I’d disagree–I’ve never found a sealed can to contain dry pipe tobacco. Rather, it’s sometimes too moist, and needs to be left open for a while to dry a bit. Still, to each their own, eh?
But I do think you have a good point about tinned tobacco “putting a beginner off.” It’s not always easy to handle (Alex, avoid any “flake cuts” until you have more experience handling tobacco and filling your pipe), and the tins themselves give little indication of what they’re all about, at least until the novice understands the different kinds of tobaccos. Dunhill’s “Nightcap,” for example, sounds like it would deliver a nice relaxing smoke, suitable for late at night. And it will, if you like lots of Latakia, but most beginners don’t.
On this point, I heartily agree. With all due respect, Alex, I’d expect a $15 Sherlock Holmes pipe (a.k.a. a calabash) to be a great prop for a Sherlock Holmes costume on Halowe’en, but a poor pipe for smoking. Good-quality smoking pipes do cost more, but should not be unreasonable, and a tobacconist can help you find one at a reasonable price.
Aside: Maybe we pipe smokers need a thread to discuss all these things!
Thanks for all the advice! I’m going to try to find a brick-and-mortar with a wider selection, and report back.
What I don’t understand, yet, is the significance of the pipe. What’s the difference? What should I look for as a beginner interested in a mild, flavorful, relaxing smoke?
Well, for a pipe, you want something that fits your hand, isn’t so small or thin that you burn yourself as you smoke it, and that you yourself like. For example, I’m not a big fan of pipes with straight stems or that have bowls carved in the “bulldog” shape (ask your tobacconist about shapes and their names), but I do like bent stems and nice round bowls. You can look and hold all manner of pipes at a well-stocked tobacconist.
As for tobaccos for beginners, I’d especially recommend the following from Enterprise’s post above:
Of the three, I’d recommend MacBaren’s Vanilla Cream: it offers a bit of vanilla flavour and aroma on top of some solid, quality, pleasant tobaccos. You’ll taste the tobacco and the vanilla, but you shouldn’t be overwhelmed by either. MacBaren always uses good quality tobacco, so they don’t have to gob on the flavouring to cover up the taste of lousy tobacco. Peterson tobaccos are also very good and can also be very nice; instead of Irish Whiskey, I might recommend Sweet Killarney for a beginner (elusive flavour, but somewhat caramelly), but that’s my opinion.
Aside to Enterprise: Nice to find that you’re a fan of Peterson’s University Flake and MacBaren’s Navy Flake also. They’re a couple of long-time personal favourites that I keep coming back to.
There’s a couple of points of note. First, a good pipe needs to be made of a good wood, in order for the smoke to be cool and dry. A cheaper pipe will probably have been made of briar wood with lots of spots that were filled with a glue-and-wood-shavings kind of stuff that make the pipe look smooth, but that doesn’t work as well as real briar wood. Second, a pricier pipe will in all likelihood have been bored better (you’ll want the mouthpiece’s bore come out at the very bottom of the bowl, so there is no tobacco residue left after you smoke, except for the ashes). Cheap pipes also tend to be lacquered, which denies the wood the chance to breathe. And you’ll get a cheap, hard mouthpiece (or a cheap, soft mouthpiece) rather than one well designed for smoking. That’s some of the things that out to be kept in mind.
When you’re looking for a new pipe, I’ve found that strongly bent pipes (such as Sherlock Holmes would have smoked in the movies) smoke more moist by and large; so prefer a straight design (my first pipe was a quarter bent, I think, which was okay). Longer stems make for cooler smoke, but are also a bit tricky. I’d suggest you ask your tobacconist of choice to suggest a reasonably priced model.
There are some more specialized things to watch out for, but those should do for a start.
As for the tobacco options: flake tobaccos aren’t for you yet, I agree, although you CAN rub them into handier bits. I’ve never had a problem with tinned tobacco, but if you can try single bowls of different kinds, so much the better…I never could.
Oh, and don’t smoke Dunhill’s Nightcap as a Nightcap, unless nicotine doesn’t do it for you at all – it sure keeps ME up.
Shows you what I know, I guess, I’ve just gone ahead a recommended something completely different. Do you not find that your bent pipes smoke moister than your straight ones? And I love the Bulldog shape, though my favorite pipe is still a bent pipe with a ball-shaped bowl.
If I had name two tobaccos for people who want to try something completely different, I think it would be these two. The University Flake has that cigarry flavor to it, but it’s a completely different experience to smoke that in a pipe, and sometimes I quite like the nicotine punch. And the Navy Flake is also quite unique, I think, because you rarely get a straight Burley (leastwise not here in Europe). I see I don’t have a tin of it around, maybe I should get one…
Sometimes, yes; and depending on the moistness of the tobacco and possibly the ambient humidity of the air, I sometimes get a “burbling” sound coming from the bowl. It doesn’t interfere with the smoking or my enjoyment, though it is a good reminder to run a pipe cleaner through afterwards to dry things out.
Now I’m wanting some Navy Flake too! Seriously, your mention of MacBaren’s Virginia Flake upthread got me remembering a couple of terrific Virginia Flakes I’ve enjoyed: Paul Olson’s “My Own Blend No. 111” and Solani’s “No. 633 Virginia Flake.” (IIRC, it’s No. 633.) Each is sweet Virginia with just enough Latakia to keep them from being too sweet. You might want to try them at some point too.
I only smoke a pipe when I’m out in the field camping. My go-to pipe is an Israeli briar in a Dublin styling. Just the thing for keeping the mosquitos and bears away.
I missed this on first reading. Shows you what my reading skills are like. D’oh! :smack:
Anyway. You did just fine–things like stem type and bowl shape really boil down to personal preference. My Dad, for example, always seemed to prefer straight stems, and amassed quite a collection of straight-stemmed pipes. Me, I’m different; most of my pipes are bent, as you know. But neither Dad nor myself is terribly picky about bowl shapes. It’s personal preference really, and if Alex has a look at the selection of pipes available at a tobacconist’s, and tries holding a few of them, he’ll begin to develop his own personal preference too.
My boyfriend smokes a pipe often, but in public I think he chooses cigars because they’re more portable. But he’s got a huge collection of pipes and tobaccos and if you don’t look out he’ll tell you all about them. I brought him back a beautiful meerschaum from Turkey that’s his faaavorite. (I was lucky - I had no idea if it was something he’d want!)
PS - not to hijack, but I haven’t noticed among his pipes any preference in shape - he seems to have a bunch of different shapes. If I wanted to get him a nice pipe for Christmas instead of a gift certificate or something for one, is that possible? And what would I be looking for? We have some decent tobacco shops in town. It’s either that or a cabinet-style humidor for his cigars.
If he doesn’t already have a humidor (or doesn’t have one that’s big enough to accommodate his needs), I would say, as a(n occasional) cigar smoker, get him the humidor. It changes everything.
Well, he has two smaller ones. I wanted to get him one like a table, because he’ll be moving some of his stuff into a room I’m building over my garage.
Well, he has two smaller ones. I wanted to get him one like a table, because he’ll be moving some of his stuff into a room I’m building over my garage.
It’s sure possible, but I’d be a little careful, since even though he has a lot of different shapes, that doesn’t mean he likes all shapes, if you follow me. I know for myself that although I’ve been given a couple of pipes that I liked, I much prefer picking my own, if given the choice. Of course, if he has a couple of really standard shapes (look at the pipe chart referred to), then it may be worthwhile to have a handpicked keepsake from you that’s a shape he already has and apparently likes. YMMV, though – I can see where getting a pipe gifted from my girlfriend would be a fun thing whether I like the shape of the pipe or not; and all other qualities a good tobacconist should be able to help you with.
Heh, I didn’t notice you missed it because it wasn’t terribly reply-worthy in the first place :-). I’ll see about trying those Virginias you suggest, I’ll have to find them in Germany somewhere first, though.
I’m not picky about bowl shapes either, at least not up front – I’ll certainly only buy what I like, but I like quite of view quite different types of bowl. I’m sure Alex will do just fine in that regard – I’ve never found bowl shape to be a matter in how well a pipe smokes (except for one pipe I have, with a 1 1/2 inch deep bowl and paper thin sides…a real pain to smoke cool, but a very good smoke when it is.
I really wish it was socially acceptable for me (a young female) to smoke a pipe. I love the slow, back-porch, early-morning experience of having a smoke, but since I smoke so rarely I really hate the smell of cigarette smoke. I love the lingering smell of pipe smoke, and think I would love the experience of preparing and smoking a pipe.
Seriously, your mention of MacBaren’s Virginia Flake upthread got me remembering a couple of terrific Virginia Flakes I’ve enjoyed: Paul Olson’s “My Own Blend No. 111” and Solani’s “No. 633 Virginia Flake.” (IIRC, it’s No. 633.) Each is sweet Virginia with just enough Latakia to keep them from being too sweet. You might want to try them at some point too.
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