Tobacco Recommendation in Europe

[TheCROW]

Hey All,
In my part of the world there is a small selection of tobaccos; mainly Mac Baren of which I tried the majority. My favorite is Scottish Mixture. There is also the ever present Captain Black and Borkum Riff, but those are not really interesting to me lol!

So now as I'm visiting in Europe, I'm trying to get some new (to me) tobaccos, maybe English blends. The first one I got was Peterson Early Morning Pipe, as I keep seeing it recommended here. I like it, it IS a bit mild but that's not a bad thing.
So as I was browsing every tobacco and pipe shop I could find, I saw mainly Peterson, Solani, Robert Mc Connell and Rattray's tobaccos till now. I would really appreciate some recommendations from you guys who are located here.

I really don't know about prices in EU but I've seen them the cheapest online in Germany, for example the 50g Peterson tin I got locally in the Netherlands cost me about 18 euros, while I see it online in Germany around 13... Are there any additional taxes on that?
I may go to Germany in the coming weeks, so would you advise me to buy locally from there? In case I don't go, can I buy it online and have it delivered to the Netherlands?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Esterval's (outside Hamburg) is the first name that comes to mind RE: Germany.

They're a favorite for a lot of State-side pipers because while the shipping is a big chunk, they have very competitive prices, so value can be found with quantity. But if you're going to be in Europe (or Germany even) then even more so they should be on the top of your list to check out.

Honestly they're all excellent and really just depends on your taste. I'm a big Solani fan (Silver Flake, Tropical Mango) and Rattray is another very popular blender - if you like Scottish Mixture maybe something like Highland Targe would tickle your fancy.

 

[TheCROW]

Thank you so much for your reply, I'll have to check it out.

 

[DanWil84]

If your order from Estervals you can get in about a week on your doorstep, I do that all the time. The Netherlands is A Expensive in tobacco and B for pipe tobacco barren like a desert. If you go to Germany you have generally 3 options I know off; in the North Estervals or TAK in Kiel (near the Danish border), in the west Peter Heinrichs (in Köln, West Germany) and Pfeifen Huber in Munich (South Germany).

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

If your order from Estervals you can get in about a week on your doorstep, I do that all the time. The Netherlands is A Expensive in tobacco and B for pipe tobacco barren like a desert. If you go to Germany you have generally 3 options I know off; in the North Estervals or TAK in Kiel (near the Danish border), in the west Peter Heinrichs (in Köln, West Germany) and Pfeifen Huber in Munich (South Germany).

I'd argue here a bit ,in comparison to what we got in Scandinavian countries ,Denmark included ,prices for Cigars and pipe and Rolling tobaccies in the Netherlands seem to be average,wheter is it or not 'a pipe tobacco desert is also questionable,since there are quite a many fine domestic Dutch blends which are not available elsewhere,to mention a few,Troost slices and Special Cavendish, Frische Heeren-Baai,Voortrekker.Stad Ootmarsun and of course Amphoras

 

[dPero]

Hu and DTM from estervals

 

[DanWil84]

I'd argue here a bit ,in comparison to what we got in Scandinavian countries ,Denmark included ,prices for Cigars and pipe and Rolling tobaccies in the Netherlands seem to be average,wheter is it or not 'a pipe tobacco desert is also questionable,since there are quite a many fine domestic Dutch blends which are not available elsewhere,to mention a few,Troost slices and Special Cavendish, Frische Heeren-Baai,Voortrekker.Stad Ootmarsun and of course Amphoras

Hi Paul, this is something we have discussed before, but for the sake of the topic; to my personal opinion Dutch pipe tobacco is truly inferior of quality compared to Danish (Amphora is Mac Baren now) or German manufacturers. That's my own opinion, which is the only thing i'm on expert on ?. Most considered Dutch blends are I believe STG blends nowadays which are not highly regarded. Only Stad Ootmarsum and Ootmarsum Extra Krul are produced in the Netherlands by Heupink&Bloemen in Ootmarsum (beautifull little town by the way!), but they make way more blends for their export market. It's not strange, because next to some members overhere @orlandofurioso @Pijproker @MacMarty89 we seem to be the only pipesmokers left in the Netherlands haha ?, but maybe they can chime in on this topic.

 

[DanWil84]

Edit; I have to edit my statement watching the tin of my Peterson tobacco.... But I think you catch my drift, there are a lot of over the counter tobacco's from STG that are not well received.

 

[kcghost]

We are familiar with STG (i.e. the company that butchered Escodo) so we don't need to rag on them.
There are a number of fine shops in Germany. I can thing of one that really trips my trigger and that is Peter Heinrich's. He has two shops in Germany.

 

[TheCROW]

Thank you so much for all your very informative replies!!!
As I was checking Esterval's shipping info, I read that they do not ship to Zone 1 which includes The Netherlands....
I think I might go to Köln for a quick visit so I might check out Peter Heinrichs, as Danwil advised.

 

[MacMarty89]

Hi Paul, this is something we have discussed before, but for the sake of the topic; to my personal opinion Dutch pipe tobacco is truly inferior of quality compared to Danish (Amphora is Mac Baren now) or German manufacturers. That's my own opinion, which is the only thing i'm on expert on ?. Most considered Dutch blends are I believe STG blends nowadays which are not highly regarded. Only Stad Ootmarsum and Ootmarsum Extra Krul are produced in the Netherlands by Heupink&Bloemen in Ootmarsum (beautifull little town by the way!), but they make way more blends for their export market. It's not strange, because next to some members overhere @orlandofurioso @Pijproker @MacMarty89 we seem to be the only pipesmokers left in the Netherlands haha ?, but maybe they can chime in on this topic.

Well, I don’t often smoke Dutch tobacco’s. I have tried Solani, Troost, and such. I’m not too fond of them. I don’t really care from what country the tobacco comes from. I have certain blends that like. Most of them are straight Virigina’s / VaPers / VaBurs though.

 

[luigi]

Besides MacBaren it's worth to check out HU Tobacco and Motzek-TAK blends.

 

[B18]

In Dusseldorf there is Pipe-republic. They have a very decent selection of tobacco.