First-Year Pipe Smokers' Favorite Tobacco So Far

[cosgringo]

Just too many depending on mood. Though I am a returning pipe smoker from when I was 20. Did cigars for decades after the pipe fail. So 29 years later...
Wondering how long I can keep those few good cigars I have alive in the humidor.

Otherwise favorites based on what I have had:
Dorchester
Orlik
Quiet Nights

Aromatics- geesh dunno. Plenty of those I like. Super mild I guess I'd go with Molto Dolce- again mood...

 

[logs]

Tough to pick one, so I’ll pick one in each category.

VA: McClelland 40th Anniversary

Va/Per: Sutliff Match Victorian

Va/Bur: Esoterica Tilbury

Burley Based: MacBaren HH Burley Flake

English/Balkan: Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding

Rum/Navy: Dan Salty Dogs

You've been smoking a year and you're already into 40th Anniversary, Salty Dogs, and Tilbury?? Jesus, you don't mess around. I was smoking Captain Black from a tub for damn near a year before I ventured into deep water.

 

[alaskanpiper]

You've been smoking a year and you're already into 40th Anniversary, Salty Dogs, and Tilbury?? Jesus, you don't mess around. I was smoking Captain Black from a tub for damn near a year before I ventured into deep water.

I’m both a quick study and a voracious obsessor, haha.

 

[subsalac]

I probably don't count, since I'm only returning to piping after a hiatus of over a decade(a few years of head-first piping and tobacco hoarding in college). I loved Englishes like Nightcap, Penzance, Renaissance back then-- but now... I can't smoke latakia. And the virginia/vapers that wrecked my mouth back then and tasted like cigarettes, are now mindblowing and I've developed an insatiable appetite for them. My top 5 tobaccos after returning to piping last September and trying a bit under 2 dozen different samples are as follows, in order:

• 5) Luxury Bullseye Flake
• 4) Brown Clunee
• 3) Escudo
• 2) Scottish Cake
• 1) Hal of the Wynd
  
  

Fighting to take a top spot on this list is also Rimboche AP, but I will reserve judgement until I finish the tin. I'm trying to figure out if I like it even better than Escudo, which would say a lot. There are still many popular ones I haven't tried which are on high priority, like the Gawith Vapers(Cabbies/StJames), Solani big hitters like Aged Burley Flake and 633VaPer, and a few other odds and ends. This is the fun part for me... the trying, the sampling. It was the same back in college. I don't think I'm the sort of person who would enjoy smoking the same thing for years and years, for me it's the exploration and journey. I want the moments of sublime smoking to be just that-- moments. I want to remember that one bowl of Hal in the total silence of the night-- if I repeated this moment over and over, it just wouldn't be special and I'd get bored. I live for those sorts of ephemeral experiences of pipe smoking bliss.

 

[kschatey]

I started as a fresh pipe smoker late in 2019 and have enjoyed the following blends the most so far:

• Aromatic = Lane Limited BCA

Having now had several aromatics from Dan Tobacco and recently revisiting Lane Limited BCA, I no longer like it whatsoever. Devil's Holiday is a really fantastic aromatic that tastes much like it smells, if not better, and tastes authentic. The Lane Limited BCA is has strong flavor generates a large amount of smoke even when sipping slow, but it just doesn't taste real or good at all any more to me. I just want to dump it and get something else. This isn't to say that it's a bad blend or that other people shouldn't like it, but it does show how quickly tastes and preferences can change in this hobby!

 

[briarbuck]

Marlin Flake is in stock at SP for any nubies that have not had the opportunity to try.

 

[BasketCase]

- rattray old gowrie
- saint claude

 

[BasketCase]

Really want to try some semois but not sure where to get any in the UK! Any ideas??

 

[Casual]

It’s changed as my palate developed. For quite some time it was Presbyterian because I could taste the flavour, but it didn’t overpower. It also didn’t take any expertise to prepare.

Now that I’m getting into Burley, I might choose something like Toasted Burley. But with the burley, I had to navigate proper drying and slower smoking to have a good experience.

So I’d still say Presbyterian for an easy good experience with few skills and a new palate.

Couple of months farther on and it’s now Mac Baren Mixture: Scottish Blend. But I expect that to change too.

I’m really enjoying the palate changes, being able to return to blends I tried early on and like them more each time.

 

[PipesRock]

I didn't think I liked PS Luxury Bullseye Flake but then I picked up some 2+ year old jarred from a Forum member and man oh man. That stuff is so sweet and bready with the occasional pepper spice. That's my current #1. I really like PS Lux. Navy Flake, fresh or briefly aged, probably tied for 2nd with Escudo (but for the money Escudo must drop to 3rd). Then I mix it up with Boswell Northwoods, Sunset Harbor Flake, Balkan Supreme, and Maltese Falcon. I can't really mark those 4th or lower because it's more a mood thing I guess for the Balkan or English blends. Ughh I forgot to mention several others like Old Dark Fired (fresh or aged, I can't really detect much difference but love it), Meridian, Quiet Nights... and I haven't even got into HU blends, SG Full Virginia, Navy Flake, or Skiff Mixture yet. So many to try, too many open jars and tins... Edit-add: So like many others I'm all over the palate board and who knows what I'll prefer by summer. I'm enjoying reading others' experiences here too.

 

[kschatey]

I didn't think I liked PS Luxury Bullseye Flake but then I picked up some 2+ year old jarred from a Forum member and man oh man. That stuff is so sweet and bready with the occasional pepper spice. That's my current #1. I really like PS Lux. Navy Flake, fresh or briefly aged, probably tied for 2nd with Escudo (but for the money Escudo must drop to 3rd). Then I mix it up with Boswell Northwoods, Sunset Harbor Flake, Balkan Supreme, and Maltese Falcon. I can't really mark those 4th or lower because it's more a mood thing I guess for the Balkan or English blends. Ughh I forgot to mention several others like Old Dark Fired (fresh or aged, I can't really detect much difference but love it), Meridian, Quiet Nights... and I haven't even got into HU blends, SG Full Virginia, Navy Flake, or Skiff Mixture yet. So many to try, too many open jars and tins... Edit-add: So like many others I'm all over the palate board and who knows what I'll prefer by summer. I'm enjoying reading others' experiences here too.

I haven't yet had the opportunity to try any truly aged straight Virginia or aged Virginia blends, so those are still foreign to me. I'm cellar beer and am sure that tobacco slowly oxidizes and becomes damn good in a similar way, but will likely need to wait for something to age since I am still only a little over six months into this hobby.

There are definitely lots of blends that I like quite a bit, but I have generally found two paths depending on my mood with the first one generally taking precedence:

1. Oriental-forward blends - Arango Balkan Supreme set me on this path and I love it!
2. "Whacky" aromatic blends - Not really sure how to exactly qualify this as I definitely don't like all aromatics; I favor English Aromatics (specifically GH&Co Bob's Chocolate Flake and Two Friends English Chocolate) and aromatics that are strongly flavored (i.e., actually taste like they smell) and don't taste artificial (specifically Dan Tobacco Devil's Holiday; I am hoping that the tins of Dan Blue Note, Dan Sweet Vanilla Honeydew, and Rattray's Exotic Passion that are on the way fit in this catagory as well)

I do also really enjoy all of the Mac Baren HH blends that I have tried with ODF being the top there, but it's a bit too strong for me and so I don't own any. I'm hoping that the Orlick Strong Dark Kentucky that I do have tastes as good as it smells though since I would say that these types of blends are the occasional derivations to the paths I have listed above. I can see Virginias replacing my #2 path, but so far I've only had "young" blends. I have liked them, but would like more depth of flavor that aged ones likely have and I hope to experience some day.

 

[TinCup]

Due to the difficulty is sourcing pipe tobacco (living in a country that doesn’t sell it) I’ve a very limited range to choose from in my time smoking a pipe, with that consideration the two stand outs have been:

Davidoff Scottish Mix
Peterson Connemara Black

I know I’ll buy these in quantity when I get back to the Uk

I'd like to just settle on smoking 2 or 3 tobaccos rather than having dozens to choose from but already I see the draw in trying new ones



edit: no clue if its worth a thread but my least favourite has been............. Squadron Leader
(subsequent bowls have been a bit better than the first so it may grow on me over time but it definitely wasn't love at first sight)