What would you choose and why?

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Psmith

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2013
Messages
212
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Location
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.
Hey piping brothers. I'm about to buy myself a new tin, which up here in Canada is a big thing for me because a tin up here costs on average $58 USD. Purchasing any tobacco from overseas is impossible anymore (it was for a while which was nice and allowed me to try lots of blends unavailable up here). Alas, from here on out my only tobacco purchases will be from my local B&M called Smoke Rings which is actually a classy little tobacco shop with a nice cigar selection in 3-4 humidors, around 200 pipes on display that are mostly Brighams, Chacom, some old and dusty looking Petersons, Falcons and Savinelli. And they have an assortment of bulk tobaccos named after local place names: Jingle Pot, Departure Bay, Mount Benson which I believe are Sutliffe. And they have an assortment of tins limited to:

-MacBaren line
-Solani line
-S. Gawith (Squadron Leader and FVF only)
-Presbyterian
-Cornell and Diell Autumn Evening
-Amphora (Original, Full Aroma, Kentucky) $48 USD rather than $58 like all the tins
-Erinmore Mixture

And that's it. So, after having run out of the last of my tobacco in July, I'ved saved up a few pennies and am going to treat myself to a tin. That tin will be my nightly companion for the next couple of months (I only smoke when I walk my dog in the evening). My question to you guys is:

given that limited selection and knowing that you would smoke only that choice for the next couple months, which tin would you pick for yourself and why?

For us Canadians scarcity and expense are two unavoidable factors in our decision to choose a pipe tobacco. I'm curious what you guys would choose under the same conditions.

I'm leaning towards Navy Flake but I have had it before and my adventurous side is telling me to buy something new. I'm thinking Scottish Blend or Presbyterian. I like all genres of tobacco from aros to virginias, english to burleys...its all good to me. So...hard to decide.

***the cost difference of bulk vs. tin is not that signifignt. The same amount of tobacco in bulk here costs $56 USD. That being so, I would rather go for a tin.

Cheers.
 
Last edited:
Easy. FVF. Totally me as I don’t do Latakia based anything any more and find the depth and quality of almost anything Gawith to be a solace in these often stressful times. It’s dependable, versatile and easy to come back to day after day.

When facing the shocking and punitive prices of bulk or tins I calculate the number of typical bowls a tin provides. I use a range of 15 - 20 bowls to figure…and if a tin is $60 (USD) then a bowl is $3 to $4. To me that’s still a bargain. Enjoy.

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If you've never had FVF then I think you owe it to yourself to try it! That said, it's notoriously a bit finicky to work with, which may be somewhat at odds with smoking while walking a dog.
 
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