I'm new to piping, but I'm assuming that everyone has that particularly elusive and much sought after blend and that it's different for everyone. I want to know what yours is and why.
What's Your White Whale?
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I'm lucky. Most of the stuff i love is pretty easy to come by.
Don't get me wrong, I love a bowl of Penzance or Dunbar as much as the next guy, but my daily smokes are mostly all Cornell and Diehl or GL Pease or Mac Baren.
Don't get me wrong, I love a bowl of Penzance or Dunbar as much as the next guy, but my daily smokes are mostly all Cornell and Diehl or GL Pease or Mac Baren.
Much like haparnold, I enjoy many currently available blends. However, one that is MIA that I wish was still available is Bohemian Scandal.
Wish I had been smoking when the House of Sobranie was in its heyday. All the old timers I know that smoked it regularly still smile every time someone mentions their blends. To a man they all say it was something special.
Always have wanted to try Bohemian scandal... Up until recently I have only had samples of McClelland 5100. I finally found a ten ounce stash out in CA from a B&M in Ontario. Now I have a little piece of fantastic history. I can safely assure the even newer newcomers that the quality of leaf lives up to every bit of hype it receives.
I've never smoked anything with Syrian latakia.
McClelland Blackwoods Flake, or Beacon Extra for me.
McClelland was my favorite blender when I picked up the pipe. At the start, I only ordered tobacco when I finished a tin, and so when McClelland shut down, I had no “cellar” supply. I was able to get one more tin of Blackwoods before they all sold out. I may never have the pleasure of combusting Beacon Extra again though!
Lesson learned. If you like something, get some backup tins of it!
McClelland was my favorite blender when I picked up the pipe. At the start, I only ordered tobacco when I finished a tin, and so when McClelland shut down, I had no “cellar” supply. I was able to get one more tin of Blackwoods before they all sold out. I may never have the pleasure of combusting Beacon Extra again though!
Lesson learned. If you like something, get some backup tins of it!
If you can spare the extra coin, Pipestud often has tins of MacBaren's HH Syrian, which is an excellent Syrian Latakia blend.
As for me, my experiences with previous white whales have taught me not to get too excited for any tobacco, as frankly, they're all just tobacco. Some of them are wonderful, but they can never transcend that basic fact for me. With that out of the way, I'd love to get a chance to try some McC Dark Star, Esoterica Tilbury, some of the old heyday Sobranies (759, Virginia No. 10). I know the Tillbury will come around, but some of the others are gone forever. I recently got a chance to try some Blackwoods Flake and it was fantastic. I was around and knew McC was shutting down, but I was too busy buying cigars to snatch a few tins. For the price of a single box of Double Coronas, I could have bought ~30 tins of McC. I mean, I probably wouldn't have bought that many, but it would sure be nice to have a few here and there...
My taste is simple. I can survive with Carter Hall. I now smoke two tobaccos. Briar Fox and Two Ton Sally (Scottish blend of my own making). For a white whale it would have to be Frog Morton. I have a clone aging and in July I will see how close I came.
I guess it is my inner curmudgeon, but I give high points for blends that meet demand with supply, and market and distribute accordingly. So some of my favorites are homey old blends with familiar names, and blends by outfits that are widely available. By chance, I've stocked up on some Dunhill, McClelland, SPC, and Low Country, but that's just in the course of buying a few tins at a time, from time to time. At the moment I'm on the last bowl or two of GLP Haddo's Delight and readying to open a tin of Dunhill Durbar sent as a gift. (My spell check always wants to screw up Haddo as Haddon's and it drives me nuts.)
That Durbar sure is a favorite, and was my "white whale" until new forum member @BrewerZach sourced some out and graciously sold me a couple tins. If you appreciate old-world style oriental blends, it just can't be beat. Truly "blended for the more experienced and mature pipe tobacco smoker".
Man, it’s frustrating cause it’s not discontinued or anything. But Hal O The Wynd. You stock up and the supply runs out for months then you run out
The remaining Germain’s I haven’t found yet, namely plum cake, brown flake, hampton flake, and King Charles. Would love rich dark flake as well but at the prices I see it sell for it aint happenin.
Would love to try 1820 flake as well, but I have a tin of regular 1820 I want to pop before I go down that rabbit hole.
Wouldn’t mind some o that strang business either.
Would love to try 1820 flake as well, but I have a tin of regular 1820 I want to pop before I go down that rabbit hole.
Wouldn’t mind some o that strang business either.
McClelland's Old Dog & Scottish Woods. Truly unique blends, among the finest of their respective styles made.
I see HH Vintage Syrian pop up from time to time for steep prices, but I actually saw multiple 100g tins at a pipe shop about an hour north of me. If you call them, they will ship to you. Let me know if you want the contact info.
I’ve only smoked a pipe for a couple years, and not a daily smoker, but so would love to find an unopened 30 year old tub of Orlik Golden Sliced.
I’ve chased hard to find tobaccos and paid ridiculous prices, only to be let down most of the time. I might be one of the very few who is unable to like Strang I bought 4oz and have smokes about 8 bowls and never really cared for it. Too much harshness for me, but the most amazing tin smell.
I’ve chased hard to find tobaccos and paid ridiculous prices, only to be let down most of the time. I might be one of the very few who is unable to like Strang I bought 4oz and have smokes about 8 bowls and never really cared for it. Too much harshness for me, but the most amazing tin smell.
I'm assuming you are in the US? Most B&Ms won't ship north of the border AFAIK, but thanks for the offer.
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