All The Strong (Nic) Blends

[F4RM3R]

It's part of my long term plan. I really want to smoke strictly for flavor.. I haven't bought any patches yet. I'm just not there yet.. I have cut the cigarettes down to just a few a day.

Keep going! I did it gradually over a few months, cutting down more and more until it was one cig a day and then none. Haven't looked back since! It was that first smoke of the day cigarette that was the hardest to let go. I just forced myself to have a pipe and eventually didn't crave the cig, but a pipe instead. Now I've cut down to three pipes a day, which seems reasonable and works for me. Maybe I'll cut down to less eventually, but I am enjoying wher I'm at right now.

Strong tobacco definitely helped cut the cravings more and it's what I prefer now. If I smoked all day(and occasionally I smoke more than 3 bowls) I'd probably go with some lighter tobacco, but I prefer smoking less with something a little stronger. But everyone is different and you have to find what works for you to keep things from getting out of hand.

 

[Mr.Pink]

Never had that happen, though the only tobacco I've tried with any nicotine was Rustica, though I had to overdo it to feel it. For me, cigarettes still have more nicotine than any pipe tobacco I've smoked.

Excellent Idea. I was trying to decide what to smoke, Rustica it is ?

 

[Recon Paul]

I like em cooked in stuff. And raw in things. But by themselves they taste like a stuffy room and have the texture of an eyeball.

Ever have a Jersey tomato? When I first moved here I laughed at the thought. Saw a sign by farm stand touting Jersey tomatoes and we both said "What the heck is that? Is that a thing?" It will reinvent your concept of a tomato. They're spectacular. You just slice them up and eat them and you want more.

 

[Jaylotw]

It's part of my long term plan. I really want to smoke strictly for flavor.. I haven't bought any patches yet. I'm just not there yet.. I have cut the cigarettes down to just a few a day.

I kicked a 1.5 pack a day habit, cold, with Old Joe Krantz (which still gives me the hiccups) and 5 Brothers. Literally went from 30-40 cigs a day on a Monday to zero on Tuesday and except for sneaking one while running out for food at my girl’s mom’s house (it was a Spirit, yellow pack, tasted like shit), I haven’t had a cig since last March.

I found the key was just to cut the cord entirely and convince myself that I could do it-and I did. That was hard, hard to do. Like cutting a friend out of your life.

Not that I didn’t want a cig, god damn I did for the first three or four days, but after that it was a piece of cake. Luckily I already had a fine cellar of blends to choose from, and already fancied the stronger ones. Now I have 3-5 bowls a day, sometimes more or less.

You’ll get there, and be thankful you did. I’m not in terrible shape, and work a really physical job, but within a few weeks I noticed how much easier I breathed and that I wasn’t getting out of breath just walking from the back field to the barn.

 

[Jaylotw]

Yes. Just like the vile tomato.

I hate them fuckin things, too. Except in sauce, or the SunGold cherry tomatoes we grow on the farm-those are like jelly beans. Why do you want a slice of metallic tasting slime on your sandwich?

 

[logs]

Not sure why anyone would hiccups but Gawith rope, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, and HH Rustica might just do the trick. None of them taste near as good as Picayune but they've got nicotine in spades

 

[OneGoodBulldog]

Loving all the kicked butts stories here!

I kicked the butts with the pipe and it was a two day switch. Bought a pipe and some tobacco, smoked that, had a cigarette and it was awful. Had another ciggy the next day and it was even worse. I threw my last three cigs in the bin and haven't worried about them since. This was over a month ago now. It's just the marijuana that makes me cough now and even that I've slowed down on by a country mile since taking up the pipe.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Not sure why anyone would hiccups but Gawith rope, Mac Baren Old Dark Fired, and HH Rustica might just do the trick. None of them taste near as good as Picayune but they've got nicotine in spades

Hiccups are a normal reaction to nicotine.. at least for us ladies.

Some people say mushrooms make you yawn, I wouldnt know personally...

 

[tfdickson]

I'm afraid so.. But I dont have any inside information. Just noticing it's out of stock in a few places. I'm sure it's still out there.

I have probably 10 pounds.Thats not nearly enough...

Looks like you were right, thanks again!

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Looks like you were right, thanks again!

I sure wish I was wrong, though.. At least some of us got another shot at it, but I still don't have enough.. enough would be 1000 lbs.

 

[tfdickson]

I sure wish I was wrong, though.. At least some of us got another shot at it, but I still don't have enough.. enough would be a 1000 lbs.

Yep. 500lb would do if it didn’t burn so quickly. But that‘s part of the charm.

 

[logs]

Found a few tins of PIcayune today at Mars Cigar as well as some Golden Triangle Belmont. Pretty much the last gasp of both those blends. Bought em all since I don't expect I'll ever see more, except maybe on the vintage market.

 

[--dante--]

There it is. Thanks for the link. As soon as I handle this Picayune crisis I gotta get a roll.

I just ordered one of the logs. I was pleasantly surprised I could use PayPal.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Ryback is a good one. As long as the new owner keeps it the same, all the good stuff ain't gone.. yet.

 

[canucklehead]

Ryback is a good one. As long as the new owner keeps it the same, all the good stuff ain't gone.. yet.

I hope they work out the transition soon, most things are out of stock on smokingpipes. Vengeur is really good too, I got a little bit to try and I like it a lot.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I hope they work out the transition soon, most things are out of stock on smokingpipes. Vengeur is really good too, I got a little bit to try and I like it a lot.

Yea I have been eyeballing that one. What's it like?

 

[canucklehead]

Yea I have been eyeballing that one. What's it like?

This is one of the few blends I've smoked where the description online actually describes the blend perfectly:

"A medium-bodied blend, Vengeur by Daughters & Ryan combines flue-cured Virginia, mellow Burley, and Oriental tobaccos to create a smooth and flavorful smoke, with no bitter taste on the palate."

The components all provide exactly what you would expect, bright Virginias are grass/hay with a little bready sweetness, burleys are earthy, nutty, and provide a bit of strength, and the orientals add some nice woody and "oriental" flavours. Very smooth and easy smoke, could smoke it all day long no problem. I hope it is one of the continued blends.

 

[chopper]

Since I was 12 to 50, cigarettes were what I looked for first thing in the morning. Tried everything to quit. Gum, patch, tablet. Nothing worked. Vape helped. I don't think it was nicotine that I was missing. If it was nicotine, gum and patch had plenty. Way I see it, it was habitual need to inhale something or hold something in hand. I don't know. But with vape, no more craving for cigarettes. But vape isn't tobacco. It tasted fine, there was huge cloud, but it was missing something. Pipe filled the gap. Now, if I smoke cigarettes, I get dizzy.

Very similar experience here too.

Quit attempts from my 30-40 a day cigarette habit was white-knuckle torture.
Nicotine replacement works for some but like you, I enjoy smoking.

Switching to a pipe wasn't that hard for me because unlike a quit attempt I was able to tell myself that a pipe was better than nothing. It didn't take long for me to adjust to the pipe and I really enjoyed the flavours of pipe blends.

Many smokers are what I term 'emotional smokers' who, like me, treat stress and depression with a smoke.
It's an ingrained behaviour.

Since I now smoke blends with no more than mild nicotine, the fact that I'm satisfied shows me that the ritual itself and having something to occupy my hands, is a bigger factor than the nicotine.

Now I smoke for pleasure rather than addiction.
Restricting myself to blends with no more than mild Vit N means that I miss out on quite a few blends that I'm sure I'd really like, it's a tiny sacrifice to finally have the addiction monkey off my back once and for all.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

Ever have a Jersey tomato? When I first moved here I laughed at the thought. Saw a sign by farm stand touting Jersey tomatoes and we both said "What the heck is that? Is that a thing?" It will reinvent your concept of a tomato. They're spectacular. You just slice them up and eat them and you want more.

They're pretty much unavailable outside on NJ unless the variety is grown locally as their skins are too thin to ship without getting damaged.

 

[Recon Paul]

They're pretty much unavailable outside on NJ unless the variety is grown locally as their skins are too thin to ship without getting damaged.

That explains why NYers like me never knew about them.