If you had to choose only one blender - or blends from one company?

brass · Jan 8, 2015

Picking a favorite tobacco is tough for me and likely for the rest of the brothers. I could possibly choose a favorite VaPer, a favorite English, etc. but even that would be challenging and we might get as many opinions as smokers who weigh-in. And the topic has been broached on these boards many times.
But what I haven't seen, at least directly, is a discussion of your favorite blenders or pipe tobacco companies. So here is the hypothetical scenario:
You win a life time supply of tobacco blends from any one company you choose. You can choose any blend from the company line. The proviso is that you smoke ONLY that company's blends. If you smoke a competitors blend, you lose your supply.
So, the questions are:
Would you be willing to smoke only one companies blends for the rest of you life if you had to forsake all others?

If so, which company or tobacco blender would you choose, and why?
I don't yet have a final answer but can say that I would have to consider Cornel and Diehl because they distribute G.L. Pease, and Greg blends so many of my favorites, and he blends such a variety from plugs to flakes to cakes, that I could content myself with his line, if necessary.
Pax

cosmicfolklore · Jan 8, 2015

I wouldn't accept those terms. They can keep their lifetime supply. I am not interested in finding a favorite at all. I am interested in exploring. That is like telling Marco Polo to stay within Europe, or tying a chain to Columbus's boat, so that he won't go too far.
After decades of smoking one brand of cigarette and being a slave to that one type of smoke, pipes allow me the freedom to explore and discover new tastes. I would just give up pipes and smoking if I had to limit myself again, even to one brand, genre, or supplier.

brass · Jan 8, 2015

I suspect that there are many who will agree with your position, so elegantly presented.
Pax

oldreddog · Jan 8, 2015

Yep I think I could (hypothetically) do that, and going along with the spirit of the premise....
I would most likely plump for Gwaith Hoggarth. I like lakelands,plugs,ropes,flakes and Balkan/English, and GH have them all. I also like that old world craft industry niche they seem to occupy.

mso489 · Jan 8, 2015

I agree Cornell & Diehl and G.L. Pease are doing some of the most interesting blends these days. I'm

infatuated with C&D's burley blends, among others. But who would want to miss the outliers? I'm also

crazy about Tabac Manil Semois, some of the McClelland blends, and I have finally discovered a Mac Barens

blend I really like. So it goes. I like specific blends from Lanes, Altadis, Sutliff and others. Also, any one

blender over time can change or get in a rut and cease being as pleasing as before, or simply go out of

business or sell out to another outfit that does the whole line differently. I think buying blends is one of the

great adventures of pipe smoking, and exploring different blends is at the heart of that.

newbroom · Jan 8, 2015

Yeah, I'll go with the Scandinavian Tobacco Company.

pitchfork · Jan 8, 2015

Only at gunpoint... but Cornell and Diehl. #BecauseBurley.

conlejm · Jan 8, 2015

Likewise, G. L. Pease. If I can choose Cornell & Diehl and in doing so also get G. L. Pease's blends, then that would be my choice; but really, Pease would be my choice.
That's my answer this month. A month ago, I would have said L. J. Peretti's blends. Next month ... :wink:

freakiefrog · Jan 8, 2015

+1 newbroom - Dunhill and Orlick. Although I might miss my Escudo and my Gas Light..Ah damnit just shoot me I'd be lost with out my plethora of tobacco..

brass · Jan 8, 2015

Perhaps I undermined my presentation by nominating C&D, or at least displayed my ignorance of the industry. I was under the impression C&D has their own blends and that they were also distributing GLP blends. But I would easily choose GLP over C&D, if pushed.
In any event, I actually planned last year to smoke through the GLP line exclusively, before buying from other lines. But I didn't have the discipline to say no to so many of the other blends the brothers on this board raved about.
And I'm glad, for once, that I'm so weak-willed.
Pax

buroak · Jan 8, 2015

If I HAD to choose only one tobacco blender, I would choose McClelland. My choice does not arise solely from my love of Virginia tobaccos. Their oriental mixtures are also delightful, and their aromatics are the only ones I have found that seem to be as much for my enjoyment as for others in the room.

drennan · Jan 8, 2015

Living in Europe the range of pipe tobacco is far more limited than the US, so I'm use to lack of choice. I think I could stick to Dunhill blends and be fairly happy. Alot of their English blends are classics and they make a fantastic va and vaper in flake and navy rolls.

crusher47 · Jan 8, 2015

That's a tough one....I'd have to go McLelland..... or GL Pease.....or Sutliff....or...

escioe · Jan 8, 2015

Can I have an aged stash?
Pease, no question. I'd miss Full Virginia Flake and Stonehaven and a few others for sure, but I like Union Square and JackKnife Plug and others well enough.
The nice thing is that Pease has 36 blends in production, including several of my favorites, and they're all OK or better. I wouldn't be smoking Lombard or Maltese Falcon often, but my pipes would see a regular flow of Union Square, Chelsea Morning, and Blackpoint, with long forays into Kensington, Ashbury, Westminster, Gaslight, Laurel Heights, Fillmore, JackKnife Plug, Stratford, and Robusto. A few others I haven't had much of that I'd love to try lots more of: Samarra, Telegraph Hill, Key Largo, Montgomery, Cumberland, Haddo's.
There would be plenty to keep me busy there, especially since I really like to plumb the depths of blends over time.

griffonwing · Jan 8, 2015

I honestly cannot decide. I really like Samuel Gawith's Squadron Leader and Skiff Mixture. I have yet to try their other stuff. And with GL Pease, I adore their Charing Cross and other Old London blends. I have not gone full-bore into their stores, but I have sampled some very tasty blends from them.
If I were to simply choose a distributor... would SmokingPipes.com count?! :D

brass · Jan 8, 2015

I tried GLP Quiet Nights for the first time last evening and again this morning. Some smoke this as an alternative to Penzance. Since, I have yet to be able to acquire even a sample of Penzance, I can't attest first hand to the similarities.
But I think Q.N. will become one of my favorite GLP blends, along with Jack Knife Plug, West Minister, Embarcadero, Haddo's Delight, and Key Largo. And there are many more I've yet to taste.

mikestanley · Jan 8, 2015

I could be content with a lifetime supply

of McClelland's offerings. I find the Virginias

to be best in class and with guys like Fred

Hanna and Tad Gage contributing, well,sign

me up. Mike S.

griffonwing · Jan 8, 2015

Ha. And to think I only mentioned it as a bit of humor :D
Your remark reminded me of Patton Oswalt's filibuster on Parks and Recreation...

brass · Jan 8, 2015

Wait, Wait, wait for it...
Scandinavian Tobacco Group is the World's largest tobacco manufacturing and blending company with 9500 employees. They own blends including 3 Nuns,Escudo, Orlik and Captain Black. The are not just distributors of products from other companies. Here is the complete brand list;
Pipe tobacco brands of Scandinavian Tobacco Group:
Benson & Hedges

Black Cavendish

Blanke Baai

Blue Ridge

Borkum Riff

Bright & Dark

Burrus

Burlingtons Blue

Caledonian

Capstan

Captain Black

Caravelle

Charatan

Clan

Colts

Craven

Danish Mixture

Danish Truffles

Dannemann

Danske

Danske Club

Erinmore

Escudo

Everton

Flying Dutchman

Fraser

Friesche Heerenbaai

Garibaldi

Gold Block

Half & Half

Grev Hamilton

Highland Sliced Flake

Holland House

Indian Summer

Jensen Favorit

Jock Scott

Kentucky Bird

Lincoln

Maltan

Mayflower

Mellow Breeze

Mick McQuaid

My Own Blend

Nappa Valley

Neptune

New Ripples

Orlik

Park Lane

Parsons Pleasure

Perle

Peter Stokkebye

Pipe House

Poniatowski

Porter House

Portorico

Premier Cru

Primrose

Punchbowle

Richmond

Rode Ster

Rose & Crown Flake

Sail

Schippers

Shamrock

Singleton

Skandinavik

St. Bruno

Stanwell

Sweet Dublin

Three Nuns

Troost

Van Dyck

Velvan

Vier Heeren Baai

Voortrekker

Virginia Special

Warrior Plug

Wattson

Westminster

W.Ø. Larsen

Yachtsman

Zephyr

Ålsbo
I would probably still take GLP over STG, if forced to choose.

cosmicfolklore · Jan 8, 2015

And, to get even more quagmirish... Lane distributes Scandinavian, Captain Black, and Dunhill products. We have the luxury of having a Lane distributor in our pipe club, so we get all of the good samples to play with.
I think the confusing term is distributor. Sutliff tins and processes Home & Hearth (according to what I gathered from another thread). They process it, but as I understand it, Russ actually blends. And, C&D handles the tinning and maybe more of GLP's line. I haven't heard Greg say whether he actually adds the tobaccos himself or not. But, distributors are the folks who get the product on the shelf or to the vendors and they handle the contracts. I know that with my family's company, we have several "distributors" that handles various aspects on go between product and shelf. It just depends on the contract. We still make everything we sell, down to the packaging (for us), but the distributor just handles things because of contracts made between them and other businesses. For example, If I want to sell things at a particular mall jewelery store, I can only deal with whomever has their contract. So, we may have several distributors to deal with.

If you had to choose only one blender - or blends from one company?

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