Esoterica Tobacco

SERENTIL

Greetings, so what is the story behind Esoterica pipe tobacco? 

At P&C, they never have any Esoterica tobacco in stock and no one else does for that matter.    http://www.pipesandcigars.com/brands/1704/esoterica/?type=Pipe%20Tobacco

P&C shows that Esoterica's supply is "..limited by the Manufacturer".   Apart from the obvious, what exactly does that mean and why would they do that?   Just curious...

Regards, Matthew

Subtilis87

My understanding is that Esoterica Tobacciana is small production because they are highly selective about the leaf they will use for their products.  If they can't get what they feel they need to make Penzance for example, they will not make it.  I believe it is also a small company.  It used to be owned by Mike Butera, but he sold it off a while ago.

daveinlax

Germain's factory is tiny and located on the island of Jersey UK. They use very old equipment and the output is limited. When Butera owned the brand he carefully managed the distribution but since Arango bought the brand it's been this way.

weedsnager

P&c had it in stock not to long ago

mezzoduomo

The Margate is outstanding, IMHO....and it seems to be available more frequently that Penzance.

SERENTIL

@mezzoduomo, just based on the reviews of Margate, I can hardly wait to get a hold of a tin.

judandhispipe

I understand that they have three - count 'em, three - employees.

SERENTIL

Ah, well... that does explain a lot, doesn't it?

RedheadedMK

Whatever you can get your hands on is still good, if not better than most anything else. I've never had anything bad from Germain, even if I didn't like it.

PappyJoe

I think Penzance is the hardest of the Esoterica blends to find. There's a shop in Baton Rouge that occasionally has it and when I find it I buy at least 2 at once. I've also tried Pembroke and Margate. They are both good but from my understanding the only difference is that Pembroke has a Cognac topping and Margate has none.

Stonehaven is also good when you can find it.

IndyJG

I have tried several of their blends and have 4 or 5 of their blends in my cellar. Never had an opportunity to try Penzance and have no interest in Stonehaven, but Margate and As So To Bed are good English blends. I absolutely love and highly recommend their two Va/Per blends: Dunbar and Dorchester. Dunbar is near the top of my all time favorite blends. A definite "desert island" choice for me. Best bet to obtain their blends is through non-online tobacco shops. Luckily, I have a shop within half hour that doesn't do online sales. Went there on a lark and came home with 10 oz of Dunbar and 8 oz of Dorchester. They had several other Esoterica blends in stock at that time. Guy behind the counter says they tend to get Esoterica stock about twice a year from their distributor which seems inline with the stocking experiences of the online shops that sell out in a very short time.

SERENTIL

Hmm, it will be hard to find in California thanks to prop 56 but I shall go on a noble quest for the holy (tobacco) grail! 

motie2

Didn't know whether to post this in "Shits and Giggles" or here:

Hitler's reaction to not finding/getting any Penzance pipe tobacco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqvOzrbFbv4

jim102864

What a riot.  I've seen this in various iterations, the latest being the Patriots beating the Falcons in the Super Bowl.

motie2

@jim102864 -- Fan of 2112? Me, too!

jim102864

@motie2 -- very much so and a huge Rush fan in general.  I have to admit I fell off the wagon in the late 80's as keys became more prevalent in their music.  I have never been a fan of "New Wave" and the like and that brief, unfortunate blip in the music scene influenced them to change their sound.  Still, they came roaring back in the 90's and 2000's.  I'm going to miss their live performances now that they've decided to stop touring.  2112 is a classic, but I feel that way about a lot of their stuff.

motie2

"Your good friend, Bradley," at StuffandThings on Youtube just recently reviewed Esoterica's Dunbar, a VaPer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUf8ctRzHkk

Bonanzadriver

After getting back into the briar brotherhood I went looking for Penzance with no luck but did find a shop in either Louisiana or Alabama that had Margate, so I picked up a tin.  I have a bowl about every other week or so, very much enjoy it.

Last week I received a gift sample of Stonehaven from a new briar bro I met @ the Raleigh pipe show a couple of weeks ago.  It was very very moist.  Let some dry out for several hours and then had a bowl.  Although I enjoyed it I prefer Margate.

As the pipe show was coming to a close my son and I were at a table of some older folks that had a hundred or so neat estate pipes and about 100 aged tins of various tobacco.  My son was paying for a no name freehand ($15, good deal I think) while I was eyeballin a 10 year old tin of MM 965.  I asked the proprietor, in jest really, how many times he'd been asked if he had any Penzance.  To my absolute surprise he said  "actually no one has asked me for it, and I actually brought a tin with me!"    He reached back behind where he was sitting and pulled out what appeared to be a brand new tin.

He shared that he had purchased it from an elderly gentleman that was selling all of his pipes and tobacco because of OCPD or something like that.  Stated that all of his tobacco tins had been kept in a climate controlled environment and that  they all looked brand new.  He further told me that he was pretty sure that this particular tin was over 10 years old.

After a bit of negotiating I got him to come down $25 off of his original asking price and I bought it.  Later that weekend I posted a picture of the tin on another site asking for help dating it.  Turns out it's from the 90's, it's a 99 or earlier.

As I type this I'm sittin up in the mancave, sippin Blantons and enjoyin this evenings tobacco medley.  Just finished up some Frog Morton, in a poker I restored a while back and glancing up at the Margate on the shelf.  Might have to have it next while I ponder what special occasion I'm gonna choose to pop the seal on the Penzance and which pipe will have the honor of smokin the first bowl.

Hope I'm not disappointed. 

PappyJoe

Bayou Tobacco in Baton Rouge will have Esoterica blends in stock every now and then. I bought two tins of Penzance from them at the New Orleans Pipe Show in October 2015. I have one tin left and it's sitting in the bottom of my cellar. I also have unopened tins of Margate and Pembroke that are about a year old. 

Woodsman

I went to a popular internet dealer's site, they have Esoterica blends listed but, out of stock on all of them. Maybe we should establish a watch with one of us constantly checking all the sites to enable passing the word when found. Of course said person should refrain from immediately ordering multiple amounts for themselves before the rest of us can honorably order only 1 tin each.