A Few "Non-Smoker Newbie" Thoughts
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Well, yes giddy is a good term.
I think my only churchwarden is actually quite practical. Once lit, I don't have to move hardly at all to enjoy the smoke. Breathing is just about it.
I think my only churchwarden is actually quite practical. Once lit, I don't have to move hardly at all to enjoy the smoke. Breathing is just about it.
We have derailed this thread.
I wasn't smoking a pipe. I just re-started smoking in May of this year. I did shovel some coal into the firebox though. The loco is hand fed. The engineer and fireman do all the work. Since I was the guest, I got to 'drive' except in the switch yard.
I wasn't smoking a pipe. I just re-started smoking in May of this year. I did shovel some coal into the firebox though. The loco is hand fed. The engineer and fireman do all the work. Since I was the guest, I got to 'drive' except in the switch yard.
Pipe smoking got my attention by pure ... chance, luck, whatever you wanna call it. I have never even met a tobacco pipe smoker before so I'm glad to have all of you to share information.
So I'm wondering, what made you get into the hobby? How where your firsts steps?
So I'm wondering, what made you get into the hobby? How where your firsts steps?
What brought you to pipe smoking?
Frugality and an addiction to nicotine that I could manage with complete abstinence if I so chose, and had for many years at a time, over time, but always returned in times of extreme stress.
You'd asked who had started with aromatics, and I had to consider that it actually WAS the 4th tobacco that I picked up that got me into looking for other blends for my pipe, online, and rather quickly to this forum, where the concept of frugality required an adjustment in my thinking, but happily.
That 4th tobacco, and it was 4th because I started with a RYO bulk burley and inhaled as I smoked IT that first week or two, then went back to the drug store where I'd got the MM Legend and picked up two store brands, one with burley and cavendish and one a 'toasted cavendish'. Well, those weren't too great, either and the drug store had one other 'branded' blend so I got that.
Now, we're smelling like what our preconceptions of pipe tobacco is, we're smelling Captain Black in the White Pouch, and yes, that's an aromatic.
I ordered some stuff from Pipes and Cigars later that week and haven't looked back. That one pouch of Captain Black lasted me seemingly forever, cuz, when I had my more natural blends in hand, I eschewed the propylene glycol in the CB.
Frugality and an addiction to nicotine that I could manage with complete abstinence if I so chose, and had for many years at a time, over time, but always returned in times of extreme stress.
You'd asked who had started with aromatics, and I had to consider that it actually WAS the 4th tobacco that I picked up that got me into looking for other blends for my pipe, online, and rather quickly to this forum, where the concept of frugality required an adjustment in my thinking, but happily.
That 4th tobacco, and it was 4th because I started with a RYO bulk burley and inhaled as I smoked IT that first week or two, then went back to the drug store where I'd got the MM Legend and picked up two store brands, one with burley and cavendish and one a 'toasted cavendish'. Well, those weren't too great, either and the drug store had one other 'branded' blend so I got that.
Now, we're smelling like what our preconceptions of pipe tobacco is, we're smelling Captain Black in the White Pouch, and yes, that's an aromatic.
I ordered some stuff from Pipes and Cigars later that week and haven't looked back. That one pouch of Captain Black lasted me seemingly forever, cuz, when I had my more natural blends in hand, I eschewed the propylene glycol in the CB.
Good advice. I wish I would have known this when I first started smoking a pipe. Unfortunately I started out with low quality wet aromatics like Captain Black.
Big mistake.I would also recommend trying Amphora Full Aroma (Red). It's a great aromatic. Fairly dry in the pouch and burns wonderfully with no bite. Great taste and room note, too.
I am pretty new to pipes as well, probably only a couple months now. I have the privilege of knowing two guys that have smoked for quite a while, one that I see every day on the commuter train to work, and a close friend's son that I see a few times a year but is accessible by text messages. The son came over one day and we spent the better part of an evening trying a variety of different blends that he has a taste for, and that really helped me to determine what I like. I am actually having a ton of fun and enjoyment trying different tins that I buy from Pipes and Cigars Online lately. My favorites so far are Frog Morton Cellar and Macanudo. My worst so far was Early morning Pipe. I found that one to be completely without any enjoyable taste. In the evenings I have enjoyed Nightcap as well as Capt Earles Nightwatch.
I heard some other comments about how the pipe is relaxing and different from cigarettes. I find it a compare/contrast to boating. Pipes are like beautiful sailboats while cigarettes are like small motorboats. Sailboats are mainly about the journey and enjoying the water and the surroundings, you take notice to the gulls, the jumping fish, enjoy the wind in your face, and well with a 20' motorboat it is usually only about getting somewhere as fast as you can.
Justdafacts
I heard some other comments about how the pipe is relaxing and different from cigarettes. I find it a compare/contrast to boating. Pipes are like beautiful sailboats while cigarettes are like small motorboats. Sailboats are mainly about the journey and enjoying the water and the surroundings, you take notice to the gulls, the jumping fish, enjoy the wind in your face, and well with a 20' motorboat it is usually only about getting somewhere as fast as you can.
Justdafacts
I did. I started with cigars (thanks, Uncle Earl!) then went to a pipe, and had to explain to my RA in college that it was indeed ONLY for tobacco. But I found cheap aromatics were a nice way to start. I didn't want to invest a lot at first, because I wasn't sure I'd like it or want to keep doing it.
Regarding the campfire analogy, one of the best feelings in the world for me is sitting around a fire and lighting my pipe from a burning stick from the campfire.
Hi mpelletier92,
Welcome! I live in British Columbia, so I understand the woes and joys of a Maple Leaf Piper. If you enjoy a campfire smell and fragrant, flavoured tobaccos; I'd recommend to you a 'crossover' blend like McClelland Frog Morton Cellar -- subtle smokiness and soothing whisky scent and taste and not moist. It's called a crossover because it is an intermediate step between full-on aromatics and pure English (Latakia) blends like Northwoods or Nightcap.
Welcome! I live in British Columbia, so I understand the woes and joys of a Maple Leaf Piper. If you enjoy a campfire smell and fragrant, flavoured tobaccos; I'd recommend to you a 'crossover' blend like McClelland Frog Morton Cellar -- subtle smokiness and soothing whisky scent and taste and not moist. It's called a crossover because it is an intermediate step between full-on aromatics and pure English (Latakia) blends like Northwoods or Nightcap.
That is the same reason why I was attracted to pipe smoking in the first place. I loved the smell of a burning pipe! One thing you need to consider once you start smoking is, you won't be able to smell the smoke like those around you would. I was obsessed with finding a tobacco that tasted good and smelled like I remembered a burning pipe to smell like. I think I was smelling Captain Black or Lane 1Q but the problem for myself was I really didn't like those tobaccos but I wanted to put off a similar aroma. I quickly found crossover blends like Sillem's Black or Northwoods gave me both the flavor I wanted and the wonderful aroma. Once my obsession for finding a pleasing smelling tobacco faded I found that I got complimented on all kinds of tobacco I thought would stink to those around me. One such blend is Old Joe Krantz. It's a stinky VA/BURLEY/PERIQUE blend and smells like dirty socks or some kind of stinky barnyard in the tin but I get compliments from women almost every time I smoke that one in public. So, my point to all this is don't necessarily be so concerned about the smell because you won't be smelling it and all pipe tobaccos are cased (well almost all) with some kind of sugar and most put out a pleasant aroma.
No, actually I don't but I am curious to why my name would suggest that, Someone else said the same thing but I forgot to ask them why.
To hawky454:
A 454 Chevy Big-Block engine.
To those of you who tried Carter Hall, could you say that the room note from others around you is good?
A 454 Chevy Big-Block engine.
To those of you who tried Carter Hall, could you say that the room note from others around you is good?
When I came back to the pipe, I tried as many over the counter blends as I could find locally. Carter Hall was the clear winner but it still wasn't doing it for me. I knew there had to be something more. A good friend and occasional pipe smoker introduced me to Dunhill's Nightcap, my first English blend. That's all it took. Go ahead and suffer the OTC's first. It will make your first English blend become an epiphany.
Yes, very nice room note. You will get a lot of compliments.
CH burns cool with no bite because it is mostly burley containing very little casing, plus it has an excellent pineapple/mango/coconut flavor. Try drying it first before smoking, because I think it tastes much better that way. I nuke my in the microwave for 20 seconds beforehand.
Carter Hall, Prince Albert, and other such old standards are great, but I don't think you have to smoke only the good old standbys. Just keep all your sample purchases small quantities -- an ounce or two bulk, a pouch, a single tin. No need to buy more than an ounce or two while your taste is evolving for a few years. Keep with mild blends mostly. Two possible aromatic blends with good tobacco flavor are Iwan Ries Three Star Blue and Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic, both in pouches. A good aro in a tin is Edward G. Robinson, just for starters. If you don't like a particular blend, jar it for a year and try it again; it could improve with some age, or your taste might develop. Keep it all relaxed and easy. No pressure, no competition. See what you like.
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