Your First Blend

[ericthered]

My first blend was a house blend called "Vision Hunter" from a B&M called "The Hitching Post" in Buffalo, WY back in March of 2013. I know, forever ago, right? It tasted too much like a cigarette, so I jarred it up and am hoping that some significant age improves it. I struck gold with the other bulk blend I picked up at the same time, Mac Baren's HH Highland Mixture. That one's still a favorite, although I'm rationing what I've been able to stock up since it was discontinued almost right after I had discovered it.

 

[onestrangeone]

I ordered a starter kit (Stanwell, Nana Ivarsson) added a couple of cobs and a couple of samplers. Smoked the cobs for most of the first year. The first tin I popped was the DE Toasted Black Cavendish, my first bulk was from the local B&M, a McClelland blend they called 1776, they had it listed as a mild Eng. but I think it's a light aro.

 

[jazz]

Dunhill Nightcap was my first in October 2012. I liked it very much and still smoke it from time to time but soon found I was a Virginia, VaPer and VaBur kind of guy mainly.

 

[derfargin]

My first blend was back when I was probably around 18, and a friend of mine went into a Mall tobacco shop and each picked up a cob, and an ounce of some blend the (idiot)worker suggested. I dont remember the name of the blend, but it was from a Stag tobacconist. I think it had rum in the name of it. Didn't take long for me to experience all of the smokeing "hate" that the new pipers speak of here due to it being an aromatic, and not knowing anything about technique.
Fast forward about 3 years ago, and I decided to give it a go again, and ordered a few cobs and a hardwood from P&C, along with some 1oz samples of various blends. Lane - Very Cherry, 1Q, Dunhill's - EMP, and SPC - Mississippi River.
Started with the 1Q, and experienced much of the same things I did back when I first tried pipe tobacco. Figured I'd give EMP a try since it was something completely different.
Transcendence!!! This is what I had been searching for. I sat for about 40 min and smoked a bowl of EMP in silence, and was hooked from that moment on. I've been smoking non-aro's since then. I always recommend EMP to people looking for first english tobacco's just because it helped me discover how great this hobby is.
I still smoke the occasional aromatic now and then, but I dont get near as much satisfaction from them as I do non-aros. Most the time I end up cutting them with some burley, or Carter Hall just to make them interesting. I usually smoke them for the sake of my wife because she likes how they smell.

 

[macaroon]

Judd, my first tobacco was purchased from Campbell's Smoke Shop! It's right down the street from me since I attend Michigan State University. My first, and as of yet only tobacco is the shop's Blend #17, called Chateau. Here's the description from the Campbell's new website:
"This blend combines three flue-cured Cavendish tobaccos (wine-cured, dark plug-cut and shredded honey Cavendish) with VIrginia Bright picking and a dash of Perique. Smooth and slow-burning, this blend has a pleasant aroma and produces a clean dry smoke."
Pretty tasty, and I hope to return sometime soon to get sample a wider variety of tobaccos.

 

[pipestud]

Some sort of house blend from a local tobacconist shop called Peach Brandy. Hell itself could not have been hotter. Didn't try smoking again for a month. That's how long it took before the doctors removed the sling my tongue was in.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

It was a house blend called Indescribable, which I later found out was 1Q.

 

[jmatt]

I actually know this: July 2002. Bought a tin of Haddo's Delight and Frog Morton on the Town. Liked both, but loved the Haddo's. My wife hated (and still hates) the smell of latakia, so she would always say "not the frog!!!" whenever I lit it up. I've currently got about a pound of Haddo's jarred in my cellar. I don't have FM OTT, but I do have about a pound of Frog Morton Cellar stored as well.

 

[shutterbugg]

I attend Michigan State University.

I won't hold that against you son. At least it's not OSU. Spartan beats Buckeye any day

 

[markus]

Admirals Choice Natural Cavendish, I still enjoy it to this today, occasionally.

 

[perdurabo]

Lane Aromatic Alphabet soup. Within that first week I had tried Escudo, Coverted. Following weeks I was onto Nightcap and Royal Yacht and never looked back.

 

[phred]

My first blend was Lane's 1Q (rebranded by the B&M as "Victorian Standard"). It's in my regular rotation.

 

[PlanxtyPipes]

I'm pretty sure my first blend was Lane 1-Q (Tinderbox Wilshire). It is a pleasant enough smoke and was a good place to start as a pipe smoker. I didn't stick with aromatics for long though. After trying a few different aromatics for the first month or so and not being fully satisfied, I found some pipe forums online and read up on some tobacco suggestions. I placed an order with an online retailer for Dunhill Nightcap, Early Morning Pipe and Squadron Leader. The first one I tried was Nightcap and I've been a non-aromatic smoker ever since.

 

[halfy]

Capstan and three nuns.

 

[tarheel1]

First was a cherry blend then a blackberry. Finally wanted something different and went with Peterson Irish oak. Smoked those for years till 05 when I discovered English blends. Came find a blackberry blend to revisit, but do with cherry once and a while.

 

[hawky454]

I got 6 used pipes from my father in law and I bought Captain Black in a pouch on the way home just because it was the only one available. The very next day I headed out to my local B&M and bought 3 bulk blends, 2 of which were heavy, goopy aromatics and 1 was an English (McC AM Pipe). I smoked the 2 aromatics for the first few days as my main objective was to emit a nice smell, which is what drew me to the pipe in the first place, that and I wanted to give up cigarettes. I wasn't impressed with those aromatics, they tasted nothing like the pouch note. I tried the English blend I had on hand and I was absolutely smitten and the rest is history. I was trying to convert all my cigarette smoking friends at the time but unfortunately none of them kept with it.

 

[erichbaumer]

B&M's relabeled blend that was somebody's cherry blend. Probably Lane or Stokkebey? At any rate, can't stand aromatics these days, so I'm not planning any of my own nostalgia visits. The blend that really got me seriously into pipe smoking was Nightcap.

 

[beezer]

Eight years ago I purchased a Peterson pipe and a tin of Nightcap to try. As a cigar smoker back then I wasn't very fond of pipe smoking at first. At the time I found packing a pipe, keeping it lit, and cleaning it afterwards to be a bit of a hassle compared to my cigar routine.
I liked the Nightcap alright, but I never finished the tin and ended up giving it away to a friend (along with a full tin of Presbyterian) and stuck to my cigars.
Fast forward to 2012 and I decided to give pipe smoking a second try. This time around I picked up a tin of EMP. It took me a while to get the hang of pipe smoking and over time I found the routine I once thought a hassle to actually be therapeutic and calming in a strange sort of way. I learned to slow down and relax by it.
It wasn't long before I caught the TAD illness and I've been ordering pounds like crazy ever since.

 

[tinsel]

Wow. Awesome responses from everyone.
Seems like I wasn't the only one who started with Middleton's Cherry. I don't have a B&M in my town so I went into the local "Discount Tobacco" and browsed through the OTC's on the shelf. I didn't know the difference at the time. I think I picked out Middleton's Cherry basically because of the packaging (looked simple and straightforward).
Like a lot of you guys, I didn't really stick with aros for long and rarely smoke them nowadays. I ventured up to the nearest B&M (about an hour away) who sells Dunhill tins and got a tin of Nightcap and a tin of Dunhill Flake. The rest is history.

 

[username]

Dunhill nightcap Murray's circa early 2000. Wish I had stockpiled as much as I could afford.