Its been a couple of months since I had my first pipe smoke. I'm finally at the point where I can really relax, enjoy the smoke and not feel like I'm working at it.
The biggest change though has been what I can only call the evolution (still in its infancy) of my palette. The first few weeks were somewhat frustrating as I learned to sip and keep the pipe lit. I was almost ready to give up as I was getting some mild tongue burn but then decided to try one last thing. I put away the heavily flavoured aromatics and tried some burley virginia mixes like Mac Baren original choice and Golden Extra. What a difference. I started getting a real tobacco taste, my tongue did not get numb. It seemed so counterintuitive to me that a tobacco with less casing and topping would be actually easier on my tongue and have MORE flavour. I did have one bad experience with my first try at a blend with latakia in it. It turned my stomach and made my head hurt. I actually could not smoke for two days after it, but luckily, the tin found a good home with someone that actually likes it.
I added a second briar pipe to my mix recently and I'm now finding out that indeed, all pipes smoke differently. Its almost like smoking a different tobacco.
There's still a lot more to learn, new blends to try, new pipes to try (to my bank account, please bear with me) and I'm looking forward to my first smoke in the park or on the stream as the weather improves. Its been a very full 2 months, I'm pleased with my progress and I would not have been able to get to this point without this great brotherhood of the pipe.
The biggest change though has been what I can only call the evolution (still in its infancy) of my palette. The first few weeks were somewhat frustrating as I learned to sip and keep the pipe lit. I was almost ready to give up as I was getting some mild tongue burn but then decided to try one last thing. I put away the heavily flavoured aromatics and tried some burley virginia mixes like Mac Baren original choice and Golden Extra. What a difference. I started getting a real tobacco taste, my tongue did not get numb. It seemed so counterintuitive to me that a tobacco with less casing and topping would be actually easier on my tongue and have MORE flavour. I did have one bad experience with my first try at a blend with latakia in it. It turned my stomach and made my head hurt. I actually could not smoke for two days after it, but luckily, the tin found a good home with someone that actually likes it.
I added a second briar pipe to my mix recently and I'm now finding out that indeed, all pipes smoke differently. Its almost like smoking a different tobacco.
There's still a lot more to learn, new blends to try, new pipes to try (to my bank account, please bear with me) and I'm looking forward to my first smoke in the park or on the stream as the weather improves. Its been a very full 2 months, I'm pleased with my progress and I would not have been able to get to this point without this great brotherhood of the pipe.
