Pipe for my son

[hauntedmyst]

If the pipes make you smile, you should go to youtube and search on them being made. 3 or 4 guys listening to jazz and making pipes full speed ahead!
My favorite bulk aromatic is from Park Lane Tobacconist called Trout Brook. By complex, I an assuming you want to broaden his horizons with something more like an English blend, I highly recommend Esoterica Pembroke or Margate, though the Pembroke is smoother. They are the same rich blend but the Pembroke has a cognac topping.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Peterson's Aran line is a great intro line. They have a nice matte finish on them that looks good, and they smoke well. I know cupojoes.com has a pretty decent selction of the styles in that line as well as options for p-lip or no p-lip and they're around $70.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

MacBaren's 7 Seas line is a very good line of American style aromatics and you can get them in bulk for around $25/lb from smokingpipes.com . I'd say the Regular Blend and the Black Blend in that line have the most complexity, though I haven't had the Red Blend or the Gold Blend yet. The Royal Blend is very good and worth giving a tin a try, but it's not quite as complex as the Black or Regular IMO.

 

[smokey422]

I also think you can't go wrong with one of the "big three": Peterson, Savinelli, and Stanwell. I've owned several of all three and all were good smokers. There are lots of good sweet tobaccos available on the internet. Boswell's Pipes and Tobaccos is my favorite aromatic company but I also like the aros from Pipeworks and Wilke, particularly Vermont Maple Cavendish. I'm smoking some of it right now. If he orders from Boswell's, don't miss the No Bite Delite and Pennsylvania Dutch Treat. Both companies will sell in smaller quantities so he can build his own sampler.
Smokey

 

[withnail]

One more thing to consider is the Falcon range of pipes. You can choose the style of stem, mouthpiece and bowl. One big advantage is that they have removable bowls that simply unscrew. It means you can get several bowls (one for each style of tobacco you/he smoke) and not have to worry about any ghosting (lingering after taste) for the fraction of the price.

 

[cyndi]

+1 on the 7 Seas line. My faves are Royal, Black, and Red. Red is an excellent tart (instead of sweet) cherry blend.

 

[igloo]

Get the Nording the large bowl lends its self well to smoking the ARO blends . They need room to breath as they smoke . And the tactile feel of the pipe is just a added plus . How can you tell someone smokes a Peterson . They try to justify it every chance they get . :nana:

 

[pentangle]

I think on the market the best price you can obtain compared to quality is looking at Stanwell.Most of them have beautiful briar and have a decent price due to the (perfect)machined production

 

[mano]

pentangle, Stanwells look great but are a bit beyond my budget. Love your avatar! In about 1981 I saw FZ in concert and it's still memorable.
withnail, thanks for the heads up on the falcons.
I appreciate the tobacco recommendations from everyone. I'll probably order it when I buy the pipes to simplify things.
4noggins had a Neerup and a Savinelli on sale that looked good but they're sold out. I'm whittling down a few other choices including Petersen, Nording and Grandi. I also spoke with Dan Boswell and will follow-up early next week when they have a larger inventory. As a small business owner I like the idea of giving my business to others.