Want to Learn More About The Hobby. Dont Know Where To Look.

Just spend some time here. All the information is here on this forum. The P&C site is a most excellent resource, I just pasted in a single article from this great resource:
Ouellette's Blend Categories

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There are many descriptive terms for pipe tobacco blends, and, it seems, that just about every company has their own nomenclature. Below, I give a list of what I consider to be the main categories of tobaccos. Although some companies will differ from my terminology, it applies to how we refer to our Hearth & Home tobaccos, and can be used for any.
English- The older use of the term “English blend” just meant that the tobacco used was unflavored, since, under old laws, processors in the UK were not allowed to add much of anything to their tobaccos. Today, the description is a bit more specific. For my purposes, an English blend is a tobacco which has a dominant note of Latakia, and the secondary flavor comes from Virginia(s).
Balkan- Similar to an English, but after the Latakia, the most prominent flavor will come from Turkish or Oriental tobaccos. The name, of course, comes from the superb Balkan Sobranie (a blend which used some of the most outstanding Orientals ever).
Scottish- An English blend with Cavendish added, usually. Dunhill 965 is one of the classic Scottish-type blends.
Virginia- Pretty self-explanatory; a blend which is all, or overwhelmingly dominated by Virginia tobaccos. Sometimes a little Burley or Oriental might be added for balance or to mitigate the sharpness that Virginia can exhibit.
Va/Per- These blends are predominantly Virginia with the addition of Perique. The sweet and spicy characteristics of Perique work very well in combination with the sugary and somewhat acidic nature of the Virginias.
Aromatic- These blends are usually made with lighter flavored base tobaccos (Virginia, Burley, Carolina, Maryland) with flavors, usually in the form of syrups, added. The main drawback to these blends is that the tobacco rarely tastes the same as it smells.
Burley- Again, the reference is apparent. The blend will be primarily Burley, and may have other tobaccos added in condimental amounts, but will exhibit mainly the characteristics of Burley, which is usually a nutty and somewhat sour flavor.
Oriental- The flavor will mostly come from Oriental or Turkish tobaccos, with Virginias and/or Latakia and, possibly, other tobaccos used for “spice”.
There are also a number of crossover blends, such as American/English (English with Burley), English/Aromatic and others, but these descriptions should at least help to make more sense of all this.
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/faq/tobacco/

Pipedia is a great place to start. I only started smoking a pipe regularly two and a half months ago, and have learned almost everything I know from this forum, that website, or specifically worded google searches. One thing I have learned with google searches for pipe and tobacco info is that they have to be specific. General searches for lots of info doesn't really work.
I believe that English blends are those blends that contain Latakia. (However, I did read an article that stated that this is not exactly a given, and is carried over from the days of the Tobacco Purity Laws in the UK. Correct me if I am wrong.)

I understand that Perique is a tobacco produced in Louisiana, and is a fairly strong tobacco commonly paired with Virginias.
As far as the best tobacco in each class: There are definitely better quality tobaccos than others, but you may like a Virginia blend that I strongly dislike, even though I love Virginias. And visa-versa. That is up to your tastes and exploration.

@Jackswilling: I spent too long concocting my response. haha. Excellent article there, lots of information.

One thing I wish I had learned earlier is retrohaling.

Lean how to do it, it is extremely important for complete

Appretiation of pipeweed.

http://www.stogiefresh.info/edu-cigars/articles/retrospect.html
Get yourself a mild blend of each major kind.

To list examples:

English/Balkan: Mcclelland Samovar

Virginia: Mcclelland blackwoods flake

Vaper: escudo navy deluxe

Oriental: Mcclelland drama reserve

Burley: I will leave this for somebody else to suggest

Aromatic: Not of importance in my opinion, but if you want

to try one, go for Molto Dolce
I also hear good thing about Fred Hanna-The Perfect Smoke

If you manage to get your hands on a copy.

First thing I would do is start sampling tobacco from the different categories of blends.
English...Frog Mortown on THe Town...Dunhill Nightcap

Virginia/Perique....Escudo...Haddo's Delight

Virginia/Byurley/Kentucky Mac Baren OLd Dark Fired....Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky

Aromatics. Cult Blood Red Moon... Sutliff Molto Dolce

Virginia....Dunhill FLake....Astleys no 109 Medium Flake
I would also start looking at tobaccoreviews.com Tons of reviews, some great some crap. Check out jiminks and pipestud, they are the most prolific reviewers in that site. As said above pipedia is a great source8, you can learn a ton there.

Whilst browsing this, reddit and, other pipe forums. I have learned that there is much more to pipe smoking. And I personally would like to know more about the pipe smoking hobby. In order to not be a noob anymore.

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Everyone is a relative "noob" at the pipe smoking hobby, because up until a short while ago nobody called it or considered it a hobby, any more than they called cigarette smoking a hobby. It was just some folks' preferred means of smoking.
As far as learning to smoke a pipe, us old timers didn't have the advantages of today's noobs. We didn't have anyone to tell us that things like smoking aromatics, dumping the turd at the bottom of the bowl, or using paper matches lowered our rankings among pipers. See, in guy-speak, "hobby" is a euphemism for "competition". Us old timers didn't know pipesmoking was a pissing contest. We had to make-do pissing for real :D
But more seriously, we all learned by trial and error. Well, except those who didn't know repeating the same procedure expecting different results is the definition of insanity And we usually had a codger to ask when all else failed. They rarely had answers though. Ask them how to load a pipe and they'd whip out their pouch, shove the pipe in, out it came full of tobacco, couple pushes with a finger and up it lit. "That's how" they'd say. "Do you need to let it go out and light it again?" you'd ask. They'd look at you funny and say, "What damn fool would purposely let his pipe go out just to light it again?" And those old codgers usually smoked the same drugstore blend their entire lives. They would've peed themselves laughing at the suggestion of "collecting" and "cellaring" a multitude of blends, or of smoking several very similar blends looking for subtle taste differences. And if you asked them to describe the taste of their favorite tobacco, you wouldn't hear about grass and hay and citrus and figs and raisins. They'd just say "It tastes like tobacco. Cause that's what it is and that's how it's supposed to taste."

cigrmaster

I must disagree on looking at prolific reviewers.

The much respected gentlemen have quite well trained and likely,

Innately superior palettes. What they find attractive in a blend is quite likely

to be too complex for anewbie to appreciate, in many cases.
Generally, for a new smoker I'd suggest looking up blends with

50+ reviews and 3.4+ rating, hard to go wrong with those filters.

Also, medium to strong blends are a good introduction to nicbombs,

It's a good idea to shy away from stronger stuff before trying these.

This is a grate place to start, when looking for tobacco check tobaccoreviews.com, good info to help you decide what to sample, pipestud and pipedia are also excellent resources.

I will say one thing, probably the reason I continued smoking a pipe was because there happened to be a tobacconist on my way to campus, so I bypassed the traditional startup route of Medico/Grabow pipe and OTC garbage blend. I know this because I tried them later on. Had I begun with a cheap, varnished pipe and a bitey blend of syrup-soaked low-grade burley, I would've given up pipesmoking then and there. There was no internet to direct me to a B&M and better quality pipes and tobacco, and Idk if I would've thought of it on my own.
So the best advice I have is don't start out on the cheap. Get a decent used (aka "estate") pipe, and pick your tobacco from a well-known house like Dunhill or another long-established name.

Check out Kel's video series on YouTube for full instruction. Been smoking for a quarter of a century, and still learned quite a bit watching him.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EMdq096WrXY

The much respected gentlemen have quite well trained and likely,

Innately superior palettes. What they find attractive in a blend is quite likely

to be too complex for anewbie to appreciate, in many cases.

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From the start, I was reading, and re-reading, as many reviews on various tobacco blends as I could find. In many ways, I think this has helped me start to identify what I was tasting. When I first started, I had a no-name hardwood with OTC blends. It tasted horrible, but at the time I didn't know it was supposed to taste any different. After getting a better pipe, and better tobacco, I began reading reviews and learning what others taste in the blends I was smoking. I wouldn't always agree with them. However, if 99+ people say X blend tastes like nutty maple, and all I taste is hot air, I concluded I was probably doing something wrong. This helped me learn.

Tobacco goes in the big hole. Little hole goes in mouth. Apply flame to tobacco and puff gently. It is all nuance after that. DO NOT overthink things.

Tobacco goes in the big hole. Little hole goes in mouth. Apply flame to tobacco and puff gently. It is all nuance after that. DO NOT overthink things.

Click to expand...

That about sums it up. I could not have said it better. It's almost always worth getting advice and opinions from others, but don't take advice too seriously. I don't mean to imply that advice is valueless, but consider that the nuances of pipe smoking, much like all things subjective, are highly personal. You can easily get wrapped around the axle trying to sort it all out, and that will take some of the fun out of it.

Mine this website beyond Forums for articles, radio segments, and other information. Not to say Forums isn't invaluable. Some of the people here are pipe historians, carvers, restorers, and scholars of various kinds. A lot of tobacco expertise here as well. If you can comb the sponsors retail sites without buying too much, both the pipe and tobacco pages are hugely informative. You can learn a world about tobacco if you patiently review the different blends including the ones that aren't up your street. You learn a little something every trip. Keep nibbling and comparing. Compare pipe brands, including those you don't necessarily fancy, and those out of your price range or that seem too cheap. You learn a lot along the way. When and if you can, attend pipe shows. There are good books on pipes and tobacco, but I think the restless and relentless scouting of sites is a more typical way to pick up information "like a baleen whale," straining massive info through your system to focus on things that interest you. Happy mining.

As a relative noob - I only have about 46 years - I'd say you're off to a good start by seeking info. There's been a lot of good info given to you, including "don't overthink it".
There are a number of methods to test out and as you go along, you'll find those that work well for you. No one method of packing works equally well with all types of tobacco. Time, patience, and experience are your best teachers.
You have a number of good resources at your disposal as have been mentioned above, articles at P&C, Pipedia, PipePhil, this and other pipe forums. Less reliable, but occasionally supplying good info are youtube videos. There are some interesting books on the subject published by Briar Books Press Pipe shows can be a great way to become familiar with pipes, tobaccos, and the lore of pipe smoking while meeting fellow enthusiasts.
It's a never ending universe of pipes, tobaccos, lore, myth, history, and plain old BS.
At its core, pipe smoking is just the simple act of putting some tobacco in a pipe, setting fire to it and sucking in the smoke. But getting the most pleasure and flavor from the experience comes from understanding the best ways to do this. Again, time and experience are your best teachers.
I can share some of what works for me, with the understanding that it may, or may not, work for you. The other truth of the pipe smoking community is that there is little consensus about anything. Pipe smokers are often contrarian.
The best blends in any category:
There is no such thing. What I like and what someone else likes can be very different. I have gagged on more highly touted stink weed than I care to admit. Trying out some different types of blends will point you in a direction for now. But chances are good that your tastes will change, and change again as you continue. One suggestion is that you check out some of the samplers available at P&C. You'll get to try several blends of each type, which will give you a good picture of that flavor profile of that type.
Expensive Briar -
Not necessary. Perfectly good briars can be found for a modest cost. Savinelli, Petersen, Stanwell, and others offer good entry level pipes. Do avoid cheap lacquered "basket" pipes. Estates are a good option, but I would avoid eBay until you are experienced as the offerings there are "variable" and you can easily become road kill. Better to go to your B&M, or try online dealers like Pulvers Briar, Briar Blues, Walker Briar Works, or Smoking Pipes.
But you can also completely avoid the expense for now and pick up some cobs. A great many experienced smokers, including some with impressive collections of expensive briars, smoke cobs because they deliver a good smoke for a minimal price. Thus you can devote more of your budget to testing out tobaccos.
Drying:
Some brands of tobacco, like Hearth and Home, are tinned at their optimal moisture level for producing the most flavor. Most tobaccos are packed with excess moisture and need a bit of drying out. How much drying out depends on the individual blend. My metric is that the tobacco feel dry to the touch when squeezed, but still be pliable. If it gets completely dried out, some flavor is lost. If the tobacco is too wet, some flavor is lost. Experience with your favorite blends will guide you to the best result.
Packing:
There are a lot of ways to pack a pipe and they all more or less work. Some work better with one form of tobacco than another. Gravity feeding works with cubed flakes. Three step packing works with ribbon cuts. My usual method is the "index finger" method, whereby I place my pipe in my pouch, lightly stuff a couple of layers of tobacco in it. Tamp it down lightly with said index finger, and light up the result. However you do it, the result should be lightly firm and stringy, and not interfere with the draw.
Lighting:
Some people employ a "charring light" to create an insulating layer of ash over the top of the tobacco. Char the top layer of tobacco and lightly tamp it down, then relight. Other people dispense with this entirely. I sometimes perform a charring light and other times don't. Depends on the blend.
Puffing:
Puff to get the pipe going, or to keep the coal from going out. Otherwise, you sip the tobacco, like you're sipping scotch.
Cadence:
You get the best flavor when the tobacco is simmering around the coal. It's not about getting huge billowing clouds of smoke, unless you're into cremating pipes and cremating tobacco. So the "art" of smoking, if there is such a thing, is to smoke slowly enough so that the tobaccos simmer and give up their flavors with the minimum heat possible. Practice and patience apply here.
Relights:
There is a theory that relighting a pipe is a sign of poor technique. This is crap. If your pipe goes out, relight it. There is no award for smoking a bowl without a relight. No brass bands or ticker tape parades will be offered to you for smoking with out relighting. The goal is to relax and enjoy the flavors. Otherwise, why bother?
Smoking to the bottom of the bowl is important:
This is also crap. Smoke what portion of the tobacco tastes good to you. If it stops tasting good, toss it out. Besides, trying to burn every last shred of tobacco in the bowl requires a lot of heat at the bottom of the bowl and that can eventually damage your pipe. It's good if the pipe is dry when you toss out the last bit, but that's not always possible with aromatics.
Tobacco cross talk:
It's advisable to smoke similar types of tobacco blends in a given bowl. Latakia and oriental tobaccos leave their scent in the chamber and will ghost a blend of a different type. Use one pipe for Virginias or Va/Pers. Use another for aromatics. Use another for English/Balkan/Oriental types.
Cleaning:
After a smoke, run a pipe cleaner or three through the airway to sop up moisture, oils, tar, etc so that it doesn't build up and spoil the taste of the next bowl. Wipe the walls of the chamber with a couple of doubled over pipe cleaners to reduce residue. At the end of a days use, clean your pipe.
Those are my suggestions, based on what has worked for me. Others will have different ideas based on their experience. Response to the flavors in a blend varies from person to person.
Just keep experimenting and learning. And, ask questions.

Welcome to the forums. You will find most of what you want to know on this website. If it isn't here, there are links to other sources.

It is a fascinating 'hobby' with a delightful payoff.

Not every word you read will be relevant. You have to distill your own reality.

Welcome fellow pipe-smoker!
As for books allow me to recommend the following:
"Weber's Guide to Pipes and Pipe Smoking" by Carl Weber

"The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Smoking" by Richard Carleton Hacker

"Rare Smoke - The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Collecting" by Richard Carleton Hacker

"Pipesmoking - A 21st Century Guide" by Richard Carleton Hacker

"The Book of Pipes and Tobacco" by Carl Ehwa

"The Gentle Art of Smoking" by Alfred Dunhill

"The Pipe Book" by Alfred Dunhill

"How to Get More Fun Out of Smoking" by Sidney P. Ram

"All About Tobacco" by Milton M. Sherman

"Sublime Tobacco" by Compton Mackenzie

"A Pipe Smoker's Guide" by Charles Graves
You will probably have to lean on Alibris or other book sellers that specialize in rare and hard-to-find books in order to procure these titles, but the hunt will be worthwhile. As an added bonus, you can smoke your pipe while you read!

I will reiterate what I'm sure others have said above: mine the archives of this site. There are many, many articles written by master blenders Russ Ouellette and Greg Pease that go into mind-boggling detail concerning the different kinds of tobacco available. As someone who has only smoked the pipe for 3 years I am no-where near proficient, but the key is to just keep going and enjoy the experiences for what they are.

Interesting read - I never knew about retroinhaleing. I'll try that on my next pipe adventure.