run out. If such a tobaccolypse did actually occur, though, I would probably just dial it way back and pick & choose where I could find bargains.
I stock up on cigars when I go to Germany because the price here is ridiculous.
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Is there a link to the buy early buy often thread? Sound's like an interesting read.
Paul, check the Tobacquisitions threads that is where the haul gets posted
I'm sufficiently provisioned at this point that I could stop buying completely and never run out. If such a tobaccolypse did actually occur, though, I would probably just dial it way back and pick & choose where I could find bargains.
Thanks to you and I mean that very kindly and appreciatively, I too can stop now, smoke 2-3 bowls a day and might need to make a purchase when I'm in my 80's. At this point I only buy in large quantities when it's something I really like or have a convincing hunch I'll like it in 5-7 years when it's aged. Past that I own about 40 different blends, all I enjoy but most I won't buy again and 5 blends that are ones I can never live without (FVF (which I allowed to get scary low), Penzance, Stonehaven, Z50, Fragrant Matured Cake) taking a hunch on the 507c. Got 2 pounds for $55 and figure I'll compare it to FVF in 5-7 years.
I view tobacco in terms of $/hour of enjoyment. Forgive my fuzzy math as I proceed through this...I'm just trying to get the general concept across.
Cigarettes = 10min/cigarette, $5.51/pack average cost across the states. That puts us at $1.65/hr.
Cigars = about $2 minimum for a decent smoke, maybe lasting about 1.5hrs (Mark Twains?) $.75/hr. (Obviously this can go much higher...but even at a $4 cigar we are still beating cigarettes with $1.50/hr.)
Pipes = 1 hr/bowl, 10 bowls/oz. A "normal" tin is about $10/tin = $5.71/oz. That comes to $.57/hr. If you buy in bulk, you can get good tobacco at about $3/oz or less which is $.30/hr (or less.)
All this to say, even if you doubled the cost of tobacco, I'm still happily smoking a pipe and building a cellar...even if other forms of tobacco enjoyment don't change in cost.
BUT, I would change my cellaring strategy. Tin purchases would be more focused on my favorites with only occassional new things to try, and the bulk of my cellar would become bulk tobaccos like McClelland's VAs (which, in this theoretical, cost what tins cost currently.)
You can expand this enjoyment/hour analysis to other areas as well. Cost for a dinner out? Movie? Night at a bar or alcohol period? Pipe smoking is extremely competitive, even at double cost.
Just my .2 cents...per hour.
Cigarettes = 10min/cigarette, $5.51/pack average cost across the states. That puts us at $1.65/hr.
Cigars = about $2 minimum for a decent smoke, maybe lasting about 1.5hrs (Mark Twains?) $.75/hr. (Obviously this can go much higher...but even at a $4 cigar we are still beating cigarettes with $1.50/hr.)
Pipes = 1 hr/bowl, 10 bowls/oz. A "normal" tin is about $10/tin = $5.71/oz. That comes to $.57/hr. If you buy in bulk, you can get good tobacco at about $3/oz or less which is $.30/hr (or less.)
All this to say, even if you doubled the cost of tobacco, I'm still happily smoking a pipe and building a cellar...even if other forms of tobacco enjoyment don't change in cost.
BUT, I would change my cellaring strategy. Tin purchases would be more focused on my favorites with only occassional new things to try, and the bulk of my cellar would become bulk tobaccos like McClelland's VAs (which, in this theoretical, cost what tins cost currently.)
You can expand this enjoyment/hour analysis to other areas as well. Cost for a dinner out? Movie? Night at a bar or alcohol period? Pipe smoking is extremely competitive, even at double cost.
Just my .2 cents...per hour.
It's just an oft-quoted philosophy, useful for enabling purposes, that tobacco will never be less expensive than it is now. Given that most tobacco improves with age, it makes sense to buy more tobacco than you smoke - a lot more - in order to build up a stockpile over time. Eventually, you get to a point of equilibrium, but by that point pretty much every tin you open has got several years on it.
Till's right, though...the Tobacquisitions thread is the best place to see this philosophy in action.
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That's a new way of looking at it (for me), Garlisk...£/per hour of enjoyment. I guess it's time to stop moaning about UK prices and just start buying a half dozen tins per month. I am flying over to see my folks this coming May, so I'll pick up a few more tins.
Maybe it was Price who told me this, can't remember but when you buy, always save enough so you can buy two. Open one, stash the other. Don't open the second, but save up and buy again, doing the same. Repeat this and in 10 tins you already have a 10 tin cellar aging and it's naturally in a tear drop effect on aging. When you buy in bulk, do the same. Just bought some 507c flake. I needed 16 ounces, great sale and I had saved for the sale, so I grabbed 32 ounces. I'll put 8 ounces each in 3 mason jars, then the last 8 ounces I will put into 4 smaller mason jars which equal 4 tins. The 3 larger jars won't get touched for many years naturally, the first smaller jar will get put into rotation, then when I need more, the second jar has some good age on it, even more for the 3rd, and the 4th should be great. Letting me know how well the larger jars will be. Once I get to the larger jars I'll open up one, the separate it into 4 jars and boom, cellar is in motion.
I'd just buy bulk C&D... lol.
Right now a lb of C&D goes for $35-$40? So, that's $70-$80 if the price doubled. That's still a manageable amount to pay for a lb of tobacco. Throw in some Peter Stokkebye as another cheapish option, and you've got a decent hoard of tobacco to use as the base of your cellar. Pick up the occasional expensive tin as a cherry on top for variety.
Right now a lb of C&D goes for $35-$40? So, that's $70-$80 if the price doubled. That's still a manageable amount to pay for a lb of tobacco. Throw in some Peter Stokkebye as another cheapish option, and you've got a decent hoard of tobacco to use as the base of your cellar. Pick up the occasional expensive tin as a cherry on top for variety.
My cellar is built considering I only pipe in the winter. If the price were to double I would just be pickier and buy much less.
I am at about 40lbs in the cellar now. I have hoarded the blends I like best and occasionally add something new or un-obtainable.. If prices doubled I would just stop buying all together and smoke what I have for the next 30 years. LOL
This sounds like a good practice in those conditions. The brick and mortar prices here in Montana run about the same as you're talking about. $15-$25 a tin. Fortunately I have all of the online resources to avoid the "sin tax."
If I had to live in those conditions, with no other outlet, I'd focus my cellaring efforts on a handful of blends and try to get the best bang for my buck on a decent daily smoking blend. Maybe watch some of the online vendors for sales good enough to make any customs fees worth it.
It's one of my strategies.
According to ThePipeTool, I'm already nearing 70 lbs of tobacco not including "open" tobacco. A good backbone of that is bulk blends that I've stored in quart sized mason jars by the 1 lb (flakes) or 1/2 lb (ribbon). Heck... I just added 3 lbs of C&D (OJK, HB, & BnB) this IPSD for just a hair over $95 at SP. That's a really easy way to fatten up your cellar on the cheap.
I am just over 56 lbs, in the cellar, plus I still have a couple pounds to jar up. I could cut way back on the acquisition if necessary, and never feel it.
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