Is a Light, Soft, Fluffy Pipe Smoke That Doubles as a Cigarette Blend Better?

[rakovsky]

I am a novice and approach pipe blends as a connoisseur. Stalin had a habbit of putting Herzegovina Flor filterless cigarette tobacco in his pipes, so I wonder what that would be like. I don't want to get sidetracked about Stalin beyond his blend choice, please. What makes Herzegovina Flor cigarettes special is that they had light, remarkably soft, fluffy smoke.

Moscow's Java factory made the blend into the 2000's, and then British American Tobacco closed the factory and discontinued the blend. Max Frunze smoked a vintage Herz. Flor and reviewed it on camera:

Auto-Translate works fine.

Max said that it was smooth, luxuriant, soft on the throat, unlike most cheap Russian filterless cigarettes. Russian tobacco is divided into at least 5 grades, with Herzegovina Flor being top grade tobacco. Besides that, Herzegovina Flor had floral casing and used a combination of Oriental Herzegovina leaf and VA/Oriental leaf.

Prince Albert impressed me as soft, light, fluffy, and it doubles as RYO, but I never tried it that way. I don't know if it would be lighter to inhale than other cigarette blends. Which cigarettes are especially soft, fluffy, light?

Peterson's Standard Mixture impressed me as fluffy and luxuriant, but not light enough to inhale into my lungs. The Soviet pipe blend "Kapitanskiy" used top grade Oriental-VA leaf with geranium casing. But when I inhaled it without rehydration, it was super dry, too hot, a little burning, hard to breathe. The problem wasn't just that I didn't rehydrate it, because cigarette tobacco shouldn't need rehydration anyway.

Why don't more pipers prefer a light blend that doubles as cigarette tobacco over a thicker blend? Perhaps the reason is that a thicker smoke carries more flavor?

 

[warren]

Bela Mor Kanal cigarettes were my choice of nicotine delivery when I work in the Far East, Magadan, Vladivostok and such locales. Harsh land, harsh cigarettes, eh? I was presented with a Russian made pipe but, never tried Russian leaf. I took IRC's Three Star Blue, plenty of it. The two pipe smokers I worked with became addicted to it.

 

[The Libertine]

Peterson's Standard Mixture impressed me as fluffy and luxuriant, but not light enough to inhale into my lungs. .

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

Some do, some don't. I find pipe tobacco to be less harsh than cigarettes.

 

[The Libertine]

Some do, some don't. I find pipe tobacco to be less harsh than cigarettes.

You get more flavor not inhaling and letting it sit on your tongue. Those who do inhale are just inhaling the smoke with minimal taste.

 

[rakovsky]

Bela Mor Kanal cigarettes were my choice of nicotine delivery when I work in the Far East, Magadan, Vladivostok and such locales. Harsh land, harsh cigarettes, eh?

That makes sense. For what it's worth, I bought Belomorkanal pack out of curiosity and I smoked it like it was a cigar like I practically always smoke my cigarettes. It turned out fine for me. I still haave a couple as souvenirs. I found this photo online. My pack has a bit more color, darker blue dye:

Belomorkanals have bottom grade, Grade #5 tobacco. They are cheap with high nic volume and probably N. Rustica leaf.

I was presented with a Russian made pipe but, never tried Russian leaf. I took IRC's Three Star Blue, plenty of it.

That is pretty.
Thanks for sharing little stories like that.

 

[warren]

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

Why?

 

[rakovsky]

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

I generally try to avoid it.
I collaterally inhale it occasionally inadvertently.
I deliberately took a serious draw on Kapitanskiy because I liked it so much, and it went badly. It was too hot, dry, thick, hard to breathe through it.

 

[warren]

You get more flavor not inhaling and letting it sit on your tongue. Those who do inhale are just inhaling the smoke with minimal taste.

We are also inhaling the nicotine and, well, the carcinogens. I don't inhale with every draw on the pipe but, I do enjoy the sensation of taking the creamy, soft smoke deep into my lungs periodically, maybe five or times each bowl. Letting it sit on your tongue and not using the receptors in your nose is shorting yourself when it comes to the full taste experience, for the general smoking public, which includes the odd, full inhale. One can let it cross the tongue, sit if you insist, roll a bit out the nose and suck the rest down deep. I paid good moneys for the blend, I want everything I can get out of it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

You get more flavor not inhaling and letting it sit on your tongue. Those who do inhale are just inhaling the smoke with minimal taste.

Not at all. Without retrohaling and inhaling, you're only getting a fraction of the flavor.

 

[rakovsky]

Not at all. Without retrohaling and inhaling, you're only getting a fraction of the flavor.

FWIW, I have my taste and smell sensors basically in my mouth and nose, so basically having the smoke in my mouth and retrohaling with the nose has given me those basic senses.

To the extent I got it in the lungs it didn't really add new flavor or smell or make either a lot stronger. It maybe added 10% to the smell experience. Health risks on the lung and throat are my main concern.

Kapitanskiy is a discontinued blend so I inhaled it to get more of the experience, but it turned out bad, as if I were sucking lightly scented hot smoke from a blow dryer.

 

[rakovsky]

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

I'm guessing that this is a clue to the answer to the OP. With inhaled smoke, people like light smoke. But if you pipe smoke, it basically just sits in your mouth and goes through your nose, so thicker smoke will give your mouth more of a "meal", more sensation. With lighter cigarette blends that I've given some cigarette smokers, they complain that they are like smoking hot air. Supervalu Ultralight pipe tobacco in my pipe was somewhere between hot air and a fat cigarette for me.

Papyrosa tobacco I think is thicker than normal cigarette tobacco and has more tar, so it burns longer than a cigarette. To some extent this would make up for its lightness compared to pipe tobacco.

 

[sablebrush52]

Is a light, soft, fluffy pipe smoke that doubles as a cigarette blend better?​

Better than what? Blend preferences are a personal choice. This might be one person's nirvana and leave another person completely cold.

I prefer variety. There isn't a blend that hasn't outstayed it's welcome at some point. Some people will choose to smoke several blends so that they play off one another, kind of in the same way that a Omakase meal is curated by the chef.

 

[Peterson314]

@sablebrush52 "Better than what?" was my question, too.

I don't inhale. Others do.

I don't know a lot about Joseph Stalin's cigarettes, but I do know you will probably maximize your pipe-smoking experience by putting your tobacco in your bowl and smoking it the way you enjoy your tobacco.

 

[sablebrush52]

@sablebrush52 "Better than what?" was my question, too.

I don't inhale. Others do.

I don't know a lot about Joseph Stalin's cigarettes, but I do know you will probably maximize your pipe-smoking experience by putting your tobacco in your bowl and smoking it the way you enjoy your tobacco.

I never deliberately inhale pipe tobacco, and to minimize the potential, as well as minimize the smell of stale tobacco, only smoke outdoors.

 

[LeafErikson]

I hope you're not inhaling pipe tobacco at all.

Many blends are just as good rolled into cigarettes as they are stuffed into a pipe and have even been marketed as such historically.

 

[rakovsky]

Is a light, soft, fluffy pipe smoke that doubles as a cigarette blend better?​

Better than what?

Thank you Sable Brush for a nice message - I like thinking about an Omakase meal.
What I meant was whether a soft fluffy pipe blend that doubles as good smooth cigarette tobacco would be better than a pipe blend that did not have the nature that would let it double as a cigarette blend.

For instance, Prince Albert doubles as a cigarette blend, but Peterson Standard Mixture does not, and when I tried to inhale Captain's blend, a VA Oriental pipe blend, it didn't work for inhalation through my pipe. It was dry, burning hot, not light enough, and was hard to breathe it. I sense that most pipe blends have smoke too thick to double as cigarette tobacco, because you are supposed to be able to inhale cigarette smoke.

 

[rakovsky]

Many blends are just as good rolled into cigarettes as they are stuffed into a pipe and have even been marketed as such historically.

Your Half and Half ad was interesting for me to see, thank you.
Do you think Peterson Standard Mixture would be OK in a RYO? I never tried it that way. How about a standard VA like OGS or Capstan?

I saw a premium export pack of the White Sea Canals that Warren mentioned with a pipe symbol in the corner, and a Youtube reviewer smoked it on camera and said it was OK.

Some blends I thought about pipe smoking:

• Camel unfiltered
• Black and Mild
• American Spirit Perique or Ultralight
• Cherokee Black RYO

 

[Peterson314]

I never deliberately inhale pipe tobacco, and to minimize the potential, as well as minimize the smell of stale tobacco, only smoke outdoors.

Same. I also clean my pipes between smokes because I really dislike stale tobacco flavors.

@rakovsky, if you want to rawdog some Hertzogvenia Rustica, we'll give you 30 thumbs up on the WAYS thread. If you want a soft, fluffy cloud to smoke, I love BCA or other black cavendish. I don't inhale it, so I can't tell you what that experience is like.

I also don't quite follow you on the "thicker" comment. Are you talking about the cut? I think if I rolled a cigarette out of my pipe tobacco stash, I'd roll up some GLP Penny Farthing, just to try it.

 

[sablebrush52]

Thank you Sable Brush for a nice message - I like thinking about an Omakase meal.
What I meant was whether a soft fluffy pipe blend that doubles as good smooth cigarette tobacco would be better than a pipe blend that did not have the nature that would let it double as a cigarette blend.

For instance, Prince Albert doubles as a cigarette blend, but Peterson Standard Mixture does not, and when I tried to inhale Captain's blend, a VA Oriental pipe blend, it didn't work for inhalation through my pipe. It was dry, burning hot, not light enough, and was hard to breathe it. I sense that most pipe blends have smoke too thick to double as cigarette tobacco, because you are supposed to be able to inhale cigarette smoke.

You pretty much answered your own question. You want a tobacco that you can smoke in your pipe while inhaling it.
Basically, any RYO would fit the bill, so it’s a matter of trying different RYO tobaccos and smoking the ones you most enjoy.
The majority of pipe blends aren’t suitable for inhaling.
You might also check out Turkish cigarettes if such are still available. Decades ago I used to enjoy Sobranie cigarettes, but those have been long gone.