Hello all,
Being new to pipes, I have not yet had the opportunity to smoke very many different tobaccos yet (five total), and the ones I had tried previously are all OTC blends, as they are available locally, and are relatively low cost.
So far I have smoked (in order as I tried them) Super Value Chocolate, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Half & Half, and Middleton's Cherry Blend.
I have been reading around online and Frog Morton's Cellar was highly recommended by several people. My local tobacconist only carries OTC blends, however, it just so happens that I recently discovered there is another shop about a 30 min drive for me, so I decided to head over there a few days ago.
They had a well stocked (cigar) humidor, and quite a few varieties of tinned pipe tobacco as well. Probably 12 or so (give or take) selections to choose from in stock.
I actually went in hoping to score some Esoterica Penzance, as it seems to be like gold on the internet, and I have yet to see it in stock with any online vendors. Either way, FMC was at the top of my "to try" list, so I decided to go ahead and pick up a 50 gram tin.
I took the FMC out for a spin, and ended up liking it quite a bit. Just to "play it safe" and not waste any tobacco (in case I didn't like it), I grabbed my MM legend and loaded about half a bowl. I lit up, took my first puff and was greeted with a nice, mellow taste of a campfire. In fact, it was so much like a campfire, that I could swear there was even a hint of roasting marshmallows in the mix as well. :mrgreen:
In fact, I felt that there were a LOT of subtle flavors in this blend. Although, my marshmallow comment was a bit "tongue in cheek", I do think there was a hint of sweetness in there, that honestly did remind me of roasting marshmallows over a campfire. Maybe it was just a placebo effect, and I was imagining it...who knows. I will have to look for that flavor again, when I smoke some later tonight.
Well, I smoked that first half bowl, and all was good. The taste was good, the tobacco was burning cool & without any fuss, and I was feeling like I was finally discovering what the rest of the pipe community was already aware of.
After the half bowl, I figured it was time to load a full bowl, and see how it treats me. I decided to grab my Dr. Grabow Grand Duke, as I almost always smoke from my cob, and wanted to see if there was much difference (that I could notice) from switching up the pipes a bit. I packed up my Grabow and took my first puff. YUM-MY! I just LOVE those opening puffs from a freshly packed pipe. The flavor is always the best (IMO) with those first few puffs, and that campfire flavor has me roasting s'mores in the back of my mind, with each puff being a fresh bite. :P
If any of you have read my posts, you may be aware that as a "noob" I have a bad habit of smoking too fast, getting the pipe way too hot, and living every day with tongue burn. I am now beginning to wonder if SOME of the tongue burn issues I have been having aren't necessarily all my fault. Perhaps (and most likely) they are, but the FMC has me questioning this. As my first non-OTC blend, I have either suddenly became really lucky with picking a good one, or there really is a leap in "smoking quality" over your average OTC blend.
The reason I say this, is because while smoking the full bowl in the Grabow, I didn't experience any tongue burn, and the bowl never grew to be so hot that I felt it was extremely uncomfortable to hold onto the bowl. In fact, even after I finished that bowl, I loaded up a third (second full bowl) and smoked it as well (I almost always smoke several bowls in a night, so that is normal for me). Once again, it smoked nice and cool, and I didn't have even a hint of any tongue burn. Maybe I had unconsciously slowed down to savor the flavors, maybe I am beginning to develop my cadence, maybe the tobacco really does burn that much cooler. Maybe it was a combination of these things. I am not sure, but admittedly, FMC was shaping up to be the best pipe smoking "experience" I have had yet.
Another thing I feel is worth mentioning is the burn. Once again, I am not sure what changed (other than the tobacco), but my re-lights were WAY down with the FMC. Maybe it was a "lucky" pack of the pipe, or something else, but once I had it going, it stayed lit until about the bottom 1/4 of the bowl. I think this fact also contributed greatly to the cooler smoke, and more "textures" of flavor I received from the tobacco.
Needless to say, I will DEFINITELY be buying some more FMC to have on hand. So far, I have only made one purchase of each tobacco I have tried, then smoked through most of the pouch and moved on to the next one. I only have a couple bowls left from my OTC blends, and the FMC is going quickly.
I am now leaning toward the idea of buying more Carter Hall (I LOVE that stuff), as a low cost "daily" smoke, and getting another tin of FMC to keep on hand for my "weekend" smoke, when I have time to really sit down, relax, and enjoy my time with my pipe. Until that happens, I do not believe my current tin will last very long. :wink:
Being new to pipes, I have not yet had the opportunity to smoke very many different tobaccos yet (five total), and the ones I had tried previously are all OTC blends, as they are available locally, and are relatively low cost.
So far I have smoked (in order as I tried them) Super Value Chocolate, Carter Hall, Prince Albert, Half & Half, and Middleton's Cherry Blend.
I have been reading around online and Frog Morton's Cellar was highly recommended by several people. My local tobacconist only carries OTC blends, however, it just so happens that I recently discovered there is another shop about a 30 min drive for me, so I decided to head over there a few days ago.
They had a well stocked (cigar) humidor, and quite a few varieties of tinned pipe tobacco as well. Probably 12 or so (give or take) selections to choose from in stock.
I actually went in hoping to score some Esoterica Penzance, as it seems to be like gold on the internet, and I have yet to see it in stock with any online vendors. Either way, FMC was at the top of my "to try" list, so I decided to go ahead and pick up a 50 gram tin.
I took the FMC out for a spin, and ended up liking it quite a bit. Just to "play it safe" and not waste any tobacco (in case I didn't like it), I grabbed my MM legend and loaded about half a bowl. I lit up, took my first puff and was greeted with a nice, mellow taste of a campfire. In fact, it was so much like a campfire, that I could swear there was even a hint of roasting marshmallows in the mix as well. :mrgreen:
In fact, I felt that there were a LOT of subtle flavors in this blend. Although, my marshmallow comment was a bit "tongue in cheek", I do think there was a hint of sweetness in there, that honestly did remind me of roasting marshmallows over a campfire. Maybe it was just a placebo effect, and I was imagining it...who knows. I will have to look for that flavor again, when I smoke some later tonight.
Well, I smoked that first half bowl, and all was good. The taste was good, the tobacco was burning cool & without any fuss, and I was feeling like I was finally discovering what the rest of the pipe community was already aware of.
After the half bowl, I figured it was time to load a full bowl, and see how it treats me. I decided to grab my Dr. Grabow Grand Duke, as I almost always smoke from my cob, and wanted to see if there was much difference (that I could notice) from switching up the pipes a bit. I packed up my Grabow and took my first puff. YUM-MY! I just LOVE those opening puffs from a freshly packed pipe. The flavor is always the best (IMO) with those first few puffs, and that campfire flavor has me roasting s'mores in the back of my mind, with each puff being a fresh bite. :P
If any of you have read my posts, you may be aware that as a "noob" I have a bad habit of smoking too fast, getting the pipe way too hot, and living every day with tongue burn. I am now beginning to wonder if SOME of the tongue burn issues I have been having aren't necessarily all my fault. Perhaps (and most likely) they are, but the FMC has me questioning this. As my first non-OTC blend, I have either suddenly became really lucky with picking a good one, or there really is a leap in "smoking quality" over your average OTC blend.
The reason I say this, is because while smoking the full bowl in the Grabow, I didn't experience any tongue burn, and the bowl never grew to be so hot that I felt it was extremely uncomfortable to hold onto the bowl. In fact, even after I finished that bowl, I loaded up a third (second full bowl) and smoked it as well (I almost always smoke several bowls in a night, so that is normal for me). Once again, it smoked nice and cool, and I didn't have even a hint of any tongue burn. Maybe I had unconsciously slowed down to savor the flavors, maybe I am beginning to develop my cadence, maybe the tobacco really does burn that much cooler. Maybe it was a combination of these things. I am not sure, but admittedly, FMC was shaping up to be the best pipe smoking "experience" I have had yet.
Another thing I feel is worth mentioning is the burn. Once again, I am not sure what changed (other than the tobacco), but my re-lights were WAY down with the FMC. Maybe it was a "lucky" pack of the pipe, or something else, but once I had it going, it stayed lit until about the bottom 1/4 of the bowl. I think this fact also contributed greatly to the cooler smoke, and more "textures" of flavor I received from the tobacco.
Needless to say, I will DEFINITELY be buying some more FMC to have on hand. So far, I have only made one purchase of each tobacco I have tried, then smoked through most of the pouch and moved on to the next one. I only have a couple bowls left from my OTC blends, and the FMC is going quickly.
I am now leaning toward the idea of buying more Carter Hall (I LOVE that stuff), as a low cost "daily" smoke, and getting another tin of FMC to keep on hand for my "weekend" smoke, when I have time to really sit down, relax, and enjoy my time with my pipe. Until that happens, I do not believe my current tin will last very long. :wink:
