Representative Examples of Classic Styles

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robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Hey, all.
Almost 30 years ago, some college friends and I decided to learn to smoke the pipe. We failed miserably, but have tried on and off for years. This time I've stuck it out, and am getting to where I can smoke without tongue bite. Hearing of my success (though still VERY early) all my buddies are interested again. We are getting together for a week in July, and I've agreed to provide the tobacco.
I smoke (like most newbies) mostly aromatics, and will certainly bring some Lane 1Q and probably some Sutliff Vanilla Custard. Both these are fairly inoffensive and easy to smoke, but I also want to bring some "real" tobaccos.
Not dissing Aromatics, but I want to explore the classic styles. I want to be able to say "This is a classic American Blend, this is an English, this is a... whatever." Does that make sense?
I don't really even know what styles ought to be represented.
So my question is: What are considered the "Classic" styles of pipe tobacco, and what would you all consider the most traditional example of that style?
Thanks in advance...

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
The best textbooks on different categories of blends are probably the pipe tobacco pages of the retail sites of our sponsors. Just wander through the tobacco offerings, the different brands, the samplers, especially the samplers offering various different brands. Probably most informative to look mostly at non-aromatic, since they tend to define the different categories. Recognize there is a lot of blurring. English, Scottish, and Balkan share some tobaccos in common. Virginias and Virginia/Periques often have some common ground. I think burley forward blends, exemplified by Cornell & Diehl non-aromatic blends, are thought of as American blends in general. You have to filter out a lot of "romantic literature" and pay attention to the constituent tobaccos and which are dominant in particular blends, and the strength and taste ratings given them. In the real world of blending, there is a lot of "crossing over," somewhat aromatic English blends, and Cavendish popping up there and there, flavored and not, and so on. If you take it all in the spirit of adventure, and can accept a lot of ambiguity in categories, this is all entertaining and amusing. Have a good time. Also, the paper catalogs from Pipes and Cigars, Iwan Ries, and others provide a different format that sometimes makes it easier to compare blends.

 

lostandfound

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 30, 2011
924
44
Welcome to the forums Rob!
If it were me, I would be sure to bring some Dunhill My Mixture 965 for the English category, Dunhill Flake or Capstan Blue for your Virginias, Old Dark Fired for Dark Fired Kentucky, and perhaps some Solani's Aged Burley Flake for the Burley category. These tobacco's, while not representative of global territories, seem to set the bar for their respective categories, IMO. Also, I seem to have left out VaPer's- which I would probably represent with Escudo. Although I've not smoked Escudo myself, I'm sure very few would argue that Escudo is not the VaPer by which all other VaPers should be judged.

 

lostandfound

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 30, 2011
924
44
As you may decipher from Mso's post, choosing any particular tobacco to "represent" any specific region or territory, could be a bit tricky. You may end up having English-Virginias (Dunhill Flake), American-Virginias (McClellend's 5100 Red Cake), English-English's (965), Scottish-English's (Blends by Rattray's which contain Latakia), German-Aromatics (MacBaren's aromatic blends), American-Aromatics (Sutliff?), etc., and so on and so forth. For this reason, I believe you'd be better off representing "types of tobacco", rather than any specific country's take on these types.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
Hi Rob, welcomme to the site. Lostandfound has given you some good recommendations but let me break it downn for you in a simpler format.
Virginia/Perique Blend = Escudo. The Vaper in which all others are judged.
English Blend= Dunhill London Mixture. This is a medium English blend, 965 is too much Latakia for new guys.
Virginia= Capstan Blue Flake. Easy to get and a real high quality VA Flake.
Virginia/ Kentucky= Solani Silver Flake. Fantastic blend that is not over powering like Old Dark Fired can be to a new guy. Comes perfect humidity for smoking out of the tins as do all the others I recommended.
Red Virginia Blend= McClellend 5100 Red Cake, another classic. If you find that anyone of your group is getting an acid burn to their tongues, have them stop as they may be like me and have a body alkilinity issue with red virginia's.
These are all classic blends that can be found at one of our great sponsors suck as smokingpipes.com, 4noggins.com, pipesandcigars.com. Make sure you have pipe cleaners( BJ long) a tamper and pipe tool. You will get free shipping from all of these guys for orders around 100.00.
Now if anyone else gives you other suggestions, please ignore them as I am the tobacco maven around here. Especially beware of pipstud, as he will recommend Dunhill Royal Yacht which in the pipe world is known as Royal Yuck. It is a foul weed that only Texans smoke.
Here endeth the lessson. :lol:

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Thanks, guys!
And, everyone else, keep posting!
I appreciate all the information. I tend a bit toward the obsessive-compulsive, and can see myself becoming a bit of a "tobacco historian" in the future but, for now, I'm in the "sample everything I can get my hands on" stage.
In fact, I'm sampling so many blends that the tastes are tending to run together in my mind. I'm trying to slow down, smoke only one or two different blends a day and pay attention to what I'm experiencing.
Yep. I gotta slow down!

 

monty55

Lifer
Apr 16, 2014
1,722
3,560
65
Bryan, Texas
Welcome rob! Glad to have you. I can't add a whole lot more than those above have offered. Except... please provide a tin of GLP Chelsea Morning. It has just the right amount of everything to get a good sense on what non aro's taste like. If you don't have any, PM me your address real quick and I will send you a tin! I have a ton, and don't mind sharing. Especially in such cool circumstances.
In addition to everthing else, I would say that aromatics are probably the reason you had such a long learning curve with tongue bite. I would steer your buddies to try a good non aromatic, like CM first. But, a full bowl so they can get to that nutty creaminess we all love and desire :wink:
Yes, slowing down is everything that is good and proper about pipe smoking. From smoking to thinking, to thinking while your smoking. It is a wonderful way to help balance that OC disorder... cause i got it too!

 

settersbrace

Lifer
Mar 20, 2014
1,565
5
Sounds like you've got your own pipe club starting up, be sure to get your buds to check us out here! All of the above are great suggestions and keep us updated on how the meet up goes.

 

ericusrex

Lifer
Feb 27, 2015
1,175
3
Great suggestions above. I might add an American style burley to that list. Prince Albert or Carter Hall comes to mind. Just don't try these AFTER the English blends!

 

weezell

Lifer
Oct 12, 2011
13,653
49,163
And do not forget a pouch of Carter Hall/Prince Albert/ Sir Walter Raleigh. Don't dismiss the codger blends...

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Thanks again, everyone!
Here's what I'm thinking right now:
American: Carter Hall

English: Dunhill - Either EMP or London Mixture

VaPer: Escudo Navy Flake

Virginia: Ummm.. Still undecided

Aromatic: Lane 1Q
Monty - Thank you so much for your offer, and I'll definitely try some Chelsea Morning soon, but it seems to be kind of a "crossover" more so that a representative sample.
So, guys, I'm undecided if I want to add anything dark-fired. I don't want too many different styles available, just enough for a bit of variety and a basic introduction to styles.
Let me know if you feel something would better represent a specific style than the blends I've tentatively selected, or if there's a particularly important style that I've overlooked.

 

lochinvar

Lifer
Oct 22, 2013
1,687
1,632
Here's my list for a clear example for several categories and subcategories.
English- Dunhill London

Oriental- Rattray Red Rapparee

Balkan- Peretti Royal

Scottish- Rattray Black Mallory

VaPer- Escudo

Virginia Flake- Gawith Full Virginia Flake

American/Burley- Sir Walter Raleigh

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Lochinvar,
I've had good luck with Prince Albert under the American/Burley category, but Sir Walter burned my mouth like a blow-torch. It seemed to be more of a chemical burn than actual heat. Is it possible that I had some kind of allergic reaction or a seriously defective pouch or something? I mean, I can't imagine SWR selling as long as it has if it affected EVERYONE that way!

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,922
Detroit
It's interesting that no one mentioned Dunhill Standard - that's a classic English. 965 has cavendish in it, when Standard does not.

 
May 4, 2015
3,210
16
If you're rolling through different styles of blends with the intention of comparing, maybe a mess of corn cobs would be a good idea. You can get a grab bag of 10 pipes for cheap or just order a bunch of MM legends. That way you can dedicate pipes to blends and you won't mix. Just a thought. This sounds like a wicked good time!

 

robwoodall

Can't Leave
Apr 29, 2015
422
5
Well, guys,
I had to pull the trigger and place my order, so here's what I got:
Carter Hall for my "Codger blend"

Dunhill 965 for my English

Capstan Blue for the Virginia

Escudo for the VaPer and

Lane 1Q for the Aromatic
I think 5 will be more than enough for us all to sample and discuss on our vacation.
I really appreciate all the advice, and I ended up buying almost everything that was suggested (plus a few "hey, that sounds tasty's", but these five are the ones I'm taking to Florida next month.

 
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