I thought I'd start a topic so beginners have a place to come, share something they've discovered on their own, and go over it with themselves and maybe pros looking to help. The fun thing, I think, is letting the beginners announce the gosh-wow stuff they've found through experience, without anyone giving them static.
I'll lead off with my adventure so far. Before I even got used to smoking a pipe, I tried to make a blend of OTCs that replicated my Grandpa's mix but more intense. He used to mix Half and Half with a cherry brand, I forget which. It wasn't cloying, though. It made the room smell like a fireplace of cherry wood. (I barbecue with it. It's my favorite wood for poultry. This is a good time for chicken--it's cheap. A poultry sum.) The blend I came up with, I thought, was very good for OTCs, even though I'd never had an actual tinned blend. A friend put his nose into the jar and declared he smelled cherry, but mostly chocolate! The flavor and room note of it is wonderful to me, even now.
Then I went to the local Notre Dame "Smoke Time" shop, which carries *some* cigars and *some* tobacco, but which is mostly a head shop. I went there to return a crunchy cigar from them. While I was there, I found some Dunhill, so was really intrigued. Spending way too much per tin, I came home with some Dunhill Standard Mixture, seeming like a fair blend to start on. Dunhill had its fans here and elsewhere, so it was probably pretty good. And I was expecting it to be fresher, like coffee from a roaster rather than from Folger's. (And now I discover how they get that much tobacco in such a small container. Compression, me lads.)
EYES WIDE OPEN. That stuff knocked me out (once I got the tin opened). The scent was explosive. The light was, in respect to everything I'd already had, pungent. Now I start off and end my day with Grainger, maybe take a pipe of Dunhill late at night, and fill in the middle with the various OTCs I still have. That Dunhill, the first premium tobacco I've ever tried, is saved for the midnight snack when you want something tastier. And that, kids, is what we learned today.
I'll lead off with my adventure so far. Before I even got used to smoking a pipe, I tried to make a blend of OTCs that replicated my Grandpa's mix but more intense. He used to mix Half and Half with a cherry brand, I forget which. It wasn't cloying, though. It made the room smell like a fireplace of cherry wood. (I barbecue with it. It's my favorite wood for poultry. This is a good time for chicken--it's cheap. A poultry sum.) The blend I came up with, I thought, was very good for OTCs, even though I'd never had an actual tinned blend. A friend put his nose into the jar and declared he smelled cherry, but mostly chocolate! The flavor and room note of it is wonderful to me, even now.
Then I went to the local Notre Dame "Smoke Time" shop, which carries *some* cigars and *some* tobacco, but which is mostly a head shop. I went there to return a crunchy cigar from them. While I was there, I found some Dunhill, so was really intrigued. Spending way too much per tin, I came home with some Dunhill Standard Mixture, seeming like a fair blend to start on. Dunhill had its fans here and elsewhere, so it was probably pretty good. And I was expecting it to be fresher, like coffee from a roaster rather than from Folger's. (And now I discover how they get that much tobacco in such a small container. Compression, me lads.)
EYES WIDE OPEN. That stuff knocked me out (once I got the tin opened). The scent was explosive. The light was, in respect to everything I'd already had, pungent. Now I start off and end my day with Grainger, maybe take a pipe of Dunhill late at night, and fill in the middle with the various OTCs I still have. That Dunhill, the first premium tobacco I've ever tried, is saved for the midnight snack when you want something tastier. And that, kids, is what we learned today.
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