The First Blend That Got You Into Pipe Smoking

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Jun 23, 2019
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Like I always say when this topic comes up, for some reason people tend to steer beginners towards jaw-lockingly sweet aromatics, whereas, I believe something with hint of latakia or perique better demonstrate the joys of pipe smoking.

My first smoke was some generic vanilla drenched B&M aromatic, but it wasn't years later when I tried Elizabethan Mixture and/or Nightcap did I really get that "AHA moment" with pipes,
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,812
29,654
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I agree with you,but it makes me sad that this art is lost in a few more years..........
it's not going to be lost unless people lose interest in it. Frankly I think it's at the start of a possible resurgency. If things go right and we play it right this whole pipe smoking thing can grow. Ironically it seems like corona has created a ton of new pipe smokers. We get a few here every week. One thing I've been thinking about is one great reason for all of us to play nice here and not talk about political things here (two not quite the same things) is we're kind of ambassadors of this art form. More people take it up whether we agree with them our not is going to be a healthy thing for pipe smokings growth.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,812
29,654
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Like I always say when this topic comes up, for some reason people tend to steer beginners towards jaw-lockingly sweet aromatics, whereas, I believe something with hint of latakia or perique better demonstrate the joys of pipe smoking.

My first smoke was some generic vanilla drenched B&M aromatic, but it wasn't years later when I tried Elizabethan Mixture and/or Nightcap did I really get that "AHA moment" with pipes,
Tradition is funny it can be wonderful and it can also be a boulder tied around one's neck in the ocean. I think the starting on aromatics thing goes back a long way when most people trying pipe smoking where probably at most in their early 20s. You know people who most likely still liked kids things. I think we should be more like wine people. They don't suggest one type of wine for beginners they have a whole list based on what the person already likes and what they plan to do with the wine (how and why they're drinking and what they're eating, if you say you want a glass to unwind and savor or you say you're having friends over and want to split a few bottles and get cross eyed etc... they have several for a beginner) not just one set. That's what I think.
 

JOHN72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2020
5,140
51,685
51
Spain - Europe
I remember those terrible flavored cigarrettes,vanilla and caramel.I never bought them.I started directly in the year 95 with Partagas and H Upmann small......I think we have to start with the highest possible,and leave the candy for the kids..........Yes you really like real tobacco........I started with english mixtures and some virginias.And I'm still away from the aromatic..................Partagas_Mini_2.jpg208152697_214736280_tcimg_FDF7C689.jpg0730-Partagas Cuban Minis 20.jpg
 
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JOHN72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2020
5,140
51,685
51
Spain - Europe
I remember those terrible flavored cigarrettes,vanilla and caramel.I never bought them.I started directly in the year 95 with Partagas and H Upmann small......I think we have to start with the highest possible,and leave the candy for the kids..........Yes you really like real tobacco........I started with english mixtures and some virginias.And I'm still away from the aromatic..................View attachment 57800View attachment 57801View attachment 57802
Only been with pipe tobacco for one year..............And I am in love with this art..............
 
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Spinkle

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 16, 2019
892
5,951
42
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dunhill MyMixture 965. Funny as I don't care much for Latakia at all any more. It was sold to me at the suggestion of a local tobacconist, after he let me smell his tin. We can't get samples in Ontario, but the smell convinced me to try it out, and I was hooked from that point. I had no idea that pipe smoking could be so much more than the Captain Black my father used to smoke.
 

stokesdale

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 17, 2020
845
2,532
Stokesdale
A "first blend" didn't really "get me into" pipe smoking, it was more the fact that pretty much all my male ancestors smoked a pipe that got me into it. My first blend wasn't a blend at all, it was simply dried ribbon cut leaf from nearby tobacco farms.
 
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heathandleaf

Might Stick Around
Aug 29, 2020
66
651
Tennessee
It wasn't the first blend I smoked, nor the first tin, but Dan's Devil's Holiday was distinctly different from other tinned blends I tried. To my recollection, it was the blend that really piqued my interest in the variety/quality that was possible versus random (renamed) B&M blends. Though I don't particularly enjoy Dan's DH anymore, I credit it for my current TAD. Though not as cost-effective, there is an experience with tinned blends I find more satisfying than with bulk. Perhaps the artwork/label? Perhaps it's the satisfaction of hearing the vacuum seal break...
 

PipeDad33

Starting to Get Obsessed
Dec 27, 2020
115
462
Kansas
My first was Carter Hall. It wasn't great, but not bad either. It was just enough for me to dip my toes into pipe smoking, that was about 2 weeks ago. Since then, I got a few aromatic blends. Now I'm just waiting for my non-aromatics to come in.
 

danimalia

Lifer
Sep 2, 2015
4,385
26,442
41
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
I'd had a few bowls of different things but nothing that really grabbed me until a former co-worker shared a bowl of McC Bombay Court with me. That one really intrigued me and within the following month I bought tins of Frog's Cellar and Maltese Falcon and loved both, and I was off to the races from there.
 

pipenphysics

Lurker
Dec 18, 2020
2
3
22
I remember when I turned 18 I started working on my own(which made me financially independent somehow).
But That was somehow difficult for me to handle because when I was in high school I used to go with my little group of friends to cafes and parties, So I started to think of a habit to fill my lack of social presence and that's how I started pipe smoking. I went to a local store in my town, And I bought a pack of gold captain black pipe tobacco and a beautiful gold metal clipper lighter. in case of pipe I used my older brother's old pipe. And the whole experience was awesome.
 

scottbtdmb

Can't Leave
Apr 14, 2012
367
6,029
Started smoking a pipe in early 2009, and like most, I started out with aromatics recommended by my local B&M. About a month or two later, I went down to the older Faders in Baltimore and noticed some tins I had never seen or heard of. Picked up a tin of Butera Matured Ribbon and also bought an estate Estella 316EX. I still remember cracking the tin that night and being greeted by that fantastic fermented Virginia tobacco smell. Loaded up my newly purchased pipe and spent the next 45 min in pure bliss. I wish I had the foresight to load up my cellar with this blend, as it always remained a fave!

-Scott
 
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