Tolkien's tobacco( almost)

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bogfire

Might Stick Around
Apr 9, 2019
62
60
Just got some Capstan Ready Rubbed from Cup of Joes. I know that Tolkien smoked Capstan Blue, but this was close as I could get. I smoked it in my churchwarden pipe and imagined I was a wizard.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Capstan Blue Flake is one of my staples. Consistently good virginia blend. Probably has some topping, very mild, maybe a bit of tonquin and some sugar.

I believe it was more of an aromatic back then, according to the little I've read about it.

 

bogfire

Might Stick Around
Apr 9, 2019
62
60
Thanks Workman. I could definitely smell the tonquin and sugar. Almost a citrus smell when I opened the tin. Very smooth smoke.

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
I've often thought of trying Capstan Blue. Tolkien has fueled my imagination since I was a child. I bet Capstan Blue was his Old Toby from the books.

 

bogfire

Might Stick Around
Apr 9, 2019
62
60
Thanks for the information Arno. really enhances the smoke for me when I have some if the history.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I think Tolkien would be pleased to know people still seek to emulate his pipe-smoking habits. Quite an honor.

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
I love Capstan Blue flake and have it cellared deep. I love it because it has no tonquin, no grassy notes, no hey notes, no citrus. It does have a nice sweet honey, bready, fig thing going on. I smoke the 2013 version on a regular basis.

 
I find it hard to believe that Tolkien only ever smoked one tobacco. When folks use pictures and writings to determine what Lewis smoked, we get Erinmore, Capstan, Three Nuns, and various other blends. I imagine that smoking back then was as it is today, with guys more interested in exploring tobaccos than in just using one brand to subdue an addiction, as cigarette smokers do, being enslaved to just one brand of cigarette.
I know that my uncles would have their one brand, one of only a few they would have carried at the rural General Mercantile in town. But, I do know that they were more like cigarette smokers, but even then, they were known to try new things when offered or when they would go into the city with more options.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
As far as I know, it is documented to some certainty that Tolkien smoked Capstan Blue. Whether it was flake or not, I don't know. It is also believed that he smoked other tobaccos, but nobody seems to know which ones. So Tolkien fans stick to Capstan. Lucky them, cause it's a fine blend. He could have smoked Lucky Strikes between bowls, who knows?

 

renfield

Lifer
Oct 16, 2011
4,231
31,381
Kansas
Even without the Tolkien connection Capstan Flake is worth trying if you enjoy Virginias or just flakes in general.
Thinking of Inklings is a bonus.

 

ryeguy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 4, 2017
146
3
I imagine that smoking back then was as it is today, with guys more interested in exploring tobaccos than in just using one brand to subdue an addiction, as cigarette smokers do,
This is one of those questions I wonder about: It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that (many) the-timers tended to stick to one blend.
For one thing, I doubt the people on this forum are really representative of contemporary pipe-smokers as a whole; we are the ones who care enough about pipe smoking to spend time reading about it, seeking out more information on it, comparing notes with other, and so on; whereas the guy who just buys a tin of Half-and-Half or PA or Carter Hall and happily smokes it over the month, probably isn't gonna be here.
It isn't just cigarette smokers who tend to find something they both like and can afford and then stick to it: beer, coffee, tea, whiskey drinkers often do the same thing. Sure there are always the people who would rather try something new than have something tried and true, but they tend to be the minority who show up on online forums to talk about their habit in their free time.

 
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npod

Lifer
Jun 11, 2017
2,942
1,024
I love Capstan Blue as well. It was one of the first blends I cellared deep. And it’s one I recommend highly to new pipe smokers. If I only had this blend I would be happy enough. Of course it’s never enough, that’s a different story.

 
It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that (many) the-timers tended to stick to one blend.

I wouldn't be surprised either, I guess. I just see Lewis and Tolkien setting around talking about gods and goddesses, and at least discussing tobaccos occasionally. And, it's hard to talk about flavor and blends with someone who is a one tobacco guy. Lewis tended to have more diversity in his tobaccos, maybe Tolk was always giving Lewis flack for not being devout. Lewis did tend to flirt between paganism and Christianity quite a lot, among other things. :puffy:

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
I wonder if the new movie about Tolkien's life includes his love of pipe smoking or takes the PC route and leaves it out.

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,911
Detroit
I've been smoking the Capstan RR for quite some time, now. I prefer the RR to the flake, but smoke some of the flake now and then, as well.
I wonder if the new movie about Tolkien's life includes his love of pipe smoking or takes the PC route and leaves it out.

With all the pipe smoking in LotR, I can't imagine them leaving it out. :puffy:

 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,268
4,261
I wonder if the new movie about Tolkien's life includes his love of pipe smoking or takes the PC route and leaves it out.
From the trailers I've watched, the pipe smoking is going to be left out.
Edit: Found this on most on the websites describing the movie:

The formative years of the orphaned author J.R.R. Tolkien as he finds friendship, love and artistic inspiration among a group of fellow outcasts at school.
In my opinion, they will not address his pipe smoking because of the time period covered. I read somewhere - and I may be incorrect - that he didn't start smoking until after the war started.

 

ryeguy

Starting to Get Obsessed
Oct 4, 2017
146
3
The one scathing review I read made it sound like the movie isn't all that serious as a work of biography:
"Tolkien’s defining love of language never comes into focus in a memorably cinematic way. . . . Unhappily, among the omissions is all but the barest mention of the role of Catholicism in Tolkien’s life — as it happens, a source of significant drama. . . . I find it hard to imagine the real Tolkien using such a clichéd phrase as 'the biggest mistake of my life,' or for that matter saying 'jealous' if he meant 'envious.' . . .Perhaps this is digging too deeply for a movie review. Still, Tolkien has always invited and even demanded such digging. Tolkien isn’t without its pleasures, but they’re mostly on the surface."
I don't know what this would imply about its inclusion of pipes. It wouldn't shock me that they are largely left out.

 
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