3 Tobacco Reviews

[judcole]

And from the Flake, well, Virginia is a delicate thing. You have to smoke it real slow. If you're using a new pipe even worse as I really feel a dedicated VA pipe gets better and better with each smoke but the flavor is so fragile you've really got to search for it until you soak that shit into a great piece of briar. That dedicated VA pipe after a while will then be the fucking shit for it.
Keep trying the Flake. It's subtle at first. Hints of it here and there. But once you get it you'll get it.

As a fan of this blend (Dunhill Flake), I completely agree.

js, you need to not smoke bowl after bowl. Your taste buds need to rest. ... If you are heating up your pipe, then you will not taste the flavors. If the pipe isn't broken in then all the flavors available will not come through. The Dunhill is a very sweet, full of flavor blend when smoked slowly . Unfortunately if you are smoking out of a very cheap, not broken in pipe, then the heat from the pipe will take away most of the flavors.

+1 again

Jsiddle, as everyone here has said, it's all about the journey, not the destination.
And from what you've posted here, you're doing fine.
Just take your time, continue to use you computer to access the wealth of info available and to bounce things off your friends here.
And don't be so hard on yourself.

These guys are all correct, and so is everyone else who has told you to slow down.
IIRC, you have one inexpensive pipe. That means you can smoke one bowl of one blend - s-l-o-w-l-y - and then run cleaners through it, put the pipe down, and leave it for a couple of hours. This allows the pipe to recover, and your taste buds.
In addition,IMO, you cannot judge a tobacco after 1 bowl. You may,on occasion, get a blend that is so right (or wrong) for you that, after 1 bowl, you can begin to make a judgement on it; but that's rare. (One advantage I had, when learning about pipe smoking, is that I had limited funds and nobody giving me tobacco. I had one kind on hand at a time. I either had to smoke it all, or make the decision to pitch it and get something else. I would get to know a blend,that way.)

 

[jsiddle]

I hate to be the one to say it but maybe you are expecting flavours that tobacco doesn't offer...
People can be pretty loose with their adjectives and you may be taking some things too literally.
Aromatics seldom deliver in the flavour department, in my opinion, so I'm not surprised that they haven't matched your huge expectations.
Settle down and enjoy the blends for what they are, not what they are supposed to be!

I think this sums it up... Also, I guess I am worrying about getting the packing and lighting down right before I am letting myself enjoy it... I think that's my problem. In my mind I have been thinking that for me to enjoy this hobby, I will first need to learn proper packing and lighting techniques, so I am constantly thinking about improving this technique and all that jazz...
I wish I could meet someone around here thats a longtime pipe smoker that I could sit down with and pick their brain for knowledge and learn firsthand how to properly pack a bowl and light...
Another thing I am noticing is when I light, I always get extremely hot smoke... Wondering if I am lighting it TOO much...

 

[mkvillaire]

jsiddle,
I feel your pain. As a new pipe smoker I was also looking for that aromatic smoke that tastes like smoking a chocolate bar or a vanilla bean. I have come to relize that those probably don't exist. Then I decided so what. Lately I've been trying Virginias and other blends. Being an ex-cigarette smoker I always liked to smoke during/after certain activities but I always hated the after taste and smell of those cigarettes. Pipe smoke is so different. The smell and taste is that of quality tobacco. In fact my wife doesn't mind my smoking in the house as there seems to be no lingering stench like with cigarettes. As I mentioned I've been smoking Virginias lately and I really wasn't getting that "taste" that everyone talks about, up until last night. I was sitting in my chair after dinner watching the baseball game and smoking some Escudo. All of a sudden I got this taste on my tongue. It was like a fruity berry sweet taste. I thought to myself "there it is." Following the advice from the people here is helping me in a big way. I think the best advice so far is "slow down."

 

[daytonsean]

Try some Frogs, regular Frog Morton has a great flavor to it. Light on the Latakia, it's a perfect blend to try.

 

[jsiddle]

I feel your pain. As a new pipe smoker I was also looking for that aromatic smoke that tastes like smoking a chocolate bar or a vanilla bean. I have come to relize that those probably don't exist. Then I decided so what.

I think I just had the "so what" epiphany

 

[tjameson]

That's a great epiphany to have. Once I kinda found a packing method that worked for me and I stopped caring about relights and all that crap my pipe became more enjoyable. Just enjoy the fact that you four a great way to enjoy tobacco and relax and the rest will follow. You'll eventually find whatever flavors can be offered and might not be able to put a finger on it but that's ok. Also those perfect smokes don't come all the time even if you've been smoking the same blend for awhile.

 

[kris]

...and if you're only smoking 1 bowl a day, it'll probably be another 2 weeks till you make that pipe your beyatch (that's when she'll start giving up the flavours and other good stuff!) :puffpipe:

 

[piperl12]

Well I'm kinda kidding here and kinda serious, if you are looking for fresh baked cookie flavour eat a fresh baked cookie. If you want to smoke pipe tobacco its going to taste like tobacco. Some tobacco's will taste sweeter. But after twenty some odd years of smoking a pipe I have never smoked a flavored tobacco that didn't taste like.... well flavored tobacco. I mean no disrespect here, just that if you are expecting to find a tobacco that does not taste somewhat like tobacco you are searching for a holy grail that you will never find. On the other hand fresh baked cookies taste good right out of the box (wink)

 

[jsiddle]

Well I'm kinda kidding here and kinda serious, if you are looking for fresh baked cookie flavour eat a fresh baked cookie. If you want to smoke pipe tobacco its going to taste like tobacco. Some tobacco's will taste sweeter. But after twenty some odd years of smoking a pipe I have never smoked a flavored tobacco that didn't taste like.... well flavored tobacco.

Not being rude at all, sir. I needed to hear that

 

[mick]

Trying a latakia blend really opened my eyes to the beauty of tobacco's natural flavour spectrum. I love latakia, Oriental tobacco as well as some aromatic blends. They all have different tobacco flavours and some are great. My advice is stop looking for non-tobacco flavours and start exploring how sumptuous tobacco can be!

 

[cynyr]

I just gotta say... holy jeez this is an epic thread! True, hard-earned wisdom is being dispensed above.

 

[lordnoble]

I'm still a newbie in my eyes... I can't taste a quarter of the stuff that Adam (schmitzbitz) describes in his reviews. I can get some things now and then, but they are elusive. As a general rule aromatics smell great in the tin, smell great for the people around you, and taste like nothing to you. There are exceptions, and they deliver the tin note through the smoke, but again, if you want complexity, by and large aromatics won't deliver. This isn't to say that you shouldn't try them, or continue smoking them. On the contrary, smoke them just as often as your other blends. As you expand your collections of different types of blends, you'll find that they start to reveal other flavors in the blend that you're smoking.
So, as has been said before, take it slow, enjoy what you've got, and it'll come to you if you keep at it.
-Jason
P.S.- when someone says a blend it sweet, don't think of a spoon full of sugar or anything actually sweet, it's more of the nuance of sweet. Kinda like when you walk by fresh baked cinnamon rolls. That smell isn't actually sweet, it reminds you of sweet.

 

[tbradsim1]

Son, you don"t get a hard on every time you smoke, sometimes it's a disappoiment, sometimes you get a whiff of that wonderful flavor and then it goes away, like that girl that promised you some , you call her back she doesn"t come, but you got a whiff of it and maybe just maybe she"ll come back, that"s what pipe smokeing is all about. The old cajun

 

[gmwolford]

I'd add a couple of things here:
First, buy an MM cob or two: they are cheap and don't require breaking in. The first time I ever "tasted" anything from pipe tobacco was in a MM Washington I paid a whopping $8 for.
Secondly, don't "puff" on the pipe but gently draw (sip) the smoke into your mouth. Then slowly exhale it through your nostrils: you will taste more this way. Puffing gives you hot, sipping gives you cool smoke.
Aromatics actually can taste like their names: to me Berry Cobbler tastes very berry with a touch of vanilla and maybe even a hint of citrus. One my my favorite Aros has lots of lemon/ citrus flavor to it. And most of the vanilla ones taste like, yup, vanilla. But you have to, yup, slow down and relax and enjoy it to taste it.
Lastly, Half and Half, SWR, and Captain Black (blue package) all have nice taste. The PA lines do, too, but I prefer the Lane products generally over the Micdleton. Buy a pouch and smoke it for a day or two without mixing in anything else and see how they actually taste and perform for you.

 

[johncorosz]

I would love to get some free tobacco just so I can tell you how unimpressed I am with it! Sign me up!!!

 

[sparroa]

My hat is off to The Old Cajun!
That is the best thing I have read in a long time!
Greg's got some good tips for you, too. Get to know a blend, don't just flit back and forth if you are trying to learn how to smoke your pipe. Keep all the variables constant until you get it right, then you can change a thing or two and experiment.

 

[tbradsim1]

Son, it happened yesterday afternoon, gtwithbss sent :rofl:me a sample of Veermaster, my first puff my small tool became , well a semi-rigid tool, I felt I could push a wheelbarrow with a rope, but then my semi- ridgid tool became an accecory, alas such is the joy of pipe smokeing, here today and it may never come tommorow. The old cajun

 

[piperl12]

Oldcajun you sir are a wise man. It just goes to show we can always learn "something" from someone lol my hat is off to you sir. Great thread by the way. It's interesting to see everyone elses experiances. Hell I have discovered lots of great techniques and tobaccos here. My father was a wise man and he said the good lord gave you two ears, two eyes, and one mouth and that was so you listened and watched twice as often as you spoke. It's been good advice over the years.

 

[sparroa]

You can definitely save yourself a lot of trouble by reading, watching videos, or just asking a quick question on the forum. Google is your friend - if you can't find the answer in back posts here, then you can easily find reviews or tips or what not on the wider web...
I would say pipe clubs or an experienced friend are the best for learning how to smoke your pipe better, because they are hands on and "in the flesh", but the online options will suit most people just fine. Bob Tate's videos for PM.com for example are direct and helpful to the new pipe smoker - far better than you will find on Youtube which is mostly full of nebulous "reviews" that aren't too practical. Still, there are a few gems to be found on that medium as well.

 

[kris]

RUN FREE!!! AS FREE AS THE WIND BLOWS!!!
(also, buy a Falcon...) :rofl: