Pipe Tobacco Recommendations for Camel Non-filter Smoker

[Hole Dweller]

Camel non-filters are my favorite cigarettes, but I’ve been transitioning to a pipe recently and have been wondering what direction I should head in as far as tobacco goes. I’ve been smoking burley blends but I don’t care for them too much. What oriental/Turkish-forward blends do you recommend?

 

[sardonicus87]

As a Camel smoker myself (menthol Wides specifically; the Wides are a different and much better blend than the standard Camels), there's not anything in the pipe world that's truly like it or any other cigarette. Pipe tobacco is a whole different thing. But that you smoke Camels, you probably like the oriental aspect.

So, you might like what I'm about to recommend, but don't take it as giving you the same thing as a Camel cigarette would.

• Savinelli Brunello Flake... though it's not strictly oriental forward, it does have a healthy and noticeable dose of Macedonian.
• C&D/Warped Midsommar when it's available again is worth trying at least once.

There's several others I have waiting to try (I like VA/oriental more than any other subtype of VA), but I haven't gotten to them yet, so I'm hesitant to recommend them. GLP Géométrie and Embarcadero, C&D Briar Fox I think is supposed to have oriental (I don't remember)... there's actually several blends from C&D and GLP that use VA/or and Burley/or basis.

 

[Hole Dweller]

As a Camel smoker myself (menthol Wides specifically; the Wides are a different and much better blend than the standard Camels), there's not anything in the pipe world that's truly like it or any other cigarette. Pipe tobacco is a whole different thing. But that you smoke Camels, you probably like the oriental aspect.

So, you might like what I'm about to recommend, but don't take it as giving you the same thing as a Camel cigarette would.

• Savinelli Brunello Flake... though it's not strictly oriental forward, it does have a healthy and noticeable dose of Macedonian.
• C&D/Warped Midsommar when it's available again is worth trying at least once.

There's several others I have waiting to try (I like VA/oriental more than any other subtype of VA), but I haven't gotten to them yet, so I'm hesitant to recommend them. GLP Géométrie and Embarcadero, C&D Briar Fox I think is supposed to have oriental (I don't remember)... there's actually several blends from C&D and GLP that use VA/or and Burley/or basis.

Would Early Morning Pipe be a good choice for an Oriental-forward blend?

 

[BingBong]

You will meet Latakia if you pursue Orientals - as in EMP and many others. If you haven't tasted it before, it may take you on a journey.

 

[sardonicus87]

Would Early Morning Pipe be a good choice for an Oriental-forward blend?

I wouldn't say so if you're looking for Camel-type oriental experience.

English blends, while they do have orientals, aren't quite the same as a VA/or or Burley/or or VA/Bur/or. And I love English blends, but they're a broad range of flavor that generally tends to be a range of sweet to dry, but the quintessential flavor is usually either a musky leather type taste or a campfire type taste (regardless of whether it's also sweeter, or more sour, etc), even when they are more oriental forward, the oriental comes out a little more like incense or spice. Like Mac Baren's HH Balkan is very oriental forward, but it's kind of spicy to me.

EMP specifically yeah try it, you may like it, but it's kind of a smokier tasting English. It's not bad, I wouldn't not recommend it, but it's not that Oriental forward compared to other English blends and it won't be anything like a Camel-esque experience (as much as any pipe tobacco could be like any cigarette experience). Of any English blend, I would recommend Sutliff Match BS 759 as a starting point/introduction to English blends to transition specifically from Camels to pipe tobacco.

What is it you get from Camels that you like that you're trying to find in pipe tobacco? Most Camel cigarette blends add a touch of cocoa and/or licorice flavor, and that is a pretty common added flavor to burley blends, but burley with those added is not the same.

Different tobaccos blended together bring out different aspects. The same leaf may seem more spicy in one blend, and more fruity in another for example.

Another you might like though that is a burley blend, Mac Baren HH Burley flake. It doesn't have oriental, but it does come off more floral and smoother than other burley blends. Burley generally tends to run a range of nutty and earthy to chocolaty depending, which isn't how I'd describe a Camel cigarette.

People tend to recommend burley to those coming from cigarettes, but people also have a tendency to poo-poo on cigarettes and think they all just taste like ashy garbage, and buley can taste like that if you freight-train it. Burley also tends to be higher in nicotine, which may be another reason people recommend it to cigarette smokers, but I think that's an equally shit-poor reason to recommend burley. And I'm saying this as a burley-lover mind you.

 

[hoipolloiglasgow]

Emp or Skiff.

 

[fireground_piper]

I have not had those in about 22 years. I might suggest Sir Walter Raleigh regular.

 

[didimauw]

Interesting you don't care for burleys. I'm a strict camel smoker, and I only smoke burleys in my pipe.

 

[PaulRVA]

Burleys get my vote however
C&D Exclusive does it for me being a former Lucky and Camel smoker.

 

[Sigmund]

Id forget trying to match the cigarette experience. Get on line and order a bunch of one or two oz bulk blends in different genres. You can taste at your leisure.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Camel non-filters are my favorite cigarettes, but I’ve been transitioning to a pipe recently and have been wondering what direction I should head in as far as tobacco goes. I’ve been smoking burley blends but I don’t care for them too much. What oriental/Turkish-forward blends do you recommend?

there's not anything in the pipe world that's truly like it or any other cigarette.

Sutliff TS24

Camel Wides are my favorite.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You will meet Latakia if you pursue Orientals -

The process of turning a good oriental into Latakia is a bit like putting cheap steak sauce on filet minon.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I'm a dyed in the wool nic fan that doesn’t smoke cigs anymore but has 60pk/yrs in my history.
I’m not a fan of most American burley blends I’ve tried to date, but like dark fired,-especially African sourced, euro processed stuff.

All that said, when I’ve got that “I need a smoke!!!” thing going on (that I don’t expect those that purely puff pipes to understand) Five Brothers is what I grab. Dark Birds Eye will do as well.

I’ve yet to get hooked on orientals, as they’re usually in cahoots with Latakia which I’m not a big fan of.

 

[BingBong]

Sutliff TS24

Camel Wides are my favorite.

View attachment 315210

Not sure how long Camel Wide have been around, never seen in the UK - I used to like the regulars, which we're no longer allowed to have. But during the 1980s there was a large Irish contingent in London and I developed a taste for Carroll's Major "extra size", which were wider rather than longer, fine smokes.

 

[sardonicus87]

Not sure how long Camel Wide have been around, never seen in the UK - I used to like the regulars, which we're no longer allowed to have. But during the 1980s there was a large Irish contingent in London and I developed a taste for Carroll's Major "extra size", which were wider rather than longer, fine smokes.

Whether or not they're available in the UK, you might have to ask a "tobacconist" (cigarette store) to keep them in stock. Where I live, I am the only person that buys Camel Wide (menthol at least). If a gas station even carries them, they'll have a single 10-year old pack of Wides (red) on the shelf and that's it. I always have to let the store where I get them know to order extra cartons if I am going out of town so I can have enough, because I can't find them anywhere.

I told the Discount Tobacco Outlet (cigarette store chain in the USA) where I live that if they'll keep cartons in stock, I'll buy them every week. If you never had them, you're missing out, they're so much smoother than the standard Camels. Every time I see a Camel smoker, I offer them one of the Wides and they've always said how much better they are. I tried to convert many because I watched as they disappeared more and more from shelves over the years that they might not sell well enough to stay in production.

Anyway... that's what makes Camel different from others, that it has oriental in it. Though I am not sure which, but it's a VA/or, and their secret sauce is lightly added cocoa flavor (as well as licorice if menthol version). That's why I was recommending the VA/oriental blends if you're looking for a similar flavor.

If you're looking for nicotine hit, Five Brothers previously mentioned will get you that but understand this... high nicotine pipe tobacco is not the same effect as a cigarette. You can think of high nic pipe blends like "sleepers" that creep up on you. The nicotine hit will also feel different, much like how the nicotine hit from vaping differs from actually smoking a cigarette. So take it easy on high nic blends, but no pipe tobacco nic hit is going to be anything like a cigarette nic hit.

 

[ThermionicScott]

It's been a long time since I've had a cigarette, but give G L Pease géométrie a try. It's a Virginia/Oriental blend that reminds me a lot of a really good cigarette. You'll have to slice the plug and then optionally rub it out into ribbons, but it's worth the effort IMO.

 

[johnnyflake]

I believe you will find that Turkish Blends will be very close to what you are looking for. I do not smoke them anymore, but I recall from a few years back that they always reminded me of smoking a cigarette.

 

[bullet08]

Cairo. You'll like it.

 

[Pipercat]

LJ Peretti has very good oriental blends.

Tashkent: izmir/Turkish/latakia

Oriental no. 40: orientals only

Crown: virginia and oriental

500: virginia/havana/perique/oriental

Pride of LochLomond is my favorite, but is latakia forward so I didn'tinude it, but I would still recommendtrying it at least once. They sell in anounts as low as 1oz, so it is easy to make a sampler order.

Hope this is of help

 

[kcghost]

I think a pair of good blends to try is Nightcap and Westminster. Both Pease blends.