Tobacco for New Smokers

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Jun 18, 2020
3,800
13,540
Wilmington, NC
Carter Hall, Chatham Manor for the OTC blends. Then maybe a good English/Balkan blend like C&D Byzantium.
I would avoid the aromatics for until you are comfortable smoking those tobaccos. Aromatics can be overly moist and problematic for newer smokers. But, YMMV. Everyone is different.

The OTC burley blends are easy to smoke and are forgiving if your technique id not spot on. The English blends will give you a lot of flavor (which is what a lot of new smokers are chasing).

Just smoke slow and make sure your tobacco is dried out, but not crispy.
 

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,700
16,209
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
What kind of tobacco--category, brand, or specific flavor--would you recommend to new smokers?
Anything you find pleasing to your palate would be my advice. It's an enjoyable search for the right blend(s) and you palate is different than mine so .. set out to find what is most enjoyable and provides the experience you desire.
 

Sanzini

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 14, 2021
144
1,606
Bristow, VA
This question comes up all the time eh?

I'll link to another thread on here where I made a list... (which I might change or edit if I were to post it today).

Essentially, try to identify the genres of tobacco that exist and work your way through tasting all of them. Then hone.
Thanks for this - will read with interest. I'm sure many of the same questions are repeated ad nauseam. Thanks for indulging mine.
 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
Carter Hall, Chatham Manor
When I first started, I tried so hard to buck this recommendation, and then struggled to enjoy a pipe through numerous more prestigious blends. I started in 2008, didn't try CH until 2017! Damn I am stubborn.

Think of these like learning to drive in a Ford Escort. Easy, undemanding of your attention. It's not exciting or flashy, but you still learn to drive. Better than hopping straight into dads lambo and wrapping it around a light pole in the mall parking lot.
Weirdly enough, I still prefer the CH Ford Escort..
 
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Sanzini

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 14, 2021
144
1,606
Bristow, VA
When I first started, I tried so hard to buck this recommendation, and then struggled to enjoy a pipe through numerous more prestigious blends. I started in 2008, didn't try CH until 2017! Damn I am stubborn.

Think of these like learning to drive in a Ford Escort. Easy, undemanding of your attention. It's not exciting or flashy, but you still learn to drive. Better than hopping straight into dads lambo and wrapping it around a light pole in the mall parking lot.
Weirdly enough, I still prefer the CH Ford Escort..
Thanks for this. I'm certainly not too proud to drive an Escort. :)
 

STP

Lifer
Sep 8, 2020
4,104
9,547
Northeast USA
I started w/Captain Black, and other OTC brands, but that doesn’t mean they were the best. Now, I’d probably sample several of the bulk blends in 1-2 oz. bags, which are reasonably priced. My taste has changed, and will probably continue to change. So, what you liked yesterday may be diffident than what you like tomorrow, although I still like Captain Black… on occasion ?
 

Sanzini

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 14, 2021
144
1,606
Bristow, VA
I started w/Captain Black, and other OTC brands, but that doesn’t mean they were the best. Now, I’d probably sample several of the bulk blends in 1-2 oz. bags, which are reasonably priced. My taste has changed, and will probably continue to change. So, what you liked yesterday may be diffident than what you like tomorrow, although I still like Captain Black… on occasion ?
Now don't take this the wrong way, because--hi, I know nothing--but when I think of Captain Black I think drug store junk. Am I way off? Should I give it a chance?
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Real easy to learn on would be Sir Walter Raleigh regular, Chatham Manor (a Carter Hall match), and maybe Amphora Virginia. Take it slow. Don't buy a lot of anything for about two years, since your taste will change. Save in a jar anything you don't like and try it in a year or so. Mainly, enjoy it, take your time, no one is giving a grade.
 

STP

Lifer
Sep 8, 2020
4,104
9,547
Northeast USA
Now don't take this the wrong way, because--hi, I know nothing--but when I think of Captain Black I think drug store junk. Am I way off? Should I give it a chance?
Some detest it, and consider it to be junk food, but it has remained one of the best-selling pipe tobacco brands in the world for 50 yrs, so someone is smoking it ? Lane Limited 1-Q, compared to CB Royal, and Lane RLP-6, compared to CB Original, are often preferred.
 
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Kal

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 1, 2021
235
1,853
63
Misplaced Texan, in Ohio
I ordered about 15 1oz-2oz bags of various aromatic and english. Then asked for some suggestions for english blends. The responses were great.
In the process I found 3 I really like. There is so many to pick from. ?

Aromatic I gave up when one brand tasted like a darn twinky.
I ate every one of them in the house. Lol
 
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Dudditz

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 3, 2021
623
1,315
New Jersey
Have you tried anything that you like yet? Did you try and English that was good or an OTC that caught your fancy like Half and Half? Aromatics can be a bit tough on the tongue bite wise, but a heavier English with mare Latakia may not, but...the flavor can be too much for some...The answer to your question has lots of possibilities. So as a suggestion:
Lanes 1-Q Get two oz and try it (Very popular all day blend)
Mac Baren 7 Seas Red (A gentle aromatic with some cherry in it)
Presbyterian (Nice English intro)
Peterson Mixture 965 (A bit stronger English)
C&D Bayou Nights (Heavy duty - I think- spicy perique blend)

Just a few thoughts. Good luck and enjoy the experiment. There are no right or wrong suggestions.