What's Your Goal

[warren]

Since joining the forum a couple of years ago I've become infatuated with what drives the members with regard to tobacco. Over the years I've found a couple of blends that I always enjoy and stick with them. Although primarily a fan of English, there exist a couple of aros I keep in the house. I do not try new blends except mostly on a whim. Excepting the new blends from "Standard Tobacco Company of Pennsylvania" who were kind enough to drop a sampler pack on me. God bless you Dan! And good luck to the three of you.
There are members who seem driven to try as many blends as possible. Others stay pretty much attached to English, aros, or even specific leaf.
The question is and this is directed mostly at long time pipers: What drives you in your search for enjoyable blends? Do you stick to one style, a particular flavor, one predominant leaf? Or, are you the adventurous type wanting to experience as many blends as possible? Are you searching for a truly dependable blend(s) or will you go through life trying whatever looks right or interesting?
No one needs to be defensive or justify their smoking style. Although the why is of interest. I'm just interested the myriad of "different strokes for different folks." Pure curiosity!

 

[prairiedruid]

I'm in the adventurous category. Just started pipe smoking in May so still exploring a variety of blends and categories. Right now tend to favor flakes and Englishes with a few aros as palette refreshers. The tobacco crawl has been helpful as a way to try new things. I'm starting to add what I like to my cellar but still have a long list of blends I want to try yet.

 

[easterntraveler]

I am looking for that tobaccon that just wows the hell out of me. I have found some good tobaccos but I am still waiting for that experience. So I keep looking. However I need to make it through the 40 blends that I own first before I look for more. : )

 

[backwoodsjack]

I am trying to find a few great blends that cover my needs, and then stock up.
So I am really trying to find the blend that does "it" best. If I can find a better light english, or better

oriental blend, or a better morning smoke, I will stick with it.
I guess in the end I'm trying to define a reliable and minimal rotation, and then simplify by staying with it; all the while knowing it is subject to change, and a work in progress.

 

[pruss]

Warren, thanks for the engaging conversation fodder. Much appreciated.
I don't qualify, yet, for the honorific of 'long time piper' as I've only been back smoking pipes for three years with a ten year hiatus in between getting my feet wet (and tongue burned) with pipes. That said, I'm going to take a kick at the can and answer your question anyway.
I am a flavour junky. I enjoy exploring new and different tastes, aromas and compound flavours and really appreciate the variety of all of the above which exists in the ridiculously wide and varied world of pipe tobacco. My predilections for specific tobacco leaf types and blends have evolved through exploratory purchasing and through the tobacco sample exchanges I've engaged in here, and elsewhere.
My purchasing history has two distinct purposes; exploration and cellaring. The former is a single tin purchase to explore the flavours and smoking qualities of a specific blend/type and is used to inform the second type of purchase. I do cellar blends I like. But given how little I smoke, my cellar is full of variety but not total poundage.
Most of small tobacco store is made up of Virginia dominant blends, primarily VaPerXx-type blends and straight Virginias and almost entirely flake tobacco. I change up the tobacco I smoke seasonally and tend towards Latakia forward blends in the autumn and winter, so I have jars and a small stock of tins of blends in this category. All in, I have about 15 pounds stored, representing about 14 varieties of tobacco.
-- Pat

 

[elbert]

It's funny, just last night I opened a Word document and started typing out a wishlist to give my next order (which will be the biggest thus far) some focus. I've only tried eleven blends so far, so my current goal is still fairly broad--I want to find the best in each category. My second goal is to start truly cellaring some of the Va's that I have tried and liked.

 

[voorhees]

My goal. Never thought about it. Mostly to have some decent tobaccos on hand at all times and some great pipes. I like to sample new tobaccos as its so varied I might find the one with "unicorn farts" in it one day. I have several I like and trying more leads to more discoveries. Hopefully tobacco legislation will not come down on pipe tobacco so bad, but I ain't counting on it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I am a wandering vagabond, meandering down the roads of different genres. I have no maps, no direction, I am in search of nothing but smoke on my senses, new flavors, new tastes, and new aromas. I was a slave to one brand of cigarettes for decades, and now that I am free to wander the myriad of flavors, I will not chain myself to just one taste again. If I never taste the same tobacco twice, so be it. I do not cry for dead blends or brands. If something is no longer the same, then I say "so what?" I just keep treading forward, give me new and strange tastes to behold!!

 

[warren]

Thank you gentlemen. I use the term loosely and give the benefit of the doubt. I do appreciate your answers and look forward to some others. And, I shouldn't have tried to limit the responses to long term smokers. Pruss and druid responded with very cogent answers.
Jack and traveler, will you recognize the "it" or "wow" factors? Or, is it, as usual with me, indefinable but, "I'll know it when I find it" situation.
The sampler pack I received has somewhat stimulated the adventurous side of my brain. Perhaps my satisfaction with a few blends is simply a rut.
I've got to go out and do a bit of work. Looking forward to more food for thought. Perhaps I should explore a bit.

 

[pruss]

Perhaps my satisfaction with a few blends is simply a rut.

Warren, have you ever stuck with one brand of coffee, beer, or soda for a long time, and then been forced to try something new by circumstance; only to find that you really enjoyed that different coffee, beer or soda?
If you are ever interested in testing the waters, toss me a line. I'd be happy to put together a sampler envelope for you with a couple bowl-fulls apiece of different blends, cuts, formats and styles of tobaccos. You might discover that nothing beats your go-to 'baccy... but there might be something which lights a fire.
-- Pat

 

[newfie]

Never really thought of it as a goal, but since you asked:
To have enough FVF, BCF, PS Luxury Navy Flake and PS Luxury Bullseye Flake to last me my life time without having to worry about getting more. Living in Canada, that's a bit of a dream to be honest, not a goal.

 

[pruss]

Living in Canada, that's a bit of a dream to be honest, not a goal.

I'm in Canada too. This is doable. You just have to order appropriately and commit to a long-term game.
-- Pat

 

[deathmetal]

What drives you in your search for enjoyable blends? Do you stick to one style, a particular flavor, one predominant leaf? Or, are you the adventurous type wanting to experience as many blends as possible?

There's a bit of a curve. At first, I was mad to try all types of things; then, I found some things I did not like and after that, narrowed to some I did. I'm always open to a new blend, and there are many left to try, but I think I've got the basics of what I like now, and will probably contentedly stockpile those. I generally group tobacco blends into three groups: like, ambivalent, and dislike. Many of the highly-praised blends from reviewers go into the middle category, and some that they eschew go into the first category.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I don't think I really have a goal per say. I'm more so aimlessly wandering this amazing path.
I do have favorites like Lane's 1Q, Stokkeybye's Luxury Bullseye Flake, and Escudo. Stocking up on those right now.
I'm one of those though that will snag a tin and give it a try. I like to mix it up from time to time. I'm definitely not a one blend type of guy.

 

[captainprophesy]

After smoking for so many years, I tend to stick to what I like, Ive smoked English and Balkans from the get go and never enjoyed Aro's. I have about 4-5 tobaccos that I always smoke and maybe 2-3 times a year I'll actually venture out of my comfort zone and try something new. Now thats not to say there aren't many many other tobaccos that I truly enjoy its just that the 4-5 that I regularly smoke are my "comfort" blends.

At this point I've been smoking for almost 25 years and know full well what I like... so why change. I might as well go on for the rest of my time smoking what I enjoy.

 

[danielplainview]

I always try to order a tin of something new when stocking up on my regular blends. I've found more than a few duds, but I've also discovered a few great blends which have became regulars.

 

[newfie]

I'm in Canada too. This is doable. You just have to order appropriately and commit to a long-term game.

Well, yes, I guess, but not really financially feasible. In the case of PS products, the shipping is as much or more than the cost of the tobacco in amounts to have a good chance of coming across the border unhindered.

 

[fitzy]

I look at it like a journey. A journey of discovery and of self exploration. How will I ever know what I like if I don't try as many brands/blends as possible. Because of that I have several of the 30 gallon rubber maid tubs full of mason jars of probably over 100 different tobacco's. As a result of this journey I have found maybe 10 to 12 blends I absolutely love a ton that are ok and only a few that I just don't like. Of the one's I found I love I have stock piled those and the others I will eventually either finish or give away.
So far I have found that I am not a big fan of VaPer blends but I am a huge fan of blends containing latakia and other oriental tobaccos. I also have found that there are some Arro's that are quite delicious.
On the other hand my brother loves only straight black cavendish and will never smoke anything else.

 

[sablebrush52]

More much of my smoking career I've stuck with a few favored blends. I'd not been much of an experimenter, sometimes settling on one to three blends to smoke for years on end and those were mostly bulk blends from a local B&M with Balkan Sobranie as the "expensive" tinned stuff. I was quite content with a few pipes and a few tobaccos.
I quit smoking entirely for a number of years, then came back to it about 25 years ago. My late father-in-law was the catalyst for my restarting. Between the massive humidor of choice Cuban cigars of every description and his more massive Dunhill collection, I was getting literally "steeped" in tobaccianna. Curiously, he didn't smoke a lot of blends, and wasn't particularly devoted to any of them. Cigars were more to his liking, I think, and he just got a kick out of collecting the absolutely rarest Dunhills, ones that Dunhill tried to buy from him for their collection. That got me interested in pipes and in their history, which eventually led me to Barlings as my concentration of choice.
So back to the pipe, but not a lot of experimentation with tobaccos. It was my joining pipe forums that got me interested in expanding my smoking horizons. People were talking about specific blends that they liked, and those that I could find at the local B&M's I tried out. It was a deliberate choice to break my long held habit of limited blends. I was making pretty good money and could indulge this particular vice.
Since then I've tried a wide variety of blends and have found that, for the most part, there isn't a huge difference between blends of a similar category, but that the subtleties make the difference between one that is merely OK and one that I really like. I don't believe that there's a "knocks my socks off" blend for me. There are a few blends that I really like, a few more that I sorta like, and many that I don't care for. I still have a couple of blends that are "between adventures" fallback constants. Like my pipe collecting, my tobacco collecting is phasing down. I have blends that I don't care for, that I can trade or share. I have a more than satisfying assortment of stuff that I like, so I won't get bored, and I don't see any need to try out new stuff, in part because I don't have any reason to believe that they will be remarkably different from the existing stuff. Along the way, I've received a good education in tobaccos, how to prep them, when not to buy them past a certain age, the usual stuff.

 

[jmill208]

I am a wandering vagabond, meandering down the roads of different genres. I have no maps, no direction, I am in search of nothing but smoke on my senses, new flavors, new tastes, and new aromas.[

+1 to this statement. I have a myriad of tins and bulk blends of all different flavors and types that I have not even tried. One can only come to the conclusion that I lack (or have no) focus or a goal. I won't know exactly what I like until I've tried damn near everything. That is going to take some time....