My Beginner Sampler Selections

[Cretodecristo]

After speaking with a gentleman from smokingpipes, I ordered 10-1oz samples of tobacco. Based on his recommendation, I made sure I ordered at least one from 5 categories. Since I had no idea what was good, I just ordered. I listed them below. Please tell me, did I get a good variety, representative of the blends? My ignorance begs for input.

Aromatic:
C&D Irish Blessing (I liked my first bowl of this)
C&D Nutty Irishman (see a theme?)
Lane Limited 1Q (my least favorite of the 3)

Burley:
C&D Morley’s Best (nice and nutty, but not quite my favorite)

English (waiting to smoke these with a friend who likes English)
C&D Yale Mixture
C&D Old College
Arango Balkan Supreme
Kramer Father Dempsey

English Aromatic:
C&D Sweet English (not smoked yet)

Virginia:
C&D Three Friars (loved the lingering sweetness!)

For reference, I’m switching between two cobbs: a MM Country Gentleman and a 5th Ave.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

I think the folks at SP steered you well, albiet pretty C&D heavy but then again they're kissing cousins so not much surprise. The best thing is starting off with 1oz bulks, I made the mistake of buying a bunch of 50g tins I don't touch much anymore.

Either way smoke all of it multiple times and follow where your tastes take you. Once you've picked a category or direction one of the pieces of furniture around here can recommend more.

 

[Piping Abe]

Looks like a good selection. I’d reccomend some more Burleys. Morleys Best has Latakia so the Burley may be hard to pick out.

Try some Low Country Virginia/Burley and if you don’t mind strength, Haunted Bookshop.

Also Sir Walter Raleigh is a fantastic all day Burley.

 

[PipeIT]

One man’s variety certainly varies...

In time you’ll find your way, there are thousands of blends out there, so keep plugging away.

Be sure to lookup blends online, and read, and then if it sounds good, give it a go.

Deep pockets help! LOL

Enjoy!

 

[Sidehatch]

Smoke all of those and then get another set of samples. That’s what makes it fun.

 

[anotherbob]

sounds good. I'd say from there you should have many threads to follow or places to hang out for a long long time. And just wait till you try the stuff in tins too. Which is only better in the fact that there are more blends available that way then as bulk.

 

[jndyer]

Great first selections. You are in for a great journey.

 

[pantsBoots]

After speaking with a gentleman from smokingpipes, I ordered 10-1oz samples of tobacco. Based on his recommendation, I made sure I ordered at least one from 5 categories. Since I had no idea what was good, I just ordered. I listed them below. Please tell me, did I get a good variety, representative of the blends? My ignorance begs for input.

Aromatic:
C&D Irish Blessing (I liked my first bowl of this)
C&D Nutty Irishman (see a theme?)
Lane Limited 1Q (my least favorite of the 3)

Burley:
C&D Morley’s Best (nice and nutty, but not quite my favorite)

English (waiting to smoke these with a friend who likes English)
C&D Yale Mixture
C&D Old College
Arango Balkan Supreme
Kramer Father Dempsey

English Aromatic:
C&D Sweet English (not smoked yet)

Virginia:
C&D Three Friars (loved the lingering sweetness!)

For reference, I’m switching between two cobbs: a MM Country Gentleman and a 5th Ave.

Way too much C&D! Good call on the Balkan Supreme - it's exemplary for the style. I would definitely look into Virginia blends not manufactured by C&D - Peter Stokkebye makes some nice ones (Luxury Twist, Navy Flake, and Bullseye Flake).

 

[bullet08]

With MM cobs, burley blends usually out shines others. At least that's my opinion along with some other smokers. Honest truth is, if you are just starting pipe smoke, that selection won't matter much. It would have been cheaper to get a pouch of Carter Hall. Maybe a blend of English or Balkan.

 

[elvishrunes]

Yeah good choices covering every major category, better than the run of the mill OTC blends that most including me start with, and even many of the those are quite decent…

 

[lukasstrifeson]

After speaking with a gentleman from smokingpipes, I ordered 10-1oz samples of tobacco. Based on his recommendation, I made sure I ordered at least one from 5 categories. Since I had no idea what was good, I just ordered. I listed them below. Please tell me, did I get a good variety, representative of the blends? My ignorance begs for input.

Aromatic:
C&D Irish Blessing (I liked my first bowl of this)
C&D Nutty Irishman (see a theme?)
Lane Limited 1Q (my least favorite of the 3)

Burley:
C&D Morley’s Best (nice and nutty, but not quite my favorite)

English (waiting to smoke these with a friend who likes English)
C&D Yale Mixture
C&D Old College
Arango Balkan Supreme
Kramer Father Dempsey

English Aromatic:
C&D Sweet English (not smoked yet)

Virginia:
C&D Three Friars (loved the lingering sweetness!)

For reference, I’m switching between two cobbs: a MM Country Gentleman and a 5th Ave.

Feels like a lot of overlap in the Englishes.

There's a world of virginias/Vapers that you're kind of missing: Elizabethan Mix is a good place to start, C&D Bayou Morning a good alternative too. If you want to get fancy, HH AJ's Vaper is one of my favorites.

Aromatic wise I think 1Q is a bad starting point, it's goopy and sickeningly sweet, and the tobacco is fairly mediocre. This is the hardest category to recommend but I'd say go for something more interesting like Plum Pudding Bourbon Barrell, Gawith Hoggarth Kentucky Nougat, or Dan Tobacco Sweet Honeydew - really it'll depend on what flavors you like. I personally really enjoy boozy aromatics, or chocolate cacao flavors.

I'd also try a Lat bomb, latakia can be a bit polarizing, some people really hate it and some people really love it. Given your aro choices, I'd bet something like Mac Baren's Plumcake would be up your alley.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

what you are lacking almost entirely is a good oriental. Well, father Dempsey has some, but you will probably taste Latakia mostly.

I recommend trying an ounce of Izmir Turkish.

And I highly recommend trying other “blenders” to see what each tobacco is like on its own. Dark burley, white burley, red Virginia, the Izmir, a little perique, dark fired, etc. A small clay pipe is a good way to sample these.

 

[mso489]

I don't think you heard it from me, but I'm always recommending to people starting out pipe smoking to buy in small quantities and sample a lot, so I think you are wise to do that. I'm a burley devotee, so I find your list lacking in that department. C&D does some good blends in that area including Stratfordshire, Tuggle Hall, Bayou Night, Billy Budd (with cigar leaf), and Old Joe Krantz original. But take your time with what you have there. As you learn blends, you will enjoy some you didn't like at first, get tired of some you liked at first, and develop an idea of what genres of blends you enjoy. Jar up the ones you don't like and try them in a year. And especially, take your own sweet time. Don't let the number of possibilities rush you. Enjoyment is the object.

 

[ThermionicScott]

People say that cobs don’t “ghost”, but I’d still try smoking the same blend a couple times in a row in the same pipe to get a clearer picture of how it tastes versus the last thing you smoked in it.

 

[n_irwin]

I can’t get enough of the Watch City blends recently. Such good stuff! I might suggest you go there and pick one from each category.

 

[Servant King]

I concur with @lukasstrifeson about 1Q. There are several others of a similar ilk I'd recommend that I find vastly superior, even within the same company. Lane Ltd. makes two others, LL-7 and RLP-6 (both sold in bulk), both of which consistently beat 1Q in virtually every property an aromatic is supposed to possess, in my book. I really do stress the "in my book" part, though--YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) is the most common acronym on here, second of course to FDA.

That's my two cents which, adjusted for inflation, is my hundredth of one cent.

 

[Michigan_Bill]

I would second the idea to try Plum Pudding. It's beginner-friendly and very tasty!

 

[Winnipeger]

After speaking with a gentleman from smokingpipes, I ordered 10-1oz samples of tobacco. Based on his recommendation, I made sure I ordered at least one from 5 categories. Since I had no idea what was good, I just ordered. I listed them below. Please tell me, did I get a good variety, representative of the blends? My ignorance begs for input.

Aromatic:
C&D Irish Blessing (I liked my first bowl of this)
C&D Nutty Irishman (see a theme?)
Lane Limited 1Q (my least favorite of the 3)

Burley:
C&D Morley’s Best (nice and nutty, but not quite my favorite)

English (waiting to smoke these with a friend who likes English)
C&D Yale Mixture
C&D Old College
Arango Balkan Supreme
Kramer Father Dempsey

English Aromatic:
C&D Sweet English (not smoked yet)

Virginia:
C&D Three Friars (loved the lingering sweetness!)

For reference, I’m switching between two cobbs: a MM Country Gentleman and a 5th Ave.

I love Three Friars. Morley's Best is pretty Latakia Heavy. I'd call it a Dirty English. I'm surprised they didn't recommend Pegasus. It's kind of the best Burley blend C&D has on offer (IMHO).

 

[Cretodecristo]

Thanks, all! I have noted your recommendations.

One thing to clarify: the guy at Smoking Pipes just recommended which types of blends to try. He did not recommend specific tobaccos. I chose to make my selections C&D heavy. I was thinking I could get a taste of C&D and later compare it to other brands. Not sure if that’s a thing or not.

Unfortunately, my palette is not at the point that I can sense the subtle differences between like blends. The best I can compare it to is Scotch. I know I prefer Speyside and Islay over Highland and Lowland. It was only through trial and error that I could tell the difference between Macallan and Glenfiddich or between Laphroiag and Ardbeg.

Back to pipe tobaccos. So far, I believe I prefer Aromatics (1Q is my least favorite of the bunch) and that Three Friars blend. I don’t remember which one it was, but one of them needs to be dried out more the next time I smoke it.

People say that cobs don’t “ghost”, but I’d still try smoking the same blend a couple times in a row in the same pipe to get a clearer picture of how it tastes versus the last thing you smoked in it.

I will take this to heart and smoke a few bowls of the same blend a few times in a row (not at once!).

Another option I began exploring is buying $7 nose warmer cobbs from a local B&M here. I can use them to explore the differences in blends, like someone suggested with ceramics. One thing is certain: those nose warmers certainly are helping me slow down my smoke instead of just puffing away. It helps to discern taste, too!

Thanks again for all the advice! It will take a while to get through my stash. Once I do, maybe I’ll write up a “newbie’s perspective” post. That may be helpful.

 

[Cretodecristo]

Quick follow-up: I learned that the MM nose warmer is overpriced where I bought it. Sadly, it doesn’t smoke well, either. The bottom of the bowl extends below the stem, so you can’t smoke all the tobacco. Because the stem starts half-way up the side of the chamber, I wound up wasting half the bowl because I start breathing in ash.

Oh well. Back to testing in my full-size pipes.