Quality/Cheap Tobacco Brands

[piperatthegatesofdawn]

Thank you

 

[shayde]

I've ordered a few aromatics, but it seems many on this forum recommend starting out with English blends. I thought aromatics would be more palatable at first (and help appease my wife when she learns of my new 'hobby').

You can definitely start on whatever you want. Aro’s are where I started and I’ve only recently started with English blends. I honestly think the best way to start would be grab a cob (for trying blends), find a tin of well regarded tobacco of each blend (VA, VaPers, English, Balkan, something with a nice splash of orientals, something with Kentucky, Aromatic), and then just take some time to smoke each. If you don’t like a blend, cellar it and try again in the future. If you find a blend you find yourself smoking more than the others, go find other blends of the same nature.
You could obviously shrink the amount of options to just like a nice English, Virginia, and a popular Aro if you want. The more of each you get, the more of each style you will experience. Not all blends are created equal, even if they have the same ingredients.

 

[shanez]

Some may consider Sutliff, Lane, Newminster, Stokkebye, etc. who primarily sell bulk tobacco as being lower quality. Some would potentially be overlooking some really nice blends if they do that.

^^^^This. I've got some Sutliff Sweet VA that I jarred around 8 months or so ago that is just fantastic right now.

 

[mso489]

Reviews by experienced pipe smokers like our own jiminks can help a lot. Read the Forums thread "What Are You Smoking," for a good range of what people are enjoying or at least trying. Refer to the online retail pipe tobacco pages to get a range on the different genres, brands, and pricing. If you find blends or single leaf at a good price that you really enjoy, don't worry about the snobbery factor. Just enjoy the smoking and the price break. In modest pricing, Sutliff bulk and tins offer some good blends, as does Lanes, and C&D bulk and tins. Daughters and Ryan do a tasty line of pipe tobaccos. PC's Home and Hearth series has a wide range of moderately priced tobaccos. And so on. Shop around a lot without buying too much. Buy in small quantities, even when you like something. Your tastes will change.

 

[nunnster]

For brands that I personally enjoy that you can get for cheap, I dont believe you can go wrong with PS. I dont think he has a blend out there that's over 7 dollars an oz (and that's expensive, it's more like 5), and everything I've had with his name attached to it has been pretty decent. As for what you should start with, I think most pipe smokers started with some sort of aromatic. I know I did, and primarily for a couple years that's all I would smoke. And there isnt anything wrong with that...but that being said, a reason why alot of the more seasoned pipe smokers will tell new guys to start with English blends is because they are easier to smoke and learn with, and will be more for giving on the mouth and tounge. Pipe smoking isnt like lightning a cigarette or smoking a cigar, or much anything else, there is a bit of a large learning curve. And While learning, aromatics are quite honestly difficult. It's hard to learn how to pack, tamp, light, and find a nice rhythm and cadence with an aromatic, becuase alot of them tend to be dense, hard to keep lit and easy to push to hard and ruin your bowl of tobacco. When I began many moons ago, I spent months frustrated that at about half way through my bowl I would loose flavor and it would quickly turn to tasting like crap and I would push it and have to dump it. All Symptoms of going to hard, to fast and improper packing. Aromatics tend to be a little more wet as well, and they are hard to dry. So you dont really get a feel for how dry your tobacco should be, because alot of them will never get there. And dont get me started on tounge bite. An inexperienced smoker struggling with tounge bite after every bowl, and not understanding why will quickly lead to someone who tied a pipe but couldn't get into it. But on the positive side of starting with aromatics, if even for a little while. Once you're able to get a fairly decent smoke out of them and decide to branch out to the wider world of tobacco, you will have no trouble. It might take a small amount of trail and error before you get that perfect zen moment and the perfect bowl, but you will be in front of the power curve. And another positive, once you decide to go back and try aromatics again (as most do after exploring) you will find that because of your knowledge that they become much more satisfying and pick up flavors you didnt know were there before

 

[michiganlover]

Lane, Peter Stokabye, Newminister, and Sutliff all make some good quality bulks that are well regarded by many such as:
Lane 1Q

Lane BCA

Lane Dark Red (one of the few palatable cherry blends)

Lane BS-005

Lane Crown Achievement

Lane Medal of Valor

PS English Oriental Supreme

PS Luxury Navy Flake

PS Luxury Twist Flake

PS Luxury Bullseye Flake

PS Cube Cut

Newminster Superior Navy Flake

Newminister Superior Round Slices

Sutliff Edgeworth Ready Rub Match

Sutliff Old Professor

Sufliff Revelation Match
There are plenty of choices to keep you busy for a long time!

 

[michiganlover]

Also worth noting, just about all bulks by the major vendors I would consider to be budget friendly, as they are only typically $2-$4 an ounce; I only smoke about a bowl a day so an ounce of tobacco will last me weeks.
So if you figure an ounce lasts for 14 bowls worth of smoking, and it costs $4 an ounce, that is only .29 cents a bowl! That should hardly break the bank for even the most budget conscious among us.

 

[chopper]

I've bought quite a few Sutliff bulk blends and they're all good.

I've only bought the three Peter Stokkebye Luxury Flakes and they're amongst my favourite blends.

 

[thebigragu]

Sadly McClellans whent out. When I first got into pipes I got a sampler of all the Frog morton series and learend what I likedfrom them

 

[anotherbob]

pipes are about enjoying tobacco. Doesn't matter what other people think of a blend (well if your wife hates how you smell that's a different story, she has to live with you.). From my experience few blends are horrible but I wouldn't buy them again. But really the only way to find what you like is put it in a pipe and smoke it. I'd say get a few of every style going by your gut. After that find reviews that seem to agree with you and try other things they recommend. I hated English for a long time until I revisited it and found out I love latakia just not when it's a shovel to the face like the first English blends I tried. I think there are great aromatics. I hate most lane as they just have a weird taste to me. I rarely like pouched tobacco, yet love Five Brothers which is a cheap pouch tobacco. Wait it's a favorite of mine. Pipes are kind of like sex, just cause everyone else seems to like something doesn't mean you will. And it doesn't matter how something sounds the bottom line is how satisfied you are after trying it. For example there are blends I keep around and only get an urge for every few months, but when I want that blend that's the only thing that will do it.

 

[mso489]

Take your time. Don't go hog wild, or you'll end up storing a bunch of blends that don't please you. And don't assume spending more will have the best results. Some of the old blends sell well over a long period of time because they're good. Don't chase the perfect smoke ... well not obsessively though we all do that. Enjoy each step. Sometimes you can raise an ordinary blend to good by mixing blends, a few bowls in a ceramic bowl, for example. It's about enjoyment, so keep that focus.

 

[logs]

Truthfully, none of the major pipe tobacco manufactures really deal in low quality tobacco. Lane and Sutlif are two of the biggest and while pipe affionados might grouse about some of their popular aromatics, it's not really because they're using garbage tobacco. It's more a matter of taste than anything else. Sure, there's cheap tobacco out there. The "extra value" blends that you see at truck stops in one pound bags are probably questionable quality. But even then... someone must like that stuff or they wouldn't be selling it. In any event, most beginners aren't going to understand or enjoy the blends that experienced smokers on a forum like this one go crazy over. No one here is going to rave about Captain Black Grape but that doesn't mean you might not like it. There's a learning curve involved. Just start experimenting. It will take a while to determine what you like and don't like.

 

[philairfoil]

McClintock is a cigarette tobac disguised as pipe, in my experience. It is cheap, tho'...do what ya gotta do, taste is subjective.

 

[thefishguy]

And down the rabbit hole you go.....

 

[milehighpiper]

I came late to the party but my advice is to take your time and buy only a few blends at a time. I went crazy and purchased a bunch of blends (from an unnamed company) and began to try them. To my surprise, I am not a fan of their aromatics but really like their english blends. I also went from smoking mostly aromatics to enjoying mostly english blends. It took me a whole year to find my top 3 blends (still available) and now I have a tub full of tobacco that I don’t even want to try because my go-to stuff is perfect.
One of my favorite english blends is John Bull’s Royal English (~$5 and sometimes $3 on sale). Comes in a pouch and is inexpensive but it is a great blend!

 

[anotherbob]

question for the Original poster, is your name from one of the great albums?