My first month of pipe smoking

[minfarshaw]

Here is my recap of August 2014 ( I don't blame you if you would fin it uninteresting)

I got 4 briars - a Lorenzetti Titus 23, a Savinelli natural in a bulldog shape, and a straight billiard stanwelll brushed black.

Tobacco-wise it has been a steady rotation of sweet tea and green river vanilla during the day ( alternating between my savinelli and straight billiard) and Frog Morton in my Titus 23 with a glass of whiskey before I go to sleep.

I've also tried :

Christmas cookie - this left a weird grainy taste in my mouth and I won't be buying it again. It was also too sweet.

Orlik Golden Sliced - I don't think I like Virginias but I'm willing to give this another try because this was pleasant with beer (Kona Longboard Island Lager)

C&D Autumn Evening- I had to put it at the bottom of the pile and remember never to smoke it again after 2 bowls 1 week apart. There was a gross chemical taste. No thanks.

C&D Berries and Cream- it was alright but I wouldn't buy it again. I definitely tasted the cream and berries but the background taste did not appeal to me.

C&D Founding Fathers- to me it tasted a lot like Boswell's Sweet Tea but had a bitter taste that was too much for me. I gave that one away. My neighbor like it a lot.

Mississippi River- I like it but it was not easy to burn. I have to give that one another try.

Erik Stokkebye 4th generation 1931- it was really good the first time but I can't stand the way it feels at the back of my throat. Kind of the same as Orlik but more pronounced.

Sutliff Molto Dolce: the first smoke was good but it was too sweet after that. I gave that one away.

The ones I liked:

Boswell's Sweet Tea: This is a great anytime smoke but can bite. If you smoke it slowly It tastes like peach iced tea. Awesomeness in a bowl. I would order another few pounds of this just to have it around. This was my first favorite so I'm partial to this blend. It is my friend.

Frog Morton's Cellar: I love the taste of this tobacco, especially after a long day at work with a glass of scotch-whiskey. Love it. I always savor this smoke. I bought more and plan to keep it around.

C&D Green River Vanille: this is a mindless smoke for when I have my morning coffee or force myself to take a break from my textbooks. It is very mild, no chemical aromatic taste. Very mindless and pleasant. I'm definitely gonna get more.
So. What's the point of this? I dunno but I had fun this month. I just joined the pipe of the month club and am looking forward to trying more tobacco and buying more pipes.
Bow.
P.S. My wife just bought me storage for my pipe stuff. Yippee!

 

[smokeybear]

May i suggest getting in on the Pax Tobacco Crawl we do it monthly 4 blends a month and share our experiences smoking varies blends selected by members. ill link you to the August one and also to this months below so you can get an idea as too what were doing. you may find others opinions of these blends helpful towards your purchasing choices. There is also sample sharing happening you can get in on.
August Crawl Already Passed but feel free to try these blends
September Crawl Just started.

 

[cobguy]

That's a busy first month!
Congrats on your pipes and having already found a favorite smoke.
Here's to many more months, many more pipes and many, many more tobaccos! ::

 

[minfarshaw]

Thanks Smokeybear. I was eyeing that thread but was a little intimidated. I'm definitely following it and will try some of the 4 blends this month. I don't know if I'm at the level where I can pick a blend for everyone. I'm still pretty lost.

 

[papipeguy]

Welcome to the forum, mini. Well, it seems to me like you're not an aromatic lover, meaning the really sweet stuff. I usually smoke English blends but when the sweet tooth kicks in I turn to Rattray's Bagpiper's Dream=a Virginia blend with a cognac topping- a truly delightful blend. I also like gentleman caller from C&D- a burley based blend with deer tongue.

Tell you what, PM me with your address and I'll send you some samples to try. It's all about exploring.

 

[pyratemate]

Aye Minfarshaw, Welcome to the fold! As ye embark on ye adventure keep an open mind and use the many forums to ask as many questions as ye need to. Thar be enough old codgers here bouts to give a steer in the right direction fer sure.
Enjoy ye quest!!

 

[agnosticpipe]

Min, I'd say you've done a fair amount for one month! I know experimenting with tobaccos can be fun and frustrating at the same time. You wouldn't believe how many little mason jars I've got on a shelf with 1=2 ozs. in them. I come back to some after awhile that I didn't care too much for to start with. Sometimes it's a go, and sometimes it's a no.
Got a couple of suggestions for you though: if you like maple but find Autumn Evening too icky, get some Lane 1-Q and mix it 50/50. 1-Q is a nice mild aro with a little vanilla, and is nice by itself or mixed with other tobaccos. Try mixing it with a virginia too. I like it with H&H Louisiana Red. Or you could buy some H&H Vermont Meat Candy, has maple and a slight bacon flavor. Sounds iffy, but I like it better than Autumn Evening.
Sorry to say, the fun is just starting.... so many pipes, so many tobaccos. 8O

 

[minfarshaw]

Agnosticpipe, Lane 1Q will definitely be on the end of the month order. I'm gonna try to mix it with my unopened tines of Molto Dolce. I took advantage of the buy 2 get 1 and got more than I could smoke. I was thinking about getting that 1q but was turned off by the online reviews.
papipeguy-Thank you for your generosity. Looking forward to the samples and to paying forward.
Pyratemate- thanks for the feedback and entertaining accent, you remind me of Floran Gelb.

 

[sablebrush52]

Hi Min,
Welcome to the forum! One other thought, before you give a blend the heave ho, put it aside for a while, a couple of months perhaps, then give it another try. You may find that your perceptions have changed, or your smoking technique has developed where you can enjoy a blend that is a bit more finicky.
Last year I tried Hal O The Wynd and decided that it was bland and disappointing. I didn't put the tin through the Universal Rotator, I put it in the closet. A few weeks ago I pulled it out and gave it another go. What a difference 9 months makes. It's now a very enjoyable smoke. I'm a bit more experienced with virginias, and the tobacco has mellowed, or dried a bit, or whatever, but it's now a very enjoyable smoke.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Ha, I have yet to find anything "too sweet", and somehow Molto Dolce seemed bland (I'm guessing I was doing something wrong, anyway...), I've got a bit of a sweet tooth.
One of my most consistent favourites right now is Sutliff Frosty Mint. Probably just because it is an order of magnitude stronger than any other flavour I've heard of, besides maybe Condor but I'll probably never have the pleasure of smoking that.

 

[shaintiques]

Looks like a good first month, I love to see new pipe smokers trying lots of different things out of the box. As for Virginias, Orlik probably isn't the best first choice if you are trying to decide if you like Virginias, or flakes for that matter. Get some Gam Gawith Full Virginia Flake, let it dry some. Nice full sweet flavor.

 

[yorkshirepipe]

That is a lot for one month; but it's great that you're trying all kinds of different tobaccos! If more people started like yourself I think more people would continue rather than be put off by the gloopy aromatics (I started on those but kept at it and how glad I am that I did!)

 

[ericthered]

Fortune prick me, Floran Gelb? Not Bayle Domon? That's a great selection of tobaccos sampled in just one month! Something that I'm considering for sampling a wide range of tobaccos is P&C's Pipe Tobacco of the Month Club talked about in this thread. Four different tobaccos every month for $20 sounds like a good deal to me.
Min, I wonder if we can start a movement to influence a blender to create a WoT series of blends much like JFH's Middle Earth blends. Two Rivers Cavendish? Seanchan Flake? Ta'veren Twist? Not likely, I guess, but it's fun to dream.

 

[minfarshaw]

Hahahah! I guess Bayle would do better. When I started smoking the first tobacco brand I tried to find was Two Rivers Tabac. Go figure.
Here are blend names:

The Red Witch

Ta'varen's Luck

Song of the Ogier

Green Man's Breath

Game of the Houses

Steara

I'm sure there are more.

 

[johnnyreb]

Hi Minfarshaw. The 1st month pattern I see is you have tried a lot of aromatics & generally sweet tobaccos and cast most of them aside, keeping Boswell's Sweet Tea. Good for you! If you like a glass of a good, smoky whisky now & then moving to Frog Morton Cellar was a good choice. Unless you prefer a sweet liqueur I would keep Boswell's Sweet Tea among your favorites as your sweet tobacco and move away permanently from aromatics. For me I have always found that what I like to drink parallels what I like in pipe tobaccos. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy a piece of cake or pie every now and again, but I don't want to smoke it.

 

[jah76]

I love my Savinelli natural. Best bargain pipe I've ever bought.
About Virginia's. I found myself fairly "meh" about Virginas until I started smoking McCelland's. To me (and this is just me) most Virginias fall into two categories. Hay/dry/lighter/honey toast-ish and sweet/fuller/citrus/savory. I know I'm over simplifying it, because their are lemon, orange, reds, etc Virginias and people have different taste buds. However I think McCellands has mastered the sweeter, richer Virgnias.
Now I'm only 2 some years into smoking a pipe, but I know what I like. I like my Virginias mixed with Perique and either Orientals or a little Latakia. I enjoy how the tobaccos help define and help "profile" each other.
I do enjoy the "drier" hay like Virginias in Escudo and LBF, but man I'm a sucker for a tangy bowl of Tudor Castle.
I've found that they pair excellent with a nice stout like Kentucky Bourbon Barrel ale. I'm not much of a Scotch drinker but I do enjoy a nice English like Wilderness with a bourbon.
If you ever want some samples of a few blends just PM me your address and I'd be glad to share. I've swapped tobaccos with a lot of folks here and it's really been fun, educational and saved me a bit of cash.

 

[jessicac]

That's quite a range, in my last month I've had about 5 different blends.
Also, Wheel of Time? Love her too!!!

 

[yazamitaz]

Hi Min and welcome aboard.
Boy does your post sound REALLY familiar to my first month. Reading what folks here are smoking and how much they love them, popping tins left and right and trying to discern a LOT of different flavor nuances. One bit of advice: SLOW IT DOWN
I also have to give a +1 to Sablebrush's post:

Welcome to the forum! One other thought, before you give a blend the heave ho, put it aside for a while, a couple of months perhaps, then give it another try. You may find that your perceptions have changed, or your smoking technique has developed where you can enjoy a blend that is a bit more finicky.

I say this because you seem to have a good supply of aromatics which, as I am sure you have read, tend to ship somewhat wet and need some dry time before smoking. Hell, I opened a 100g tin of McClellands St James Woods over 15 months ago that is smoking wonderfully now (still in the tin, not jarred). The point is that you may be bombarding your taste buds now or not have the best packing, smoking cadence today, but will improve it over time. Let those tins sit and sleep for a while you improve your methods. Come back to them in 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 seasons and see how they fair then. You may be pleasantly surprised as I was with St James Woods.
Happy smoking ::
Dan

 

[pruss]

Greetings, and welcome.
It sounds like you've had a killer first month in pipe-land. Congratulations! I think that the advice to keep exploring, and keep having fun is solid. The only thing I'd add is to consider documenting your smokes. Write a quick note to yourself on your smartphone about each blend you try, go analog and use a pen and a journal... whatever works, so that you can capture your thoughts on what you like, and don't like. I'll also echo Sablebrush's advice and suggest that what you don't like right now, might be right in your wheelhouse.
As for blend recommendations, here's another cross-over blend (lightly aromatic, also lightly Latakia forward) for you to consider: http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/4228/two-friends-english-chocolate
-- Pat

 

[CherokeeBilly]

Awesome first month! I am pretty new and picking pipe smoking back up and feel like I am starting over because I have no idea what I like at this point. Your first post will give me something to go on, thanks.

Thanks Smokeybear. I was eyeing that thread but was a little intimidated. I'm definitely following it and will try some of the 4 blends this month. I don't know if I'm at the level where I can pick a blend for everyone. I'm still pretty lost.

I too found this appealing and like you I am afraid I wouldn't pick correctly. I may just follow along and try and grab the blends and take notes and see how they stack up with everyone else. I plan on joining in though in a month or 2 because it looks like tons of fun.