RSteve
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2008
- Messages
- 2,482
- Reaction score
- 528
It's getting more difficult to purchase the base components for home blends. First, I have to qualify my statement. I prefer not to use whole leaf tobacco. I don't like the shredding and relative unpredictability of the whole leaves. I've shredded by hand and by using an altered hand crank former paper shredder. I prefer to let Sutliff, Stokkebye, G & H, C & D, and McConnell do the heavy lifting. Buying base components used to be easy. Smokingpipes, Pipesandcigars, Tobaccopipes, 4noggins, and others all carried ample inventories. Lately, only Pipesandcigars seems to be regularly carrying inventory. They do carry what they label "Blending tobacco." I'm quite certain that the majority of the blending tobacco is from Sutliff, but there's usually no way of knowing, unless you buy a pound and it's sent in a factory label sealed bag. But, it also appears that the manufacturers may be releasing fewer component tobaccos to retailers. I wonder if this trend is because of slow sales or manufacturers would rather you bought more tinned blends at higher prices.
A few hours later: I had a doctor appointment this morning to examine the scar of the incision where I had my spinal surgery. On the way home, I stopped in at a B & M where I occasionally bought a cigar, pre-pandemic. There was always a row of glass "ginger jars" filled with bulk pipe tobacco blends. Today, gone. I asked where the jars had gone. The long time clerk said that with MN tobacco taxes so high, bulk buyers were buying via the internet, and that their tobacco distributor encouraged them to concentrate their pipe tobacco inventory on best selling tins.
A few hours later: I had a doctor appointment this morning to examine the scar of the incision where I had my spinal surgery. On the way home, I stopped in at a B & M where I occasionally bought a cigar, pre-pandemic. There was always a row of glass "ginger jars" filled with bulk pipe tobacco blends. Today, gone. I asked where the jars had gone. The long time clerk said that with MN tobacco taxes so high, bulk buyers were buying via the internet, and that their tobacco distributor encouraged them to concentrate their pipe tobacco inventory on best selling tins.
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