I am a still new at pipe smoking

[ericwinpa]

Hi,

My father introduced me to pipe smoking apprixmately five years ago. He smoked many pipes and tobaccos and convinced me to stop smoking cigarettes and try a pipe.
So..I did
I learned alot from him concerning how to smoke and clean my pipes. Actually for a gift I purchased some meerschaum pipes from Altinook. Two for he and three for me.
Being that we live near Chambersburg, PA I also obtained five briar pipes from Boswell's.
My father liked meerschaum pipes but always had a tendency to go back to his briars from Boswell, Savinelli, Comoy, and others.
He always liked briars and claimed that he found that they smoked a bit sweeter than meerschaums but still smoked the meerschaums and he and I found meerschaums to be a drer smoke which we still enjoyed.

I lost my friend a year ago and in the interim have started smoking pipes again. They taste MUCH better than cigarrettes.
My dad enjoyed burley blends. One of his favorites was "crooner' from Cornel and Diehl. I have always found english blends more to my liking such as
Mclellands British Woods, Capt. Earles Private Stock and Cornell and Diehls Star of the East.

I have tried virginia blends because users claim them to be sweet but I experience tongue bite from them. My father liked them alot and would tell me
how sweet he found them and I envied him for this! ha

I would like to ask you a few questions:

I want to purchase one or two briar pipes. I have three meerschaums from Altinook and two from CAO. At htis time I would like to purchase a briar pipe other than the five from Boswell that I currently own. What do you reccomend? And what is a good place to purchase them? Some have suggwsted a Bjarne, Nording or Savinelli.

I would like to also suggest tobaccos. Presntly I really love British Woods and the heavy lataki blends from Capt. Earle. People have told me to try Forg Morton and others say Frog Morton is just a good begginers blend. Being that my dad liked burley and virginias and I found them to cause tongue bite, I would like to try a virginai blend but unfortunately I do not find them to be sweet and satisfying as he did. I recently foudna tin of Jack kinfie Plu that I purchased for he and I a few years ago. I kind of like the stuff! But find it difficlult to keep lit and it also seems to cause tongue bite for me.

I thank you for your time and reccomendations.

Hopefully I can keep away from from the cigarretes and still obtain the nicotene addiction

Eric

 

[Dutch]

I am really partial to Moretti pipes. You can check out my collection in the Photo Gallery forum. If you are patient in ebay bidding, you can win one for about the same money as a Pete, Savinelli, or Stanwell.

As for Virginia blends with little bite, I really enjoy Dunhill Royal Yacht. Being that it is ribbon cut, I think it holds less moisture than some of the pressed flake Virginia blends.

 

[kaiser83]

I am a fan of Peterson pipes.
As far as Frog Morton goes, I'd recommend to try it. I have heard the same thing about it as you, but there are just as many smokers who enjoy it as they go on as those who say it is for beginners. I have tried Northwoods, which people say is a better blend similar to FM, but I just cannot like it nearly as much. You might also look into the Middle Earth Pipeweed Series from http://justforhim.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_298_62 most like StM, but I am a fan of Treebeard.
I'd take a bit of time and read through some of the reviews in the Tobacco Jar here on BoB to see if nything looks up your ally. There is a thread over there also regarding tobacco for new smoker's that you might enjoy (not saying you are new, but that it might give you an into into the VA's you seem to want. If you are perusing websites and you see a description of one that sounds good head over to tobaccoreviews.com before you pull the trigger and see what the reviews say. Good luck and if you have more questions just holler at us.

 

[Jers]

I am a fan of Peterson pipes.

+1

Dutch's collection of Moretti pipes are definitely worth viewing - beautiful pipes.

Fraternally

Jers

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

I am a fan of Peterson pipes.

Ditto.

Unless you're going to invest in a handmade pipe by one of our BoB craftsman, you won't get better bang for your buck than with Peterson, IMHO.

 

[monbla256]

Compared to back in the 60's/70's, the choice of modestly priced, production made pipes of decent quality has diminished quite a bit, but two firms are still producing quality pipes for decent prices and I would not hesitate to recomend either of them's products. They are Peterson in Ireland and Savinelli in Italy. There is a third that I just remembered, Stanwell (who now has their pipes turned in Italy and finished in Denmark) as another good value in todays new production pipes. Then there are the current crop of higher-end Artison pipe makers but that is another world My feelings are that most ANY pipe from these three firms would be a good purchase and give many years of good smokes as they have in the past. I have not included Dunhill mainly because of pricing, nothing to do with quality, nor have even touched on the "Estate" market which is a good source of some of the older Marques of renown.
As far as blends/mixtures my own preference is for just a few Balkan/English mixtures mainly McClelland's Oriental14 and L.J.Peretti's Royal Blend, both nice smooth latakia/Va/Oriental blends along the lines of the old Balakn Sobranie 759. Virginia wise, you really can't go wrong with the masters of Virginia's, McClellands up in K.C.. They produce a VERY WIDE variety of Va's from matured straight Va's to some nice Vapers and Va/Burley mixtures and they have many available in cost effective bulk versions as well as tinned. Compared to some of the "fashionable" Brit blends so well liked around here, they are AVAILABLE from many sources and are very reasonably priced as well. You could spend the next DECADE trying out all the Va blend/mixtures they produce also. My personal faves are their Bulk FM 2000, Virginia Woods and Blackwoods Flake.
Pick up a couple of Sav's or Petes, or Stannies, some McC's 'bac and be prepared for some nice smoking

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Glad you're finding some comfort in the pipe. Tobacco is an evolving taste/experience thing in this realm. You'll get wherever you're happy soon enough, even if it isn't a facsimile to your father's or any other person's taste. You have a good start with some good pipes.

8)

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Eric, Sounds to me like you are already smoking some really good stuff, and that you have already developed a palate for more complex latakia mixtures.

I am a bit like you in the sense that I don't get a whole lot from straight VA's. There are a few that I really like, but some that are rated really high just don't do much for me. Whether it's body chemistry, personal taste, or a combination of the two, I don't really know.

I am however a really big fan of Virginia Perique blends. The right amount of perique can accentuate good VA's. IMHO some VaPer mixtures have a certain synergy when smoked that creates a tremendous amount of depth and complexity on the palate. This is something that I find to be missing from a lot of straight VA blends. I don't know, maybe try one or two out for size? One that I think is fantastic is Reiner Long Golden Flake which is technically a VA, Perique & Burley flake. Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy, and Luxury Bullseye are quite nice too and available in bulk.

The tongue bite with VA's and Burley is another issue. I am sure you know the importance of keeping your pipe cool, and slowing WAAAAY down when smoking. Practicing this has helped me to enjoy piping way more, and I am bitten way less often as a result. An added bonus of smoking slower is that your tobacco will taste much sweeter and will be less likely to turn bitter or rear-up on you with some bad off-flavors.

Jack Knife Plug I haven't tried, but I am currently smoking some Triple Play. Tasty stuff, but it does require some dry time once cut. Experiment with how you cut it, and how long you dry it. Dry time will vary depending on your local. With cut, I took Greg Pease's lead and I take a really sharp knife and shave off thin almost shag like flakes from the plug. I then rub them a little, let them sit for 20 minutes and load them into a smaller pipe loosely packed.

Happy Piping..

 

[SpeedyPete]

Pick up a couple of Sav's or Petes, or Stannies, some McC's 'bac and be prepared for some nice smoking

And I say AMEN to that :cheers:

My favourite, everyday smoke is Red Cake 5100, sweet as honey!! :bounce:

 

[ericwinpa]

I want to thank you all for the replies and reccomendations.
I still have not purchased a new briar but I did purchase some
new tobacco which will arrive tomorrow.
British Woods (my favorite tatsting blend I have tried as of yet).
Virginia Woods.
Christmas Cheer 2012.
Orliks Golden Sliced.
Frog Morton Cellar.
Blue Moutain.

So three british blends and three virginia blends. I really want to try to appreciate vriginia tobacco.
One thing I have tried recently that I did not previously was drying out the tobacco for an hour or two
before I load it into a pipe. I find myself puffing often and getting a hint of flavors and then
I want to keep puffing because it tastes so good; then I end up with a sore tongue or tongue bite.
This occurs more with the virginia tobaccos than the English blends. After drying the tobacco out
I was able to smoke Jack Knife Plug and got no tongue bite. Perhaps by the tobacco being not as damp/wet
I was not having to puff as hard as I did previously.


So I am learning.............

I also have only smoked Cornel and Diehl blends and I find that for some reason I get tongue bite from all of them. And yes I know Cornel and Diehl
make tobacco for GL Pease such as Jack Knife Plug which I smoked and received no soreness.. It's excellent tobacco but even their English blends hamper my tongue.
Recently I have been smoking Mccelalnd blends and I get no tongue bite from them. By all means I am not saying that Cornel and Diehl makes bad blends!!
I have had people tell me similar tales such as ....I get tongue bite from McBarens blends. I don't know and I am ignorant.
Maybe the tobacco is cured or topped with something that affects my pH

I have also been looking at Mark Tinsky pipes and will purchase one of them in the near future.
I will also get a Savinelli or Peterson at that time. Until then, I will smoke these Altinook Meerschaums
and occasionaly the briars I have from JM Boswell.

Thanks again everyone. I appreciate your help.

Eric

 

[monbla256]

Wait 'till ya taste the Virginia Woods and Christmas Cheer. Mmmmmmm