Recent content by Skippy Piper

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  1. Skippy Piper

    Aromatics for Tobacco Lovers

    While everyone's taste buds are different, if you're not getting any flavor from aromatics that generally means you're smoking them too fast and too hot. The volatile compounds that impart flavor to the toppings in aromatics flash off very quickly if the tobacco gets burning too hot, leaving you...
  2. Skippy Piper

    Need a Good Shag Suggestion

    If you like bright Virginia then Daughters & Ryan Three Sails is quite good. If you're looking for dark fired then their Ryback is nice as well, though it's not as smooth as Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Dark; but Ryback does pack less of a nicotine wallop. For something more in the middle that's not...
  3. Skippy Piper

    What is your Favorite Christmas Blend?

    My favorite Christmas blend by far is one that actually isn't holiday themed but tastes exactly the way my grandparents' house used to smell around Christmas time growing up; which is Samuel Gawith Cannon Plug. It's got this almost indescribable flavor that for me is a mix of the aromas of a...
  4. Skippy Piper

    What Do You Mean When You Say….

    For me a pipe being a "good smoker" means that it smokes cool and doesn't get too hot in my hand, smokes dry and doesn't gurgle, and doesn't impart any noticable additional flavors to the tobacco. That's about it really! puffy
  5. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    "Hi. My name is Skippy and I have a pipe tobacco problem." 👀
  6. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    I do! I started keeping a list last year when I wanted to figure out why some blends gave me a sore throat after smoking them and some didn't, and while I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have missed a few the list did at least help me figure out what was going on. Basically, any blend...
  7. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    There is that. Not being terribly attached to any particular blend does mean that I'm rather resilient to market changes and blends being discontinued, though I will admit I was still sad when Sutliff met their demise since they had so incredibly many blends I never got to try and I do wish I...
  8. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    Your tobacco rehoming services have certainly been greatly appreciated! It's been nice knowing my underappreciated blends have been going to someone who will smoke them and give them a fair shake, and the funds from our little exchanges have allowed me to continue my quest trying new blends to...
  9. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    It's alright! I think when it really comes down to it the thing that puts me off most pipe tobaccos isn't even the flavor, but the mouth feel of the smoke. My mouth always seems to interpret the smoke from Virginias as really acidic and they tend to sting the roof of my mouth and back of my...
  10. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    I have! I've tried Reserve du Patron, La Brumeuse, and Le Petit Robin and they were certainly unique; though not quite for me. They all had a nice robust Burley flavor with a particular note that I can only describe as "mineral", or what I imagine a rock might taste like if you were able to chew...
  11. Skippy Piper

    Pipe Blend Ponderings by a Grumpy Old Man Who Doesn't Like Anything

    I was talking with a pipe smoking buddy earlier today about our cellars and stocking up on blends, and it occurred to me that after almost 4 years in the hobby and 3 years of smoking a pipe at least once a day I'm in the somewhat odd position of having never found a blend I liked enough to want...
  12. Skippy Piper

    Cellar Noob PSA: Bulk vs. Tins vs. Jars

    Wonderful cellar collection! With the way tin prices are going these days I definitely prefer bulk tobacco myself and just jarring it up in big Ball jars, though I suppose it all depends on what you like to smoke. Thankfully most of the blends I enjoy the most are available in bulk, but if the...
  13. Skippy Piper

    The STG Vinegar Curse Continues

    It took awhile but I've got some good news to share! I ordered some 2 oz samples of a new freshly received shipment of Lane RLP-6 and HG-2000 from another retailer (WV Smokeshop, for anyone curious) and the samples that arrived smelled perfectly normal, so I jarred them up and gave them 2 weeks...
  14. Skippy Piper

    Windsail vs Three Sails

    I've been smoking both the original Windsail and Three Sails a fair bit over the past few days, and my impression is that Three Sails seems to be 100% entirely bright Virginia presented in a shag cut whereas Windsail is mostly red Virginia with just a little bright Virginia for contrast and...
  15. Skippy Piper

    Granger tobacco still available?

    Granger is still in production and widely available, and is often purported by older pipe smokers to be one of the few blends that significantly improved when STG acquired them. Others said to be improved are Velvet and Half and Half, all of which (including Granger) were formerly manufactured...