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I have read numerous times about how pipe smokers evolve from smoking Aromatics to Latakia blends and it prompted me to to write an article about it to give my perspective on the subject.
Great article. It is exactly in accordance with my opinion and a detailed description of what I tried to convey in the other thread. I also find it of curiosity that you pointed out that not all English blends have necessarily Latakia in them. Every time I open my beloved Three Nuns, the wax paper reads "Finest English Tobacco", and this blend has no trace of Latakia...
Well done, Bob....a nicely thought out article... 
I agree with you Bob. I also take a different tact on the concept of evolution.
I use the term in the sense that continued experience and change bring the Pipe
smoker to a greater level of appreciation for what he/she smokes. It doesn't
mean that those who prefer a particular category of blends are any more sophisticated
than those who don't share this preference. Some are quick to seize the concept as a means of
self promotion. Thank you for addressing this slander of the term. It seems
that all too often we are drawn into controversy based on personal preference.
Frankly, I'd rather smoke my Pipe.
I believe that a smokers tastes can evolve over the years, but I don't agree that that means leaving one type of blend behind and totally embracing a different type to the exclusion of all others.
Experience can teach us to appreciate the nuances of flavor that can be overlooked by a beginning smoker. I love latakia, but I'm an even bigger fan of the more delicate orientals. When I first tried them, over forty years ago, I thought they were too bland to be of much interest. It wasn't until years later that I learned that there are subtle complexities to these blends that place them among my current favorites. Although I've added many new blends to my tobacco rotation that doesn't mean that I've abandoned all the old favorites. And I certainly don't believe that I have any business dictating to others what they should or should not smoke or to denigrate their choices.
Bob, thanks for posting the article. Great piece, informative and incisive. Well done.
Implicit in the concept of "pipe-smoking evolution" is the underlying notion that somehow those whose tastes have changed have moved forward or upward. That would mean those who didn't share their preferences would necessarily be inert or backward, failing to possess the same level of appreciation or sophistication.
Yes, our tastes sometimes do change. They don't get better or worse, they just change.
In the end, taste is personal. It defies judgment and valuation.
Whether it's an aro, burley, latakia it's all about taste.
Sometimes we're alike and sometimes very different.
And that's why there are thousands of blends.
Let's be thankful for that. We have much to enjoy.
Great article Bob! Interesting point that latakia could, and maybe should, be considered an aromatic.
And great comments kcvet67…I agree completely with your sentiments!
A major factor for me (and I suspect this may be true for many) is that my current schedule and circumstances only allow for smoking 1 bowl a day. Consequently, I find myself pretty much always desiring a VA blend, as that is what I am partial to. On occasional days when I am fortunate enough to be able to smoke more, I always smoke an English blend (2nd fav). But since this is infrequent, I haven’t been able to try very many English blends yet.
In the not too distant future, by the grace of God, my situation may be changing in such a way that will permit me to smoke much more (oh how wonderful that would be). If I am so fortunate that it does work out that way, I expect to smoke a much greater variety. And although VA and English blends will no doubt be the great majority, I could certainly imagine smoking the occasional aromatic then as well.
But under the current situation, I can’t even imagine finding time for an aromatic…but hey, that’s just me.
An excellent point well-made, Bob. It's a shame that such snobbery exists for something so picayune as the pastime of pipe smoking. I was recently in De La Concha, one of the B&M's in NYC, and asked the clerk for assistance with their house blends. I asked what a good cherry aromatic was, and was informed at the end of his nose, "I wouldn't know, *I* smoke ENNNNGLish blends EXCLUUUUsively." Mind you, I was here to celebrate IPSD with fellows from the NY Pipe Club, and was making it a point to purchase tobacco from the shop in a gesture of support since they were kind enough to host us. Considering the ridiculous taxes in NYC, I was basically asking to overpay for tobacco, just to be a nice guy. Well, the clerk's attitude was so condescending that I simply asked him to ring up the smallest bag they had, and no longer even felt like smoking at that point. Not because I was embarrassed, but because I was afraid that if I took my pipe out it would end up in a very uncomfortable part of this fellow's anatomy. I went home and ordered $200 of tobacco online and had them delivered to my box in New Jersey.
All delightfully flavorful aromatics.
Way to go, Romeo. Why would that dude be so rude, especially to a customer?
Your restraint was admirable. I would be tempted to tell the guy to shove a churchwarden where the sun don't shine.
I have a low tolerance for snobbery. It's petty and shallow behavior.
By the way, what did you order?
Bob,
I think your opinion piece says a lot but one thing it does not do is refute the evolution of pipe smokers. It rightly criticizes snobbery but it does not get to the crux of the issue.
Just as there are flightless birds and blind cave fish - animals which have, for one reason or another, shed abilities and senses that they do not need whatsoever for survival - there are pipe smokers who are fully satisfied to smoke Prince Albert or Middleton Cherry for 50 years. That is not to say that they possess inferior taste, but that they have no need, desire, or inclination to change brands; their needs are met, and they are at the end stage of their "evolution". If one of those blends was discontinued, they'd have to adapt somehow - maybe another burley or cherry aro, but their tastes will have changed to suit the situation. Take me, for example. I didn't find full enjoyment from drugstore aromatics and I am now searching for what I enjoy most - in the process I am sampling all the various styles I can get my hands on. That is a little more dynamic process of change, to me I'm evolving as a pipe smoker whether or not I end up smoking Ten Russians or 1Q. I just finished a bowl of Tastemaster (chocolate aro) that time and didn't enjoy it half so much as PS Balkan Supreme or Escudo, and rightfully I'm probably going to leave it behind because it doesn't please me. "Smoke what you like and like what you smoke" are great words to proceed with, but they don't clash with the concept that a pipe smoker "evolves". I don't think anyone among us is so naive as to smoke a blend continuously just because it is popular; if an English doesn't suit us, then we will move on - even if that's to MacBaren's Vanilla Cream, it's still a process whereby one's taste as a pipe smoker "matures" and where you can definitively state the boundaries of your tastes. I've never once heckled somebody for their choices; heck, I can't understand how people can smoke plugs or knockout Latakia blends but I don't consider myself impoverished because they are higher up on the totem pole and I'll never take up those tobaccos - they just aren't for me and I'm that much farther along because I know where I stand. Even this early on in the game, I can see the direction my tastebuds are taking me and that to me is progress, "evolution", or whatever term you want to call it.
Bob, I would call someone like yourself an omnivore and that is how you've evolved. You know you like a wide variety, and pick and choose as it suits you. That's probably where a lot of us will end up. There are some people who stick with aros because they love them, there are some who will stick with aros because they don't give anything else a chance, and there are some people who will walk away from aros with a shudder and light up some Charing Cross for their AM pick me up every day. You might alternate both with some Virginias and a burley on the side, but it's all a part of the journey called "evolution" in my books.
I will, however, contend that it is easier to appreciate the differences between tobaccos and appreciate the nuances of blends without a casing overload in the way. To me, that is the beauty of English mixtures and all the other styles that don't rely as much on sugary sauces. Doesn't mean they can't all be enjoyable when the occasion is right.
Just my take on the matter, good discussion, but too quick to dismiss "evolutionary" concepts outright.
I imagine he just had a miserable life. Or a miserable wife. My first instinct was to tell him that only smoking "ENNNNGlish blends" was like only screwing ugly chicks--sure it's fun, but you don't want to tell everyone about it.
I ordered up a case of CAO Cherry Bomb, some other CAO tins that I've not tried--the moondance and irish cream, a bunch of 1oz samples of a bunch of different things, including PS sweet vanilla, and petersons sunset breeze, as well as a few mundane things like my pipe filters (hahaha, and yes i love smoking with filters too, snobby clerk guy!) and a pouch. I also smoke non-aros, when the mood strikes, by the by. In fact, when I got my first pipe, long ago and far away, I lived in New Orleans and smoked the nastiest, rankest, ugliest tobacco I could get. I drank a lot then, and the guy at the tobacco shop got quite a kick out of watching me light up a bowl of straight perique (yes, it can be done, if you don't value your tear ducts) and choke it down with some moonshine I'd just picked up in bayou sauvage. So, technically, I've graduated to light aromatics. 
P.S. I don't mean to say that one who smokes a single brand is "blind"; to the contrary, they have ably adapted by discarding that which is of no use to them and have focused their attentions more productively elsewhere. For their "habitat" or lifestyle/personal preferences, they are perfectly suited. What good are eyes in pitch black, or latakia laced blends to a diehard Captain Black smoker. No negative connotations implied.
Sparroa said
Bob, I would call someone like yourself an omnivore
Bob thinks his tastes are eclectic. I'd say he lacks focus. 
Romeo I have to say that you did good, because I can't stand S**t like that! I don't know if I could have bit my tounge as you did. I smoke a few different types of tobaccos, because I like them and may happen to be in the mood for that paticular taste then. At times I'll leave my pipes alone and raid my humidor for cigars for a while. I just can't stand snobb's! By the way I love the article, it's great! I feel that one should smoke what they enjoy and who cares what the next does, "Judge not lest thee be judge."
Great discussion everyone! Can some of you who have made a post in this thread, but haven't commented in the article please do so? Even if it is just a copy & paste of what you posted here. We try to promote discussions in the articles for readers who do not frequent the forums.
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@ Sparroa
Great post. I do admit that most pipe smokers tastes in tobacco do evolve in some way over time, but that is using the word evolve in its proper context. I agree that we all evolve in some form or another. Even with our choices in pipes. A lot of pipe smokers tend to gravitate towards different pipes than the kind that they started off buying. But once again I stress that that is using the term in its true form.
Most pipers don't use it in that context. It seems to me that the general consensus amongst a lot of pipe smokers is that evolving as a pipe smoker means that you will eventually end up smoking Latakia blends all of the time. I see this posted and hear it all of the time. And as all of you know, I do not agree with it.
That is why I said this in the article:
The general meaning of it, as I have heard and read, is that; most pipe smokers start off smoking Aromatic blends because they don’t know any better and naturally progress and evolve into smoking English Blends when they learn how to properly taste and appreciate the flavors of tobacco. (I prefer to use the term Latakia blends instead of English blends; but more about that in another article).
Do we evolve in our choices of preference? Most of the time the answer is yes.
Does that mean that we will all be smoking Latakia blends? No
Sparroa, please copy & paste your comment into the article comments so that I can post this response in there as well.
Once again this is a great discusiion!
Cortez Said:
:lol: Sometimes I don't have the time to focus, lol.
the artical was great, but i for one do not believe in evolution.... intelligent design.
pipes, tobacco, cigars, beer, scotch and bacon are all proof that there is a G_d and He wants us to be happy.
years ago i ran into the same type people who said unless you smoked cuban cigars you were not really a cigar smoker. it is entertaining to see the same kind of people, (you aint a REAL pipe smoker unless you smoke english blends) smoke pipes too...
Evolution FTW! I just smoked my first Latakia a few weeks ago, and, uh... wow. I have a feeling that it's going to be kind of like scotch. You don't drink it because you like it, you like it because you drink it.
It also seems that the general consensus is that Latakia is the top of the pipe tobacco smoking evolutionary ladder and is the ‘end all, be all’ in pipe smoking. Once you get to where you only smoke Latakia blends, then you are considered a “real” pipe smoker.
Excellently written! While not being a tobacco evolutionist and enjoy both aromatics and latakia blends, I have to in theory disagree about your stance on Latakia. Latakia makes any blend better the Sean Connery makes any movie better. Seriously, put a little in 1Q and it makes 1Q better. Latakia is the Fabrege egg of the tobacco world. Our world would be less shiney without it. It would be like eliminating bacon for the culinary world. Oh my gosh, I just thought of the most brilliant tobacco blend ever: An aromatic blend flavored with bacon and latakia. Someone get me Pease, we have a blend to work out!
And just so you other bastards don't steal it, Bacon and Latakia Blend © 2011 by HauntedMyst - Patent Pending - Warning: The owner of the recipe carries a Smith & Wesson
It's not the taste that makes you a real pipe smoker, but your skill.
A real pipester never needs to knock out the ashes to get down the bowl and leaves nothing but the finest and driest white to greyish ash which, if dropped, whould slightly whirl with the air currents - that's what I was told. And if that is true, Danish goopy aromatics may cause problems achieving that goal.
Slightly off-topic: Lagavulin, do you watch Parks and Rec? One of my favorite characters of all time, Ron Swanson, discussed going to a steakhouse and enjoying Lagavulin. I've got a bottle in my cabinet right now, awaiting the celebration for the birth of my first child.
Back on topic: I don't see myself getting to any particular flavor and staying there. I base this on the variety of beers that I consume. I'm pretty familiar with all of the different flavor groups, and I like them all. I imagine I'll be the same way with tobacco. I imagine I'll take them all on a case-by-case basis.
Hauntedmyst, what a splendid idea.
Bacon in baccy!
Bacon is my favorite food group.
A day without bacon is a wasted opportunity.
Pork rules.
I envision all sorts of new bacon blends:
MacBaren's Golden Bacon.
Half & Half (Bacon and eggs)
Shortcut to Bacon
CAO's Bacon Bomb
Orlik's Bacon slices...
@fredvegas I don't know the series as I live in Austria but I may check it out. It's awsome that you chose Lagavulin to celebrate that occasion. The spirit Lagavulin makes is rich and of the highest quality, so it is just perfect. Dilute it a bit and you get the proof. It is my favourite distillery because the first single malt I ever tasted was the Laga 16 on my 17th birthday. That was when I fell in love with whisky.
@cornguy
MacBaren's Golden Bacon.
Half & Half (Bacon and eggs)
Shortcut to Bacon
CAO's Bacon Bomb
Orlik's Bacon slices...
My comments that I posted on the article (which you guys should do - post on the article, please) ...
This is a great article Bob. Cortezattic and Tripjoker’s comments make a lot of sense, and I agree with them on the point that people’s tastes can and do change. My tastes have changed over the years in food, wine and tobacco.
However, this does not negate the unacceptable snobbery being added to the mix.
There are aromatic blends that are crap. There are English blends that are crap.
And vice versa. There are aromatics that exist that are excellent quality tobacco.
IMO, Trout Stream from PipesAndCigars.com is an excellent aromatic and I smoked 5 bowls of it this week after discovering it at the St. Louis show last weekend.
Guys - the point of the article is that it is NOT TRUE, and NOT MANDATORY that every pipe smoker must evolve from aromatics to English / Latakia blends, and if he doesn’t then he isn’t a real pipe smoker … and it doesn't mean that he hasn't "evolved" either.
Lastly, I wholeheartedly live my life by the old cliche that "variety is the spice of life".
I frequently appreciate a 5-star gourmet meal, especially when I am traveling. I also ate at Waffle House on the same trip. You bet your ass I know what damn good food and wine is, and you might just see me in line at the drive-through at McDonald's too.
Snobbery, in any form, is a sign that the person needs psychological help. Seriously.
But in all seriousness, I think tastes do change, I know growing up I hated brussels sprouts, and now I eat them in heaps around the holidays.
I have to thank Bob for a really interesting and controversial article.
I hope my post didn't convey a sense of snobbery toward aromatics smokers. The facts of the matter are:
(1) my personal evolution in smoking has taken me toward English blends, and away from them;
(2) I sense a growing appetite for blends that feature top dressings and flavors; and
(3) any delusions of sophistication I may suffer get a reality check twice a day -- when I reach for my P.A. (the "Big Mac" of pipe tobaccos).
...now, cobs are an entirely different matter! 
It seems that, whatever simple pleasure I pursue, some level of snobbery finds it's way into the community. After 40 years with pipe tobacco I still enjoy blends with sweet-smelling black cavendish and burly as well as "more sophisticated" English blends. Truth be told, on any given day any of my blends can offer a glorious experience or leave me flat. That's the magic that keeps me coming back.
Truth be told, on any given day any of my blends can offer a glorious experience or leave me flat. That's the magic that keeps me coming back.
That sums it up in a big way, seakayak. Aren't we all really only on the constant search for that elusive 'perfect smoke'?
Those are very true words. I've found immense pleasure and absolute indifference from the same blends, it's amazing how variable it can be. Most everything else I enjoy - beer, wine, tea, coffee, all kinds of food satisfy me consistently but never bring me to the same peak that pipe smoking does. I find it is more like music; sometimes it's just background noise and other times it is centre stage and totally uplifting.
Perhaps the true evolution of a pipe smoker is gauged by how much enjoyment you derive from the simple art of smoking your pipe and savouring the experience, no matter what blend is in the bowl.
Bump: There are two simultaneous threads at this time. Evolution of the pipe and of the smoke. I just posted on the Pipe evolution thread before I saw this one. Perhaps they should be combined somehow. My comments covered both on the other thread.
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