2025 is the year that I largely avoided my mainstays and mostly smoked blends either new to me, or which haven't smoked in years.
To start, I smoked my way through a pound of Mixture 79, the perennial Pipes Magazine joke, and was happy to find it an excellent all day smoke.
I hadn't tried the Wilke blends since I've not been much of a consumer of aromatics for years. This seemed a good time to make a switch so I bought a number of them to try. Wilke Rum and Maple was a solid hit and I blew through a pound of it. Their Peanut Butter was excellent, though not an all day smoke for me. Wilke Surburg Crystal Palace also got smoked out. I've still got a bunch more Wilke to go through and I'm happy that I bought it when I did, because their prices sure have increased
Finally opened a Mylar bag of H&H Anniversary Cake, which was a favorite years ago, It's pretty good.
Ascanian #1, which I bought in 2019 is a rich Va/Per from Dan Tobacco and has been a regular smoke.
An old standby, which I haven't smoked in several years, is Haddo's Delight. I bought an 8oz commercially sealed Mylar bag from 2004, which proved to be one of the best smokes I've enjoyed this year. It was truly outstanding and better than any of the old tins I've opened. It also proved to be that Mylar is an excellent way to provide long term storage, 21 years, better than any tin, at least for this blend.
From Watch City Cigar, I've enjoyed Old Dominion 25th Anniversary, Deluxe Crumb Cut, 558, and Off the Rails.
I've also been enjoying a number of privately issued blends made by Ernie for The Society Of English Pipe Smokers, of which I am a member, none of which are available to the public, one of which was a release of Rouxgaroux made with McClelland tobaccos, as was originally intended. Really great!
A recent search through a couple of boxes that haven't been opened since the move two years ago contained a number of pleasant surprises, like a sealed Mylar 1 lb bag bag of HH Arcadian Perique, a former favorite that I'd been parceling out because I only had a few tins left. I'd completely forgotten that I had this 1 pound bag, resealed in metallized Mylar, and have been enjoying this wonderful Va/Per.
This was also the year that I said goodbye to old favorites because they will be garbage under their current manufacturer. So long St Bruno. So long Capstan Blue. You deserved far better than to be a trademark owned by rapacious mediocrities.
