Question For The Long Time Pipe Smokers

[KingPiper]

What’s up fellow pipe smokers. I usually stay pretty quiet on the forum but this Alaskan winter is giving me a lot of time on my hands so I figure I’ve got time to ask a question I have been wondering about.

I have been smoking a pipe for about a year and a half and I have already seen my taste change for a few blends in that time. Some of the blends I loved at first I stocked up on and now have little interest in (looking at you Epiphany). Now when I stock up any blend that I love at the moment I wonder if I will continue to enjoy those blends the same in the future. This led me to wondering what some of the blends that you more experienced gentleman and ladies have been smoking for many years that your tastes have never changed for?

I am sure I will get a lot of Carter Hall and Prince answers here which is totally understandable seeing as they have remained a staple on the market for so long.

So fire away if you care to share.

Also if you could add how long you have been smoking the blends you name and/or if there have been many changes to said blends in the time you have been smoking them that would be great.

Thanks, I am looking forward to reading what you have to say.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I've been smoking a pipe for about 10 years now, so I don't know if you consider that a long time pipe smoker.

There have certainly been blends come and go. For example, I used to smoke way more Latakia than I do now. I still keep a little bit on hand for those times the mood strikes me, but it may only be once or twice a month these days.

There are some blends that I have been smoking almost since the beginning.
SG Full Virginia Flake and St. James Flake blew my socks off the first time I smoked them (probably 8-9 years ago). I still love the taste of both and keep both on hand.
I tried Rattray's Hal o the Wynd around the same time, and it's still a staple.
Peterson Irish Flake and Solani Aged Burley Flake are 2 burley blends that I loved from first light, and still do.
I tried C&D Autumn Evening (the only aromatic I like) about 5-6 years ago and still love it.
Dunhill/Peterson Elizabethan Mixture and Royal Yacht are the same. Still love them.

My tastes changed a little, but I started loving Virginias and Virginia/Periques very early in my smoking journey and the blend types I like haven't changed. I did go through a period of time where Virginias started giving me tongue bite and I had to lay off them and concentrate on Burley blends for a while, but my love for them never waned.

 

[Philosophical Smoke]

Bayou Morning Flake for me. It was amazing the first time I tried it that has never changed.

 

[Briarcutter]

I've been smoking a pipe for 40+ years. Tastes come and go for me. Today's can't live without blend can be on the back shelf tomorrow. Blends come and go also. Scottish Nuns was my every day smoke, gone now. Blends come and go, I just have to readjust and find a new favorite. My favorite has changed many times, sometimes out of necessity because a blend has disappeared or because my taste has changed. Something I have learned and has taken place many times is just because I don't like a blend today doesn't mean I wont like it tomorrow. Sometimes Latakia, sometimes Virginia usually Perique in the mix but lately burley. The beauty of pipe smoking is the choices available. Even the same blend in different pipes can sing a unfamiliar tune.

 

[Jacob74]

Pembroke was the first English blend that really got my attention, and I'm still very fond of it. However, it's hard to come by at reasonable rates, so I treat my hoard sparingly. As far as more commonly available blends go that I haven't changed in affection for, I suppose Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic is the most enduring.

 

[warren]

Three Star Blue for over fifty years. My palate has certainly changed over the years as expected. And, the blend changed a bit over the seasons as the tobaccos change. Nothing I can do anything about nor the purveyors of the blends. Natural products are at the mercy of the dirt, rain, heat and such. No different than apples, beef and such.It's the nature of what are basically natural products. Only so much can be done through processing to maintain continuity. One's palate can change daily because of illness and diet. It will change, for most, drastically over the decades.

There are no "constants" I'm aware of.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Straight orientals and deertongue blends.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

My tastes evolved to straight Virginias and have remained there. I like other blends just not as much.

 

[LeafErikson]

I’ve smoked a pipe for about 5 years. The blends that I have always liked from the first puff include Pegasus, Opening Night, Bayou Morning Flake, and Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic.

 

[PaulRVA]

This Summer will be 40 years but only the last 5 have been with a pipe full time.
So based on these last 5 years for me it’s Vapers, Virginias, Lakelands and English Blends in that order.
My taste changes all the time and especially with English Blends as I’m either into them or I switch off for awhile and simply can’t stand them.
My two constants are Vapers and Virginias.

 

[Dave760]

40+ years here. I started out with a aromatics, then left those behind when I discovered Latakia blends, then switched over to Virginia-based blends, then burley blends...and eventually got to the point where I enjoy just about anything. An awful lot of what I enjoyed in the past is long gone, but I'm glad I held on to everything I'd squirreled away once the years.

Smoke what you like, but unless you get to the point with a blend that you actually dislike it, I'd counsel holding on to what you've already purchased. When I tired of Latakia I considered selling off the Latakia blends from my cellar. I am so very glad I didn't.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Been smoking a pipe for about 14 years now. Over that time my palate has changed some. I've also learned that smoking certain tobaccos in certain pipes makes a big difference. For example I'm not a huge Burley fan, but I do enjoy them in my cobs; where as, if I smoke them in my briar I don't.

My go to blends are Balkan/English blends, and some of my favorites that have never disappointed me are McClelland - Balkan Blue, Dunhill - Early Morning Pipe, Samuel Gawith - Skiff Mixture, Perfection, SPC - Plum Pudding, Mississippi River, Peter Stokkebye - Balkan Supreme, Proper English.

 

[troutface]

unless you get to the point with a blend that you actually dislike it, I'd counsel holding on to what you've already purchased.

This. It will take some years to figure out if you're the type that is happy with one or only a few blends or if you crave variety. I typically have over 60 tins open at any time.

 

[K.E. Powell]

I've been smoking pipe for about five years now. Not a long time by any stretch, but I'm not a neophyte either. I always counsel new smokers to try a variety of blends and to not worry about stocking up for the first couple of years. Your tastes can and will likely change, but more importantly, you can't truly know what you like until you, well, tried it; and pipe tobacco offers a stunning variety. It's one of my favorite things about my favorite vice. When I first started, I hated latakia. Now, I enjoy it, though I smoke English blends only intermittently.

To answer your question, for me, certain burley-forward blends have been favorites from the beginning and have remained so. The old Runowski blends and stout DFK aromatics (e.g. War Horse, Rum Flake) in particular are always in rotation. Will that always be the case? I don't know, but after half a decade, I feel pretty fine about stocking up on Haunted Bookshop, whereas with blends I am less familiar with I tend to only buy a tin or two. If I finish my stock and find myself hankering for more, I know I got somethin that is more than a curiosity or change of pace, and is worth keeping in rotation.

 

[OzPiper]

Tastes change.

When I got back to pipes 5 years ago, I smoked mainly Latakia and Oriental blends.
I still like them, but smoke mainly Virginia, VaPers and burley blends now.

I have rediscovered a love of Mixture 79 which I used to smoke in the 70-80s. So that remains constant

 

[tschiraldi]

I never liked traditional aromatics. I started on English / Balkan blends. Years ago my tastes shifted to Virginias. PS Luxury Twist Flake, F&T Cut Blended Plug and Vintage, Reiner Long Golden Flake have been staples for at least 10 years now and I don’t think that will change, but you never know. There are others like McClelland 40th Anniversary that are gone forever, so…

 

[VDL_Piper]

If it starts with T and ends with acco I’m all over it, one of the best simple pleasures known to man. My palate changes with the seasons, Sumer it’s virginias and winter it’s the English/Balkans and I like burley and va/per’s anytime.

 

[Snook]

I've smoked for maybe 12 or 13 years now. I found Half & Half during year two and to this day I consider it my defining smoke. I have many other blends of higher quality which I always enjoy, but to Half & Half I will always return.

I'm a simple man with simple tastes and I enjoy H&H because it gets the job done, it's always enjoyable, and it's a no fuss experience.

 

[KingPiper]

Straight orientals and deertongue blends.

I am currently working through a few ounces of Shandygaff. My first taste of orientals and I really like the tase but this blend really burns fast. About an oz and half into it and I think I finally figured out how to pack it. Looking to try more oriental in the future.

I tried crooner and I loved the smell and the ghost it left in my cob but man it makes me nauseous. I put it away for another day but I don’t know if deertongue is for me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Shandygaff

Never really cared for orientals when mixed with other tobacco. It dilutes them too much.