Tobacco Recommendations for a Beginner.

[PipeIT]

Be sure to look back over my last reply, I was editing it a few times.

As the expression goes; ‘There’s More Than One Way To Skin A Cat’. LOL ?

Meaning there are so many ways to go about this.

Hopefully most will agree, that first, if you are struggling with distinguishing tobacco, it might be best to smoke more of the Straighter Blends out there at first, to start noticing their tastes first, and understanding them, then going from there.

So as an example you grab an English blend, there could be 4-5 different types of tabac that make up that blend, and in the beginning you might be like, what the heck is this yuck, or yummy I like it.

The only reason I say to go about it this way is because you aren’t noticing the difference between blends you are trying.

Be sure to type in Google the blend you are looking for, and if a site selling it doesn’t give a breakdown in the tabac types in the blend, then be sure to keep an eye out for reviews on Google that show up under TobaccoReviews.com or just do a search on TobaccoReviews.com

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[docrameous]

I didn’t really start to enjoy the pipe until I bought a bunch of Carter Hall and just focused on it. CH will practically smoke itself and so from there I was able to explore to other blends. If I had a set back, I went back to CH until I felt my technique was back and my tongue bite was tamed again.

I think an English is also a great option (I really like Squadron Leader) and since you like English, I suggest setting the others aside for now and focusing on mastering it.

 

[PipeIT]

@viera92

Something else, I’m not sure if anyone mentioned, but if your tongue is hyper sensitive, you’ll really want to look into, at some point in time, getting a Thick Walled Pipe.

Lots of wood = Cool Smoking! ?

There are certainly a lot of pipes out their with Thick Chamber Walls.

I recently bought a Posella off of LePipe.it, so as an example, Posella makes quite a few fat/thick pipes.

Have a look at the pictures of these pipes, to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

These pipes are also a bit on the short/stubby side, but that’s not the point, I’m just pointing out the Chamber Wall thickness to you on these pipes. There are a lot of regular sized pipes with Thick Chamber Walls.

https://www.lepipe.it/en/scheda.asp?id=4492

https://www.lepipe.it/en/scheda.asp?id=4498

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Ok, so sharing the experience after almost 2 weeks, sorry if too long, theres no need to read it.

I bought:
1. virginia: P. S. twist flake
2. vaper: P. S. navy flake
3. burley: HH old dark fired ready rubbed
4. english/balkan: arango balkan supreme


Summary:
Unfortunately I can't notice MUCH difference between blends, both in aroma and taste. Even between this blends and the aromatics, besides the toppings, can't tell much difference. BUT I really liked 2 of them, the burley and the english.

Abut the pipes, I like my grabow better than the new corn cob.

Both virginias smelled to me and to my family like cigarettes, and thats very bad. Did enjoy the smoke but had a bit of bite.

The burley smelled good to me, but bad to my family. Cero bite, really liked it but did not found anything special about it.

My favorite between the 4 was the english, pleasant aroma to me and tastes good but family was not near to judge the room note. Cero bite.


Long story:
I now understand the guy that said that he had to taste the same tobacco several times in a row to actually tell it apart. Was hoping for a whole new world but at the end of the day, its still tobacco.

The corncob have a very wide canal so there's cero resistance while drawing, even after packing tighter so it tends to burn hotter because of that. Did not found any difference about bite using one pipe or the other.
Good thing is I did love the straight shape, my grabow is "bent" so really liked having 2 different shapes to choose.

The first day I tried the burley, and had tobacco overload. After finishing I had nausea and was sweating, first time experiencing that, but at least didn't vomit.

After that I tried all several times to try to find the different nuances and heres what I found.

About the virginia and the vaper:
I really liked the flake, found it easier to pack just folding it and stay lit longer.
Smell:
They are labeled as "pleasant" aroma, but unfortunately to me and to my family as well, they all said it smelled like cigarettes and that's a no-no. Again, its still tobacco. Specially the vaper, found my room smelling like a bar for several hours. Still could enjoy them outside the house.

bite:
They both did bite me a little bit, but WAY WAY less than the aromatics, so little that I could actually brush my teeth after smoking, that was impossible with the aromatics. I think the vape bit me more than the twist flake, so the topping on the twist flake was not a problem in terms of bite.

Won't talk much about taste because I already stated that found very difficult to detect differences.

In conclusion, I like them, but can only smoke them outside, and probably won't buy again because still finding some bite on them.

About the burley:
Besides the bad tobacco sickness, after trying it again, liked this one, but nothing special.
I could and probably will buy more of this and try different tobaccos from this same style, don't know if I liked the burley perse or the "fire pressed" thing on the kentuckys. In contrast with my fear about burleys and chemical bite, this one did not bit AT ALL, cero bite. I'm glad I took one of the advices about not giving up on burley.

Smell is stronger than the virginias, for me was a pleasant aroma, but in the end my family again said it smelled like "burnt trash, with cigarettes" haha. The good point is the smell did not stayed in the room long like the vaper did.

Conclusion: Will buy this one again, and try different blends of this same type.

About the english:
My favorite.
When I first smelled the bag, the tin note was strong, and weird, to the point that had a bit of nausea but, after some days I got used to the smell and began to like it.
If this weird smell is the latakia, then the HGL blend have near to none latakia in it, to me its a normal aromatic.

CERO bite, very pleasant and relaxing, and I really liked the aroma while smoking and the room note on my room after finishing. This time my family was not here to judge the room note, but for me was WONDERFUL (they will probably say it smelled like cigarettes anyways)

Will DEFINITELY try more english/balkans/oriental blends in the future.
Because I really liked reading inside while smoking, I do care about room note so I will try some english aromatics like the HGL.
Maybe I will find some day a good english aromatic with no bite. would be nice.



Thanks again to everyone about all the advice.

I'll echo the main point right now should be to smoke less often, definitely do not smoke every day, and in my opinion once a week is plenty, you'll probably do fine with twice a week though.

I remember in my first two months with a pipe I tried Lane Limited 1-Q, known to be one of the most overbearingly sweet Aromatic blends on the market. In the first month it tasted like nothing but hot air, then in the second month the flavor finally kicked in and I tasted marshmallows.
You'll find several instances of other members having the same sort of experience.

The "Beginner's Palette" can be such a strong effect that after sampling my first "English" blend I said it still tasted like nothing and I thought Latakia was a lie.
(To be honest I can't tell if it was actually my fault or the Blender's fault because I bought a house recipe from a small retail shop and I have absolutely no clue what was in it).
Six months later I tried a real Lat-Bomb and now it's one of my absolute most favorite things to smoke in a pipe.

I'd say you shouldn't expect to taste very much in the first month, for now it's all about learning the ritual of smoking a pipe.

I kind of hate to say it, but Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake probably should be aged about a year.
That blend is sold more "bright" than most Virginia blends and if you keep it sealed for a year it transforms into a dark leaf that tastes like plumb.
If you want the full experience then pack two or three small jars and open them in intervals (e.g. 6 months, 1 year, 1.5 years).
Someone with experienced taste might prefer the bright Virginia flavor and people do buy this to smoke fresh, but I would recommend using it for aging, which in the long term is one of the most fun things you can do with Tobacco, but in the first year when your supply of aged tobacco is "Zero" it's kind of agonizing.

English blends are often best smoked as fresh as possible if it's the Latakia you're after, though some people still like to age it for a year or so if there's a Virginia component, or if they just think the Latakia was overpowering.

 

[Cotton1]

I'm not experienced enough to offer much advice OP. My journey to pipes is similar to yours. I was getting to the point of Maduro only and chugging away.

Not only has the pipe been more relaxing for me but I am enjoying the different flavors which are sweeter/richer in my opinion.

I have a tendency to chugg which is terrible with the pipe. Over time I have learned to sip slowly. I'm still experimenting with the perfect way to pack a bowl in different pipes.

I did start out with cobbs and just recently have moved into a few briars...more learning required. I found VA bit me most and Cavendish(BCA for me) gives me none even if I smoke pretty hard ( especially when I am working and preoccupied). Recently I am enjoying Royal Yacht a good bit and am getting mostly no bite.

I see you don't like aero but would agree with SWRA suggested earlier. As for room note, my whole family likes the Gentleman Caller above all the blends I tried.

I was wondering how you liked Billy Budd but see you didn't try it yet. It's one I like a good bit when I want Latakia... your family will think it's stinky though, so heads up there.

As far as aeros go I wanted to mention the Boswell blends. They are excellent quality in my opinion and most of them will be pleasant smelling to your family. They make both aero and English and none have given me tongue bite.

Lastly, something I have yet to try but am curious about are the p-lip Peterson pipes. I think they are intended to ease tongue bite and may be something to look into.

My best to you on your journey.

Cotton1

 

[PipeIT]

English blends are often best smoked as fresh as possible if it's the Latakia you're after, though some people still like to age it for a year or so if there's a Virginia component, or if they just think the Latakia was overpowering.

There is no right or wrong way when it comes to aging any particular blend, it’s all a ‘Personal Preference’.

Every English blend I recently purchased are older Era Tins, these are them.

Dunhill Nightcap
Dunhill My Mixture 965
Dunhill London Mixture
Dunhill Standard Mixture Medium
Dunhill Durbar
McClelland 3 Oaks Syrian
McClelland Frog Morton
Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian
Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader

I can’t believe that if you ever smoked any of these aged, you would of ever made this type of suggestion, especially to a new smoker who has no clue about such matters.

If you found any of these above blends better fresh from the tin not aged, then that is your ‘Personal Preference’.

With some of these Dunhill blends someone can certainly try the STG Peterson Era versions to compare, however a few of these were not covertly over.

I can tell you for a fact, as an English Lover, aged English blends are absolutely amazing!

Go get an aged tin of Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader and Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian, then come back and tell us it was not good.

My Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian is 2015 and my Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader is 2012.

 

[PipeIT]

The Edit time ran out, I made a typo before.
——————————
With some of these Dunhill blends someone can certainly try the STG Peterson Era versions to compare, however a few of these were not carried over.
——————————

I didn’t mean for my comments to sound harsh or rude, I was only making comments, nothing implied. If anything I was shocked that you suggested that English blends are often best smoked as fresh as possible if it's the Latakia you're after. Even if it’s the Latakia someone is after, as I mentioned, that’s a ‘Personal Preference’, they’ll have to decide.

So please don’t be offended... ?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

The Edit time ran out, I made a typo before.
——————————
With some of these Dunhill blends someone can certainly try the STG Peterson Era versions to compare, however a few of these were not carried over.
——————————

I didn’t mean for my comments to sound harsh or rude, I was only making comments, nothing implied. If anything I was shocked that you suggested that English blends are often best smoked as fresh as possible if it's the Latakia you're after. Even if it’s the Latakia someone is after, as I mentioned, that’s a ‘Personal Preference’, they’ll have to decide.

So please don’t be offended... ?

The point is Latakia blends are at their most smokey when they're first manufactured, age can only diminish that aspect, which is opposite of the fruity plumb flavor of a Virginia Perique blend.

 

[PipeIT]

The point is Latakia blends are at their most smokey when they're first manufactured, age can only diminish that aspect, which is opposite of the fruity plumb flavor of a Virginia Perique blend.

Of course I understand that they change over time. I wouldn’t consider ‘Diminish’ as appropriate, unless someone wants it, many people will also enjoy them aged, mellowed and sweeter.

The sweetness is another interesting character gained with age.

Fresh from the tin, or aged, it’s anyone’s choice, also combined, keep a new and aged tin, smoke and enjoy them both.

It all comes down to Personal Preferences...

The point is, there is none, that’s your preference, and saying something like this to a new smoker is only going to create confusion.

You should of said;

‘I like smoking English blends as fresh as possible, I find this to be the best’.

No disrespect intended here at all towards you! ?

I’m just saying, we need to be careful, and differentiate the opinions from facts.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Of course I understand that they change over time. I wouldn’t consider ‘Diminish’ as appropriate, unless someone wants it, many people will also enjoy them aged, mellowed and sweeter.

The sweetness is another interesting character gained with age.

Fresh from the tin, or aged, it’s anyone’s choice, also combined, keep a new and aged tin, smoke and enjoy them both.

It all comes down to Personal Preferences...

The point is, there is none, that’s your preference, and saying something like this to a new smoker is only going to create confusion.

You should of said;

‘I like smoking English blends as fresh as possible, I find this to be the best’.

No disrespect intended here at all towards you! ?

I’m just saying, we need to be careful, and differentiate the opinions from facts.

You must have taken professional training in semantics.

 

[PipeIT]

You must have taken professional training in semantics.

LOL, no but from my past profession(s), I very much see the details, and I always strive to convey the right meanings to people.

To much Fake News in the world! LOL

Like I said, no disrespect to you.

If someone wants that Smoky Lat Bomb, I certainly couldn’t agree more, but if someone tires of it, giving it some age will put a new twist on a blend someone had tired of.

I certainly love them fresh and smoky, but there is certainly nothing wrong with some English blends aged either. Notice I said, ‘some’? Sure some blends age poorly, it‘s all experimentation and finding what suits your needs.

Have you smoked any aged tins of Mac Baren HH Vintage Syrian?

Like I always say; ‘Best is Subjective to the Needs of the User’! ?

 

[LondonLife]

Very late to this thread, but have you tried a filtered pipe? I know at least 4 different people who were going to give up. Until they switched to filter pipes.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I’m enjoying the taste of a Lakatia blend from my local tobacco smith.