Have You Found "Your Blend"?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Glad to see that you are finding your way through the considerable ammount of available tobaccos out there. I'm sure that you are getting to know a few blends very well. It is also very important to establish what you don't like, be it a genre or brand of tobacco. I am unable to tolerate Burley in any quantity as it is somewhat caustic to my mouth. I have learnt to avoid it as it can seriously spoil my enjoyment of this hobby. Its a shame as I like the taste but it doesn't like me. Good luck on your journey and enjoy what you like, not just what others recommend.

There certainly is an overwhelming amount of options to choose from in the pipe tobacco world, but I think I'm starting to get a good handle on what I like and don't like. My most enjoyed blends tend to be drier tobacco-forward aromatics like Cornell & Diehl and Mac Baren's aromatic offerings, but I still enjoy VaPers, VaBurs, and English blends now and then too.

As far as what I don't like goes, I just don't seem to have the right taste buds for non-aromatic Burley forward blends like Haunted Bookshop or Old Joe Krantz; they just taste like the way a barnyard smells to me.

The only tobaccos I've found that really don't work with my mouth chemistry are bright Virginias, which is a shame because I do enjoy the that bright grassy flavor, but they bite me like the devil everytime I smoke them. I've found that I can reduce the bite a fair bit my smoking them extra slowly in a long stemmed churchwarden or choosing a blend that has Burley or Cavendish mixed in with the bright Virginias to tone them down a little, but I'll still have a slightly sore tongue everytime after smoking them.

Thankfully there still hundreds of other blends to choose from that aren't bright Virginia focused, though I still need to get brave and plunk down the money for tins of Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia and Capstan Blue at some point just for the sake of trying them. I am making it a point to try all the really iconic blends in the hobby, so I'll have to give a couple pure Virginia flakes a go eventually.

 

[shanez]

Yes I have found my blend. All 50 of them.

 

[LeafErikson]

The two I smoke the most above all else are Pegasus and Swr. If I absolutely had to choose just one it would probably be Pegasus. I prefer to keep my pipe smoking simple. Not really too interested in trying too many new blends at this point. I only smoked one brand of cigarettes for years so it’s not surprising I’ve kind’ve found my blends and stuck to what I like.

 

[rmpeeps]

Yep. Several of them.

 

[bullet08]

No. I haven't seen a blend called "bullet08's blend" yet.

 

[Pipingntrucking]

Kind of in your same boat. However right now I am enjoying P&C's Best of the Rest

Best of the Rest Pipe Tobacco - PIPES and CIGARS

Find Best of the Rest Pipe Tobacco Packaged Pipe Tobaccos at the lowest prices here at PIPES and CIGARS!

www.pipesandcigars.com

Aro version. It is a different experience of taste each time but has yet to disappoint. I've got plenty for now but contemplating grabbing another pound. Other than that Capt. Black always seems to find its place on my shelf. With fall coming in going to have to get me a good stock of Wilkes Vermont Maple that was recommended from here and is my absolute favorite for a Maple blend. Though C&D Black Gold Maple is coming in close second. MacBArens Vanilla Cream is always close at hand also.

edit: also if your bit in your pipe has a small bend, for the ones that bite, I will rotate the bend of the bit upwards almost like a P-lip effect to keep the smoke from directly attacking my tongue directly.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I have 2 or 3 blends that if every other blend disappeared, I'd be content to smoke forever, but I do like switching it up, which is odd because as a cigarette smoker I smoke one type of cigarette and when I was in bars 8 nights a week, I basically only drank one kind of beer.

I’m really enjoying pipe, because it’s not my primary nicotine delivery system.
I switched from cigs to an electronic air freshener for that a few years ago-and for that platform I did find a “sauce” that both the wife and I “smoke” all day every day and have for a couple/few years now.
As a recovered alcoholic/addict for going on three decades, I fully get the “same cig/beer/coffee” all day every day mentality, and I thought I wanted that for a pipe at first, but quickly realized that that is not what I want out of piping. I actually enjoy the dabbling in different blends, styles, pipes, etc for the wide variety. There’s always something new to geek out on.

 

[tobakenist]

After over 50 years of smoking a pipe I still have favourites, mainly English and Balkans and Lakelands, some of my old favourites are long and gone but living in England I feel lucky that we still have a great choice and great online vendors who look after us in the UK, I gather from this Forum that those of you in the USA also have a great choice, considering that we have a dying hobby we do very well.

 

[judcole]

I smoke lots of blends at different times and in different moods. I don't want one.

 

[hikeoflife]

I absolutely love variety and with my personality I would get bored with just one. I have around 80 jars and it grows a little every month. Probably turning into a hoarder.

 

[ClenchedBilliard]

I've found it, though I enjoy the eternal search to find it's better. Its not even so much a single blend that I zero in on as it is a particular flavor profile. My enjoyment comes from finding new and interesting blends that hit closer and closer to that ideal profile for me.

 

[solideogloria86]

I have many blends that I could be satisfied smoking all day every day. I would still miss the variety, but it wouldn't kill me. None of these are just meh, or middle of the road though. They're all excellent and I thoroughly enjoy them. I have not found a particular blend that is so good that it's made me decide that's all I'll ever want and never need another. I haven't really found a snack, or dessert that checks that box either. Tobacco for me is an indulgence in flavor, and variety keeps it interesting.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

I get the OP's position with chasing the dragon due to have a standard with other vices.

With cigarettes, my poison was Marlboro Menthol. With RYO, it was Ohm Menthol in Zen tubes. "Cigarillo" was Black and Mild original with plastic tips. "Cigars" was Swisher Sweets Kings. And yes, I'm cheap and frugal, yet I own my own hypocrisy and buy dumb stuff at times.

I'm a creature of habit (and see patterns) and enjoy routines enough that I get brood if something is "off" (but am not extremely OCD and function just fine ... well, most of the time).

However, it's different with pipe tobacco. Different blends speak to me at times. And it changes based on mood, stress level, diet, and probably the moon cycle. While a vanilla aromatic is usually the first blend with coffee, sometimes I want some stout blend or the kiss of Latakia to punch me in the face at times.

Yes, I have favorites. But they tend to change at times. I serve many masters (while running on caffeine, nicotine, and hatred with a splash of alcohol) but regularly return to a few "standards".

Betrayal? Not so much. Lady Nicotine is not like a wife or a girlfriend, but more of a mistress to an addiction or friend with benefits. There is no inherent harm in chasing the dragon with pipe tobacco. Just know where you're going and remember where you came from since it's good to go back home if just for a moment.

 

[Sinzalot]

Yep, it's now discontinued but I've got a good deep cellar full of ageing tins and plenty of other my other favourites to enjoy in between.

 

[KingcobraJFS]

I could probably narrow my cellar down to two or three picks if I had too, but not just one.

 

[Paul 3.0]

2 actually, first was Presbyterian, next up was GL Pease Meridian (which I am still shocked its not more popular)

 

[gamzultovah]

Have I found my Arcadia? Yes.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Every once in a blue moon, I think how convenient it would be to only have one blend on hand, smoked in any of my pipes. But the sticking point is always: what blend would that be?

Sometimes I want a rich and smoky English/Balkan flavor bomb, other times a simple sweet Virginia is more my speed. And sometimes, a weird (perhaps even blasphemous) aromatic is perfect to break up the monotony.

At one time, I thought Revelation (or a clone of it) could be my one blend, giving those Virginia notes, with hints of Latakia and other goodies. I could just smoke it and focus on whatever part I was digging at the moment. But I was always ready for other things by the time the tin was gone.

Whenever I smoke St Bruno, I see how it can be the only (or at least primary) blend for people: nice Virginia base, plus dark-fired and a topping to give it depth and make it more interesting.

I’ve “auditioned” a few light English blends (Presbyterian Mixture and Early Morning Pipe) to see if they might fit that niche, but they’ve just slotted into the rotation. So, long story short (“too late!”), I don’t see myself ever going down to one blend. No matter how much a new blend might wow me, it just can’t do everything.

 

[Grangerous]

Granger from the first. Pegasus another and I’m home. I also really enjoy Crooner, OJK Blue and Burley Flake #2 and others. But most often it’s Granger or Pegasus I choose.

 

[Pipewizard420]

Too much variety out there to stick to 1 blend (same goes for shaving soap) and enjoy trying as many as possible and acknowledging the subtle (or sometimes durastic) differences of products. However, back in the day most people would stick to 1 or 2 blends based on what was available at the local tobaconist.