Starter pipe tobacco recommendations?
LiquidChaos66
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in Pipes
I've noticed this section is fairly quiet but I gonna try anyway. Any good recommendations for a first time pipe smoker? My boss suggested Captain Black. My local B&M has several local and house blends that sound good. But I don't know what to expect.
Life is like a blind fiver. You never know what you're gonna get.
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Aromatic: something like a rum and maple (I think these are is OK) or a vanilla or cherry flavor would be a good start. These usually have a great room note and no one will object to you smoking them. They seldom taste like they smell, however.
Traditional: I really like Peterson's Sherlock Holmes it is a VA/Burley that showcases what tobacco should taste like IMO. No issues with tongue bite at least for me.
A good English style would be Peterson's Old Dublin or Peter Stokkebye's Proper English, neither is a Lat. bomb but you will be able to taste it to experience what Lat. is. Neither bite for me. These typically are not popular with nonsmokers, my wife hates the smell of Lat. Sometimes, that is a good thing too!
I always recommend that you get a few ounces and try it for a while before moving on to flakes and anything with Perique. Perique has a spicy/pepper taste and it does bite if not smoked slowly for me. Take some time and learn how to find your rhythm and pace before moving on to these types or stronger traditional blends.
I hope this helps.
I've heard a lot of suggestions to start with a small selection of different types. Other than the captain black i have no clue what's out there. I was pointed towards aromatics to try out first before moving into traditional English blends. I really like to hear other people's input before sendin money. I might hit my B&M tonight and see what options they have. As for smoking the pipe I read in one of the other threads about "gurgle". Is it a bad thing and/or how is it avoided? How should the tobacco be stored? I got a glass jar with a sealing lid with the pipes (already occupied by said 30 year old tobacco). It has a little tube laid in the lid for humidification. Do I just fill it with distilled water?
Aromatics are hard to prep, keep lit, and keep from smoking too fast. Which burns hot, causes tongue bite, and turns people off from smoking pipes. Start in on those after you have learned to keep one of the three basics lit with a steady and easy puffing cadence.
The gurgle you mention is from a few things; poorly constructed pipe, tobacco that is too wet and goops in the bottom of the bowl (airway), drooling into the stem, or mix all three in some combination. If one of those three OTC (over the counter) blends gurgles you can remove wet tobacco from this list. Run a pipe cleaner down the bit (Do not remove the stem from the bowl while the bowl is warm) and clear out some liquid. Try again while keeping your mouth on the pipe only to puff. This eliminates the drooling factor. After that it is just a bad pipe.
Don't smoke aromatics in every pipe you have. They ghost a pipe and will make other tobacco taste funny that follows the pipe. The three OTC I mentioned should not ghost a pipe. They are actually pipe ghost neutralizers.
Well my friend you have come to the right place. Captain Black is a natural first timer type of smoke. Don't by pouches from a convenient store. They probably go back to when Black was alive. LOL. Find a good tobacco store. Strike up a conversation. If the proprietor is puffin on a pipe you're home free.
I don't smoke tinned or pouched tobacco. I go for the bulk. The jars of tobacco you see in a store is bulk. They buy it put a different name on it and sell it. Gettin in good with the man behind the counter you can find out who the mfg is and the name. I would recommend 1Q by lane ltd and a good Cavendish without the bite by Altadis called Black Kathy if you want a little more umpff. Remember Pipe tobaccos unlike cigars can produce a tongue bite that you'll really notice drinking an ice cold soda. PM me and I'll give you some additional info if you want. Bulk is also cheaper than tinned.
Paruse the threads there is good info to pick up on and welcome to the dark Side.
Pilgrimtex there is a PM sent your way attached to my previous pipe question from a while back. Thanks!
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
As for tobacco. I was shown a variety of milder and smoother options to start with and picked up a house blend called Satisfaction. It smells amazing! They had a whole wall full of different options. 2oz for about $8. Quite a bit cheaper than cigars. Lol!!! My plan is to pick up a few more options to have in my humi jar and work my way through them. Tonight if the weather is decent ill have my first pipe.
Aside from that, there's Luxury Twist, Luxury Bullseye and Luxury Navy are three good virignia leafs. For something more mellow, I've always liked the McClelland Grand Oriental tobacco's, all 7 of them. But for relaxing on the porch, it's hard to beat the the Frog Morton tobacco's