No Fuss Blend - No Bite, Decent Flavor, Medium Nic, Nice Room Note...What Do You Recommend?

[orthodoxpiper]

I've got a weekly meeting with a friend who only smokes during this one time a week, and he puffs like a chimney, even if I warn him that slowing down might be helpful. I don't think he's particularly interested in pipe smoking as a real hobby, and when we're talking I can't focus too much on the flavor anyway, so I'm trying to find the right blend for these meetings. I want something that tastes decent, but an overly complex blend will just be lost.

I have some MacB Vanilla Flake, which was good for the no bite, but it honestly didn't taste like much, and it was a little too fussy to keep lit while trying to carry a conversation. I've got some Bagpiper's Dream I'm thinking about bringing along next time, but it's hard to find at times, so I'd like to find a readily available blend. I've tried Trout Stream in the past, and it had no flavor for me. Kicked around the idea of Luxury Bullseye Flake, but that needs so much age to shine, and I've only got 2 oz. with 9 months on them at the moment.

I'm steering away from burley based blends, just due to their ability to smell cigarette-ish. My wife will tolerate me smelling like any variety of tobacco, but I don't know if his will, and I'd rather his nearby neighbors enjoy the smell wafting through their cracked windows.

Any recommendations? I may just go for a codger blend and bring some CH and see how he likes it. Technically it is burley, but it has a good room note for most people.

 

[lelik]

Dan Tobacco Blue Note it meet your criteria.

 

[seanv]

C&D bayou night
C&D bayou morning

 

[lawdawg]

If you're still open to burley and thinking of Carter Hall, try Chatham Manor, which is Russ Ouelette's Carter Hall match. It's hard to say exactly what the room note is since I'm always the one smoking it, but I know my wife likes it.

A couple weeks ago on a weekend morning, I made a pot of coffee and smoked a bowl of Chatham Manor while she was still in the bathroom getting ready. I had cracked some windows so it wouldn't be super smoky in the house, and when she came into the living room she smelled the combination of CM and coffee and asked excitedly "Oooh! What kind of coffee did you make?" She thought I had brewed up some kind of flavored coffee and didn't even realize I had just finished smoking a pipe.

To be fair, she doesn't at all mind the smell of tobacco so long as there isn't a massive dense cloud of smoke stagnating in the living room, so your results may vary on a wife by wife basis puf

 

[sittingbear]

YWMV=Your Wife May Vary! Lol

I second Chatham Manor

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Just try lots of things. The beauty of smoking a pipe as opposed to cigarettes is that cigarettes are designed to make one brand dependent, whereas with pipe tobaccos, they are somewhat less brand/blend addictive, so that you can meander around among brands and blends. Tasting is the key, and exploring new tastes. This is what keeps me going with the hobby.
You might like Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake. It is a Virginia Cavendish, which makes it a lot smoother, but has a coconut casing that doesn't taste like coconuts, but more of a caramelized sweetness that I really enjoy. But, it's just one of thousands of blends that could be mentioned.

 

[sablebrush52]

With the work schedule I have on this show, the last thing I have time to deal with is the prep that most of the blends I cellar require for optimal flavor. So I'm turning to the least fussy blends almost exclusively, non fussy blends that I can just put in a pouch and go.

Yorktown is my go to. It's a no brainer smoke. No prep necessary, just pack it, light it and I'm good to go. Chatham Manor is another one. Almost all flakes require some drying, some of them a lot of drying, unless I'm willing to settle for muted flavors, and I don't have any interest, nor time for that.
These days I'll take a reliable workhorse over a temperamental thoroughbred.

 

[lawdawg]

These days I'll take a reliable workhorse over a temperamental thoroughbred.

Your words precisely explain my appreciate of cobs and burleys. Sometimes I'll require a reliable workhorse, but sometimes it's worth my while to deal with the temperamental thoroughbred.

 

[mso489]

I'll second PC's Midtown series, Chatham Manor and perhaps the only non-aromatic in the series Chestnut, both of which, along with others in the series, you can sample in inexpensive baggies to decide before you buy a tub, if you do. I especially like Chestnut. Derby Club might be another to try. If you find yourself in longer smoking sessions than you would normally choose, that's a time to use a filter pipe, either cob or other. Good luck.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Watch City Slices and Deluxe Crumble Cut.

 

[bullwinkle]

Peterson's Connoisseur’s Choice

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

we all here do know this already, Amphora Burely and Original blends, ,great quality/price ratio,especially in the U.S

 

[spartacus]

Lane HGL. Easy all day smoke. Classic pipe room note for those around you.

 

[ophiuchus]

Aww, shoot ... Midtown Series has been brought up yet (both Chatham Manor and Chestnut are good stuff).

If you're up for some good OTC, Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic is mild, flavorful, and no fuss. I'm pretty sure there are a few fans of this one here. It doesn't smell like cigarettes, by any stretch. puf

 

[tradition]

Carter Hall is more Virginia than Burley.

 

[bnichols23]

Lane's BCA for me if I had to go for a plain basic low-maintenance aro. Pack, light, puff, boom. Not much simpler than that. SWRA a good choice too.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Any time someone asks about no-nonsense blends I just go Carter Hall.
Trying a Codger blend is one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s what I stick in my pipe whenever I don’t feel like babysitting a bowl of tobacco.

 

[smudgersmissingleg]

Whenever I want something simple and mellow yet tasty I reach for JF Germains - Royal Jersey Cavendish & Virginia which being a shag cut is a simple job to pack and also comes out of the pouch at the perfect moisture level.

Chris.

 

[krizzose]

Stokkebye Cube Cut. Just dry it thoroughly, gravity feed to the top and give a good firm tamp. Consistently pleasant taste and room note, and doesn’t need to be babied. Also, only $33 / lb.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Stokkebye Cube Cut.

I buy that one by the 5lb bag. Really good and forgiving.