Hello from Florida

[ekert]

Hi I'm Ekert, an avid cigar smoker in South Florida and have enjoyed pipes in the past but am now getting into the hobby more seriously. Have lurked for a while and look forward to learning more

 

[saltedplug]

Welcome! Good place to learn. I learned faster by asking questions.

 

[cigrmaster]

Hey ekert, long time no see. I have know ekert for years and he is a real good guy. Craney is also on the site and goes by the handle hoosierpipeguy. How you been buddy? I have been strictly pipes for years and am loving it. What kind of tobacco have you been smoking? What kind of pipes are you into?
I have been spending Craney's money like my own and his cellar is beginning to take shape. Now I have someone else's money I can spend. :mrgreen:

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I knew this place was way less than exclusive when they allowed me to join. I had no idea though the bar was set this low. LOL welcome Eckert, you need to start buying pipes and tobacco now while Harris is kind of in recess.

 

[cigrmaster]

Kind of in recess? I have been balls deep in TAD and PAD this month. When my last 2 new pipes get here I am done buying pipes for at least a couple of months. I gotta finish the last couple of things for the cellar.

 

[brassmonkey]

Welcome to the forum

 

[tslex]

Welcome, ekert.
I'm in SoFla as well -- live in Cutler Bay; work in Coral Gables.
Nothing to speak of for B&M stores down here, with just a few exceptions -- great cigar shops, as you know. Maybe some of the best in country. But for pipes, not so much.
But welcome.
Tagging this thread to follow.

 

[plugugly]

This is a great forum ekert and welcome aboard. I'm stuck in the swampy mud of S.W. Florida and with the nearest B&M up in Sarasota and without a local store owner to ask; this forum is a treasure with a wealth of information from guys who really know their stuff.
Plugugly

 

[puffy]

Welcome Aboard

 

[jaytex1969]

Hello, Eckert.
I was stationed in Fort Stewart, GA for 7 years.
We'd go to party in Florida a few times a year.
I was on the verge of moving to Kissimmee/St. Cloud to become a beach bum. Then I came to my senses...
Well, beach bumming sounds fun, but you can't have a tobacco cellar if you dn't have a residence.

 

[dottiewarden]

Welcome aboard. Good to see your well connected around here.

 

[tobaccojoe]

Hey, welcome to the forums, ekert!

 

[ekert]

Hey all thanks for the warm wishes. Harris great to hear from you bud, I owe you a call... do you still have the same cell number 941-***-**84? Mark hope you're less grumpy here than CF, lol. TAD has hit hard, around 200 tins and 10 pounds of bulk ordered in the last two weeks. I mostly like Virginias and unfortunately found out about McClelland closing down after the fact when all online vendors were already sold out so am stuck acquiring from the secondary market. Love that ketchup aroma and based on Craney's recommendation am trying out some VaPers, and 3 Olives recommended I stock up on Dunhill Dark Flake so 35 tins are en route. If I hate it I'll use it as trade bait for McCs.

 

[ekert]

And tslex I've been to a LOT of cigar stores (in all 50 states and countless countries spanning 5 continents). There are a lot of stores in SoFla but IMHO not many good ones. Abe at Smoke Inn is a friend and solid gold, but aside from his stores Sabor Havana and a couple in Boca are the only decent ones I've been to in the last few years. For pipe tobacco the 85% OTP tax doesn't help and what really sucks is many online vendors such as Payless and Lil' Brown are collecting the FL tax.

 

[mso489]

ekert,welcome aboard. I don't know how it holds up in the Florida tax situation, but pipe smoking is a significant savings over cigars, unless of course you go hog wild with buying up-market pipes and/or scarce tobacco. If you stuck with corncob pipes and pouch, tub, and bag tobacco, after buying cigars, you'd feel like you were getting them free.

 

[cigrmaster]

ekert, I have the same number, give me a shout when you can but make sure it is after 1 PM as I am retired and don't get up till noon or later.

It is great to see you in the pipe world. Check out my list of flakes and plugs. There are lots of great blends on it and only one is a McClelland made flake, the Butera Dark Stoved. There are plenty of great blends that are not MC so you don't have to go spending stupid money on the secondary markets.
Virginia Flakes:

Fribourg&Treyer Cut Virginia Plug TR

Fribourg and Treyer VintageTR

Fribourg & Treyer Special Brown FlakeTR

Wessex Campaign Brigade Dark FlakeTR

Wessex Brown Virginia Flake TR

Wessex Gold Virginia Flake TR

Wessex Gold Brick TR

Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake

Samuel Gawith full Virginia Flake

Samuel Gawith Kendal Plug

Hamborger VeermasterTR

Dunhill Flake TR

Astley’s no. 44 Dark Flake TR

Astleys 109TR

John Aylesbury Luxury Flake now called Classic Flake TR

Rotary Navy CutTR

Capstan Blue FlakeTR

Brigham Klondike Gold TR

Butera Royal Vintage: Dark Stoved
Virginia/Perique Flakes

EscudoTR

Solani 633 TR

Samuel Gawith St James Flake

Dunhill Deluxe Navy RollsTR

Peter Heinrichs Curly Block

Dan Tobacco Salty Dogs
Virginia/Burley/Kentucky Flakes

Solani Silver Flake TR

Peterson Perfect Plug

GL Pease NavigatorTR

Petersons Irish Flake

Peterson University Flake

Esoterica Stonehaven

Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired

Wallace Flake TR

Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky TR
Aromatic flakes.

Mac Baren Modern Virginia Flake TR

Mac Baren Vanilla Creme Flake TR

 

[rmpeeps]

ekert !!

Great to see you again and have you here. I’m new on this board too, but have “just a few years” in the hobby.

I’ve been seeing lots of handles from years back.

I took an almost total hiatus from smoking for years, and just recently dove back into the boxes.

Cheers!!

Mark (MP at CF)

 

[ekert]

Thanks for the list Harris, a few on there are either in my possession or en route to Casa Ekert. I picked up a tin of 1983 McCranie's red ribbon as the flake version was the first real tobacco I smoked other than some aromatics in college. I hope I like Peterson Irish Oak, a few sleeves should be here tomorrow or Friday.
Mark great to see you too fellow newbie, lol. I hope all is well, you should stop by and say hi to everybody on CF (you too Harris).
mso489 yes pipe tobacco can be significantly cheaper than cigars are, unless you have CAD. I am primarily a cigar smoker getting my feet wet in the pipe world, and still have a lot to learn.

 

[cigrmaster]

ekert, you should also use tobaccoreviews.com as a guide. It will let you know what types of tobacco are in a blend and if you find some people with similar tastes as yours, you can find some winners from that as well.
I forgot to tell you what the TR next to a name means. I like my flakes a tad moist so any name with TR means ready to smoke out of the tin with no additional drying time needed.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Welcome, ekert, but be careful of the friends you choose. Oooops! You already got 'em. Well, good luck!!
Real men smoke Latakia and lots of it. Harris' list is top notch, if not a bit sissified.