Hello From Sofia, Bulgaria

[solideogloria86]

Hello all,

After drawing from the experience all over this forum I decided to join.
I am from Sofia, Bulgaria where as far as I know pipe smoking is not so common (at least I never saw a fellow pipe smoker in the wild).
I used to be a rolled cigarettes heavy smoker but am slowly moving to pipes (small pipes for 15-20min smoke really helped).
Back in 2021 I managed to completely switch to pipes but then Covid and taste change hit me and I quit pipes for some time and returned to cigarettes.
Now I'm slowly getting into the hobby again and really enjoying it.
The biggest problem I faced was packing and keeping the pipe lit for a reasonable time, but lately something just clicked and it is not an issue anymore (at least most of the time hehe),
Different tobacco blends availability and ban on international shipping is also a problem in Bulgaria but my main at the moment is MacBaren Classic Loose Cut, bought from airport Duty free shops and not locally unfortunately. Luckily I'm a contracting aircraft engineer and I travel a lot, so it is easy to resupply.

Pretty much that sums up my pipe smoking life.
I am happy to join the community and would be even happier to find some fellow pipe smokers in Sofia to meet for a relaxing smoke some day.

You have an awesome pipe maker in your city.

G.boyadjiev Pipes | GBpipes Handmade in Bulgaria G.Boyadjiev

Handmade smoking pipe | GBpipes Handmade in Bulgaria G.Boyadjiev

www.gbpipes.com

 

[proteus]

 

[Jbyrd]

Welcome from Missouri

 

[BenMN]

Welcome from Minnesota, United States.

Glad someone mentioned GBP, his pipes look amazing.

Pipes helped me to quit cigarettes as well.

 

[KruegerFlap]

Welcome from the state of Ohio, USA!

 

[Akoni808]

Aloha and welcome from Hawai’i!

 

[Bbailey324]

Welcome from Texas.

 

[leonardbill1]

Welcome from Denver!

 

[DesertDan]

Welcome from the American Southwest.

 

[Sgetz]

Welcome from Durham in the UK

 

[Milverton1868]

Hello and welcome!

 

[hikeoflife]

Welcome from Boise, Idaho.

 

[yanoJL]

Hello and welcome from California Happy to have you here, friend!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Welcome from the Central Coast of California!

 

[simong]

Hello & a welcome from the UK.

 

[JC4life]

Hello all,

After drawing from the experience all over this forum I decided to join.
I am from Sofia, Bulgaria where as far as I know pipe smoking is not so common (at least I never saw a fellow pipe smoker in the wild).
I used to be a rolled cigarettes heavy smoker but am slowly moving to pipes (small pipes for 15-20min smoke really helped).
Back in 2021 I managed to completely switch to pipes but then Covid and taste change hit me and I quit pipes for some time and returned to cigarettes.
Now I'm slowly getting into the hobby again and really enjoying it.
The biggest problem I faced was packing and keeping the pipe lit for a reasonable time, but lately something just clicked and it is not an issue anymore (at least most of the time hehe),
Different tobacco blends availability and ban on international shipping is also a problem in Bulgaria but my main at the moment is MacBaren Classic Loose Cut, bought from airport Duty free shops and not locally unfortunately. Luckily I'm a contracting aircraft engineer and I travel a lot, so it is easy to resupply.

Pretty much that sums up my pipe smoking life.
I am happy to join the community and would be even happier to find some fellow pipe smokers in Sofia to meet for a relaxing smoke some day.

Welcome from Essex U.K.. I worked with two guys who came over from Lufthansa in Sofia back in 2010s , some time ago now. Good guys and great cabin mechs. Sorry to hear there is no importing, do people not home grow there? I have a very good friend who is Albanian and his grandfather used to grow all his own in his yard. My friend said he had made some money working across the border in Greece during communist times, and bought the most expensive tobacco he could find as a gift for his grandfather. When he got back the old man took one look at it and threw it in the trash scolding him that his was superior!

 

[JOHN72]

Welcome from Spain.

 

[ratruller]

Hello and Welcome from Finland
Ps. I did not realize that it might be problematic to order to Bulgaria from neighboring EU countries,it should be allowed if country's excise taxes are paid upon receiving the parcel. I recall once I was smoking pretty decent Bulgarian Domestic pipe tobacco brand called Neptun.Also in the past Bulgarian Domestic cigarette brands were made out of pretty darn good oriental tobacco

Hello Paul,
Here I cannot order online even from local sites... We have great tobacco, but for export. Anything sold locally is usually bad.

 

[ratruller]

Welcome from Nashville, TN, US! It’s a shame it’s getting so hard to find pipe tobacco in so many places these days. Glad you have an easy work-around though!

Hello Mortamyhr,

There are some blends sold in shops, but unfortunately nothing to my taste, except a Rattray's Flake. But I'm still much of a noob for smoking flakes.

 

[ratruller]

Welcome from Essex U.K.. I worked with two guys who came over from Lufthansa in Sofia back in 2010s , some time ago now. Good guys and great cabin mechs. Sorry to hear there is no importing, do people not home grow there? I have a very good friend who is Albanian and his grandfather used to grow all his own in his yard. My friend said he had made some money working across the border in Greece during communist times, and bought the most expensive tobacco he could find as a gift for his grandfather. When he got back the old man took one look at it and threw it in the trash scolding him that his was superior!

Hello JC4life,

Tobacco is grown in Bulgaria in some regions and the quality is great, as I have been lucky enough to try some BG cigarettes for export. But what is left is the bad stuff and even if you find someone to sell you some, you have to do the whole process of preparing it by yourself, for which I have 0 time unfortunately.

I started my career in LTSF, it was a very good place to start back in the beginning.