Where in the World Can You Buy Esoterica Tobaccos?

[Lonecoyote]

Thanks Chris ^^^^^^^

I'm wondering if it was new releases or was it purchased from the B&M that closed in Pennsylvania. This guy had between 550 to 700 tins left and some Esoterica. The Germain's you just purchased recently have a date? Thanks, appreciate your help.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Deleted member 2386]

Thanks Chris ^^^^^^^

I'm wondering if it was new releases or was it purchased from the B&M that closed in Pennsylvania. This guy had between 550 to 700 tins left and some Esoterica. The Germain's you just purchased recently have a date? Thanks, appreciate your help.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

Sounds like all the usual etailers and B&Ms received their typical  allotment of Esoterica and Germain products last week, most just sold out super fast...as usual. I highly doubt this is the result of a PA tobacconist selling off his new old stock to a ton of different outlets, all at the same time, after ET/Germain stopped production...without making an announcement. Occam's razor, friends.

The good news is Esoterica and Germain tobaccos aren't gone for good, they're just as hard to find as ever. As others have pointed out, getting on the phone with B&Ms who have carried it in the past is best practice...especially once it is spotted at one retailer, since that means the rest have it or wil soon, since the shipments go out from Jersey in waves.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Thanks Chris ^^^^^^^

I'm wondering if it was new releases or was it purchased from the B&M that closed in Pennsylvania. This guy had between 550 to 700 tins left and some Esoterica. The Germain's you just purchased recently have a date? Thanks, appreciate your help.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

Ted, No date on the tins but the packaging is sparkling new.

 

[Richard Burley]

Tobacco retailers must LOVE getting phone calls asking if they have any Penzance or whatever in stock, I'm thinkin'. Maybe call every day or so? :lol:

 

[Lonecoyote]

There are three retailers I purchase tobacco's from regularly and all three told me recently that they have NOT received any tobacco's from Germain in over a year. A very well known tobacconist from the U.K. That recently closed his doors ( I'd rather NOT mention names, but most of you know him ) told me by email ( we keep in touch ) that Germain's has not manufactured any tobacco's since late 2015. I sent him an email a few minutes ago asking him if Germain had recently released some blends. I should hear back from him by tomorrow.



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Lonecoyote]

Sounds like all the usual etailers and B&Ms received their typical allotment of Esoterica and Germain products last week, most just sold out super fast...as usual. I highly doubt this is the result of a PA tobacconist selling off his new old stock to a ton of different outlets, all at the same time, after ET/Germain stopped production...without making an announcement. Occam's razor, friends.

The gentleman that closed his doors in PA had put all of his Germain blends up for auction. It was an EXTREMELY large stock that was auctioned off, I know in tins alone the number was close to 1,800 from old stock. And 8 oz. bags of Esoterica, and he had no Stonehaven. I had purchased the last two 8 oz. bags of Stonehaven from him about 6 months before he closed. He was a ONE in a million and look where it got him! Always gave back to his community. Basically taxed out of business!



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Carlos]

Wouldn't that frustrate the flippers if they actually had to drive to some B&M's to purchase? If the distributors have figured out how to spread it all out so everyone has a chance, that would be a major plus in my book.

 

[arkansaspiper]

its a shame a small biz gets shut down everyday

 

[Brewdude]

I've long been accustomed to the variable nature of Esoterica blends and their availability. And as a result have long let go of any notions of obtaining more.

Yes, one can sign up on sp for a one time notification when it comes into stock - but unless you have the latest technology on your fancy phone, by the time you read it, it'll be long gone! And they, along with all the other retailers, are allocated only so much every so often. Maybe twice/yr at most.

Myself, I've quite chasing the gold unicorn.

Are Esoterica blends the nirvana they are cracked up to be? Maybe, in the eye of the beholder. Or, are they just another notch in the belt for those that can claim to have bagged them?! Sometimes I wonder. KnowwhatImean??

OK, so where do I stand on all this ado about nothing? Ya, that was the next question, wasn't it.

Right, so I can't claim to have had them all. In fact just a smallish number of their range. Off the top of my head it's like this-

Stonehaven
Penzance
Tillbury
Margate
Dorchester
Dunbar
And So To Bed
Ramsgate
Blackpool

Of the above, Stony is my clear fave. I often refer to it as "stonehead", in case there was any confusion about the correlation to "green pipe weed". Of the latter I'm not enamoured, in case you're a-wondering.

Tillbury I've only had on a few occasions. Frankly I don't have enough of a clear memory of this to say anything except that I seem to remember enjoying it.

Dorchester and Dunbar have the elements I'm primarily enamoured of these days - that being VaPer. Had those I'm sure in the past, perhaps one tin each back around '01 or so. Can't say they made an impression on me one way or another. At least back then.

Penzance. Yup been there done that. When I was into lat-weed it was fine but not earth shattering.

Margate. Shag cut lat blend. Very tricky to get right in a pipe. Nice enough when you can bring all the elements together.

And So To Bed. Somewhat nondescript. Even when I was into "English blends" this was a bore. Not deficient in any specific way, mind. Just not memorable.

Blackpool and Ramsgate were too heavy into the licorice world for my tastes. I'm happy with the light licorice topping that Uhle's uses on blend #255. But the two aforementioned blends make this too strident to my tastes.

As always, YMMV.



Cheers,

RR

 

[Lonecoyote]

In all sincerity the only Esoterica blend that ever rocked my boat is and always will be Stonehaven. All the others I had plenty of access to while living in Europe but rarely smoked any. Penzance, it's a Lat blend that's WAY over priced if you find some. I have two tins I'm sending to a doctor friend for his birthday. Maybe I just smoked to much Penzance back in the day! Today, it's nothing special for me!!



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Deleted member 2386]

For my two cents, I've always been pretty pleased with both the ET line and the Germain & Son stuff--even the blends that don't flip my trigger are clearly made from quality tobaccos and burn well. That said, I was never obsessed enough to join the Wild Hunt...Heck, when I cracked my last bag of Stonehaven last month I'd cooled enough to it that I traded the lot of it away, hopefully to folks who'll appreciate it more than I can! Then again, I traded it in part for Germain's Special Latakia and Brown Flake, so maybe I do have a touch of the Esoterica flu...

As for their being shuttered or not, curiosity got the better of me so I just emailed the company via the address on their website's contact page--will report back if I hear anything.

 

[Deleted member 2386]

Rejoice! Just received the following email directly from the company:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your interest in our tobaccos. It is nice to hear that our efforts are appreciated.

Please do not worry we continue to produce both Germain and Esoterica Tobacciana tobaccos and have no plans to make any changes.

With kind regards,

J.F.Germain & Son Ltd.
25 commercial buildings
St. Helier, Jersey

***
Of course, whether you can find them or not is another story. Happy hunting!

 

[Lonecoyote]

THANKS FOR POSTING^^^^^^^^^



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[Brewdude]

Jesse, thanks for the skinny. Great they were courteous enough to answer!


Cheers,

RR

 

[Lonecoyote]

Okay, I must admit another Germain tobacco I use too also smoke often WAS Rich Dark Flake. Hopefully a friend that lives in the U.K. Will eventually locate enough for both of us :cheers:



KEEP ON PUFFING!!!

 

[hobie1dog]

Yep, thanks for sharing your letter from them with us.