Hello from the UK!

[D.L.Ruth]

Welcome to the group

 

[ralphmcculley]

Good morning everyone, and thanks for having me on the forum.
I'm not yet a pipe smoker but am preparing to be so (more of that later). There's quite a bit to learn!
For the time being I'm reading, watching and absorbing all that I can, and really looking forward to getting started.

Thanks again, and best wishes.

I myself did that. I tried pipe smoking briefly in the mid 1990s. There was no internet and not a lot of information about it back then. It was mostly something that was passed down or self taught. It did not go well. Severe tongue bite and it didn't taste good at all. Of course the only tobaccos I tried were all aromatics. About five years after I had quit smoking my beloved Lucky Strikes I got interested in pipes. I did research and studied about different types of tobacco and pipe makers for a year before I bought a pipe. I reached out to John Harden "Matches860" right around the same time he started to become famous and he personally helped me find my first pipe shape and tobacco blend that I would come to love. My favorite tobacco is burley and my preferred pipe shape is the classic English style billiard and bent billiard.