GQ Folds.

From Glynn Quelch's Facebook page:

It looks like all the GQ Blends tobaccos will have to be pulled as a result of the changes in EU/UK tobacco legislation. All altered names and shop blended tobaccos need registering with the UK GOV. With a complete break down of all ingredients used in each constituent tobacco, which will be almost impossible to get out of the suppliers I get my base tobaccos from.
So max of 2 more months of GQ Blends

http://ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_937.pdf

requires manufacturers to inform Member States before placing new or modified products on the
market and notify a range of product information concerning composition, emissions and sales/
marketing data.

....I will basically be classed as manufacture (not a retailer who blends), and the hoops you need to jump through for that are insane.

.....When I first started GQ, I wanted to only make tobacco but to do it legally (HMRC approved) you need a lot of money and its just not feasible for a small guy like me.

The fees might only be £250 per blend (plus all the testing costs), then I would need to sell a LOT to make that money back, before I make profit.

But I dunno, I need to have a long think and see what I am going to do

Prison for violators. Tyranny by any other name would have the same stench.

"When you see your neighbor's beard wet ... put yours to rmojar"

Spanish proverb

a shame the new requirements, and now global with tobacco, to do no doubt cellar

Sad news, and no doubt there will be many similar cases.  I'm glad I finally got around and ordered a sample of their one blend I most wanted to try (and some others impossible to get here) yesterday.

Glynn produces some very high quality blends. This is sad news. Thankfully I have enough Askwith Kake to last a long time.

Ah, bummer. Askwith Kake sounded like something I might want to try but to be fair I never wanted to pay the higher price, so I don't deserve it. I hope he stays in business esp for you guys that enjoy his blends.

Wow, harsh!

(sigh)

Jay-Eff-Cee!! YGBSM!!!! WTF!!! They want all the constituent parts of a tobacco leaf listed? Somebody is absolutely crazy!!!! FTRPLT

ftrplt wrote:

Jay-Eff-Cee!! YGBSM!!!! WTF!!! They want all the constituent parts of a tobacco leaf listed? Somebody is absolutely crazy!!!! FTRPLT

They know this is almost impossible. They're trying to rid the world of this evilest of weeds. Way more people die due to alcohol related causes than tobacco causes. Why don't they get rid of corn and the other grains used to produce alcohol? Then there's the Opium Poppy. Don't get me started. I'll be saying some things that will not only get be banned from this site but I'll have the guys in black suits trying to break down my door.

AJ

I was bummed to read this. Glynn makes some great blends and is a great guy also. Definitely need to make another order.

ajn27511 wrote:

ftrplt wrote:

Jay-Eff-Cee!! YGBSM!!!! WTF!!! They want all the constituent parts of a tobacco leaf listed? Somebody is absolutely crazy!!!! FTRPLT

They know this is almost impossible. They're trying to rid the world of this evilest of weeds. Way more people die due to alcohol related causes than tobacco causes. Why don't they get rid of corn and the other grains used to produce alcohol? Then there's the Opium Poppy. Don't get me started. I'll be saying some things that will not only get be banned from this site but I'll have the guys in black suits trying to break down my door.

AJ

Absolutely right you are, AJ. Disgusting what goes on... And doesn't.

Well.....

......don't this just make one wanna hurl.





Never got a chance to try any of Glynn's blends. Guess I'll have to step up or shut up!




No Cheers,

RR

Just read on another forum, Glynn's posted that it's not just his signature blends that's finishing but that he's closing down for good, very sad news.
The beginning of the end I fear!!!!

It's a damn shame, Glynn's a good guy. I was fortunate to sneak in one last order from Glynn yesterday.

I'm sure it will take a bit of time to sell out; anyone know when it closes for good?

DrT999 wrote:

I'm sure it will take a bit of time to sell out; anyone know when it closes for good?

He's closing down his warehouse with the loss of his staff at the end of this month, but will still probably have stock left that he'll sell from home until it's gone.

No different than what is about to happen here in the States to all tobacco. Now, who doesn't believe in a "New World Order" / "One World Government"???

DrT999 wrote:

I'm sure it will take a bit of time to sell out; anyone know when it closes for good?

elsewhere, he wrote

Been a while since I've been on here. So I figured I should pop on and tell you all directly.

Sadly it's not only GQ Blends which are going, GQ Tobaccos is closing down all together. Between the ban on cross boarder sales with the EU, slowdown experienced after the referendum, increased buying prices, implementation of digital age verification (which I have not done, due to costs) and loosing GQ Blends is too much for my small business to take in a 10 week period.

I could carry on in a smaller capacity by cutting my range in half, but this would result in loosing all the unique & unusual blends I carry. Then put my prices up to allow me to comply with the new age checks (around £3 per transaction) and that's all before the FDA rules kick in and I loose even more of my customers/trade.

So while I am the first to fall with this last batch of regulation (might be EU level, but the UK was the biggest cheerleader and added on a lot more UK Regs on top after not getting what we wanted from EU Regs), I don't think I will be the last.

Sadly I and others in the trade see the next step as banning mail-order/online sales. France, Spain & Belgium have done so already and the ground work is being done by anti smoking groups and TS. A few shops have already been caught by Trading Standards stings (getting underage kids to buy baccy online using pre paid MasterCard).

Needless to say the futures grim and sadly I don't think I will be around when it happens.

Those of you who are my customers and friends, I thank you for your custom & support over the years. GQ Tobaccos will still be around for a few months as I have a lot of stock to sell off, but after September I won't have a warehouse/office or staff.

Thank you all

Gus wrote:

"When you see your neighbor's beard wet ... put yours to rmojar"

Spanish proverb

a shame the new requirements, and now global with tobacco, to do no doubt cellar

very accurate spanish quote from don quixote. "when you see your neighbor's beard shave"... indeed it is happening. it begins with the regulations in usa and the rest of the world assume a "monkey see monkey do" scenario.  unfortunenatley for europe..."a remojar las barbas" while shaving usa smokers(and now uk).

lb wrote:

Gus wrote:

"When you see your neighbor's beard wet ... put yours to rmojar"

Spanish proverb

a shame the new requirements, and now global with tobacco, to do no doubt cellar

very accurate spanish quote from don quixote. "when you see your neighbor's beard shave"... indeed it is happening. it begins with the regulations in usa and the rest of the world assume a "monkey see monkey do" scenario.  unfortunenatley for europe..."a remojar las barbas" while shaving usa smokers(and now uk).

When you see yout neighbor getting his beard shaved, you better start soaking yours. In other words, you may be next.

I dont know any of the GQ blends, but l'm saddened that I (most likely) won't get the chance.

I've been talking to Glynn and he's doing his best in a difficult situation. He'll keep his web-site open for a couple of months while he does his best to sell what he currently has. Below is a cut-and-paste job of various comments of his from his Facebook page:

[They now] require manufacturers to inform Member States before placing new or modified products on the
market and notify a range of product information concerning composition, emissions and sales/
marketing data.

The main reason we are dealing with all this BS. Smuggled and black market tobacco. The new packaging rules will make all tobacco tracked back to manufacturer and retailer. Again to clamp down on smuggling.

The current government has ushered this in and even increased tobacco tax above the already in place escalator. They will never ban it, as it's a cash cow for them £10bn a year in tobacco duty (10% cost if health service). The more people quit, the more they up the taxes.

Pipe tobacco & cigars ended up exempt of full plain packaging by falling back to the EU base level. With the support of Ireland, Finland, Sweden & France we have imposed stricter rules on all EU states.

"Sadly it's not only GQ Blends which are going, GQ Tobaccos is closing down all together. Between the ban on cross border sales with the EU, slowdown experienced after the referendum, increased buying prices, implementation of digital age verification (which I have not done, due to costs) and losing GQ Blends is too much for my small business to take in a 10 week period.

I could carry on in a smaller capacity by cutting my range in half, but this would result in losing all the unique & unusual blends I carry. Then put my prices up to allow me to comply with the new age checks (around £3 per transaction) and that's all before the FDA rules kick in and I lose even more of my customers/trade.

So while I am the first to fall with this last batch of regulation (might be EU level, but the UK was the biggest cheerleader and added on a lot more UK Regs on top after not getting what we wanted from EU Regs), I don't think I will be the last.

Sadly I and others in the trade see the next step as banning mail-order/online sales. France, Spain & Belgium have done so already and the ground work is being done by anti smoking groups and TS. A few shops have already been caught by Trading Standards stings (getting underage kids to buy baccy online using pre paid MasterCard).

Needless to say the futures grim and sadly I don't think I will be around when it happens.

Those of you who are my customers and friends, I thank you for your custom & support over the years. GQ Tobaccos will still be around for a few months as I have a lot of stock to sell off, but after September I won't have a warehouse/office or staff.

Thank you all ".

The dawn of a new era in the story of pipe smoking in Blighty.

One can't help wondering what difference Brexit will make in a couple of years when the UK won't be expected to comply with Euro regulations. Maybe Glynn and others would see this as a new opportunity? Or will the UK have to maintain the regs that have just been imposed? Time will tell. Either way, it's tremendously sad to see a chap like Glynn throw in the towel.

Don't think Brexit will make any difference Stick.
As Glynn said "the UK was the biggest cheerleader and added on a lot more UK Regs on top after not getting what we wanted from EU Regs"
I for one am presently developing an aggressive tobacco acquisiton plan before they shut down my online options and try to force me to buy all my tobacco from B&Ms (fine establishments I'm sure but bloody expensive).
We may not have the FDA over here but I'm not sure we're any better off

Adam