• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

New to Pipes! Some suggestiongs for a beginner?

ramsfan87

ramsfan87

New Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2009
Messages
19
Location
Notre Dame, Indiana
Hey guys, I'm glad to be a part of this community again. (used to have an account that somehow got deleted.) Anyways I recently started to play around with pipe smoking after having my first cigar over 2 years ago. I went to my local tinderbox, were I received great help from the guy working there as well as a few people that came in the shop. I purchased a Missouri Meerschaum for $5 and a "basket" pipe from Calabresi that cost me about $40. Seemed like a good deal to me. I also bought 1 oz of their Mango Tango house blend. I've really enjoyed smokes in both pipes. I believe the blend I bought was an aromatic.

Now that I decided to do a little more research, it seems like there are even more blends out there than different types of cigars! I was wondering if there is any advice you guys have to give me on blends to try for someone who is just getting into pipes but has some experience with cigars. Thanks!
 
There are probably thousands of blends out there to try. I would recommend doing a search of the Pipe Room and you will find a bunch of responses to your exact question. Also read the pipe smoking guide that is pinned in this forum. Have fun and enjoy. :)
 
There's a thread just a few down that has all kinds of suggestions in it. It's titled "Hello Pipe Room!" There's also a "Desert Island Blend" thread somewhere in here. There are some very nice tobaccos listed there.

Search is your friend. :)

Have fun. :)
 
Thanks for a few replies. I did read some of the previous posts including that hello pipe room post. I did miss the pipe smoking 101 post, which was very informative and gave me some help. Still the reason I posted this in the first place was that I felt almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of blends that I guess I just didn't know where to even start.
 
ramsfan87 said:
Thanks for a few replies. I did read some of the previous posts including that hello pipe room post. I did miss the pipe smoking 101 post, which was very informative and gave me some help. Still the reason I posted this in the first place was that I felt almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of blends that I guess I just didn't know where to even start.
Click to expand...

My best advice is to just jump right in. We can't give specific suggestions because we don't know your tastes (and neither do you at this point :) ). There aren't really any direct comparisons one can make between cigar smoking and pipe smoking. They are independent experiences.

I know there's a lot out there, but all you can do is start trying stuff. The posts that you have been pointed to will help you pare down the vast number of blends available into a list of high quality stuff. At least that way you can avoid the stuff made out of sawdust and the stuff drenched in humectant. :laugh:

Good luck! Enjoy the journey. :D
 
I'm the O.P. of the 'hello pipe room' thread. I've been doing alot of reading and smoking and here's what I can recomend so far. Take a look at the desert island thread, then take a look at pipetobaccoreviews.com. Make notes on the blends that are metioned and reviewed the most. Also, go to your local store and a wide variety of tobacco, about an oz each if you can. Try some nonaromatics too and get a range of fuller to milder.

I love cigars also, my favrite right now being padron 64. So, I prefer nonaromatic pipe tobacco. It smokes cooler and drier. Here are my suggestions,

SG's Full Viginia Flake (fast becoming my favorite)
SG's Squadron Leader
Penzance
Escudo
Frog Morton
Hal o' the wynd
Stone Haven
Golden Glow

These are all great. I'm finding that I personally really like the blends of Samual Gawaith.

hope that helps.
 
Two things that jump immediately to mind.

I'm a 15+ year cigar smoker and only recently started smoking pipes (about a year ago). IMHO you should definitely try a good medium English blend, I'd recommend something like GL Pease Maltese Falcon, Sam Gawith Squadron Leader, or perhaps Peter Stokkebye (all of his tobaccos with English in the name are good, some stronger, some lighter, all inexpensive).

If you are used to a lot of flavor, it's easy for you to get tongue bite overpuffing on a lighter tobacco like a burley or Virginia, or an aromatic.

The other big suggestion I'd make would be to smoke an estate pipe... one that is already broken in and clean. I had some pretty miserable experiences in my first month or two and I now chalk that up to the bad combination of new pipe with new piper. A new pipe requires some care when breaking in, and during the break in period, can smoke a bit harsh, especially if smoked hard. An older pipe that's been smoked for years won't exhibit any of these issues.
 
Thanks for all the help guys! I am definitlely going to keep some of those blends in mind when I go later this week to my local tobacco shop, only real one in the area is tinderbox.
 
I would try to sample as much as possible... if you buy full tins you may waste a lot of money. Some staples to try if you can get samples...

McClelland 5100 - really straight forward and solid red VA

Dunhill Early Morning Pipe - good introduction to Latakias, a milder Latakia blend

Escudo - good intro to VaPers

St Brunos - excellent Lakeland style VA

Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake - excellent example of a lightly cased aromatic

Orlik Golden Sliced - my favorite golden VA

Prince Albert - a taste of an OTC burley (barf!)

Gawith Full Virginia - A really full flavored straight VA, just awesome
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top