Tobacco recommendation

[TRS]

I've been smoking the same few tobaccos from the same 'producer' for years, which I'm a bit embarrased about. I'm ready to branch out a bit and was hoping you guys could recommend one or two absolute musts, in your opinion(s).

[staffwalker]

Lancers Slices is my all time favorite made in Germany by Charles Fairmorn. You can order by the ounce from Pipes and Cigars.com.

bob gilbert

[SimeonTurner]

I smoke Drury Lane from Edwards tobacco. It is my all time standby, though I also like to branch out and play with latakia when the weather is cold.

For a great latakia blend, look at GL Pease and any of the lat blends they do. Also, I like Crosseyed Cricket from Cornell Diehl, though probably more for the awesome name...LOL.

[TRS]

I have a horrible dependance on the Tinderbox's 'Midnight'. If anyone else is familiar with this one and could recommend some nice tobacco along this line, that'd be swell. I ordered some Mclelland 'Dark Star' and am quite enamored of it as well..... Thanks!

[Sasquatch]

Beatus, none of us enjoy all the same tobaccos, but my list of "must try at some point if you smoke a pipe" tobaccos includes:

Navy Flake from Mac Baren. Just a sweet easy Va/Burley blend. Yum.

Presbyerian Mixture from Solomon - this is a benchmark oriental blend, dark tea-like flavors, mingled with turkish, virginia, and maybe some kind of plummy topping. It's excellent.

Commonwealth from Samuel Gawith. 50/50 Virginia and Latakia. A manly version of Frog Morton, perhaps. Utterly delicious.

Connoiseur's Choice from Peterson. This is a VERY heavily topped aromatic. Sweet and spicey. It smokes a little hotter than I might wish for, but it tastes amazing. I also like Luxury Blend - less topping (and totally different) but easier smoking.

So there's 4 totally different tobaccos, spanning the globe and the taste spectrum of pipe smoking. From those 4, you can get really good, precise advice about where to turn next.

[TRS]

Hey, thanks man. I know everyone's got different tastes, I'm just looking for any suggestions to narrow down the wiiiide field. The Presbyterian and Connoiseur's both sound like things I'd like to try. Right now I've got Deep Hollow from Mclelland and Chocolate and Honey from MacBaren on the way from Pipesandcigars.com (thanks Staffwalker!)

[Ryan]

glp Key Largo and Mcc Frog morton on the bayou

[Nick]

Try some Gawith and Hogarth Brown rope! Awesome stuff!

[SimeonTurner]

I have just discovered a fantastic new blend called "3 Oaks" from McClelland Tobacco Company. It's a blend of Oriental tobacco, Virginia leaf, and Syrian Latakia. Really smooth, really mild, and not quite a overpoweringly "camp fiery" as some of the other latakia blends I have frequented.

13 bucks for 50 grams, but definitely worth it, IMHO.

[kbadkar]

Are you sure it's Syrian Latakia? I thought all Latakia was from Cyprus these days.

[SimeonTurner]

*Shrug* That's what the tin says...

http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by- ... t_id=54378

Looks like they make a blend with cyprus latakia as well:

http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by- ... t_id=54377

[kbadkar]

Cool, I'd believe the tin too. I'll check it out... maybe they sell the Syrian stuff neat (unblended).

[Ryan]

Are you sure it's Syrian Latakia? I thought all Latakia was from Cyprus these days.

From what I've heard McC has a stash of Syrian from the same batch the others lost in the warehouse fire.

[kbadkar]

Wow, really! Sh*t, I better get a tin and see if I can parse the flavors. Do they sell the stuff straight up? (rhetorical, I'll find out)

[m.c.]

Hi, BeatusLiebowitz, when you are itching for new tobaccos, I think it's better to first nail down what *types* of backy you particularly like. Is it heavily cased, slightly cased, pure virginia, burley, or English? This significantly reduces the chance of ending up with something that will sit on the shelf forever.

English is a snobbish thing - you know how many smokers actually WORSHIP it, though I do love it too. It chiefly comprises two variants: Virginia+Latakia and Virginia+Oriental. For the former, Dunhill 965 is a GOD to many (I have not tried it) and I recently heard that it is back in production, though not by Dunhill. For the latter, Presbyterian is a classic. In fact every major brand produces English blends, many of them American brands like GLP. If you don't have an obssessive Epicurean palate, you can simply buy any such blends from the major brands. Just make sure it is made of the right sort of backies you like and is not perceptibly cased, unless you prefer a cross between English and aromatic.

For aromatics, there are way too many choices. Some are so heavily aromatic that you will be actually drawing in chemicals. Others are more delicately cased and offer a quality tobacco taste along with some sorts of frangrance. After selecting one of these strands, I guess you will have to try many before finding what you really want.

[kbadkar]

Don't forget the "vapers" - Virginia and Perique. Typically, you get a taste for these after graduating from the English blends. Escudo is a fine example and a friendly introduction to vapers.

If you really want to explore and get somewhere with knowledge of real tobacco, I'd suggest skipping anything obviously cased, topped, scented, or flavored.

[TRS]

Welp, I've got a tin of MacBaren 'Chocolate and Honey' with 3 or 4 bowls'worth missing if anyone's interested in trying it. Not for me. So if you like it, or were curious about trying it, I'd give it up for simple trade; maybe a little baggie or two of something you've got around. Thanks

EDIT: Apologies to MacBaren; this is a fine tobacco. Today I gave it another go and 'sipped' gently and slowly at it instead of aggresively puffing. It made ALL the difference.....

[kbadkar]

I have just discovered a fantastic new blend called "3 Oaks" from McClelland Tobacco Company. It's a blend of Oriental tobacco, Virginia leaf, and Syrian Latakia. Really smooth, really mild, and not quite a overpoweringly "camp fiery" as some of the other latakia blends I have frequented.

13 bucks for 50 grams, but definitely worth it, IMHO.

I just opened a tin, smoked my first bowl on the way to work, and wow, it is good stuff. Thanks for the recommendation. It was only 9 bucks from smokingpipes. I bought 4 more tins, but I think I'll have to stock up more. Has anyone compared the Syrian 3Oaks to the Cyprian 3Oaks? I might have to get a tin just for comparison.

I found this blend to be really mellow, with plenty of Latakia flavor, but not overpowering. I'm not sure yet if it is the characteristic of the Syrian or if it's a blend that's light on the Latakia... but either way, those who have trouble with the flavor potency of heavy Latakia blends, this might be a good introduction (a handshake vs. a slap in the face).