Lane Limited

Lane Limited is a pipe tobacco maker, now headquartered in the United States, whose roots trace to Dresden, Germany, in 1890. Considered a defining force in shaping the American aromatic blend style, the company is known both for its globally recognized packaged Captain Black series and for its bulk blends identified by code names, chief among them 1-Q.

Bulk tobacco refers to tobacco sold openly by weight rather than in packaged form; Lane is considered one of the world's best-known producers in this category. The company has operated under the Scandinavian Tobacco Group since 2011.

From Dresden to New York

The company was founded in Dresden in 1890 by the ancestors of the Lane family and specialized in pipe and roll-your-own tobaccos. The founder's grandson, Herman G. Lane, left Nazi Germany in 1938 to emigrate to the United States and re-established the business in Manhattan, New York. The company quickly took hold in its new home: its 1940s catalog listed forty different pipe blends.

Pipe tobaccos were produced in the Manhattan building for many years; according to records, production moved to a factory in Tucker, Georgia, around 1983. It's said that some employees were so devoted to the company that they chose to relocate with it from New York to Georgia.