I have become a snob

[hoosierpipeguy]

Since I've seen it mentioned so often here, I recently purchased a couple of pouches of Carter Hall. Have smoked a few bowls, it's a pleasant blend. If it is all I had to smoke, I would smoke it. But it lacks the body and complexity of so many better blends. If CH hits someone's sweet spot and they want to smoke it all the time, that's great. It doesn't for me and unless I'm in a pinch, I don't see myself smoking it. If smoking what I enjoy makes me a snob, then I'm a snob.

 

[didimauw]

See just because Cosmics favorite blend is Carter Hall, doesn't mean you gotta talk down to the poor guy.... To each his own!

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

No offense to U.S Codger blends but yes, somehow they all seem to lack body&complexity,at least when I'm comparing them say to another Imported Otc's such as Amphoras or some Mc Barens standard offerings, But I still consider these U.S Otc's are good value and decent quality on their own range.

 

[olkofri]

Always been a snob. Never wanted to try the OTCs. Heck, one of my first threads in these forums was about which blends were OTCs, so that I would never buy them.
Thus, no Carter Hall, Borkum Riff, Craptain Black, or the like for my pipes.
I'm still interested in smoking Hearth & Home's version of crap, though: Chatham Manor, which doesn't have the additives Carter Hall does. Unfortunately, it's only available in a tub, and the duties for that would be stratospheric. I'll stick with my Vauen blends.

 

[lawdawg]

Nah, your taste just improved ::
Sorta kidding, I still enjoy Carter Hall for what it is

 

[thedbs999]

Tastes change. Mine sure has over the years with beer.
I still like Carter hall, but am still a newbe.
Dan

 

[3rdguy]

Go with the Five Bothers try. If your truck breaks down you will be able to run to wherever you are going.

 

[puffthemagicpiper]

I smoke Five Brothers (strictly out of a cob - I’ve a ‘no burley-forward blends from briars’ rule) more often than I admit. Well, I guess my secret is out now - lol I do however smoke a few bowls of 5B when I’m exorcising a briar ghost. It works for me more often than not. I hate reaming, salting, all that rot when a serious briar refresh has to be done.
But yeah, when I’ve only a few minutes for a smoke, 5B is a go-to.

 

[georgebmcclelland]

A good sense of irony is a rare thing, these days. ::

 

[blackadderlxx]

I tried Carter Hall and while I thought it tasted ok for an OTC, I found it gave me a sore throat for some weird reason. I guess I'm a snob too.

 

[mso489]

Certain codger blends, for certain niches of pipe smoking, are the premium tobaccos. Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic strikes me as better balanced and more tobacco forward than a number of premium and private aromatic blends (blends that I do enjoy, but think suffer by comparison). So you may hate SWRA, and that's fine. But I think a number of the codgers have enough to offer that they fit in well, individual blends for individual smokers, in an array of more expensive blends. Likewise, the H&H MIdtown codger matches appeal to me not for their matching, but for their good traits in their own right. I don't love all codger blends, nor most. But when I find one I like, I don't avoid it because of its history and marketing.

 

[willyspiper]

for me, its the range of tobaccos that seems to enhance the flavor of all of them. When I stuck to just 3-4 blends, there was not much flavor to any of them after awhile. As my cellar grew to over a dozen blends, I started to enjoy even the worst tobacco if I rotated my blends continuously. I do not feel there is any "Bad" tobacco, just tobacco you are not in the mood for at the moment.

 

[trouttimes]

You all have valid points. Lets just say I'm not in the mood for Carter Hall right now, maybe not ever but I won't throw it out. I'll use it to blend with. I also rotate what I smoke regularly between 5 or 6 blends. In my cellar at last count I had 40 or so blends all of which I smoke 1 or 2 bowls with in a 45 to 60 day period. I agree your taste change from time to time but for me, it has been usually to more complex blends.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Smoking a codger blend is like riding a moped or screwing a fat girl... it might be fun, but just don't let your friends see you doing it. ::

 

[rdavid]

Smoking a codger blend is like riding a moped or screwing a fat girl... it might be fun, but just don't let your friends see you doing it. ::

Cosmic, you missed your true calling... Stand Up Comedian. Maybe in our next life huh? Funny.

 

[lawdawg]

You all have valid points. Lets just say I'm not in the mood for Carter Hall right now, maybe not ever but I won't throw it out. I'll use it to blend with. I also rotate what I smoke regularly between 5 or 6 blends. In my cellar at last count I had 40 or so blends all of which I smoke 1 or 2 bowls with in a 45 to 60 day period. I agree your taste change from time to time but for me, it has been usually to more complex blends.

I usually get bored of Carter Hall during the colder months. However, once spring comes around and I'm spending my evenings by the fire on the patio drinking beer, Carter Hall is almost always the blend that I reach for first. I started smoking Lane Ready Rubbed (another codger burley) this fall, and I like it enough that it will probably get added to the summertime rotation as well. In circumstances like this, a refined and complex blend would go to waste since the nuance would be lost during the multi-beer, multi-pipe assault on my taste buds.
Also, I have yet to find any blend of any genre that goes better with black coffee than Carter Hall.

 

[recluse]

I suspect you'll return to Carter Hall at a later date and enjoy it again. Taste changes just like the seasons.

 

[danielplainview]

I only smoke Sobranie 759. But I only smoke it in Brylon to keep me grounded.

 

[philobeddoe]

I really enjoy smoking my own mix of 5 parts Margate to 0 parts Carter Hall, I think it adds just the right amount of nutty Burley goodness to such a rich and tasty English blend.

 

[5star]

I just smoke what I like. That changes constantly. Likely because of some factor in body chemistry, and who knows what else. I like CH, but not as much as I used to. I have no idea why this is so.