Recomend Tobacco to a Two-month Newb

[GKChesterton]

It's been a while and Arango Balken Supreme, Red Rapperee, and Wessex Gold block are all I've smoked. The first two are good, while the last was scrumptious. They have gotten a bit tedious. Some more variety would be appreciated.

What would you reccomend to expand a palate and what other blends would you recommend that are similar or tangential to the three above? What are your must try favorites?

Please don't talk about unicorn turds unless you're willing to share a bowl.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Waning Embers]

LJ Peretti Takshent and Royal
GL Pease Sixpence
C&D Bijou

 

[phdaemon]

If you liked Balkan Supreme, you'd probably like Balkan Saiseni even more. (Balkans are one of my favorite blends).

Other english/balkan blends:

SG Squadron Leader
SG Perfection
GL Pease Quiet Nights


On the VA front, since you loved the Wessex Gold Block (These are on the same level as difficulty as the Golden Block):

F&T Cut Virginia Plug
Meistermischung No 88
Wessex Campaign Dark Flake
Wessex Golden Slice

If you wanna try out some Burley blends, I recommend:

Solani Aged Burley Flake
Wessex Burley Slice

If hogshead ever becomes available again (Seems like it will be produced using C&D sourced tobacco now) then you should grab some of that.

If you're into perique (I personally am not very much) then:

GL Pease Haddo's Delight (It's got a similar fig/raisin note like Esoterica Dunbar or Dorchester, but less refined)
Rattray's Marlin Flake

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Not so much a specific recommendation but more an approach recommendation: you should grab a variety of 1oz samplers from SmokingPipes bulk section and try as many as you can. That'll help you establish a general understanding of the different leafs and which ones you like more.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Maybe some Carter Hall. It's great when you can't decide what else to smoke.

 

[B.Lew]

Rattray’s Old Gowrie
GLP Maltese Falcon
GLP Temple Bar (if you want to try some Orientals w/o Latakia
F&T Blackjack

 

[Pypkė]

I'll second ordering 1 ounce samples of this and that from Smoking Pipes bulk section. Get samples of C&D Pegasus and Bayou Morning if you go that route. A sample of Gawith Black Bogie Twist might be fun to try too.

If you like Arango, then you'll probably like GLP Westminster and L.J. Peretti Tashkent.

 

[JackOrion]

A straight Virginia flake, I liked Peterson and Capstan Blue starting out.

Haunted Bookshop is a must try for burley

And have some fun with Key Largo. Cigar leaf is great in a pipe.

 

[spearheadbill]

My man you need to cut your teeth on Mass quantities of Nightcap and Amphora full before you move on to Hogshead or other blends that are no longer made. It’s a right of passage

 

[folkleaf]

Buy all four of Per Jensen's Legacy series and take your tastebuds on a rollercoaster ride...

 

[Scottmi]

Orlik Golden Slice is a classic. Available, and not too pricey.
Swing by ljperetti.com, too and see if anything sounds good. Will sell in 1oz portions. Their 333 and 52 are both wonderful, imho.

 

[Brad H]

Try a sample pack from country squire.
But from what you listed, sounds like you are on a good start into your journey.

 

[kcmontie]

If you liked Balkan Supreme, you'd probably like Balkan Saiseni even more. (Balkans are one of my favorite blends).

Other english/balkan blends:

SG Squadron Leader
SG Perfection
GL Pease Quiet Nights


On the VA front, since you loved the Wessex Gold Block (These are on the same level as difficulty as the Golden Block):

F&T Cut Virginia Plug
Meistermischung No 88
Wessex Campaign Dark Flake
Wessex Golden Slice

If you wanna try out some Burley blends, I recommend:

Solani Aged Burley Flake
Wessex Burley Slice

If hogshead ever becomes available again (Seems like it will be produced using C&D sourced tobacco now) then you should grab some of that.

If you're into perique (I personally am not very much) then:

GL Pease Haddo's Delight (It's got a similar fig/raisin note like Esoterica Dunbar or Dorchester, but less refined)
Rattray's Marlin Flake

I follow this style of learning about pipe tobacco. I would only add a OTC Category so….. Carter hall or Prince albert or something similar.
I didn’t do this myself and I wasted a lot of money trying tobaccos I wasn’t ready for or just didn’t suit me to start out.

 

[phdaemon]

I follow this style of learning about pipe tobacco. I would only add a OTC Category so….. Carter hall or Prince albert or something similar.
I didn’t do this myself and I wasted a lot of money trying tobaccos I wasn’t ready for or just didn’t suit me to start out.

For sure. I tend to think that if you favor a specific manufacturer you're going to enjoy other offerings with similar tobaccos (e.g. other K&K blends, etc). So i'm with you on this.

A couple of things stop me from recommending OTC blends to OP:

1. The guy has already gone into Wessex Golden Block (which is usually a chase blend). Going from that to carter hall is going to be rough.
2. I actually agree with Shane from Smoking Pipes and think that OTC blends are actually not great for new peeps:

• They tend to be slightly aromatic (and not everyone is into that)
• Due to the simplicity of the blend it may actually be underwhelming for a newbie (like, is this all there is to it?). They may not actually appreciate the simplicity of it.

An example, when I first started smoking pipes (I came from the cigar world) some people recommended to me Bengal Slices as my first english blend... IMO that was a horrible mistake. I hated it - and it put me off of english blends for a while. It wasn't until I tried some ASTB that I was like, huh, maybe I do like english blends after all.

I had a similar experience with Cater Hall. I found it to be not what I was looking for in a VaBur.

Years later, i went on to try Bengal Slices again and loved it.

So I think a lot of variables go into whether OTC blends should be recommended to a newbie or not.

I generally avoid them altogether at first, and recommend other easily accessible blends (GL Pease, C&D, K&K, etc). With this guy, Since he went with Gold Brick, I figured same level as that are other wessex blends and solani.

On another note (not one you made but I've seen others have this sentiment, in both the pipe tobacco world and the cigar world) -- I don't think newbies need to "cut their teeth" on "bad" or "common" blends to appreciate the "good" / "rare" ones. I say, let them start off with the best we have to offer, so that they may stick around in the hobby.

 

[kcmontie]

For sure. I tend to think that if you favor a specific manufacturer you're going to enjoy other offerings with similar tobaccos (e.g. other K&K blends, etc). So i'm with you on this.

A couple of things stop me from recommending OTC blends to OP:

1. The guy has already gone into Wessex Golden Block (which is usually a chase blend). Going from that to carter hall is going to be rough.
2. I actually agree with Shane from Smoking Pipes and think that OTC blends are actually not great for new peeps:

• They tend to be slightly aromatic (and not everyone is into that)
• Due to the simplicity of the blend it may actually be underwhelming for a newbie (like, is this all there is to it?)

An example, when I first started smoking pipes (I came from the cigar world) some people recommended to me Bengal Slices as my first english blend... IMO that was a horrible mistake. I hated it - and it put me off of english blends for a while. It wasn't until I tried some ASTB that I was like, huh, maybe I do like english blends after all.

I had a similar experience with Cater Hall. I found it to be not what I was looking for in a VaBur.

Years later, i went on to try Bengal Slices again and loved it.

So I think a lot of variables go into whether OTC blends should be recommended to a newbie or not.

I generally avoid them altogether at first, and recommend other easily accessible blends (GL Pease, C&D, K&K, etc). With this guy, Since he went with Gold Brick, I figured same level as that are other wessex blends and solani.

super well thought out response and I do believe you have changed my mind. My only reason for adding it was it is a cheap date and ease of availability.

 

[FLDRD]

Yes, I recommend sampling tobacco...............

 

[Tn Steve]

4Noggins Virginia Squire is about the best cheap and available mostly va. blend I have smoked.

 

[ThermionicScott]

@phdaemon has some good points. I'd say if you try something and don't like it, just keep it jarred up for later rather than throwing it out.

 

[Sobrbiker]

Not so much a specific recommendation but more an approach recommendation: you should grab a variety of 1oz samplers from SmokingPipes bulk section and try as many as you can. That'll help you establish a general understanding of the different leafs and which ones you like more.

^^^
Try all different genres, then all different ones in the genres you like.
Me telling you what to try isn’t worth a darn, too subjective.
There’s a bunch of “highly recommended” tobaccos sitting in jars on many shelves including mine.

Once I got a decent technique down, and some leather on my tongue, it was much more helpful to me to identify what I didn’t like in blends.

And as @ThermionicScott pointed out, get jars and save what you don’t like. It’s not uncommon at all to taste-shift during the journey.
Oh, and I’m just past three years in, so all that could be subject to change-hopefully not though, I’ve started to go deep on things I know I like.

 

[Peter Turbo]

An example, when I first started smoking pipes (I came from the cigar world) some people recommended to me Bengal Slices as my first english blend... IMO that was a horrible mistake. I hated it - and it put me off of english blends for a while. It wasn't until I tried some ASTB that I was like, huh, maybe I do like english blends after all.

This is entirely subjective, Begnal Slices was one of my first English blends and I loved it, turned me onto more English and other pipe blends.

Dudes two months in smoking Gold Brick, Red Rap and using Unicorn Turds lingo (go back to posting on PSD imo), I think he's got a good start.