Recommendations for cigar smoker

[cauffrey]

Hello to all-
Just bought my first couple corn cobs & looking for a suggestion on tobacco. I am a cigar smoker, mostly Dominican & Nicaraguan leaf / brands. Read somewhere that the mild aromatics would not be so good for me. True? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers-
Chris

 

[cauffrey]

Oops, sorry for double post. Poor first impression........

 

[lordofthepiperings]

First off two major points, one- everyone's taste buds are different and two- there is no pipe tobacco that is similar to cigars.
Having said that I will note that from what I've seen in the pipe world it seems that more often people who come to pipes from cigars tend to get more into the English/Balkan blends.
My advice to anyone though is give every style of blending a try. Pick up a straight Virginia, an English, a Balkan, an Aromatic, a Burley, and a Virginia Perique. Don't give up on the pipe before trying each style. You can find sample packs at the various online vendors who are sponsors here.

 

[gray4lines]

Hey,
I am a cigar smoker too! You just may enjoy aromatics... pipe tobacco's are pretty different than cigars. I enjoy mostly virginia's (Virginia flakes, Va's and perique...) and they are generally regarded as being mild(er) and sweet.
What are some brands of cigars that you like?

 

[northernneil]

Being that cigars tend to be natural tobacco, no additives, you might be right by assuming that you won't like aro's because those are usually loaded with varying additives. English style tobaccos would be a great place to start. One specific recommendation I would make is the MacBaren HH Acadian Perique. To my tastes, very similar to a cigar in that the natural tobacco flavor is the highlight of the blend.
Welcome and enjoy the ride!

 

[johnnyiii]

Yea, but as a cigarette smoker I absolutely love the change to something like an aro. Like the amaretto amore tasting so creamy and coffee like, or simply nuts smelling soooo good in the bag. And your room or house actually not smelling like a88. The first time I puffed on something that tasted like chocolate, I said yummm for half an hour. Cant get that from a cigarette or cigar.
Others would say this is wrong though, but I say toss the cobb and atleast get a dr grabow from the drug store to try. They are cheep there, and to me at least give you a better tasting smoke no matter what tobacco you try. When I had only two pipes and they got wore out from over smoking, I tried a cobb as a tide me over. I bought it, packed and smoked it on the way home, and it is now as far as I could chuck it from my front door to my woods. Tasted like cob with ever puff, and not a true representation of pipe smoking in my opinion. Many though here will disagree.

 

[cauffrey]

Thanks, great advice. I will have one pipe dedicated to just smoking cigar tobacco, though. I roll my own and have lots of scrap.

 

[onepyrotec]

I have been rolling and smoking cigars for years and smoking a pipe for almost as long. If you want a pipe, why would you want it to be like a cigar? You will be pretty limited in tobaccos to pick from. A pipe is a pipe, enjoy it for what it is. Putting cigar clippings in a pipe, you will be truly disappointed IMHO.
At Johnny...yes you can get some of those flavors out of cigars.

 

[spartan]

I would say go straight for the Newminsters Superior Round Slices. You can thank me later. My fav cigar is Alec Bradley's Black Market.
Also when I get the urge to smoke a cigar I always try to keep a corn cob with me because the small bowl size fits most of my cigars perfectly. So when the cigar is down to the butt I shove it in the pipe and enjoy the rest of the smoke. Once you put it in a pipe it lasts much longer. I got 45 minutes or so out of the butt of my cigar after I've already been smoking the thing for 40 minutes.
I'm not crazy I swear. Been enjoying the pipe hobby for about two and a half years now. I think everyone who smokes cigars should try shoving the butt into a corn cob and continue smoking it at least once.

If you're too embarrassed then you will have to wait until you can enjoy it amongst true friends who you can be a bit wacky with.
Happy smoking and welcome to the forums. This is truly a great place, if you dont mind the crazies.

 

[dd50]

I have been a cigar smoker for nearly 20 years and still love my full-flavored maduro wrapped Nicaraguan blends, and I almost exclusively smoke aromatic pipe tobacco. I can't stand latakia, so all those "stronger" blends are out for me. It has been recommended by other cigar smokers on the forum to try a VA/Perique blend like Escudo, which has been described as having a spicier taste, but I have yet to try any of these blends because I love my aros so much, haha.

 

[redbeard]

You may like to try a blend that has cigar leaf as one of its ingredients... If I'm not mistaken there are a few Mc Clellland blends that have just that.

 

[tanless1]

I also smoke cigars,and really enjoy GLP key largo. I'm still searching for that blend that most closely resembles a padron....but no luck yet.

 

[cauffrey]

I'm not looking for a pipe blend to replicate a cigar, just pointing out that I will pipe smoke the scraps of my cigars.
I believe I will get a wide range of samples as recommended & go from there. Appears pipe tobacco, like wine, is a personal taste thing. Wish I could remember what my Dad smoked long ago, it smelled so wonderful.
Just picked up some Lane 1Q & RLP-6 from my local store. Let's see where this takes me.
Cheers!
Chris

 

[cobguy]

First thing first ... welcome to the fray!
OK, secondly, do NOT dismiss the cobs. A good Washington or Country Gentleman from MM will treat you right.

Does the first or second bowl full have a slight "cob" flavor ... maybe. I actually enjoy breaking a new one in but, then again, I was raised surrounded by corn fields.
As for the tobacco, what has been said already is true. Your not going to get a cigar experience from a pipe. That's why many of us still maintain a small humidor (tupper-dore in my case). I just nubbed a Sancho Panza yesterday while working on a freehand pipe.
The 1Q and RLP-6 are a good start and both aromatics. I highly recommend picking up a pouch of Carter Hall or Prince Albert and getting to know the pipe first. Learn how to pack it properly, how to sip instead of puff, how to lightly tamp at the right times and keep that bowl going for up to an hour. CH and PA are both Burley blends and have a nice nutty / cereal type of flavor without so much sweetness.
Good Luck!

 

[trucha]

I would second what LOTPR said above. Try one of each genre and see what you like. That being said, I have tried a few cigar blends. Mostnofnthhem seem to contain Latakia which You may or may not like. If you want one without much Latakia I would recommend H&H stogie. It is by far my favorite blend containing cigar leaf. And is the only one I've tried that I would purchase again. Also if you do smoke cigar blends you REALLY have to sip slowly because any hard puffing will sour it immediately. I've smoked all mine in a cob.

 

[mso489]

You might want to try sampler packs. 4noggins.com has good sampler packs that offer 1 ounce

portions of each tobacco, so you don't end up with quantities of tobacco you don't like.

As an aside, I used to smoke cigars and thought the Dominicans were the best, better than the

Cubans I was able to try outside the U.S. I'm not sure I'd recommend your trying tobaccos with

cigar leaf, in making the transition from cigars to pipe. However, the most interesting blend I've

seen that includes cigar leaf is the Indonesian tobacco Tambolaka which I've only seen offered

at 4noggins, that features cigar leaf; it's really strong (I think) so might not be a great choice for

a new pipe smoker. Maybe later for that.

 

[branzig]

I am fairly new and haven't tried a ton of blends yet, but as a cigar smoker I have found that nothing comes close yet to Sam Gawith Full Virgina Flake to that pure tobacco flavor, and if you are a fan of sweet med-full body cigars (thinking CAO, Cru-Royale, etc) then you will love this flake.
Leaves that wonderful, unadulterated tobacco taste in your mouth and has some real sugar to boot.

 

[undecagon]

Key Largo! It's excellent.
http://www.glpease.com/Tobacco/Heirloom/index.html

 

[andmer]

Definitely agree with the Key Largo posters. Its fantastic. I'm a cigar smoker too trying to get my bearings in pipe world and its a fantastic smoke.

 

[chops]

Spartan, I will have to try that cigar-in-the-cob thing. I have always been disappointed at the end of my cigar smoking that I have to throw away all that tobacco.