Core Four

[Ghosted Tamper]

-GH Twists
-Virginia Tobaccos
-Virginia/Perique Tobaccos
-Dark Fired Tobaccos

Pretty much any of those and I'll be all set..

But then there is GLP Laurel Heights..

I must be Ash Catch'up; I gotta smoke 'em all.

 

[LeafErikson]

Pegasus
Pegasus
Pegasus
And, you guessed it, Pegasus.

 

[Buckeyestime]

PS LBF
PS LNF
1Q
C&D Autumn Evening

 

[Infantry23]

This sort of thread pops up every once in a while and I think it's funny how my individual response can change from month to month.
I enjoy answering the OPs question and then going back a few months or even weeks later and having a totally different list.
Right now, my core four is:
-Northwoods
-Peterson's DNR
-Plum Pudding
-Blood Red Moon

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

This sort of thread pops up every once in a while and I think it's funny how my individual response can change from month to month.
I enjoy answering the OPs question and then going back a few months or even weeks later and having a totally different list.
Right now, my core four is:
-Northwoods
-Peterson's DNR
-Plum Pudding
-Blood Red Moon

I thought that was a fun idea, to come back a couple months later and revisit the question. When I first replied to this thread I was really in that, "aggressive discovery" sort of phase where I was constantly trying new blends and had a long list of blends I still wanted to try. Over the past couple months I've pretty well blown through that list of a couple dozen tobaccos I wanted to try and over the course of it my favorite tobaccos list grew from 5 blends to 10!

Cult - Blood Red Moon
Mac Baren - Vanilla Cream Loose Cut
Super Value - Bourbon Whiskey
Cornell & Diehl - Autumn Evening
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Black Cherry
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Ennerdale Flake
Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Bob's Chocolate Flake
Peterson - Early Morning Pipe
John Middleton, Inc. - Carter Hall
Cornell & Diehl - Haunted Bookshop

I don't think I'd want to pick just 4 of them to smoke forever and never smoke anything else, but if I reaaaaaally had to choose 4 then at this point I'd go with...

Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Kendal Black Cherry
Mac Baren - Vanilla Cream Loose Cut
John Middleton, Inc. - Carter Hall
Cornell & Diehl - Haunted Bookshop

Again though, I sure wouldn't want to have to narrow it down that far since I'm pretty darn pleased with my 10 blend rotation and really love them all.

 

[didimauw]

These days it's mainly two.
Pegasus
And Briar Fox.

 

[brooklynpiper]

I would probably pick something like:
Cabbies
HB
GH
SG squadron leader

But if I’m going off what I would smoke the most
Cabbies
HB
GH
ODF

 

[Tate]

These days it's mainly two.
Pegasus
And Briar Fox.

Those are growing on me too. At first wasn't into them too much.

 

[Skippy B. Coyote]

These days it's mainly two.
Pegasus
And Briar Fox.

Excellent picks! Those are both blends I've found myself returning to a lot lately as well. Pegasus is like a slightly kinder, gentler version of the Haunted Bookshop I know and love. It's still plenty robust but smooth on the retrohale and doesn't feel like it's going to singe my nose hairs off like Haunted Bookshop does.

Briar Fox is one I really enjoy the flavor of, since it's a really well balanced and perfectly smooth Virginia/Burley blend; though I'm still trying to figure out the right moisture level to dry it to. If it gets too dry it seems to lose flavor, but not dry enough and the bright Virginias bite the heck out of me. That's probably just due to my individual mouth chemistry's general intolerance to bright Virginias, but it would be nice if I could figure out the right moisture level for Briar Fox since it's a darn tasty blend.

 

[didimauw]

Excellent picks! Those are both blends I've found myself returning to a lot lately as well. Pegasus is like a slightly kinder, gentler version of the Haunted Bookshop I know and love. It's still plenty robust but smooth on the retrohale and doesn't feel like it's going to singe my nose hairs off like Haunted Bookshop does.

Briar Fox is one I really enjoy the flavor of, since it's a really well balanced and perfectly smooth Virginia/Burley blend; though I'm still trying to figure out the right moisture level to dry it to. If it gets too dry it seems to lose flavor, but not dry enough and the bright Virginias bite the heck out of me. That's probably just due to my individual mouth chemistry's general intolerance to bright Virginias, but it would be nice if I could figure out the right moisture level for Briar Fox since it's a darn tasty blend.

I only smoke them crunchy dry. I find moist tobaccos very bland.

 

[nathaniel]

PS English Oriental,
SPC plum pudding special reserve,
Some lightly topped codger burley,
Some straight va.

 

[woodsroad]

“My favorite beer is the one I’m drinking right now”
-Charlie Papazian

Which is pretty much my attitude about pipe tobacco.
Right now:

Morley’s Best
Castello Old Antiquari ‘13
Luxury Bullseye Flake ‘16
Krumble Kake ‘04

When I finish off one of these, I have McClelland Rose of Latakia standing by and I’ll probably dig out some McClelland dark flake. I have a tin of Sutliff Taste of Autumn, which I’ll sometimes smoke while doing the late season lawn chores, but the mower has been waiting for parts since late summer. The exhaust manifold just arrived, so if I can get it all reassembled soon, maybe I’ll pack a bowl of that this weekend.

 

[kcghost]

I keep three tobaccos on tap for regular consumption (Six Pence, Stonehenge and Mad Fiddler Flake) with three on a much lower consumption level (Wind Jammer, HH Rustica, and Westminster).

 

[Tate]

Cote 4 right now Exclusive, Escudo, Super Balkan, and 5 Brothers

 

[badbriar]

Easy...English / Scottish / Scottish / English
With different personalities, of course. I'll let GLP make the choices (that's Greg)! I trust his judgement!

 

[autumnfog]

Capstan Blue Flake
Mac Baren HH Bold Kentucky
GLP Cumberland or CD Haunted Bookshop
GLP Quiet Nights

 

[dburrows]

I've had a core 5 for quite some time that hasn't really changed. They are:

Westminster
Charing Cross
WhiteKnight
BlackHouse
Magnum Opus

If I had to eliminate one, I think it would be BlackHouse. But that's a tough cut to make.

 

[Gimlet]

Not sure I can get it down to four. Keeping finding new blends I can't do without. I think I'll have to stretch to five

But at the moment of going to press I suppose I could (in no particular order) manage with:

GH American Coffee and Caramel
SG 1792
Pete's 3P's
GH Ennerdale
Pete's Elizabethan Mixture (or should it be Irish Cask or Solani Aged Burley Flake.....?) Hmmm damn these first world problems.

 

[tmcg81]

I could live with:

MacBaren HH Burley Flake
GL Pease Westminster
Watch City Rouxgaroux
1Q

Amending my previous statement... I'd be just FINE with 1Q, but I'd be a lot happier with G & H Kentucky Nougat. And if I had to just smoke one forever, I'd pick Pegasus, which isn't even on my list of 4. It's just a perfect smoke that I mostly smoke when I don't know what I want, meaning it gets smoked pretty often when I have it on hand. It always delivers, even when I don't really care, and just want a pipe with some coffee.

 

[ClenchedBilliard]

Right now I'd say:
Mountain Camp
Casbah
Northwest Trek
Figgy Pudding
*list is eternally subject to change