Why Are There No Match Blends for Esoterica ?

[RSteve]

Oops.

 

[RSteve]

My personal opinion is that Sutliffe wouldn’t be able to make a suitable match for Penzance or any other Esoterica blend at that! Not a knock on Sutliffe, I just think there are certain tobacco blends that are so distinct and special, that they simply can’t be recreated. I would also put Gawith Hoggarth and Samuel Gawith in this category. Sutliffe to my knowledge doesn’t source “empire” tobaccos and specialized oriental tobaccos, so I just don’t see anything like this ever happening….

Sutliff is owned by Mac Baren and I think that their purchasing strength would readily allow access to purchasing and aging any tobacco in the marketplace. It just becomes a matter of their desire to analyze any blend and copy it. There are those who claim that some of the Sutliff matches to Dunhill are closer that Peterson's current production.

I think that we can all agree that year to year tobacco crops may change. Blends may change because the tobacco crop changed. So much depends on casing and dressing.

 

[gravel]

Is this true? I made a tidy bundle selling old Pease and McClelland blends on ebay last year. When did the curtain drop on tobacco sales on ebay? This whole tobacco targeting thing is getting ridiculous, as if its been relegated to the same category as AR-15's.................

Technically you never could sell tobacco, but eBay allowed the sale of collectible tins. That loophole has been closed and the tins offered for sell now are truly collectible and empty.

 

[JimInks]

My personal opinion is that Sutliffe wouldn’t be able to make a suitable match for Penzance or any other Esoterica blend at that! Not a knock on Sutliffe, I just think there are certain tobacco blends that are so distinct and special, that they simply can’t be recreated. I would also put Gawith Hoggarth and Samuel Gawith in this category. Sutliffe to my knowledge doesn’t source “empire” tobaccos and specialized oriental tobaccos, so I just don’t see anything like this ever happening….

I agree with all of this. In addition, Sutliff isn't doing much in the way of new blends because of the FDA scare, outside of limited editions. I spoke with the fellas who run it, and that's what they told me.

 

[SteveMKentucky]

Penzance was my favorite back in the late 90's early 2000's. Luckily I still have a few jars 'cellared' and get to enjoy it from time to time.

My other favorite was Blackwoods Flake but that's another story.

 

[smoker13]

(link)The sale of tobacco is highly regulated, and may cause harm to eBay members, so we do not allow tobacco products to be listed.

"What a world! What a world!" to quote the dying wicked witch of OZ

 

[Tleek1]

The briar patch in sacramento used to have esoterica blends in bulk.

I wonder if they were actually esoterica blends or matches. I bought a couple oz of tilbury there and it was probably my favorite blend of all time.

I hardly smoke now, but I would love to have some on hand.

 

[JimInks]

The briar patch in sacramento used to have esoterica blends in bulk.

I wonder if they were actually esoterica blends or matches. I bought a couple oz of tilbury there and it was probably my favorite blend of all time.

I hardly smoke now, but I would love to have some on hand.

Some places open up the eight ounce bags, and sell the tobacco by the ounce. I've seen that in a couple of places.

 

[Tleek1]

Some places open up the eight ounce bags, and sell the tobacco by the ounce. I've seen that in a couple of places.

That must have been what they were doing

I feel like I remember getting some penzance there as well.

 

[JGIORD]

I've been out of it for a long time but i'm seeing names I used to know that are no longer being produced. I enjoyed the Esoterica line and now I find out I can no longer get it. What other manufacturers no longer produce.

It seems McClelland is another one.

 

[Scallywag]

I've been out of it for a long time but i'm seeing names I used to know that are no longer being produced. I enjoyed the Esoterica line and now I find out I can no longer get it. What other manufacturers no longer produce.

It seems McClelland is another one.

Esoterica is still made, but Arango holds it back releasing it now it seems only once a year. Jf Germaine’s production could also be down since the pandemic. They used pre aged leaf and old processes that cannot be replicated.
McClelland sadly closed shop in 2017-18 due to leaf availability and the Mcniels wanting to retire.

 

[JimInks]

Yup, Germain made Krumble Kake for Smoker's Haven and for Esoterica/Butera as Penzance. "Nearly" may be the operative word. I've smoked a goodly amount of each over the years and I do think they are somewhat close in taste, but certainly not identical. Personally, I prefer Krumble Kake because I prefer a blend where latakia is dominant and I believe Krumble Kake had significantly more latakia than Penzance.

That is true. The blends have enough differences to preclude the idea they are the same.

 

[user 2027]

Arango also shakes down their retailers and distribute the gold blocks based on how many ****** basket pipes you sold from them.

I once did the math or dumping 3 bags on pipestud and letting him take his 20% cut and then buying 4kg of tobacco from Estervals with the profits. Some of the HU tobak is tempting me to do it but in the end it is all a hassle. So I don't.