Greetings from sunny South Wales (UK)

[Maedhros]

Hello all,

I'm a "returning" pipe smoker, in the sense that I have previously ebbed in and out of smoking a pipe.

My initial first experience was whilst working in the Merchant Navy and involved Marseille, a french pearwood apple shaped pipe and amphora. Delightful! Amphora became a mainstay (both versions) and i smoked that pearwood until the bowl eventually broke at the stem joint from a clumsy drop (i even smoked it after with some ugly repairs).

Those days are 7 years behind me now, and i have since had the pleasure of smoking a number of blends such as Frogmorton, C&D's Autumn Evening, St Brunos Flake, 1Q, EMP and nightcap.

I've just purchased a 5th Ave. Cob (Diplomat) and an old dominion Laughing King (Bamboo stem), and i'm looking forward to trying some tobacco blends with a fresh perspective. (I'm also hunting for a nice estate pipe on eBay).

I never really got to the bottom of what made me tick in terms of tobacco, but my favourites were EMP,C&D's Autumn Evening and Frogmorton; so i'm on a journey of sorts to figure out what i really like in a tobacco. Nightcap at times but other times it felt a little strong.

Does anyone have any reccomendations for blends to try? (Some are hard to get in the UK but we have plenty of S.G and G.H blends here amongst a few others.)

I'm thinking of purchasing some Errinmore Flake, Grasmere, Capstan Blue (to explore virginias) and Condor.

Also if any UK members have any advice on importing US blends to the UK in a convenient way would you be happy to suggest retailers? I've used 4noggins in the past, delivery times are long and i'm not sure how customs etc has changed since i was last smoking.

Cheers all and pleasure to be here! Happy piping!

 

[WVOldFart]

Hello and welcome from West Virginia, USA. I am more of a burley smoker so I am not the one to ask about virginias. I can recommend H & H Burley Flake and some of the Sutliff Match blends such as Flying Dutchman, Field and Stream, Revelation and V.I.P. Enjoy the adventure.

 

[samb]

Welcome from another new member

 

[BingBong]

Hello from London UK.

Sadly, I've not seen Mac Baren HH blends here in months, the country is empty of them.

The Capstan Blue we get here is pouched ribbon cut, no flake in a tin - like Three Nuns, ribbon in a pouch, no coins in a tin. I feel somewhat robbed by this state of affairs.

Try a bit of SG Skiff Mixture, that's an Oriental-forward English. I like lots of the SG blends.

Online, My Smoking Shop of Preston and Smoke King of Yorkshire carry more stock than you can shake a stick at. MSS for Orlik Golden Sliced and the Vintage version, if you ever feel tempted by them.

 

[Flatfish]

Welcome from Costa Del Ceredigion.

 

[FurCoat]

Welcome from North Carolina

 

[RPK]

Welcome from New Jersey, USA.

 

[tobakenist]

Hi and welcome from Northamptonshire England, we have great online tobacconists in this country and great tobacco blenders in Kendal Cumbria, have fun searching.

 

[Speak Easy]

Greetings from Oklahoma. Welcome to the forum!

 

[/Adam\]

Welcome to the club my friend. I’m pretty new to all this but one of the blends I’ve been lucky enough to try so far is Erinmore Flake. I still have 2 or 3 flakes left and can say it’s really tasty. I get a raisiny, plumb, and fresh baked bread flavors. I highly reccomend it.

You asked about shipping from the US. A lot of the guys here know about a place named JM Boswell’s. It’s close to me and is known worldwide for JM’s handmade pipes and some of his custom blends are also world renowned. They’re also known for their top notch customer service and if it’s something they can help with will go out of their way to do so. You might want to try them. Maybe call and try to talk to someone. It’s a family owned business and I believe everyone working there is a member of the family. I’m positive that they’d be happy to earn another customer from over seas. Super friendly good people. His blend called North Woods is what a lot of people buy as a match for Frog Morton. They also carry a pretty decent selection of the more popular and a few harder to find tinned tobaccos. Anyway happy to meet you good sir.

Discover Handcrafted Pipes & Fine Tobacco | Boswell Pipes - https://boswellpipes.com/

 

[emac.917]

Hello from Manila!

 

[kcghost]

Welcome to the forum from Kansas in the USA!!

 

[Maedhros]

Such warm welcomes from everyone! My kindest thanks, its like walking into a room filled with friendly faces (all adorned with a pipe!)

 

[PaulRVA]

Rattray's Old Gowrie, Capstan Blue,
St Bruno may be worth visiting.

Welcome from Virginia US

 

[Maedhros]

As an open question to all who've commented, would anyone recommend an acrylic stem for my new cob? Will it make a big difference if I smoke the stock bit until I purchase an acrylic one? Is it really that step up?

 

[Roach1]

Welcome from Southwest Germany.

 

[Maedhros]

Fantastic welcomes.

 

[Maedhros]

Here's home:
https://flic.kr/p/fvit76 Image Credit: (Phil Fitzsimmons)

 

[Flatfish]

Here's home:
https://flic.kr/p/fvit76 Image Credit: (Phil Fitzsimmons)

Burry Port

 

[Joe H]

Welcome to an addictive but extremely friendly web site.