How Long Did It Take To Find Your Favourite Blend?
- Thread starter frozenchurchwarden
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Cosmic, that's pretty much what I'm after, except that I also want to know where in your pipe smoking journey that took place.
Discovering the right "goto" tobacco was a little gradual for me, and it was through the gentlemen here that helped me enormously. First, I got rid of Captain Black Gold, which I had learned, after joining the forum, it causes terrible tongue bite: moved on to Carter Hall, then to Lane 1-Q which is mentioned so much, and then tried Trout Stream. Now as my basic daily tobacco I alternate between 1-Q and Trout Stream. For variety, I took the "test" that Sutliff offered which suggested Molto Dolce, fell in love with that, and now use it regularly along with my "gotos" along with other Sutliff's Private Stock.
I realise that this is applying a lot of rigidity to something that is a natural, flowing experience. What I'm trying to do is gauge how far I need to go before I can be comfortable in slowing down. That I've got all the major bases covered and I can start looking for nuances within what I have and not entire new unexplored categories.
I don't think I'm anywhere near worn out, as Sparks describes, but there's this "nagging" in the back of my head telling me I need to try something new every time I sit down with a pipe that I'd like to get rid of.
I don't think I'm anywhere near worn out, as Sparks describes, but there's this "nagging" in the back of my head telling me I need to try something new every time I sit down with a pipe that I'd like to get rid of.
Well seeing as my top 10 now contains about 26 blends (and ive only smoked a little over 30 blends hahaha)
I dont particularly know... I think il have favorite blends in different styles, il have my favorite cherry, and my favorite latakia bomb, and my favorite balkan blend- so on and so forth~ but it might be hard dare I say impossible to find a blend that is perfect for EVERY occasion- I guess il need to smoke more to find out. :
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I dont particularly know... I think il have favorite blends in different styles, il have my favorite cherry, and my favorite latakia bomb, and my favorite balkan blend- so on and so forth~ but it might be hard dare I say impossible to find a blend that is perfect for EVERY occasion- I guess il need to smoke more to find out. :
:When I started piping in college in the 60s, it took only a few weeks to migrate, maybe 'rampage' is the better word, from the Sails, Amphoras, Hal & Half, M79, Cherry Blend and Flying Dutchman to Dunhill Nightcap, 965, Aperitif and BS 759. And there I stuck for several years. I walked right past the Peretti jars, and am only now rectifying my sins of omission.
7 years ago, when I jumped back into pipes, I was stunned at the plethora of available blends, even as I scrambled to hoard the remaining stocks of the temporarily unavailable (in the US) Dunhills. Since I am easily as restless as 7ach, or as indecisive, I first set a goal of settling on a cellar goal of 5 favorites to hoard. This goal crumbled, and became reset to 10, 20, 25, 50 and now 200, which I must admit I am struggling with (trimming down from about 1200 candidates). What exploded my ambitions was the onset of my Virginias Project, which my fellow Morley's PC members shamed me into. The trouble was they would take pity on my Latophilia and thrust samples of their cellars upon me, always Virginias and the occasional odd VA/Per, usually decades old.
So I began sampling Virginias with a vengeance. At first the primary benefit was that they would make my Lats taste soooo much better afterwards. But then I began enjoying many of them on their own merits. The list swelled well beyond cigarmaster's excellent recommendations. As I struggle to pare my list back down to 200, blenders new and old are now introducing, and re-introducing, blends. If they are Latakian or Virginian, I can't not accept the challenge of giving them the old college try.
That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
hp
les
7 years ago, when I jumped back into pipes, I was stunned at the plethora of available blends, even as I scrambled to hoard the remaining stocks of the temporarily unavailable (in the US) Dunhills. Since I am easily as restless as 7ach, or as indecisive, I first set a goal of settling on a cellar goal of 5 favorites to hoard. This goal crumbled, and became reset to 10, 20, 25, 50 and now 200, which I must admit I am struggling with (trimming down from about 1200 candidates). What exploded my ambitions was the onset of my Virginias Project, which my fellow Morley's PC members shamed me into. The trouble was they would take pity on my Latophilia and thrust samples of their cellars upon me, always Virginias and the occasional odd VA/Per, usually decades old.
So I began sampling Virginias with a vengeance. At first the primary benefit was that they would make my Lats taste soooo much better afterwards. But then I began enjoying many of them on their own merits. The list swelled well beyond cigarmaster's excellent recommendations. As I struggle to pare my list back down to 200, blenders new and old are now introducing, and re-introducing, blends. If they are Latakian or Virginian, I can't not accept the challenge of giving them the old college try.
That is my story, and I am sticking to it.
hp
les
For me this is like pursuing my "one food" or "one music." I will just never find it I don't think. I have a few favorites that I still get tired of and have to set aside for a while, only to crave them later. I enjoy variety, so if I ever find that one blend, I will be very surprised.
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