Too Many Blends/Favorites

[alfredo_buscatti]

I have reached a point of tobacco saturation, ~110 lbs in the cellar. My tobacco rotation, if it can be called that, consisting of two blends open and anywhere from 1-3 hangers-on, suffers from a surfeit such that I'm not allowed to smoke my favorites at will, if I'm going to be true to a focus on smoking up the two main blends I have open. Oh, I can cheat, and I do, but too far in this direction means that I lose focus on the two main blends.

When I decide on smoking a tin, it is done with a conviction that I will remain true to it, and thus, hopefully, by concentrated smoking, come to know it a good deal better than if I only smoked it sporadically.

I understand that this is a good problem to have, but it's going to have to be a highly regarded new-to-me tobacco or replenishing a favorite that will get me to spend my cash.

All the years I've been smoking my focus has been tobacco, but I do have ~60 pipes. Perhaps it's time to change my focus to them.

 

[Justpipes]

Mike, some folks on here would die for your cellar! As you said not a bad problem!

 

[babysinister]

Coming from the opposite direction (having few pipes and few blends), I've ended in a similar place as what you describe. Now I've learned balance: enough variety not to get into a rut with any one blend for any significant period of time; but at the same time, not to go and open one too many tins. I rotate both pipes and tobaccos more wisely now, after having been to the two extremes.

 

[Muddler]

Well, I'm quite different to you - I have about two dozen blends open & rejoice in the diversity of options available. Barring FVF, I seldom smoke the same blend twice a day. I come to know them over time by comparison to others. My challenge is to find the right pipes to devote to different blends. But I do envy the size of your cellar!

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Muddler,

Yes I do have ~110 lbs in my cellar, but being a fan of straight VA, I have cellared it in quantity, many of these blends now at 5 years. But straight VA young is very different than straight VA at 5 years, to my mouth. Every one of these blends bites. I'm going to age them 10 years and see what happens.

In the meantime I can still buy and smoke youthful straight VA. But any that I buy in bulk will get a good taste of air every couple of months, to purposefully nullify the aging process, so that they too don't bite.

It's never made sense to me to buy 2 or 4 ozs of a blend, given the money, so I've often bought 8. This too accounts for how much tobacco I have.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Muddler,

Yes I do have ~110 lbs in my cellar, but being a fan of straight VA, I have cellared it in quantity, many of these blends now at 5 years. But straight VA young is very different than straight VA at 5 years, to my mouth. Every one of these blends bites. I'm going to age them 10 years and see what happens.

In the meantime I can still buy and smoke youthful straight VA. But any that I buy in bulk will get a good taste of air every couple of months, to purposefully nullify the aging process, so that they too don't bite.

It's never made sense to me to buy 2 or 4 ozs of a blend, given the money, so I've often bought 8. This too accounts for how much tobacco I have.

 

[Tom Clemons]

Greetings Mike et al.,

I've got 105 pounds in the cellar, hope to build that to about 130. I've plenty of english blends, but keep finding new ones I like here and there. What you said, Mike, about finding the aged blends biting is scary to me. fortunately, I've not had that experience. But my focus is on building my stash of Virginias.

I keep perhaps 20-30 blends "open" at a time, but once I crack open a tin, I keep it in the tin for a few days and then jar it in a mason jar. Seems to work well and like Muddler, I really enjoy having a variety of open blends to enjoy. To each his own. Cheers,

TC

PS - Mike, your posts have been extremely helpful to me over the years. Just want to say thanks for your efforts on writing so well over the years. Keep it up, plesae!

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Hi Tom,

I wouldn't worry about my getting bit smoking 5 y/o straight VA, given the size and composition of your cellar. It's all about mouth chemistry. In fact, my experience is at odds with the conventional experience of aged straight VA being easier on the tongue than my experience of the reverse. There is a thread in this section called something like "5 y/o Aged Straight VA Tongue Bite" that had a number of responses, including a post by Mr. Pease, who concurs it's all a matter of mouth chemistry.

You might try smoking a few of your oldest straight VAs and see what to expect at 5 years.