My B&M is about a 40 minute drive. On the one hand, I like going there because it's a great atmosphere and the people there are extremely friendly and knowledgeable. On the other hand, their pipe tobacco selection is somewhat scarce, but they do offer just about every kind of Dunhill tobacco you can find, so I like stocking up on my EMP and Nightcap while I am there. He also gives me five free boxes of matches every time I make a purchase, which is nice. They also offer a very nice smoking lounge with big leather couches and a big screen TV, and it's nice to sit in there and have a smoke with the locals. I buy most of my tobacco online though, because as I said, local selection is scarce. The only issue I have ever had with tobacco buying online was a tin of MacBaren Black Ambrosia that I bought from smokingpipes.com once that wasn't sealed properly and was about a year and a half old. When I popped it open, the tobacco was way dry and tasted like ammonia smells. I emailed smokingpipes.com about it and they let me return the tin and credited my account since they had no more tins in stock and I didn't really want anything else. If you want atmosphere, hit up a B&M if you can. Online usually offers much better prices, greater selection than most local shops, and if you order from a site sponsor it is almost impossible to go wrong with anything you get.
