I need to be honest. Even though I enjoy reading this forum and I've been on here for over a year, I still consider myself a pipe smoking rookie. This partly stems from the fact that I don't smoke a pipe as much as I would like. In the past six months I've probably smoked about ten bowls total. Why? Well, time, for one. Pipe smoking takes time, and finding time to do just about anything except packing up my family and moving from Asia to Europe has been difficult to say the least. Weather is another. From about March on, weather in South Asia gets unbearably hot--combine this with load-shedding on air conditioning and it makes for miserable conditions and is certainly not conducive for pipe smoking. Another factor is the lack of other pipe smokers. While I do like my alone time, I would think it fun to sit around with other pipe smokers and get their tips and advice (probably why I read this forum so often!) I'm sure I would smoke more often if I had a few friends nearby who enjoyed the hobby. And finally, I absolutely suck at packing a pipe and keeping it lit. I've tried all sorts of methods but I find myself relighting and relighting so much that most of the time my pipe smoking sessions (as rare as they are) usually end up in frustration. And, since most of my tobacco were aromatics, I usually found myself relighting tobacco that smoked like hot air but smelled really good. At times I wondered, what's the point?
Fast forward to the present. I'm now in Switzerland (pipe smoker friendly) and I've finally unpacked my last box and put together the final piece of IKEA furniture. The War Department tells me that I can have the top bedroom floor as a smoking room as long as I keep the windows open and light the Lampe Berger when I'm done (but the room's off-limits when company is over--then I'm outside in the rain. It's a fair trade-off). Off to the pipe tobacco shop I go.
But what to buy? I brought a few tins from the US with me (can't get McClelland or H&H here so brought over a few tins of Frog Morton and Black House to try based on their popularity here on the forum and the fact they're English blends; still, I didn't feel I was ready for the strength of an English and didn't want the latakia to stink up the room too much--Lampe Berger or not). I remember reading on this forum about the "awesomeness" of Virginia flake tobacco but had never tried them and I really know which ones would be good for a novice like myself. The proprietor spoke very little English, but after I said Virginia he started slapping down tins from his display: Orlik Golden Sliced, F&T Cut VA Plug, F&T Golden Mixture, SG FVF, Capstan Blue, Capstan Gold, Dunhill Flake. I then said "perique"...down came Dunhill Navy Rolls, Royal Yacht, and Marlin Flake. He couldn't speak English, but he damn well could speak tobacco. Hell with it…I bought the lot. Even found out about a local pipe club--Swiss-German speakers naturally, but it's a start. On my way home I stopped off at another shop and the proprietor there gave me a free sample of Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1931. Didn't know anything about it, but free tobacco is free tobacco.
Finally this evening, the kid's in bed, War Dept. has retired to her quarters, and I've finally got an hour to myself. I remember reading that flakes need to dry out before lighting and I really didn't want to end the night in frustration by relighting the tobacco 100 times. Then I remembered….the free Stockebye tobacco! It had been sitting in some glass jar for god knows how long before it made it into my take-home ziplock bag. Surely it had to be dried out to the extent some rookie like me could keep it lit for at least two or three puffs. I watched a few YouTube videos on the stuff and fold method (yeah, not happening tonight) and decided to rub the flakes out on a table. Then I sneezed. Fifteen minutes later I had the pipe packed and ready to go. Would this night like so many others? Smoking hot air? 100 relights?
Wow…just wow…
That flake fired up beautifully, stayed lit (well, longer than most of my previous attempts anyway) and tasted OH SO GOOD. I'm forever in awe of they way some of you can describe the taste of pipe tobacco and I can't do it justice, but it just tastes good--not sure why, not sure how, it just does. Nothing really added to it…no flavorings….no berry or caramel or vanilla….and it just tastes good.
I now have renewed faith in pipe smoking. I think a whole other world of tobacco just opened up tonight….
Turns out, of course, that the 1931 is not a VA but a VA, burley, and cavendish blend. So while I have yet to try a full on straight VA or a VA/Per, I'd like to think I have a taste of what's to come! I'm starting to understand why VAs and their varieties get so much love here!
And no disrespect to aromatics and those who love them-I still like Autumn Evening and want to try Molto Dolce and Bagpiper's Dream, but I think I'm going to take a hiatus from aromatics for a while!
Fast forward to the present. I'm now in Switzerland (pipe smoker friendly) and I've finally unpacked my last box and put together the final piece of IKEA furniture. The War Department tells me that I can have the top bedroom floor as a smoking room as long as I keep the windows open and light the Lampe Berger when I'm done (but the room's off-limits when company is over--then I'm outside in the rain. It's a fair trade-off). Off to the pipe tobacco shop I go.
But what to buy? I brought a few tins from the US with me (can't get McClelland or H&H here so brought over a few tins of Frog Morton and Black House to try based on their popularity here on the forum and the fact they're English blends; still, I didn't feel I was ready for the strength of an English and didn't want the latakia to stink up the room too much--Lampe Berger or not). I remember reading on this forum about the "awesomeness" of Virginia flake tobacco but had never tried them and I really know which ones would be good for a novice like myself. The proprietor spoke very little English, but after I said Virginia he started slapping down tins from his display: Orlik Golden Sliced, F&T Cut VA Plug, F&T Golden Mixture, SG FVF, Capstan Blue, Capstan Gold, Dunhill Flake. I then said "perique"...down came Dunhill Navy Rolls, Royal Yacht, and Marlin Flake. He couldn't speak English, but he damn well could speak tobacco. Hell with it…I bought the lot. Even found out about a local pipe club--Swiss-German speakers naturally, but it's a start. On my way home I stopped off at another shop and the proprietor there gave me a free sample of Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 1931. Didn't know anything about it, but free tobacco is free tobacco.
Finally this evening, the kid's in bed, War Dept. has retired to her quarters, and I've finally got an hour to myself. I remember reading that flakes need to dry out before lighting and I really didn't want to end the night in frustration by relighting the tobacco 100 times. Then I remembered….the free Stockebye tobacco! It had been sitting in some glass jar for god knows how long before it made it into my take-home ziplock bag. Surely it had to be dried out to the extent some rookie like me could keep it lit for at least two or three puffs. I watched a few YouTube videos on the stuff and fold method (yeah, not happening tonight) and decided to rub the flakes out on a table. Then I sneezed. Fifteen minutes later I had the pipe packed and ready to go. Would this night like so many others? Smoking hot air? 100 relights?
Wow…just wow…
That flake fired up beautifully, stayed lit (well, longer than most of my previous attempts anyway) and tasted OH SO GOOD. I'm forever in awe of they way some of you can describe the taste of pipe tobacco and I can't do it justice, but it just tastes good--not sure why, not sure how, it just does. Nothing really added to it…no flavorings….no berry or caramel or vanilla….and it just tastes good.
I now have renewed faith in pipe smoking. I think a whole other world of tobacco just opened up tonight….
Turns out, of course, that the 1931 is not a VA but a VA, burley, and cavendish blend. So while I have yet to try a full on straight VA or a VA/Per, I'd like to think I have a taste of what's to come! I'm starting to understand why VAs and their varieties get so much love here!
And no disrespect to aromatics and those who love them-I still like Autumn Evening and want to try Molto Dolce and Bagpiper's Dream, but I think I'm going to take a hiatus from aromatics for a while!
