Confused as to which blend I should try

[michaelm]

I had my first pipe sometime early this year. It was just a cheap, poorly made no-name pipe I picked up for $10 or so. I went down to my Tobacconist and they recommended me Amphora Original Blend. Which is what I got, and have since picked up some more. I liked smoking the pipe, but I felt it was missing something. I've since bought a Mr Bog #69, which is a Briar pipe that cost around $55 or so including shipping to Australia. It's made a huge difference and I'm now really enjoying my pipe at night.
Only problem is, I still don't think the Tobacco I have is exactly right. So some suggestions would be hugely helpful. I'm looking for something with a stronger flavour mostly. I think I want a more "tobacco-ey" flavour. Ideally, I would buy a small amount of many different types but they only sell pipe tobacco in larger volumes, and not many different types as I live in a small Australian town.
So, any suggestions? I'm sure you get these threads all the time, so I do apologise and will continue searching the site in the meantime.
If any Aussies browse the forums, do you know of a tobacconist that sells sampler sized tobacco that's happy to mail orders? I can't really see any australian sites selling something similar, and buying from overseas is costly as you need to pay duty on tobacco.

 

[thesmokindragon]

Mac Baren's Old Dark Fired has been my go-to for the past few months,

a good/stout smoke...Maybe some VaBurs like Peterson's UF or

pure Virginias like Dunhill's Flake, all have become some of my

favs and continue to make my rotation..
I will also suggest getting some MM corn

con pipes, they are low-cost and you can keep a few for trying

different style blends; English, Virginia, Burley, Aromatics...
Now since there are thousands of blends out there I know

it is a bit overwhelming when you start out. What helped me

was reading about the different types of tobaccos, then reading

reviews and at the end...taking the leap with the above knowledge

you have a good foundation for finding what you like..give G.L.'s

latest article a read....
Pipe smoking is a wonderful journey, which I hope never ends, the

search for that "go-to" blend helps fuel that journey..in the last

few years I have sampled a few hundred blends; liking about 98%

of them but found that as GL Pease writes; time of year, temp,

correct pipe, packing/prep, smoking rhythm all adds up to help

give you that pure moment of bliss when everything is "right"

 

[michaelm]

Thanks for the reply. I'm definitely looking forward to searching for that special blend. I've been searching the net and this site for the last few hours trying to narrow down what I think I would like to try. So far I'm thinking of picking up a tin of Dunhill EMP, Dunhill My Mixture 965 or perhaps Dunhill Nightcap. They all have very good reviews, and seem to be recommended a lot. I think I am looking for a fairly strong smokey taste, but not being familiar at all with english blends, I just don't know how strong of a punch I'd want to start with. I guess it's more of a choice between EMP and 965.
Ah well, I trip to my tobacconist tomorrow is in order. Hopefully they stock it. I can only imagine posting times to be horrible with Christmas just around the corner.

 

[jeffboyrd]

+1 on getting some Missouri Meerschaum cobs, definitely a good a idea to get a rotation of pipes going. I think a good beginner tobacco that often gets over looked is MacBaren's Original Choice. It's mild, yet flavorful and is a pretty easy smoke. I wish I could have cut my teeth on Original Choice, as opposed to all of the overly cased crap I tried at first. Enjoy and welcome to the forums. Jeff

 

[mluyckx]

Michael

You had some good advice already. EMP is a good tobacco if you're looking for something more tobacco-ey as you called it. I'd recommend it over the 965.
Besides that, as SD points out, there's a huge variety out there and some experimenting to determine what you like will surely ensue. But here's my shortlist I would recommend
A good Burley: Sterling Tobacco - Double Eagle or Solani 656 Aged Burley Flake

A good Virginia: Cornell and Diehl - Opening Night or Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake

A good Virginia/Perique: Escudo or Esoterica Dorchester

A mild aromatic: The aforementioned 1-Q

A stronger aromatic: Cornell and Diehl - Autum Evening (Maple) or MacBaren Vanilla Cream (Vanilla - Duh [;-)] )

A good Latakia / English blend: I usually leave this to others that are more appreciative of these blends, but you the EMP in this category, so that's a good start.
Hope this helps

 

[barkar]

Welcome to the forum!
If it is the smokey taste your looking for try a tobacco with 40% to 50% latakia.

 

[madmurdoc]

Welcome to PipesMagazine!

If it is the smokey taste your looking for try a tobacco with 40% to 50% latakia.

Maybe Dunhill Early Morning Pipe, or the stronger Dunhill Nightcap.

 

[michaelm]

Unfortunately, due to recent plain packaging laws, I cannot buy any pipe tobacco from either of my two tobacconists. One tobacconist said he should have some in two weeks possibly, but wasnt sure how many brands would bother with changing the packaging, so he's unsure what will be available in the future.
Disappointing news. Hopefully I can buy some online from somewhere.

 

[cortezattic]

4noggins ships to Australia.

 

[sparroa]

I figured that plain packaging would kill the pipe tobacco business down there.
Cigarettes are one thing, because people only smoke one brand.
Pipe tobacco is a different animal altogether; unfortunately, it is so small that most companies will not comply with the new regulations.

 

[michaelm]

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed to say the least. I've been madly searching about and have worked out the duty charges for 50 grams of Tobacco and it shouldn't be anymore expensive all up than buying a pouch in australia. Except, with these new laws I am not sure if they will let the tobacco through. So unless there's some kindly supplier somewhere online that would repackage brands, I'm thinking things will be tough.
Still, hopefully some tobacco companies will decide to still ship to australia. Only time I've ever thought being an Aussie wasn't a fantastic thing.

 

[twistie]

Hi Michael
I'm also in Australia and I regularly get tobacco from 4noggins.com and smokingpipes.com which comes through no problems, however it is subject to tax/duty if customs checks it and decides to send a bill. Still works out cheaper after paying the extra $436/kg + duties . Mysmokingshop in the UK is another place I've brought from. Plain packaging is only for products bought in Australia, it doesn't extend to imports yet. May as well stock up while the goings good and before the next 25% tax hike comes along.
If you want to get samples from an Australian store, try http://www.tobaccoblends.com.au/en/ They have a decent selection of Samuel Gawith and McClelland blends, although still small compared to the US stores. If I'm not mistaken they do 10g samples. They should be able to give some recommendations if you give them a buzz or send an email. I have no affiliation with the store, I'm just a happy customer.
I'd recommend trying Erinmore Flake, that was one of the first blends I tried and loved from the get go, though might be strong if you're sensitive to nicotine. I got a pouch in the new plain packaging from a tobacconist in Narooma on the South Coast of NSW when I was there over Christmas. Bye Bye tins
Happy puffing.
Jyri

 

[guitarguy86]

Try Escudo Navy De Luxe. Definitely has that tobacco flavor.

 

[cajundad]

Lane Limited 1Q , and trout stream are great Aro's , boswells makes fabulous blends , but I'm not sure if they ship to Austrailia . It's a lot of trial and error , untill you find the blends that are best for you . Welcome to the forum !