Hey Y'all

[AKinser79]

I'm not good at introductions and being all flowery and whatnot so lets get down to business. I'm A. Kinser. I've smoked a pipe since I was 15 years old way way back in the 1990s. I took it up because everyone else was smoking Marlboro or whatever and I insisted on being different.

I'm from Florida--yes an actual native of the state, we may be rare but we do exist. I tend to smoke English blends, there is just something so satisfying about mixtures of Virginia, Latakia and sometimes Perique. I also like Prince Albert (the original) as well as other burly blends that are not flavored or heavily flavored. I don't really like to smoke aromatics at all. Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but to me, most aromatics seem to be lower grades of tobaccos that are hiding behind flavoring and perfume.

I also like to smoke cobs mainly, though I have a few briers. That might sound strange to some, and perhaps it is, smoking an English blend in a corn cob pipe, but maybe that is because I'm strange (or not). Truthfully I've always liked cob pipes as I tend to need to and enjoy clenching the pipe between my teeth and some other materials are either too heavy or delicate to stand up to this. Also I tend to believe that apart from a fresh clay pipe, a new cob will offer the truest flavor to a pipe tobacco for tasting purposes. Though generally I prefer my cobs to have a good bit of char in the bowl before to me they "get good".

Over all I've been lurking the forums for a while and just decided to join in.

 

[Ethan]

Welcome from MA...cobs are great pipes. Heavy lat bombs are for days I drink bourbon....so Tuesdays, and other days...

 

[Servant King]

Welcome to the forum, from Southern California.

 

[kcghost]

Welcome from KC!! I lived in Key West when I was a pre-teen some 60 years ago.

 

[anotherbob]

English and cobs go fine. I personally like briar better but I'll smoke which ever I feel in which ever pipe I feel. Started smoking a pipe at 16 back in the 90's.

 

[Dudditz]

Welcome from New Jersey. Right there with you on the preference for English's.

 

[Tar Wheel]

Welcome from North Carolina. I’m a cob fan and a former lurker myself. You’ll fit right in.

 

[AKinser79]

Welcome from MA...cobs are great pipes. Heavy lat bombs are for days I drink bourbon....so Tuesdays, and other days...

Welcome from KC!! I lived in Key West when I was a pre-teen some 60 years ago.

English and cobs go fine. I personally like briar better but I'll smoke which ever I feel in which ever pipe I feel. Started smoking a pipe at 16 back in the 90's.

@Ethan I'm not much of a drinker so you can have my bourbon. But yes I do love a cob pipe. As I say a new cob pipe is perhaps the truest taste of a tobacco unless one has a clean clay pipe.

@kcghost I've been to Key West, nice town, a bit touristy, I like the other end of the state much better though. They call the Emerald Coast area the "Redneck Riviera" for a reason.

@anotherbob I have cobs of course, briars, a meerschaum (that one was gifted to me, I don't smoke it usually though) and a few clay pipes I've picked up here and there; also I tend to smoke whichever depending on mood and what I want to smoke. I have pipes that are dedicated to Balkans, and English blends while I have others that I smoke nothing but Prince Albert or Carter Hall out of.

 

[mso489]

Hey from central North Carolina. I have a cousin who lived near Ft. Meyers on the river. I spent a summer there just out of high school and did the only riding (horse) I've ever done. I got the ornery black horse, but he and I got along pretty well, so he didn't scrape me off his back on an overhanging limb as he sometimes did with others. I went easy on the reins and I didn't weigh much.

 

[didimauw]

Welcome! Cobs are by far my favorite. They age so nicely.

 

[lelik]

Welcome.

 

[kcghost]

I was there in the 50's and it had a zero touristy vibe to it.

 

[Es0teric]

Welcome aboard. I love me some cobs too!

 

[anotherbob]

@Ethan I'm not much of a drinker so you can have my bourbon. But yes I do love a cob pipe. As I say a new cob pipe is perhaps the truest taste of a tobacco unless one has a clean clay pipe.

@kcghost I've been to Key West, nice town, a bit touristy, I like the other end of the state much better though. They call the Emerald Coast area the "Redneck Riviera" for a reason.

@anotherbob I have cobs of course, briars, a meerschaum (that one was gifted to me, I don't smoke it usually though) and a few clay pipes I've picked up here and there; also I tend to smoke whichever depending on mood and what I want to smoke. I have pipes that are dedicated to Balkans, and English blends while I have others that I smoke nothing but Prince Albert or Carter Hall out of.

I have never smoked Carter Hall and I smoked Prince Albert a way long time ago. If I remember correctly I thought at the time it was o.k.. I had a pretty lame opinion of drug store blends for a long time. I blame Captain Black which I love the smell of but for me it has a nasty chemical taste. Tried C.B., P.A., and some pouch that had an apple on the front of it. I just assumed from that that all as they're now called otc blends sucked. I plan on trying Carter Hall and Prince Albert at some point but I try new blends slowly. Why because I find I get more out of them if I smoke a limited number of things at a time instead of flitting from one blend to the next. That said two of my current favs are what are also called codger blends. They would be Five Brothers which I smoke almost daily and Sail Yellow which I need to get more of.

 

[MattRVA]

Welcome from Virginia

 

[Ettrick puffer]

Welcome from Bonnie Scotland ???????
Happy smokes
Ettrick puffer

 

[STP]

Welcome, Kinser

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Be welcome Sir, and have my warmest greetings to Sunny State from Finland-EU

 

[Charlie718]

Welcome from New York. I enjoy my cobs also, as long as you enjoy what your smoking out of them then who cares what others think lol.

 

[AKinser79]

I was there in the 50's and it had a zero touristy vibe to it.

I'm given to understand that the whole state was more than a little different back then. These days if one wants to have a taste of "old Florida" they really should go to the Forgotten Coast. It is still pretty underdeveloped there.

I have never smoked Carter Hall and I smoked Prince Albert a way long time ago. If I remember correctly I thought at the time it was o.k.. I had a pretty lame opinion of drug store blends for a long time. I blame Captain Black which I love the smell of but for me it has a nasty chemical taste. Tried C.B., P.A., and some pouch that had an apple on the front of it. I just assumed from that that all as they're now called otc blends sucked. I plan on trying Carter Hall and Prince Albert at some point but I try new blends slowly. Why because I find I get more out of them if I smoke a limited number of things at a time instead of flitting from one blend to the next. That said two of my current favs are what are also called codger blends. They would be Five Brothers which I smoke almost daily and Sail Yellow which I need to get more of.

I would recommend that you try it. Some have a low opinion of OTC blends, some of that is deserved too. I will say that Carter Hall isn't exactly an exciting blend, but it is pretty flavorful for a mostly burley blend.

As for Captain Black I wouldn't touch it. I smoked some many years ago, thought it was okay, but eventually came to discover how syrupy and harsh the smoke could be. Then again I don't really like aromatics so take that with a grain of salt. I know people who smoke nothing but Captain Black.

ETA: Are Five Brothers and Sail Yellow English, Virginia or Virginia/Perique? Also I'm not sure what a codger blend is (unless that name implies that the blend is geared toward and marketed toward the older crowd).