suggestions

android · Post by **android** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:29 pm

howdy, up until now, i've only smoked pipe tobacco based on the smell. when i went in to buy it, i just smelled around until i found one that i thought smelled like when i pass a pipe on the street. the only way i know how to describe it is that it has a somewhat sweet smell, nothing distinct like vanilla or anything... any ideas what kind of blend it might be?

that's kinda beside the point, i was curious to know if you all would make some suggestions for me as a next step in expanding my tobacco palette. i went to a pipe store the other day in my new locale and decided on a pure whim to buy some mcclellands virginia no. 25. it smells a little different than what i'm used to, but i'm excited to try it out. but other suggestions are welcomed and guidance (i.e. you're wasting your time with no. 25, etc...)

thanks!

Spence Pipes · Post by **Spence Pipes** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:25 pm

I just bought a tin of McClellands Frog Morton, Across the Pond. And it is really good. It is differant than the bulk stuff I usually get, mainly due to price, but I splured. I have tried a few of there tobacco's and never been disappoionted with them. Go to " JRCIGARS.COM. They have tin tobacco at about $5.00 off what you pay in the shops. If you buy a few tins it's worth the money.

flix · Post by **flix** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:30 pm

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com

Just do a search on the most popular, and get samples of each one that sounds good to you. I certainly would try to avoid purchasing blends that just smell good to you. You will miss out on a whole world of great smoking blends otherwise!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:18 am

I'd just start sampling the basic varieties. Make sure you try and English blend, A Virginia/Perique blend, and you've already picked out a nice Virginia. McLellands do excellent Virginias. You can't go wrong with a Dunhill English. Not sure who to recommend for VaPers. If you're feeling really adventurous, give one of the Gawith Rope tobaccos a try! Good stuff!

android · Post by **android** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:54 am

thanks for the site, it's a nice one.

when 'hand-rubbing' the tobacco, does this process happen as the name implies? you just take the flake and rub it into something that can be kept lit? or is there some magical process to it?

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:09 am

Some folks, myself included, don't even rub out flakes. You can fold them and stuff them in your pipe and they'll burn forever. Not too tight though, and it might take a while to hit on the right combo of fold and fluff to make it smoke right for you. IMO, its the best way to smoke things like traditional flakes - 1792 (Cobb Flake), Balkan Flake, etc.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:26 pm

Android... what is your current "go to" tobacco? And what have you smoked up till now? Just those two answers might help some of us give you some more suggestions on what to try out.

"Rubbing out" tobacco is just what it says. I just roll the flakes back and forth between my fingers until it's where I like it, then I stuff it into my pipe. I do it when I'm ready to smoke rather than rubbing out a whole tin at one time. As Kurt mentioned, you can fold em up and smoke em, too. MacBaren's website used to have a "how-to" for smoking flakes and may still so you might want to check it out.

The "sweet" aroma of the tobacco you smell may be something as simple as a black cavendish style blend. One that sticks out in my mind that you may enjoy is Hartwell's Evening Stroll. Good stuff. I believe it's on tobaccoreviews.com if you're interested in the review.

android · Post by **android** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:09 pm

hazmat, i wish i'd written down the name of the tobacco i bought. i guess my answer is that i'm still trying to figure out my 'go-to'. as i stated, i bought the mcclellands no 25 and tried it for the first time this afternoon. i was quite pleased with it. the tobacco shop also gave me a sample of their own virginia blend, which was also nice. i definitely think my 'other' tobacco, the unknown one that i bought based on smell, is a cavendish blend based on what i've read about them. it also leaves some 'resin' on the top of the bowl when lighting it, which means it has sugar or something in it?? and i also notice more tongue bit with that tobacco, but i do like the flavor and aromatic qualities it has.

so, i guess experimentation is the way to go for now. the tobaccoreviews site has helped a lot so far. i think i'll try the following:

mcclelland blackwoods flake
samuel gawith chocolate flake
GLPease westminster

and perhaps one other. that evening stroll one sounds nice but didn't see hartwell on jrcigars or smokingpipes...

thanks for your suggestions and help!

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:46 pm

I had found a bulk tobacco from my local brick-and-mortar that I dearly loved, and I had been buying about 8-ounces every other week, something like that anyway.

But one of the things that was bugging me about it was that I could never recommend it to anybody, since what my local B&M calls "Black Russian" has no crossmatch whatsoever to what any other B&Ms are selling.

So recently I went online and purchased an ounce of every single bulk tobacco I could find, and lo-and-behold, my cherished B&M-labeled "Black Russian" was non other than Lane RLP-6.

So now I can recommend it to people. "That's right, try Lane RLP-6. I smoke a good 1/4 pound of it a week. Good stuff."

But anywho, if you smoke a whole freakin lot, like me, bulk tobacco is definitely the way to go. Especially if you eventually tend to settle into a few favorites.

https://www.lilbrown.com/index.cfm?cate ... %20Tobacco

http://www.4noggins.com/index.asp?PageA ... Category=3

YMMV

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 3:39 pm

Android... the blending house's full name is Benjamin Hartwell. You might want to try cupojoes.com, I believe they have it.

You probably can't go too wrong with any of the GL Pease offerings.

Cornell and Diehl is very good, too. If you're looking to try out any Va/Perique blends, they offer several that are tasty. Most notable to me is Kajun Kake. Another good Va/Perique is Escudo, though it's not a Cornell and Diehl blend. You shouldn't have much trouble finding that one, though.

If you want a balkin/english blend a good one to try is Penzance or McClelland's Frog Morton or, again, any of Pease's english/balkan style blends.

Ummmm.... for now that's all I can think of. I'll try to post more suggestions later on when I can look at my stock of 'baccys.

Tano · Post by **Tano** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 5:50 pm

I started with the 4 star rated tobaccos on the tobacco reviews site (remember its still a very subjective topic). I wanted to taste what people felt is a 4 star rated. I then stepped down to the three stars.
Never buy in large quantity unless you really like that blend... also I suggest to store some of your favorites.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:32 pm

One blend that surprised the bejeezuz out of me was Butternut Burley:
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/scottysblends.html
I'm not a fan of aromatics. To me, they seem to fall flat after the first few puffs, not this one. It even gets better after it's a year or two old! Now that's not at all in keeping with my experience of other aromatics.

That said, my favorites are still Esoterica Penzance, Cornell & Diehl Byzantium, Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud, Samuel Gawith 1792, and Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake. I also enjoy SG Black XXX Rope, and almost anything with orientals, perique, and latakia in them. I am not a fan of straight virginia blends, however. They burn the living crap out of my tongue.

flix · Post by **flix** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:45 pm

KurtHuhn wrote:
That said, my favorites are still Esoterica Penzance, Cornell & Diehl Byzantium, Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud, Samuel Gawith 1792, and Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake. I also enjoy SG Black XXX Rope, and almost anything with orientals, perique, and latakia in them. I am not a fan of straight virginia blends, however. They burn the living crap out of my tongue.

Hey, Kurt! It sounds like you and I have nearly the exact same tastes! All except the Perique, which I'm allergic to. My favs also include:
Dark BirdsEye
Bracken Flake
Dark Flake
Coniston Cut Plug
Rum Flake
RB Flake
etc, etc... Lakelands are about the best!

android · Post by **android** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:42 pm

tano, that's pretty much what i was doing. i based my choices off number of reviews and 3-4 stars...

thanks for listing your favorites fellas. i look forward to digging in to some other tobaccos. the butternut barley sounds great, i might have to give that a shot also. interesting how the description of that one on the website is way longer than the others.

i also planted my tobacco seeds today... perhaps, many, many years from now, i will produce a great tasting 'iowa' tobacco blend...

android · Post by **android** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:45 pm

by the way, are Gawith & Hogart and Samuel Gawith at all related businesses?

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 5:32 am

android wrote:by the way, are Gawith & Hogart and Samuel Gawith at all related businesses?

Two different blenders that branched off the same family tree.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:48 am

One I didn't think of... this is a Cornell and Diehl blend, I think it's #114 but I can't recall exactly. It's called "Crooner" and it's pretty simple. It's a cube-cut burley with deers tongue added to give it a vanilla nose and a bit of a vanilla taste. The burley's nice and nutty-flavored and the combo, IMHO, goes well together.

Another EXCELLENT cube-cut burley blend is Pease's Barbary Coast. Highly suggest giving this one a whirl.

A note on cube cut burleys if you try them out; just gravity fill the pipe's bowl when packing. You don't want to mash the lil cubes down in there, else they'll clog up the draft hole on you. Just dribble some in, tap the sides of the bowl to settle it, dribble some more in, and on up till the pipe's been filled. Light, smoke, enjoy!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:58 am

Speaking of which, it is just about time for my morning dose of Brown Rope. Ahhhh, life is good.

Benton · Post by **Benton** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 12:55 pm

I'd put in another vote for Butternut Burley and Barbary Coast. They are my current favorites; both are burley blends, but they don't have much in common other than that.
Butternut Burley is an inexpensive, low-brow tobacco that you can jam into any old pipe and light up for a good smoke. I like it in a small, light pipe that I can clench in my teeth while I am fooling around in the shop.
Barbary Coast is a sit-down affair for me. The perique is just perfect in this blend; enough to bring out the fruity flavors, but not enough to make it too peppery.
If you order some Butternut Burley, try Larry's Blend, too. It has some really intense latakia flavors that are interesting.

Alan L · Post by **Alan L** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:35 pm

KurtHuhn wrote:That said, my favorites are still Esoterica Penzance, Cornell & Diehl Byzantium, Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud, Samuel Gawith 1792, and Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake. I also enjoy SG Black XXX Rope, and almost anything with orientals, perique, and latakia in them. I am not a fan of straight virginia blends, however. They burn the living crap out of my tongue.

Hey, you've been looking in my tobacco drawer!!!

Although lately I have gotten kinda funky with the fruit loops: Royal Yacht and an old Murray's-made tin of Erinmore Flake...