One of the good things, or bad things, about smoking a pipe is that there are approximately 900 billion different blends of pipe tobacco out there. www.tobaccoreviews.com has a listing of many of them, with reviews. I have four or five pipes but I just haven’t gotten around to smoking them lately. Whenever fall approaches, the desire to smoke pipes grows stronger and I find myself doing so. I usually buy the house blends from my local tobacco shop, but sometimes I like to try packaged brands also. Some of the kinds I’ve smoked have included: Peterson’s Sunset Breeze…uh, I can’t remember the others. I prefer aromatic tobacco blends as opposed to the more basic Virginia-type mixtures. I want some recommendations from the people here who smoke pipes; there have to be a few. Thanks.
Gonna watch this thread with interest, as I just ordered a “pipe smoking starter kit” from The Tobacco Barn. Haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but one of the samples, which they call “Treasure Chest”, smells amazing.
I’d recommend deciding what kinds of aromatics you might like first.
There are the typical vanilla or cherry blends that distract beginning pipe smokers; and while some of these can be very good (the best vanilla, IMHO, is Mac Baren’s Vanilla Cream; the best cherry, again IMHO, is Samuel Gawith’s Celtic Talisman), the worst can be sickening: bad tobaccos that gob on an excess of flavoring to disguise the bad tobaccos. In short, unless you stick with Mac Baren’s Vanilla Cream and Gawith’s Celtic Talisman, I’d suggest avoiding the vanilla and cherry blends.
Liquor can be a flavoring agent, and here I’d suggest Mac Baren’s Navy Flake–a navy flake typically has dark rum added, and while I don’t actually know if Mac Baren’s does, it sure tastes and smells like it. And of course there are the various whiskey blends: Peterson’s Irish Whiskey is an example. No experience with these, I’m afraid, since they’re not to my taste, but maybe they are to yours.
Moving up a notch to less-common flavors and aromas, you can also find such exotic but still recognizable aromatics, as Sunset Breeze (amaretto), Sweet Killarney (caramel), and Hartwell’s Evening Stroll (butter, vanilla, and possibly nutmeg). Nat Sherman’s 314 City Island Dawn states that it has vanilla, which is true enough, but I’ve noticed that it also seems to include chocolate–unusual, but very pleasant.
Then there are the “unusual” aromatics that only one or two manufacturers attempt. Peterson’s University Flake is one such–they say there’s a hint of plum in it; and as a veteran of many bowls of this tobacco, I won’t necessarily disagree, though I’ll add that it’s only a hint and you should expect to taste more tobacco than flavoring. Another favourite is Samuel Gawith’s 1792 Flake, which has a tonquin topping, but which has very strong tobaccos underneath and may thus be more for the experienced pipe smoker. And there is Erinmore Flake, which is definitely an aromatic, but difficult to pin down. About the only thing that can be said definitely about it is that it is not pineapple. (An inside joke among pipe smokers.)
Anyway, this is a quick rundown of the characteristics of aromatics I’ve enjoyed (except for the whiskey one). Hope it’s useful–I can also help out with other non-aromatics, if you’re interested.
Everyone’s taste is different, of course, so take this for what it might be worth (it may be worthless).
I have been a pipe smoker since 1963. The pipe is a compromise between a pack of Camel shorts every day and not smoking at all. It is a compromise accepted by the young woman I have been married to for 45 years. She now regrets that she gave in so easily.
You can go off to mail order houses and high end tobacco shops and work up a blend that is just perfect for you. My experience, however, is that you will be much better off if you quickly fine a brand that you can buy in any conveyance store, super market or drug store. It is just so much less hassle to do it that way. Otherwise you find your self running out of tobacco without any quick way to restock.
For years I smoked Brown Amphora until they quit selling in the US. For the last few years I’ve been using Borkum Riff. It took a few pouches to get use to it but it works. There is also Captain Black, which has a lot of black Turkish leaf, and any number of straight burley leaf mixes. Be careful of the high end blends, Flying Dutchman and the like. They can be terribly expensive and the stuff cost enough as it. I long for the days that two ounces of Carter Hall cost $0.19.
I usually smoke English blends, so I may not be that much of a help. With those, I stick with Dunhill’s My Mixture 965.
In aromatics, I’ll smoke GL Pease’s Barbary Coast.
You can also try Dunhill’s Early Morning Pipe, which is much milder than most English blends, and has a nice sweet flavor to it.
Or just go down to the tobacconist and stick your nose in a bunch of jars until you smell something good.
This. Just go talk to a tobacconist and tell them what you’re interested in.
I’d recommend something for you, but I’m more into Virginias.
Cannabis Sativa is by far the best!