Evolution of Pipe Smokers?

By Bob Tate

In the years that I have been involved with pipe smoking, I have heard and read numerous things from pipe smokers that I do not agree with or just doesn’t make any sense to me. One of the things that I continually see and hear is that pipe smokers evolve over time in their choice of tobacco blends. Some people call it a natural progression. I consider both of the terms one in the same as it applies to this case.

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. Read about it in my article: English Blends and Latakia Blends - One in the same?).

It seems that the popular opinion amongst pipe smokers is that Aromatic blends are horrible tobacco and that they are for beginning pipe smokers because they don’t know any better and they need time to be able to appreciate the finer tobaccos and blends that are available. 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.
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2010 U.S. National Slow Smoking Championships

By Bob Tate

Every year, since 2003, the United Pipe Clubs of America (UPCA) hosts the annual U.S. National Slow Smoking Championships at the Chicago Pipe Show. This year it was held on Sunday May 2, 2010 which was the last day of the show. Slow smoking contests are where contestants get together and see who can smoke their pipe the longest with just one light. Once your pipe goes out, you are out of the contest. The last person smoking is the winner and, at the U.S. Championships, is declared the U.S. Champion.
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