Have all of you (or almost all) started on cheap aros?

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techie

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2018
589
10
I began the pipe last July and my first bowl was Gawith Hoggarth Scotch Mixture, followed by H&H White Knight. My first aro was Mac Baren Original Choice. At first, I didn't like it, but after sitting in a jar a few months I liked it a lot, and still do.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Tinder Box bulk, probably 1Q renamed and other standards, not especially cheap. However, along the way, I've smoked some inexpensive over-the-counter brands, and some were/are pretty good. Price is not a categorical gauge of pleasing taste. Some of the least good experiences have been with premium blends I just didn't like.

 

bnichols23

Lifer
Mar 13, 2018
4,131
9,554
SC Piedmont
Waaaaaay back 1000 years ago in '69 I started on Kentucky Club's Greenbrier (a blend thankfully long since kaput) & another long gone blend by Peter Stokkebye called Marrakesh. I liked the taste of both, but Greenbrier bit my tongue like the hubs of hell (the other wasn't anywhere near that bad).
Between Greenbrier & Middleton's cherry, it's a minor wonder of the world that I'm still smoking! A good tobacconist & couple of decent blends from Tinder Box saved me!
Bill

 

sittingbear

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 20, 2015
661
3,128
Olympia, WA
I started with Cherry Cavendish, first Borkum Riff because it was produced the town where I went to school in Sweden, then whatever they sold at the news stand in my college town in Colorado. I haven't touched the stuff in years.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
My first blend was Mac Baren's Mixture Scottish Blend. I consider it an OTC, because where I live it's the only blend available in shops. But it's a decent blend and I smoke it occasionally. I haven't tried any of the cheap aro's, you guys talk about.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,249
108,351
I haven't tried any of the cheap aro's, you guys talk about.
It's a misnomer some like to throw around. A 12 ounce container of SWRA costs more than a pound of many boutique blends.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Where I buy there is little difference in prices. Most blends cost the same, and a few are a little cheaper. Among the cheaper blends are the Capstan blends, St Bruno, most of Mac Baren's, Amphora and a few others. So it's got nothing to do with quality.

 

tavol

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 23, 2018
175
172
I drove around an hour to my closest big B&M and bought a tin of Dunhill Early morning Pipe, SG Balkan flake and SG Skiff mixture. I opened them all on the way home and had a bowl of EMP, that was my first experience of pipe tobacco.
I've smoked a handful of lakeland blends but I've never smoked a full on aromatic

 

5star

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 17, 2017
727
2,018
PacNW USA
My first was CH in a MM cob. After that, I tried various 1 oz samples of re-named blends that I purchased in a local tobacco shop. Many of those samples were aros, and I didn't care for most of them. I do like SWRA. And a friend gave me some Boswell's Bear Blend, which I like.

 
I started with pipe tobacco which was being marketed to the RYO folks. I preferred the Turkish blends. But, then I switched to Captain Black, and a few other OTCs... but yeh, what does it matter what tobacco you start out with, because you aren't going to have the trained tastebuds nor experience to taste anything.
Its hard for many to look back on those first few smokes and remember what it was like, but most of us had to develop our palate.

 

mrmachado

Can't Leave
Oct 17, 2018
480
53
Brazil
because you aren't going to have the trained tastebuds nor experience to taste anything.
Yes, I agree that me and beginners can't really differentiate flavors overall, but some things just taste plain bad or outright awful... I can also most of the times say what is bland, strong, harsh, sweet... Things that most people can perceive right away, I think.

 

newdave61

Lurker
Aug 31, 2018
18
13
As stated above, it takes time>
I've smoked a pipe off and on for almost 10 years (mostly off). Cigars were easy and I never quite got the hang of a pipe. It always seemed pointless to me and I smoked mainly for the room smell. I simply put up with the harsh taste.
About a year ago I picked up the pipe in earnest and started reading all I could about the hobby. After this first year, I am just now starting to pick out the individual tastes of the different blends. I can testify - it doesn't matter much what you smoke at the beginning, just practice proper technique and the flavor will come.

 

mrmachado

Can't Leave
Oct 17, 2018
480
53
Brazil
I can testify - it doesn't matter much what you smoke at the beginning, just practice proper technique and the flavor will come.
After how much time would you say that the flavors started to appear more clearly?

 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
It varies. It probably took me a couple of months till I could detect a nutty flavour in 1-Q. That was from a bowl filled with the original batch that was my first pipe toby purchase; I've never bought 1-Q again.
For an English, the flavour mighta come sooner, but at the time I was still undecided about whether the flavour was latakia or the wet rag flavour of a pipe gone out.

 
Jan 8, 2013
7,493
733
My first pipe tobacco was either Super Value Buttered Rum or Captain Black (white). I'm not absolutely sure which pouch came first. But those two were the first blends I had ever tried. Obviously I liked them both enough to continue smoking a pipe.

 

newdave61

Lurker
Aug 31, 2018
18
13
After how much time would you say that the flavors started to appear more clearly?

I am only now starting to discern the different flavors to a satisfactory extent. I started noticing them gradually. I would have the occasional bowl that tasted great the whole way through, others that started fine then petered out, and others that were just terrible from start to finish.
The hardest part for me in getting to this point was slowing down. My cigar habits held me back, as I was trying to get a larger volume of smoke than is prudent. When I changed to a slower cadence and practiced the "Breathe" method things started improving for me.

 

foursidedtriangle

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 22, 2018
293
70
Bourkum Riff cherry cavendish and my second was frog mortons cellar. I enjoyed the latter a bit more, but not a whole lot more.

 
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