Have you settled on a tobacco type?

kraigseder

I've talked to many pipe smokers that have gone through pipe tobacco phases over the years. By phases I mean the types of tobaccos they gravitated towards.
I started out smoking Capatain Black and aromatics and quickly realized it wasn't for me. I then found Latakias and couldn't get enough. If someone said it was a Latakia bomb I'd try it. This lasted a year or so. I then started dabbling into Virginia tobaccos and found I really liked them. I bought a few pounds of PS Full Virginia Flake to age and continued the search.
I'm currently drawn towards Virginia blends but have found my true love in Virginia Periques such as McClelland St James Flake. Virginia Periques (VaPers) is what I'm drawn to now.
What has been your pipe tobacco path? Do you still dabble quite a bit or have you settled on a favorite type or tobacco?

HaddoKen

Like most people I started off with an aromatics. I think they didn't click with me because they don't really taste like they smoke. I heard some advice that new pipe smokers should try an aromatic, an English and a Virginia too see what flavor a they like. So then I picked up an English and was hooked on Latakia. Until Lancer's Slices tore up the inside of my mouth. Now anytime I smoke Latakia I have a bad reaction to it. It's like an allergic reaction inside my mouth. Luckily I found Old Dark Fired soon after, and then realized I really like the Virginia flavors. So now I have been gravitating toward Virginia blends and dark fired blends. Recently I have been trying out some VaPers. I always fall back on ODF when I want a blend I know I'll really enjoy.

Kirbyb

my experience was a bit different, I was coming from cigars so I asked my local shop owner to recommend a pipe tobacco that would taste like a La Gloria Cuba cigar....he handed me a tin of Penzance. STG....my first tin of tobacco was what some consider the best stuff on the planet!!! I'll admit that I struggled; I enjoyed the flavor in small doses but I could not keep that stuff lit.

I have moved through many Latakia blends and as time goes on, I am moving to lighter lat blends. Last year I dove into Virginias and Vap/pers, I believe I have found a home. I just ordered $200 worth of many McClellands matured Virginias and 2 pounds of PS LNF today. Hopefully I can be disciplined enough to let them age.

Kyohan

I also came to the pipe from cigars so my first tobacco was Dunhill Nightcap. I dabble some, and will try almost anything once, but my favorite tobaccos are almost always English or Balkan blends. I do like a good Virginia or VaPer (especially in the Summer), but I always gravitate back to English blends.

thewanderingdude

I also started out with aro's and just figured that's what pipe tobacco was all about. Then about three years ago, I start following this @kraigseder guy on IG and he's smoking all this pipe tobacco I've never heard of. So I start to dabble in mail order tobacco and pipes etc. There was this whole experience out there I didn't even know about, pipe tobacco with flavor! Opened my eyes sir, just sayin'!

I really do wish I could get behind the Viginia's like the cool kids, but so far it's just not my thing. Nowadays I am a pretty solid English and anything with burley baccy guy. I've really been into an old school American/English (Peretti D7485) blend rut for the last 8 months or so. I always have a good aro or two in the rotation as well. Cheers!

hloakes

I have been in and out of pipes for 25 years; always with aromatics. Until i got back in this time I never knew about non-aromatics. They are opening up a whole new horizon for me. I still have not landed on anything but have tried some English blends and now trying some Virginia Periques and liking them as well. I have tried a couple of light aromatics and I am not liking them as much. I have a lot of tins I have not opened and they keep coming, so I have work to do, if you want to call it work. I am loving and wish I had more time for smoking. 

piperdave

I began like a lot of the comments here with aromatics,
walked into a Tinder Box in a local mall and bought a GBD pipe and an ounce of
their house peach blend aro. I had a tough time tasting anything for an hour
after that though. I tried other standard drug store blends but didn’t find anything
I really enjoyed. Then I tried a balken blend and like @thewanderingdude I
realized pipe tobacco blends seemed to be limitless and I liked the earthiness of
that balken blend so I wanted to try others. I then started to try anything I
could purchase in 1 ounce samples all types. I really haven’t got a go to type; I enjoy
everything from aromatics to light english to a straight virginia or Va.Per. For
me it really depends on the weather because I normally switch up with the
seasons, something like an balken / english for cold months and an aromatic / virginia
perique for spring and summer. I enjoy the fact that there are so many
variations within the different types of
tobaccos it really makes the pipe that much more enjoyable. I know it is terrible to say but I like them all.

PappyJoe

I began pipe smoking back in 1972 and mainly smoked what our small ships store had in stock - usually Captain Black, Borkum Riff or Mixture 79 Cherry. The Captain Black and Borkum Riff became my favorites for when we were underway. Tried some aromatics from the local tobacco shops in Seattle and they almost put me off aros because of the soapy taste they left in my mouth. I was just turning 20 and didn't really know a lot back then. I'm guessing they were Lakeland blends or something.

Now I smoke a variety from English to VaPer to aromatics depending on what I'm in the mood for. My go to blends are two of my own design

containing Yellow Virginias, Latakia, Black Cavendish and a touch of burley and perique. 

crapgame

I prefer the spicy VA/Per blends and english blends but as of late some aros have made it into my pipes and I am rather enjoying them..Capt Black ..my mad mix of paladin/half and half/SWR and five brothers...McCl nutty hazel to name a few have caught my taste as of late..and I also found a great cube cut burley from Sterling  called double eagle that is really nice to smoke as well.

ReniaEats

I'm partial to VaPer blends, but still like a few of the Aros I started with. I think my journey has mostly been about learning just to smoke what I like and not worrying about what other people get worked up over. 

Working for a retailer, I am constantly dabbling. There's always something new coming in that we've got to try. One of the perks and perils of the job.

TDSchiraldi

Latakia, Latakia, & Latakia! I love English / Balkan blends! I am on a quest to try them all!

USMCWOMBAT

Only been smoking since January.  I started with a MM sampler which included four different blends.  I figured myself for an aromatic smoker, given my preference for Black&Mild cigars.  I enjoyed the aro blends the most...at first.  Cpt Black Original was my next purchase and I was in love, but as I continued to sample my stock I discovered I enjoyed the English/American blend.  My local tobacconist then turned me on to Lane Ltd "Medal of Valor".  I think I'm in love with Latakia!  But I still like my Cpt and have also added Half&Half to my "always on hand" list.

iamandrewx

i enjoy smoking. so, no, i will never "settle".

denholrl

In 1963, I started with Cherry Blend and Mixture 79.  A few year later I discovered English blends when I tried something called "Natural" at The Peddler's Pipe, in Peddler's Village, Lahaska, PA.  For a few decades I pretty much stayed with English blends, mainly from Rattray's and The Connoisseur Shop in NYC.  Now retired and living in California, I'm enjoying Virginia flakes more and more . . . almost always for the first bowl of the day.  -  Rob D

crapgame

Still love english and Va/Per blends...starting to try burley blends to come up with my own sorta self blended aromatic

mgvsquared

Well, I thought I had settled on Englishes...my two absolute favorites are Penzance (if I can't get it, SPC Plum Pudding is a close second), and SPC Mississippi River for something on the Virginia-ish side. But with a recent trip to my favorite tobacconist, and a few recommendations, I'm trying some lighter aromatics and finding some I'm really enjoying. Can't say I'll be a total convert, but some things to broaden my palate into an actual rotation would be welcome. Pure VA or VaPer...not really my style though, that much I know.

luckyguy

A day without smoking a good English with a latakia taste in every puff is a wasted day. Good virginias and occasional excellent aromatic for change of pace is necessary however.

luckyguy

Personal editorial: there is a contradictory term for a supposed tobacco category, aromatic English. The addition of flavorings to a good English blend, to me, is an abomination. Crosseyed Cricket is one of the worst of the type but none are tolerable. I make hodgepodge blends of tobaccos I don't like individually, and have discovered that by adding a very sweet Virginia or good aromatic to an English blend results in a tolerable, slightly sweeter English blend in which the latakia presence is still pronounced. I recommend this procedure if you want a milder latakia effect or an English you can smoke all day.

jndyer

I have tried many different types of pipe tobacco; however, I always find my way back to aromatics. 

hackps

I have been smoking Captain Black Premium for the last 15 years, because I prefer a mellow long lasting smoke, but lately it seems that something has changed.  The tobacco seems to be burning hotter and faster.  A bowl that used to last 20 minutes now only last for 5 minutes and it's burning so hot that it burns my mouth.  At first I thought it was my pipe, but I'm getting the same reaction on two other pipes.  I wrote Captain Black about it too see if they had changed their blend, but I didn't get a reply.  Does anyone have a solution?  I don't know if I should try another brand or what,  I have thoroughly enjoyed CB till now and hate to go through all the hit and miss trials of looking for a new tobacco.

smoknguns

@hackps, have you tried Lane 1-Q? Try it sometime, you might like it.

I started out on aro's like most pipe smoker's and then found out about latakia and got hooked on english blends and crossover's for about 2 years. My tastes have changed recently though and I'm smoking a little bit of everything now except aro's. I dabble now in English/balkan blends, virginia's VaPer's, VaBur's, burley's and anything with dark fired Kentucky in it.

AaronInFortMill

I have tried everything trying to find something that satisfies like a cigar. In this attempt, I have recently let go of that pursuit and just enjoy the pipe for what it is. Something different.

So, I am really kind of settling in on the Red VA/Straight VA as a summer smoke and English Blends for the cooler weather. I really like the Dunhill Blend for English, they are cooperative.

judandhispipe

I smoke latakia blends, Virginias,burleys - a wide variety. Don't care for perique. Smoke an occasional light aro.

thomas

iv been smokin 50years now,,early favorets ,,middleton cheery blend,,holiday excursion,,anything mild ,airomatic..but i have approximately 40 different tobaccos ,i smoke now ,always looking to try something new..i like all of the peterson blends,,i own 15 peterson pipes,,and about 35 corn cob pipes ,and assorted others totaling about,,100 pipes in my collection..

PipeProfessor

Nope, there are too many to enjoy! I love aromatics, but am slowly sliding into more English blends.

LostMason

I started out with aro's and really seem to be staying there as far as my goto blends.Mostly Captain Black original,but also a lot of the sutliff blends.I'm partial to the vanilla topped ones.I do enjoy english and VaPer's but not as much.

PappyJoe

I really like good english blends with latakia and perique. 

However, I just received my latest shipment of 10 tins and they are all aromatics.

I'm so confused.

drac2485

Like most I started with aromatics but quickly fell in love with VaPers and then worked my way into English blends. More recently I have gone back to the Aros but have been trying out Virginians and falling in love with them.  As I am learning I prefer lighter blends when it is hot and being in Texas that most of the year but a good Lat bomb is welcome occasionally.

TruckerBill

I'm stuck on Latakia blends. I actually started with old Dublin, or frog Morton, can't remember which. I keep trying to expand my palette, but it's just not working.

PappyJoe

Cracked open a new tin of Celtic Talisman (pronounced Kel-Tick as that is the proper English pronunciation and not Sel-Tick like a basketball team). First thing I learned after smoking a bowl straight from the tin is that this tobacco needs to sit and dry out a little before smoking.

thesubcon

Pretty much love good aromatics (which I have much of), and pretty much any English blend....I kinda hate Perique and solo Virginias.