Recently I've been thinking about bulk tobaccos. I'm a tin tobacco guy, but I'd like to be able to cellar some tins longer and cut down on my costs a small amount. I was hoping to get some recommendations for bulk tobaccos that I could get for slightly cheaper and keep in a jar for my snow shovelling/lawn mowing/driving/'working' smokes; the smokes that you enjoy, but don't involve the full attention that a good, expensive, aged tin demands. I'm looking for something VA based, similar to McC Aurora and Mac Dark Twist; as well as something in the vein of McC Samovar or Tudor Castle. Thanks for any suggestions!
I am not familiar with either blend you mentioned, however Peter Stockabye blends are good value for money. Spelling is wrong but close. Sorry, on my phone.
I just purchased a pound of assorted bulk from Pipes And Cigars. Great prices, and 2 weeks ago they had a "Free Freight Friday" promotion... http://pipeandcigars.com/bulktobacco.html
There are a lot of tin tobaccos that also come in bulk. Take a look at what you like, and then search for their bulk brothers and sisters. A lot of bulk tobaccos, without tinned equivalents, are amazing smokes in their own right. You might be missing out on some phenomenal blends by thinking of them as being somehow inferior or unworthy of the same consideration you give tinned blends.
McClelland has a very long list of bulk tobaccos that in my opinion are just as good as tinned tobaccos. I've not found a bulk version of Tudor Castle yet, but am looking as well, since that's one of my favorites. What I do is with every tin order, I'll pick out about 3 bulks that sound good to me, and order those as well. McClelland has some great virginias, as you know already, and I'm sure you'll find some up your alley. You may also want to check out Hearth and Home from pipeandcigars.com and some GH, both readily available. WWhermit
That's not my train of thought; I just started out buying tins, got to really like a bunch of different kinds, and ended up always using my tobacco money to restock them instead of trying new things. But now, with my limited tobacco funds, I'm always opening tins that I meant to be cellaring. I'd just like to find a few bulk tobaccos that are close to what I smoke out of the tins to have around as all day smokes.
Absolutely! And since a lot of my favorite G&H blends come in both tin and bulk, I don't know what to think now! McClellands, on the other hand, is known for aging their tinned blends longer than their bulks, so there are differences there (as well as different names). So I doubt you'll find a bulk McC that is very similar to Samovar, Aurora or Tudor Castle. And Mac Barens is cheap enough in the tin and I think you can even buy that in a large canister to save even more money.
Hearth & Home blends are outstanding at ~$35/#. Anniversary Kake, Rolando's Own, and AJ's Vaper are all very nice smokes and burn very well. P.S. LNF, LTF, & LBF are same same good and same same price. MacB Dark Twist in bulk pounds....you said you like it.....so bulk up on it! Oh, and it's about $36/# too! Ed Puff
Check out GH, McClelland, MacB, Stokkebye, and C&D - they all offer some really nice bulk tobaccos. GH and McClelland clock in at about $52 a pound, while the others run about $25 - $40 a pound. Between the five of them, I'd wager there are probably about a 100 or so blends to chose from. I order mine on line from either Mars Cigars and Pipes or Cup Of Joe, but there are other great on-line vendors like WV Smoke Shop, 4Noggis, or Pipes and Cigars that also have great prices.
Have you tried some of your local B&Ms (brick and mortars)? There's a great place across the lake called Iwan Ries. They sell some great bulks, see here: http://www.iwanries.com/Three-Star-Traditional-Blends-C1594.cfm and the best thing is, they have a smoking lounge where you can sample all these blends for free to help you decide!
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake, Luxury Twist Flake, and Luxury Bullseye Flake are all very good blends, and available in bulk at reasonable prices. I could live off just smoking these 3 blends!
VA...McClelland 5100(Aurora, but good!) Va/Per/Turk...C&D Oriental Silk.(Tudor Castle has few competitors...OS is at least ballpark).
Why do people sound surprised that McB makes a good tobacco? Seriously, though, if Mixture Flake is as good as Mixture Scottish, then it is dadgum good. Sent using Forum Runner
McB Scottish Mixture is one of my favorites but Mixture Flake I think is even better. Very similar to Scottish but with more depth of flavor. I found it at Elliston Place Tobaccos in Nashville TN. Give them a call and they'll either hook you up or tell you where you can order.
I agree with Puff The Magic. Hearth and Home are in house blends at Pipes and Cigars. Get on their web site and pick out some, based on their description. Ask them if they'll send you some samples of what sounds good to you. They've done it for me. Ask them. Ol Brokedik.
I've recently taken a great liking to McB Dark Twist Roll Cake. I've had 4 bowls of it today. I must admit though I have a bit of tongue bite even as I sip on it now . Good stuff!
I've had a few bulks... PS has yet to fail, and it's in a price point that's more my kinda budget. The MacB's I've had thus far (Scottish Mixture and Vanilla Cream Mixture) didn't really do it for me.. I figured for a blend with as much history as MacB, some of it's big sellers would be more flavorful.. I thought they were alittle weak in that department, but I'm still gonna give their flakes a go as well as some of their other blends. The only McC I've had thus far is Deep Hollow.. I liked it. It's pretty tasty. I've picked up the "Victory Lap" sampler form H&H and really enjoyed all of them with the exception of Anniversary Kake. But, when I got them, I was less then two months into pipe smoking, so I may have simply not had the appreciation needed for a blend like that. Anyway, there are plenty of really nice bulks to be had, and some at REALLY awesome prices, which is always a good thing when you are trying to protect your tin investments.
