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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,211
60,639
Okay, I'll do my usual soft shoe. First, buy an ounce or two of basic Virginia leaf, and another of basic burley leaf. These are the two most commonly used base tobaccos, the base being the biggest percent of a blend. Get to know these as a basis of understanding other blends.

Learn the different genres -- English, Virginia, Virgnia/Perique, Balkan, Oriental, burley as a base and as a condiment, and so on.

Don't buy too much of anything in trying other blends, an ounce or two, a pouch or one tin. Don't buy too much of anything even if you like it a lot. Your tastes will change.

Take your time. Don't try too many blends at once. Sip don't puff. Study the tobacco pages, especially the specifications on blends, to get a sense of how they are put together, the base tobacco and the condimental tobacco, and non-tobacco flavoring if any. If you try it and don't like it, jar it and try it in six months or a year ... your tastes will change.

Most of all, enjoy. That's the whole idea. Don't compete. Don't try to excel. Relight as often as you need to. Don't worry about dottle (unburnt tobacco at the end of the smoke).
 

JimPM

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 14, 2021
261
1,649
Cigar smoker here too. My suggestion is medium to heavier English, Burleys and Cigar-leaf blends. There are plenty of choices out there. But on the cigar ones, Sailor Jack and Churchill from Wilke I think will tickle your cigar fancy as well as John Patton's Storm Front, C&D Billy Budd just to name a few that I gravitate towards
 

vosBghos

Lifer
May 7, 2022
1,632
3,588
Idaho
The Warped tinned tobacco has cigar leaf in it, but isn't overpowering. I'd recommend Warped: Until the End. Dark Fired Kentucky with cigar leaf, very smooth and enjoyable. Another one to consider is Tabac Manil, which is grown in a one man operation in Belgium. A unique burley that again is reminiscent of smoking a cigar. I could smoke either of these all day.
I agree with these suggestions wholeheartedly and might add something like C&Ds Dreams of Kadath to the list with lots of flavors and a good nicotine hit...
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
5,491
28,121
Florida - Space Coast
Hi everyone I am a new pipe smoker, currently a cigar smoker. I would like to start smoking a pipe and have bought a few things to get started. My main question right now is what kind of tobacco should I be looking at. Currently I enjoy strong full flavor Dominican cigars. I like the full flavor and full body tobaccos. I enjoy complex flavors building throughout the smoking experience. What kind of blends should I look to start with to smoke a pipe? I've tried the otc aromatic blends and none of them left me wanting more. Should I look into some English blends maybe?
Having many friends that have smoked cigars for decades most of them have gravitated to English / Oriental blends. Myself I'm more of a VA / VaPer kind of guy.
 
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RookieGuy80

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 6, 2023
734
2,716
Maryland, United States
Two weeks ago a cigar smoking coworker acquired himself a Peterson. After a few conversations and samples from me (the guy had the incredible luck to tell me this 150 minutes after placing an order from Smokingpipes), he found Englishes and burleys best, with vapers a close second. He mentioned the tin of Key Largo bothered him because there was a taste of cigar but the experience of smoking it was so vastly different than a cigar that it messed him up. Oh, and aromatics he really enjoyed. I can't wait to give him a few Lakeland blends to try haha! And he ended up giving back Skiff Mixture.

Anyways, my advice would be to buy several ounces blind. Just bounce back and forth between your favorite online shop and TobaccoReviewsdotcom. Anything that strikes your fancy get an ounce. As you try them, come back with your thoughts. From there we can (or at least I can) be more help.
 
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bluegrassbrian

Your Mom's Favorite Pipe Smoker
Aug 27, 2016
6,677
64,625
41
Louisville
Wow I wasn't expecting this many answers so quickly I can tell this is a very active community! I should say this, I don't expect any pipe tobacco to taste like cigars but I just wanted to describe what I currently smoke. LFD double ligero, so I'm use to full body full strength. I did order some blends over the weekend to try out, they should be here tomorrow afternoon. I ordered a variety that seem popular. Mac barren hh old dark fired, Peterson nightcap, gl pease gaslight , gl pease quiet nights, plum pudding, and Bengal slices. I appreciate all the recommendations and look forward to trying them out.
The Nightcap, Gaslight, Quiet Nights, Plum Pudding, and Bengal Slices are all pretty similar overall. If you like the heavy latakia flavor you'll end up enjoying all of those.
I'd have suggested a wider variety to give you a better understanding of the constituent leaves and what they bring to the table.
A straight Virginia like Orlik Golden Sliced, and a VaPer like Pease Fillmore are both a world away from the aforementioned English blends, but would offer you a great respite from all the latakia.

In my experience, cigar smokers dipping their toes in the pipe tobacco world often end up enjoying blends that wouldn't be considered similar in power and complexity to cigars.
 

OverMountain

Lifer
Dec 5, 2021
1,403
4,994
NOVA
If you haven’t tried one of the classic pipe codger blends you may want to consider. SWR is hard to beat as a starting point.

For fuller flavors, try some Fusilers Ration, star of the east flake, or if you want to splurge, plum pudding.

Best of luck, a tasting adventure awaits!
 
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Smoking Pipe402

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 8, 2023
108
2,007
Fairbury, NE
I don’t have advice on specific blends but I would say to get a little bit of all types and try it all. I smoked a pipe for a long time before I ever tried English blends because I thought I wouldn’t like them and I was very wrong. If you get something you don’t like give it awhile and try it again some of my favorite blends I didn’t like at first. I smoked cigars for a long time before trying a pipe I thought that cigar smoking would lessen the pipe smoking learning curve but I was also very wrong about that too.
 
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bent1

Lifer
Jan 9, 2015
1,218
3,179
64
WV
One I enjoy when wanting a cigar flavor is Five Brothers mixed with a 25% amount (guestimate) of Prince Albert. Many fine blends mentioned in this thread.

IMG_3305.jpeg Gawith & Hoggarth ropes & sliced ropes are good if you can find them.
 
Last edited:

PeteyPiper

Lurker
Jul 4, 2023
11
37
Well guys I've tried all my blends that I ordered and I like all of them. What a difference between these ones and the ones I bought and the local cigarette outlet! The Bengal slices and plum pudding are probably my favorites so far. I'm going to order some small tins of a few that have been recommended here to try out. Maybe some Virginia, burley, and cigar leaf blends to see how much of a taste I have for them. I'd like to order maybe one more Latakia blend also since I know now that I enjoy Latakia. All your help has been greatly appreciated, keep it coming if you have any more suggestions.
 
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