Some thoughts on Cellaring

Dave_In_Philly wrote:

Kirk Fitzgerald wrote:

Cellaring tobacco is a game for those with the cash to bulk buy in the first place

This might differ for you folks across the pond, but my cellar developed primarily for the opposite reason. Here, I can get 8oz of bulk Start of the East for $21. Compared to 2 oz tins at $10+ its far more economical to buy 1/2 lb at a time. 8oz of LBF is actually cheaper - about $18 for 1/2 pound.

We don't get discounted prices in the UK, if you buy 1lb of tobacco you may save perhaps £2 or £3 in total but you would have still spent well over £100 ($150+), unless you have tons of money it is literally impossible to build a cellar, very depressing if one thinks on it for too long.

KevinM wrote:

> . . . I would love dearly to be able to gaze upon a cellar of tobacco of my own . . .<

Wine or tobacco, this is a cogent expression of the idea involved. It isn't, imho, simply the coming together of weed and wood at the perfect moment, pleasant though that may be. It's a comforting thing to have an ample quantity standing by whenever and whatever, whether fate has you lined up to eventually seal the deal or not. There's nothing anyone can do about his own x-date. As a practical matter, buying tobacco in bulk -- which strikes me as a frugal measure -- pretty much forces the piper into Mason jar territory. So one may wonder if the best word choice for the practice is aging, collecting, defensive buying or simply hoarding. I think would support the old New England phrase, "putting by," because it has no negative connotation

Quite so, then I should rephrase and say something along the lines of I should like nothing more than to gaze upon a collection of tobacco I am putting by, ah who am I kidding, I got plenty of Briar dust in the shed.  

>>I should like nothing more than to gaze upon a collection of tobacco I am putting by, ah who am I kidding, I got plenty of Briar dust in the shed.<<

My bad. I overlooked "shedding" in making up my proposed vocabulary list:-) It has a fine,manly connotation that suits the situation.

Unlike a cellar full of wine, a good virginia tobacco will improve nicely in a year or two - shine in five and be just about as good as it will ever be at 10

I don't know if ill live 40 years - but I am willing to put a buck down that ill see five or ten.

And when I do, I want some tasty baccy - and I can tell you that there is no falsehood in the statement that a good aged Virginia is not to be missed - and a year or two of age on an English can really improve it as well...

Yup - aged baccy is worth the trouble - even if you can't fill the cellar you should work at filling a shelf somewhere.

My thoughts on cellaring mirror my thoughts on life. I try to plan for the future but enjoy today. So I have a retirement plan but I haven't sunk every last dollar I have into it. Likewise, I have a tobacco cellar but I'm not against cracking open a tin if the mood strikes me. In fact, I'm going to open one of my older tins to smoke on an upcoming vacation.   

I would probably be less into cellaring if it wasn't that I'm afraid our government will start trying to crack down on pipe tobacco in the near future. I've spent most of my pipe hobby money on tobacco lately as a hedge against future tax increases and other price hikes. As they say it will never be cheaper than it is today!

One down side I've noticed to cellaring is the fact that it's awakened the dormant collector in me. In the past I've collected a few things (comics books, baseball cards, etc.) but in the end I sold them off because I didn't get much enjoyment when I compared it to the money I had invested I them. Collecting tobacco has the advantage that you can smoke your doubles.    I just recently noticed that I have a lot of GL Pease in the cellar and it wouldn't take a lot for me to have a complete collection of his currently available offerings.  Somebody stop me.  

Smoke today and plan for tomorrow.