Hello.. first post here! I’m about six weeks into my pipe experience and have been enjoying English blends (emp, mm965 and Presbyterian) plus Elizabethan to break it up. I am realizing Virgina is the common denominator and thinking I should try some straight Va. Learn to appreciate its nuances before expanding the rotation of blends and va/pers.. ie start simple and learn to discern the parts rather than just the sum total.. other than too many math references, Thoughts?
Expanding my palate
- Thread starter Jon888
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Stay away from Cornell and Diehl Virginias without at least three years on them. Gawith Virginias also are pretty damp and green. Hard to go wrong with any of the Wessex Virginias straight out of the tin. Capstan is also good. Esoterica if you can find it. You may prefer Vapers over straight virginia. it has a bit of perique in it.
For straight Virginia's I would go for Capstan Blue Flake and Peterson Flake. Both smoke great fresh and just get better with age. You will have to research smoking flake tobacco. My suggestion is to cube cut flakes in the beginning and then work up to fold and stuff.
Welcome aboard! You might find that straight Virginia’s burn hot and harsh if you’re not accustomed to “sipping” your tobacco. You might not get the full experience from them taste-wise because of this. My advice would be to slow down and focus on smoking gently when venturing into straight VA territory (something I’m still not great at doing). On the subject of Wessex as noted above, smokingpipes happens to have the good Wessex tins in stock right now at limited quantities. A tin each of Brown Virginia Flake, Gold Virginia Flake, and Red Virginia Flake would give you quite the range of flavors that Virginia’s have to offer.
Capstan Blue was the one that was my Virginia awaking.
As for straight red VA, I would recommend Watch City Simply Red when it's available.
I also really like Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake and Newminster 400, but some rule those out as they arguably have some additional top flavors.
I haven't tried as many as others but I'll second the Peterson Flake and state that Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia really made a wonderful impression on me as well.
I find Orlik Golden Sliced & 4th Generation 2012 to be nice as well.
I have definitely not enjoyed all Virginia's that I've tried.
I also worked that direction subsequent to my appreciation of same / similar English blends.
EDIT: SmokingPipes has Mac Baren tins on sale right now...
I find Orlik Golden Sliced & 4th Generation 2012 to be nice as well.
I have definitely not enjoyed all Virginia's that I've tried.
I also worked that direction subsequent to my appreciation of same / similar English blends.
EDIT: SmokingPipes has Mac Baren tins on sale right now...
Great advice on the sipping.. I’ve watched the breathe method videos from muttonchop piper and others and have been working on slowing things down. Also don’t want to rush in an buy a ton of tons off the bat. Trying to remember pipe smoking is about relaxing not racing!
Here are some solid VA's that are available in bulk. You can buy an oz to try and not have to commit to a whole tin.
Cornell and Diehl Yorktown (straight VA)
Sutliff 507c Virginia Slices (straight Virginia)
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake (Virginia Cavendish)
Newminster 400 Flake (Virginia perique barely. Very light perique)
Sutliff Match Victorian (Virginia Perique)
Cornell and Diehl Yorktown (straight VA)
Sutliff 507c Virginia Slices (straight Virginia)
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake (Virginia Cavendish)
Newminster 400 Flake (Virginia perique barely. Very light perique)
Sutliff Match Victorian (Virginia Perique)
Ignore the negative C&D comments, their Virginias are fine, Yorktown being a good example. Excluding a couple of their latakia offerings, all of Esotericas blends are aromatics and won't really give you what you're looking for. Newminster Superior Navy Flake, Sutliff Elizabethan/Victorian Match, Cornell and Diehl Orion's Arrow and Oriental Silk are great smokes.
Virginia is a great tobacco and a big part of every single batch I make. Often I don't mix anything at all and just smoke pure VA. However, as mtwaller already mentioned, it burns quite hot.
It contains a lot of sugar and has a natural waxy outer layer, it's gonna heat up and you will have to blow the heat out of the pipe quite often. The bellows smoking method suits it well.
Now I can't recommend any prepared tobacco, but see if you can get your hands on raw tobacco leaves.
VA bright, VA lemon, VA gold, VA orange, flue cured, sun cured, smoked and what not.
Probably the best thing about it is that you have total control over the preparation. You have total freedom.
And you get closer to your tobacco, closer to this whole beautiful process. And you learn a thing or two about a thing or two. This I can wholeheartedly recommend.
When it comes to tobacco there's a whole world out there to be tasted, with many aspects and facettes.
And just like this even a simple Virgina isn't all that simple anymore. But it's always a delight.
It contains a lot of sugar and has a natural waxy outer layer, it's gonna heat up and you will have to blow the heat out of the pipe quite often. The bellows smoking method suits it well.
Now I can't recommend any prepared tobacco, but see if you can get your hands on raw tobacco leaves.
VA bright, VA lemon, VA gold, VA orange, flue cured, sun cured, smoked and what not.
Probably the best thing about it is that you have total control over the preparation. You have total freedom.
And you get closer to your tobacco, closer to this whole beautiful process. And you learn a thing or two about a thing or two. This I can wholeheartedly recommend.
When it comes to tobacco there's a whole world out there to be tasted, with many aspects and facettes.
And just like this even a simple Virgina isn't all that simple anymore. But it's always a delight.
The Watch City Simply Red I smoked last night took me over 2 hours almost closer to 3 to finish. It was delicious. I can only add regardless of the Virginia you pick, go slow.
YMMV but I found at the beginning I was able to get more flavor out of VaPers, like Solani Virginia Flake, and Virginia-forward blends, like Solani Silver Flake and GLP Stonehenge, than out of straight Virginias, like Gawith Full Virginia Flake. Once I got the hang of those kinds of blends I was better able to enjoy the straight Virginias.
One of the biggest difficulties in developing a palette for virginias is the sheer variety of them. You can have two virginia-only tobaccos and they can still taste substantially different. That's not to say other tobacco families don't have variety, because they do, but there is a reason virginias manage to find their way in almost everything.
That being said, my advice is as follows:
1. I'll repeat what others have said about sipping. Straight virginias without some burley tend to burn hot if pushed hard. Practice your cadence.
2. You're six weeks into your pipe smoking journey, so if you haven't already, try some sampler packs. In my humble opinion, trying a little bit of everything first, and then developing a taste for particular blends/leaves is the way to go.
3. Finally, if you're looking for a good virginia-only blend, Royal Yacht has always done right by me. You may also want to consider virginia blends with perique added. If so, G.L. Pease's "Stratford" is a very underrated and well-balanced Va/Per that burns relatively coolly. It's a favorite all-day Va/Per of mine.
That being said, my advice is as follows:
1. I'll repeat what others have said about sipping. Straight virginias without some burley tend to burn hot if pushed hard. Practice your cadence.
2. You're six weeks into your pipe smoking journey, so if you haven't already, try some sampler packs. In my humble opinion, trying a little bit of everything first, and then developing a taste for particular blends/leaves is the way to go.
3. Finally, if you're looking for a good virginia-only blend, Royal Yacht has always done right by me. You may also want to consider virginia blends with perique added. If so, G.L. Pease's "Stratford" is a very underrated and well-balanced Va/Per that burns relatively coolly. It's a favorite all-day Va/Per of mine.
Yeah, that was my thought process when I started smoking - trying "pure" tobaccos to develop a taste for them and educate myself - so that I could pick out their influence later on in different blends. Did it with Oriental as well. In the course of exploring straight virginia and VaPers, I developed a taste for them. My recommendations? As many I think have already said, Capstan Blue, Orlik, maybe even some Opening Night. For a VaPer, you have to try Escudo, but I would suggest Solani Virginia Flake with Perique.
But I think even more than what tobacco, I would also consider thinking on what cut you're smoking. I tend to like Virginia in flake believing, and it seems to be true so far, that it smokes cooler in flake form, (usually folded and stuffed in my case).
