Pipe Smokers Who have Settled on a Few Standbys

[burleybreath]

I'm a bit of a tobacco whore, even after 50 years of the indulgence. I have to be: my closet is full of untried oddities acquired over the years, and I'm inquisitive. And have way too many open tins, bags, and jars. I agree that favorites can dominate, even to the exclusion of all others. When I have Bull's Eye Flake around, it's about the only thing that gets smoked. Trouble is, I kinda like 'em all.

 

[shanez]

I'm not sure I'll ever "settle" a particular type of blend but within each blend category I have my favorites for sure. I like having the variety of a straight VA vs VaPer vs English vs Oriental vs aromatic in each type, etc. (I use my own category system that works for me.)

Even with favorites in each type I still like trying something I haven't before just to see if I might like it more than my current handful of favorites. I added DT Ascanian No 2 to my cellar recently even though I was already deep in VaPers.

 

[mso489]

I'm still curious to try a blend that has tobaccos I know I like, but it is true, with experience, you know what you most often enjoy and tend to reach for that most often. New blends can be interesting and stimulating, but often aren't as satisfying as the old standbys. Though I have quite a few old standbys.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I am surprised to read that you have been a pipesmoker for only two years, as you are both very knowledgeable and an impressive collector. Nice going...

When I dive into something, I usually do it on the deep end, hahaha.

 

[kcghost]

I have settled on 3-4 blends depending upon how you look at it. I keep Six Pence, Stonehenge, and Mad Fiddler at hand for all situations and I have some HH Rustica that I smoke every once in a while when I want my ass kicked.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I got another bag of the local pipe shops "Proper English" and asked if he had anything with more Latakia. I reached over and pulled out a large bag of Latakia and said that he could add as much as I wanted. I said for now I'll just use the Proper English, but it is good to know there is some customizing potential.

 

[Ryszard]

After 30 years, one of the blends i smoke regularly has been a mainstay since '99.

What blend is that, made me curious.

 

[dcicero]

I'm only in year two of smoking and already feel like you describe. I have about 6 blends I know I love. I have way more than that saved that I'll probably never get back to. There are a few I'd still like to try though. Mainly Esoterica, squadron leader Green, some mcclelland perhaps but likely not since I'm not spending asking price.

 

[jyrreb]

I truly envy those of you that have found your blend(s). I’ve been pipe smoking since 2017. Cigars (my first love) since 2013. I love variety with my cigars and hoped that when I started smoking a pipe I would find my one true blend to help stretch out my tobacco budget. Now I have about 10 lbs of my cellar that’s just blends I’ve tried a few times and like enough to jar the rest of the tin or blends that I’m going to try soon. I desperately wish I could get past this and have even just 10 blends I could stock up on by my sickness has no cure.

 

[ChuckMijo]

I only smoke 3 blends only. I have come to the conclusion I’m not chasing anything. I know what I like. The only odd ball out is Pembroke. I don’t smoke English blends but this is one I always buy when available. I may only smoke it a few times a year but it scratches that itch. HH Arcadian, Haddos delight, and dark twists.

 

[Grangerous]

Tonight, after Granger, I enjoyed a bowl of aged Dunhill MM965— because someone had posted about it—The power of suggestion. It’s a fantastic blend; but it’s not My blend. Nothing will ever taste as good to me or satisfy like a fresh bowl of Granger.

Tomorrow night, I’ll dip into some Acadian Perique—since @ChuckMijo just reminded me that I have some jarred.

I’m enjoying the 2nd bowl follow ups. The weather is pleasant. Great way to relax.

I say, get to know one of your favorite blends. Smoke it in your best pipes and let it open up to you. Most of us have found our companion tobaccos—we just didn’t get that memo.

 

[username]

I have a narrowed down my main staples to 4 blends. I’ll still sample others but those 4 are what I plan to focus the cellar on.

 

[anotherbob]

I like variety. I like being able to try different things sometimes and having choices when I feel like smoking a pipe. I don't need to try everything out there or fear missing out. I've missed out on somethings better then any pipe tobacco so.... But sometimes I feel like something light or something darker. However with snuff I've found my few favorites. The thing is it's not because I don't like other things it's just my nose agrees better with certain styles of snuff.

 

[PipesRock]

After smoking a pipe over a year now I'm certain I would be extremely pleased with only 6-8 blends for life. Unfortunately, the stress of picking them at this point might just end my life.

So on with variety for a while.

 

[anotherbob]

I truly envy those of you that have found your blend(s). I’ve been pipe smoking since 2017. Cigars (my first love) since 2013. I love variety with my cigars and hoped that when I started smoking a pipe I would find my one true blend to help stretch out my tobacco budget. Now I have about 10 lbs of my cellar that’s just blends I’ve tried a few times and like enough to jar the rest of the tin or blends that I’m going to try soon. I desperately wish I could get past this and have even just 10 blends I could stock up on by my sickness has no cure.

why? That is as silly as wishing for a million blends to try. I say enjoy every bit of it as it comes.

 

[irishearl]

I'm done with the searching myself. I primarily only smoke two tobaccos.

Yup. I've always only smoked 2 blends-at a time. There are only around half a dozen blends I like well enough to buy and I'll smoke 2 for x period of months til I crave a change and then buy 1 of the 6 to swap up.

 

[dcicero]

You buy a tin and let's say you like it well enough. Enough to smoke the whole thing? Maybe not. So, you either force it or store it. 2oz can be alot of something your just eh for, especially when you could be smoking something you know is satisfying to you. I have quite a bit of OGS for example tucked away from when I thought I liked it. I literally could never go back to it and be very happy. Funny thing is, maybe I'd like it today, but I almost don't want to. I want to just have a few that are great and be happy with them. Variety can be overwhelming to me. So, right now, I have St Bruno, Escudo, Ye Olde Signe, and either And So To Bed or Nightcap as my go to daily. I'll throw in a random bowl maybe from the stash to see if it tickles me or not, but those named scratch the itch everything. Oh yeah, who wants some OGS??

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I wish I could have placed an order for 250 tins of F&T CVP. And a couple others. Then I wouldn't have cellared as wide. OTOH, I'm totally enjoying a bowl of F&T CBP as I type this. It's kind of nice to pull something different out now and then.

 

[Scottishgaucho]

Anyone else share my sentiments?

Yes...although reading about blends I haven't had before on a pipe forum doesn't exactly help me.

If I'm being honest about it the lack of imported blends here made it an easy decision to make. Plus the inflated price of imported pipe tobacco you can get here puts me off sampling ones I haven't tried. Fortunately there are a few Argentine produced pipe tobaccos I really like. With them costing a quarter of the price of imported blends I shall continue to make do with them. ?

 

[jaytex1969]

June will make four years of pipe smoking for me. I came here from 3 decades of cigarettes and then a couple years of vaping.

I learned of the deeming regs from the vape crowd, where everyone on that forum was preparing their war chest for the long haul. So, I hit the ground running here and began the cellaring extravaganza. (I even still have 3 liters of pure nicotine in the freezer from the vape "cellaring")

My first acquisitions were like a shotgun pattern, getting some of everything that sounded good. From there, I began learning what I liked and going deeper in some areas. I determined early on that I like just about all non-aro's and a few aro's.

Without any additional purchases, I should be able to enjoy favorites and the occasional "new" blend from my own stock until my expiration date.

I consider the broad field of non-aromatics to be my "stand-by's"