how many blends?

[old_salt]

Back to the Op's question,
Start out Wide, end up Deep. In the beginning you have to try a lot to see what you like.

I have easily 15 blends I'll never replace, like the Dunhill stuff & McClellands, It may be heresy , but when I run out of
Penzance I won't loose any sleep.

By the time I'm 70, the cellar will be down to 7 or 8 Well aged blends.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

The things that's recently screwed me up is doing reviews of Sutliff and MacBaren products. They send me stuff so fast I can hardly get through it, and it's hampered my sampling of other blends. I'm not complaining, though! I now have a few more blends I want to stock up on.

Thomas, (& Not to derail this topic), but how did you get hooked up with Sutliff/Mac Baren for product reviews?

 

[SpeedyPete]

Started with the latter until I started to decide what I really enjoy enough to keep on hand in quantity - now I'm slowly moving towards the former.

Yes, that's how I see it too.......buy stuff, TRY it and then you can decide whether you like it enough to buy some more to cellar.

But to cellar tobacco you've never tasted?  And only one tin at that?  I'd rather spend my money on stuff I like than to buy stuff I HOPE to like someday  

 

[Wet Dottle]

Stock up to ensure that you have the blends that you like after they're gone. Also, after a few years you have an array or well aged tins that are a delight to smoke.

The disadvantage is that your taste may change and you may end up with blends that are not of your preference anymore. I have a ton of Latakia blends that I don't smoke anymore.

 

[DireWolf]

Start out Wide

This is what I am doing.

I was shocked the other day to see on smokingpipes.com that they "award" badges.

I have a UPS freeloader badge for free shipping over 2 times, and some other one for ordering (trying) 20 blends.

If I combine that with P&C.com, I have (or will by the end of this week) maybe 35 blends.  All but a scant few are single tins that represent a variety within a "family" of blends, both in bulk and in tins.

Liking lat blends, so I got in on the group buy the OP did for Lat flake.

Within a couple weeks, the aged tins I bought will get here, and aside from 2 couple new ones, I'll have about 16 or so tins of aged stuff that I know I like - 10 of them being Christmas Cheer from 2001 through 2010 (no 06 or 09, two 01's and 10's).

 

[Jevverrett]

I really only stock things I like, and improve well with age. I buy extra when I make an order, write the date on them with sharpie and tuck them away for aging. As for the new stuff, I have at least a dozen blends I'm sampling at the moment, or will be as soon as I get around to it. I don't know why I accumulate tobaccos the way I do. I think it just comes with the territory of pipe smoking.