Lane by another name

PipeProfessor

Many B&Ms take bulk tobacco and rename it prior to selling. What names have you heard for bulk tobaccos that have been renamed?

PipeProfessor

At my local B&M Lane 1Q is named Fireside

PappyJoe

I asked at the local B&M and was told, "No. Our bulk blends are made for specifically for us by Scandinavian Tobacco."

PipeProfessor

I know some house blends are blended by the big boys...but do you think that they would need to be a big shop or chain to get them to blend it for them? I doubt they would only do a few lbs at a time.

PipeProfessor

...or they don't want to say that you can find the same stuff at many many more stores...

drac2485

@pipeprofessor cough, cough, cough... I have one of those B&Ms near me. I love them though and still buy there bulk if not just to figure out what it is so I can order more elsewhere as there prices are getting ridiculous $15-20 for 2 ounces

PipeProfessor

I agree @drac2485. Some of them charge a leg and a half. I have been searching for the one Holts blend, Sweet Georgia Brown, but have not been able to find out what it is. I know Dan Tobacco makes a blend of the same name, but it's very different. 

Subtilis87

Called up my old TinderBox in South Bend Indiana.  I have been in the process of labeling my old aromatics i bought years ago.  I found out today that the blend "Wilshire" from the TinderBox is in fact Lane 1Q

Subtilis87

Sorry for 2 posts.  I got a Virginia with Black Cavendish with a Chocolate and Raspberry casing.  I picked it up form Georgetown Tobacco in D.C. under the name "Christmas Morning"  Can anyone tell me what it is, or, other popular blends with the same profile.  The guy at the store said that it was in fact a macroblend, but could not tell me more.

Subtilis87

Hey @PappyJoe. Isn't your local B&M a Tinderbox? If so, do they have different blends than the online store, because you mentioned they told you all their blends were made specifically for them.

PappyJoe

@subtilis87 Tinderbox is no more. The owner of the franchise sold out due to problems with the mall jacking up the rent and wanting a percentage of sales. The new owners is Mayan Imports and moved basically across the street from the mall. Smoking is allowed on premise but they are having a problem with another tenant who doesn't want them there .

idbowman

@subtilis87 is that "Christmas Morning" a chocolate raspberry casing?  Or is it a chocolate cased tobacco blended with a raspberry cased blending?

If it's two separate blends that are combined, McClelland has a few bulk Chocolates and a few Raspberries that it could be.  Sutliff, Lane, and Stokkebye are other popular suppliers of "house blends," but I'm not sure any of them have both flavors available in bulk.  And I can't think of any bulk tobacco that's a single blend with a Choc/Rasp casing.

Subtilis87

@idbowman i spoke with Georgetown Tobacco and I may have imagined the chocolate, I guess it is just Raspberry.  I also talked with Mary from McClelland, and she said that they do sell a blend to Georgetown Tobacco, but she would need to check with them first to see if it was okay whether she shared with me the true identity of the blend. (One of the employees at Georgetown Tobacco mentioned it was a Macroblend, so I don't think it is blended "Just for Georgetown Tobacco"  By the way, the people at McClelland are great, and I had a very nice conversation with Mary (Who I believe is the owner).  I suspect that the blend is Raspberries in Cream, but I would continue to order it from Georgetown Tobacco in the future because of their great customer service.

Subtilis87

@PappyJoe That is too bad that the Tinderbox closed down.  The Tinderbox in South Bend, Indiana was my very first shop where I bought my first Oz. of tobacco, tamp, and pipe cleaners from.  It is also where I first purchased a pipe (a basket churchwarden).  I am very fond of that franchise. It is to bad your new B&M are having issues with their neighbors, it is sad that it seems to be getting harder and harder to exist in a continually more smoke free world.

PappyJoe

@subtilis87 - in the long run Mayan Imports III should be okay. One of the owners is an attorney

dstrib

Think I have seen RLP-6 called Ram at a few brick and mortar stores. And BCA may have been called Midnight at Tinderbox

idbowman

@subtilis if there's no chocolate then it could be one of a few blends...most that use raspberry casings use sweetened cavendish.  Depending on the specific treatment, that cavendish can come across with the usual vanilla aroma or, occasionally, something approaching a light chocolate.  So you might have "imagined" the chocolate casing, but you could be dead on in picking out the choclatey quality of the smoke.

crapgame

My local mall just sells lane products highly overpriced!!

Pipesmoke33

There is a tobacco shop in Erie, cant remember the name, but they have a house blend called Captain's Choice. I'm pretty sure its 1 Q

Aristocob

Thanks to the recent FDA Deeming Regs, by law you are about to get the answer to your question. 

Soon all B&M's will be required to publicly disclose the name of the original manufacture and the MFG's name for the blend.  For example, I was just at JR Cigars in Burlington, NC and after years of some of the staff denying that one of their top selling blend named "Brendan's Choice" was Lane 1-Q, the large glass jar containing it now has a 2" wide label added that clearly states "Lane LTD 1-Q". (You can't fool me!)

Another related issue was evident with another one of JR's popular house blends that is now completely off the market thanks to the FDA. It was simply a blend of three Lane products, but you can no longer purchase it because if they blend it together in-house it will then have to be submitted to the FDA for testing and approval and the shop would therefore be considered the manufacturer! That's right, blending three tested and approved products together will produce an unapproved product.  I suspect that smart shops will begin to share their recipes so that we can purchase in bulk and blend these ourselves.   

Anyway, many people will soon learn that their B&M 's favorite house blend was actually a bulk blend manufactured and sold to every other shop in town, or that it is no longer available because they can no longer blend in-house.