Five Tobacco Recommendations for Beginners

[Perique]

I've seen several threads recently from young guys just taking up the pipe, which is great. So if you could recommend five tobaccos for a young pipe man on a budget, what would they be? Remember, not your favorit tobaccos necessarily, but what five would be best for a new smoker starting out. I just started thinking about this and am not sure myself. Will have to give it more thought and list my own recommendations. But what are yours?

 

[doctorthoss]

One question: Is the newbie in question a cigarette or cigar smoker?

 

[weezell]

1Q,Carter Hall,PS LNF,Dunhill NightCap,and Newminster Superior Round Slices...

 

[sasquatch]

I'm going to do something batty and suggest that a newbie start out with a tobacco that rewards good behavior and punishes bad - Mac Baren Mixture. This stuff is so good if you smoke it slow and so bitey if you don't that it sort of enforces good technique. Put another way, once I "figured out" Mixture, I took the technique to other tobaccos and they all tasted better.
You can incinerate Carter Hall at any temperature and get smoke, but to ENJOY it... takes better technique.

 

[sparroa]

Orlik Golden Sliced

-Inexpensive; light and citrusy VA; slight sweetness; clean tasting; easy burning; easily available; gets a little warm but not too bad - good blend to teach one how to regulate their smoking speed for full enjoyment.
Escudo

-Fairly priced; sweet and spicy VA with perique; top of its class yet easily available; rich, fruity, musty.
Wessex Burley Slice

-Fairly priced; deep dark straight burley goodness, yet moderate in strength; easy burning.
Erinmore Flake

-Inexpensive; light fruity topping with a pleasant aroma; moreish taste with a lot of tobacco character; easy burning; cool smoking; another good blend to teach one how to slow down to zone in on and savour the added flavours; easily available.
Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme

-Cheap; easily available in bulk; not the last word on latakia by any means, but exhibits all the characteristics of latakia in an affordable yet quality blend. Back when I was into Balkans, this impressed me more than many tinned tobaccos that I tried.
As you can see, I recommend 4/5 flakes.
Flakes are not hard for a beginner with access to the internet.
Anyway, most of my recommendations are pretty affordable, easily available, and yet top notch.
You won't find any overhyped or dripping wet tobaccos here...
I did not recommend any American style aromatics because I don't think they offer much to the new pipe smoker besides frustration, tongue bite, and literally a bad taste in their mouths.
They are better left to someone who has the basics down pat...

 

[batdemon]

+1 Sasquatch

 

[brassonly]

Being a new Pipe smoker myself ( about 8 months) let me give you my experience so far with finding my top 5 tobaccos. I know 8 months isn't much time but its been a great ride so far and I'm really enjoying it . There are still so many tobaccos I haven't even smelled yet lol but I'm sure loving the many different varieties available out there. I never knew that the choices of tobacco were so many, its always a joy to read up about new blends & give them a try. Right now my top five tobaccos would be : 1 - Lane's, 1Q

2 - Sutliff Private Stock Blend, Molto Dolce

3 - Peterson , Connoisseurs Choice

4 - MacBaren , Original Choice

5 - McClelland Club Blend, Vanilla Ice

 

[dragonslayer]

+1 simenon and Sasquatch

 

[durham270]

I am fairly new to pipe smoking and also on a budget. I started with some aromatics and added Vapers to my rotation. Being on a budget I'd suggest Peter Stokkebye for high quality bulk blends at affordable prices as well as Lane Limited if you search the internet for the lowest cost in online retailers. Here is my suggestion for a new pipe smoker's rotation.
1 - Stokkebye Golden Dansk

2 - Lane RLP-6

3 - Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake

4 - Lane 1Q

5 - Stokkebye Navy Flake
I have never received tongue bite from the three aromatics I've listed. All are easily available in bulk quantities. Buying Bulk seems like a good bang for the buck! With my personal limited amount of pipe smoking experience I have not yet acquired the taste for English blends which contain Latakia. Virginia/Perique blends are my personal favorites.

 

[plet]

Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake

GH's Bobs Chocolate Flake

Petersons Connoisseur's Choice

Dunhills Early Morning Pipe

SG's Skiff Mixture
I started my pipe smoking career with flakes, and I say go for it! ::

 

[judcole]

I like Sasquatch's suggestion. Mixture also has the advantage of being easy to find, and a good quality tobacco.
Also worth noting is what their previous smoking background - if any - is, as doctorthoss suggested.
I wouldn't advise Dunhill, myself, simply because the OP said "young pipe man on a budget". (The same would go for a lot of other tinned blends.)
Otherwise, it's been too long since I was "young pipe man on a budget". Some of the blends that I enjoyed then, that were easy to find and inexpensive, are very hard to find these days.

 

[Perique]

Doctorhoss and Jud, yes it would definitely make a difference what their smoking background is - whether they smoked (or currently smoke) cigarettes, nicotine tolerance, etc. Almost worth making two lists. I didn't factor in cigar smoking experience because I figured it would be rare that someone in their late-teens / early twenties would have much cigar smoking experience, but they could have been smoking cigarettes for years.

 

[thesmokindragon]

I would suggest to get a full range of all high-quality bacci blends;
for a cigar smoker perhaps:

1. Dunhill EMP (can now get in bulk)

2. Dunhill Nightcap

3. Escudo

4. OGS

5. SG's 1792
for non-cigar smoker perhaps;

1. Dunhill EMP

2. Escudo

3. OGS

4. Dunhill Flake

5. MC's Froggy blends

 

[05venturer]

my novice list would be
1) Lane RLP-6

2) Carter Hall

3) Black House

4) Hobbits Weed

5) Altadis "Midnight Smoke"
All are very different so the beginner could get a little taste of different things right away.

 

[Perique]

Ok here goes. Question proved more difficult than I thought. It's always tough to nail down five tobaccos. We truly live in the golden age of pipe tobacco!
Cig Smoker:
Haddo's Delight - yes, it's strong. But the nicotine shouldn't be a problem for the cigarette smoker. Really demonstrates what pipe tobacco is capable of delivering on all fronts: flavor, complexity, aroma, tin note, nicotine. 
Angler's Dream - Inexpensive, satisfying for the burley smoker, absent the heavy chemicals and preservatives of OTCs. 
Irish Oak - delivers the smooth, light VaPer + natural cavendish of LBF but without having to deal with the flake medallion. Just one less thing for the nicotine-addicted beginner to learn  or fiddle with on the way to enjoying his or her tobacco. 
Frog Morton - seems to be the universal English recommendation for new smokers. 
Dunhill Royal Yacht - great demonstration of how straight Virginias can taste. 
Non-cig Smoker:
LBF - inverse to my Irish Oak recommendation above, thought being that non-cig smokers may be initially more attracted to the pipe as a hobbiest and would enjoy fiddling with the medallion. 
Erinmore Flake - unique topping, non-goopy. 
Frog Morton - same as above 
Dunhill EMP - light intro to VA/Oriental blend, good contrast with FM to determine Latakia preference. 
OGS - Good VA intro, mild topping, inexpensive. Cool presentation in 100g tin.  

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Aromatic- Lane Limited 1Q
English- Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe or Frog Morton
Virginia- Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake or Dunhill Flake
Burley- Mac Baren's Burley London Blend
Perique- Robert McConnell's Scottish Cake or McClelland's Frog Morton on the Bayou

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Aromatic- Lane Limited 1Q
English- Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe or Frog Morton
Virginia- Samuel Gawith's Full Virginia Flake or Dunhill Flake
Burley- Mac Baren's Burley London Blend
Perique- Robert McConnell's Scottish Cake or McClelland's Frog Morton on the Bayou

 

[mso489]

Dunhill Mixture 965; Altadis B-27 Black and Golden Cavendish; McClelland Red Virginia Cake; Lane Burley Without Bite; and Orlik Golden Slice.
Five Brothers is another option.

 

[captainbob]

I recommend my Captain Bob's Blend. It is a Light English Aromatic (containing 1/16th Latakia). It is a Light English Latakia and you may enjoy it. You can order it from Pipesandcigars.com at this location:
http://pipesandcigars.com/coditincabob.html
Send me a PM if you have any specific questions.

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[chops]

These are great suggestions. I will have to try some, especially the flakes. I am very new to those.