Any Pipe Smokers?

JDE · August 2016

BGG said:

Why did you stop ? health reasons ? have PM'd you.

Health reasons in the sense that it kills you, not in the sense that there's anything wrong with my health. If that makes sense?

Still smoke a (nice) cigar once or twice a week, but the pipe was becoming a bit too much of a habit, so I thought I'd knock it on the head. I don't want to be a daily smoker, and it's too easy to do that with a pipe, for me.

57Deluxe · August 2016

When CAMARA was first published, smoking a pipe in a listed Pub and partaking in top brews was de rigueur

I got a Bewlay #45 and used to try as many Tabaccos as poss - often doing swapsie's with the ex hippie types I worked with... I was 17 and the punk era was happening!

Top branded Snout:

Balkan Sobrannie Cigar Leaf and BLACK tin...
Baby's Bottom
Mick McQuaid

...but the best was from a little shop oi the Richmond Rd in Kingston on Thames, where a little old man would mix and rub for you from out his bins... Brandy Rough Cut...!

http://www.oldshopstuff.com/Portals/49/ListingImages/FullSize/25006.jpg

http://www.vkpipes.com/uploads/1/6/4/3/16434420/206783525_orig.jpg

https://img0.etsystatic.com/136/1/11456399/il_570xN.880136310_v4gb.jpg

holnrew · August 2016

I miss my pipe. It's tempting to get another as I vape now, just use it as an occasional treat kind of thing. Or when I just want to look obnoxious

JDE · August 2016

57Deluxe said:

Top branded Snout:

Balkan Sobrannie Cigar Leaf and BLACK tin...
Baby's Bottom

People would be *losing their shit* on pipe forums if you had any of that.

BGG · August 2016

Huge thanks for the tobacco mate, you are star, delivered today so looking forward to getting stuck in

@JDE ;

lloyd · August 2016

Nomad said:

lloyd said:

I'm gonna get a pipe

If you haven't smoked a pipe before, visit your local proper tobacconist and see what they suggest. In Manchester, that looks like being Astons. With a bit of luck, you can get a basket pipe or a beginner's kit. Other essentials are: baccy, a pipe tool, pipe cleaners, and a source of flame.
The tool is used to tamp the baccy down as you smoke it, and for lightly reaming the bowl afterwards. Cleaners get pushed down the stem to clean out residue and any condensed moisture. Get the plain cotton ones, not the scrub type ones. The flame source should produce a soft yellow flame - avoid blowtorch type lighters. Matches are fine, and a proper pipe lighter is easier to use than a cig lighter because the flame comes out sideways (helps keep your fingers out of the way because you're trying to get the flame to go downwards, but it wants to go upwards).
Try to handle a few pipes to see what feels good in the hand (you'll be holding it a lot), and go for something that you like the look of. There are lots of styles and shapes. (Don't stick them in your mouth!)

Good series of vids for beginners, starting with this one...

Cheers for the tips.

AliGorie · August 2016

Nomad said:

Very unusual to inhale - it's really about the flavours and maybe a little nicotine absorption.

not in my case

pipe smoker for over twenty five yrs and enjoyed every minuet of it, it was the only thing that stopped me from talking - a pipe in my gob.
my favorite tobacco was House of Bewley's Planters Pride - exquisite.
I favoured the Peterson Donegal Rocky Pipe 03 pipe

a nice summation of some tobaccos (not mine)

John Player Tobaccos

Medium, Gold Leaf, Tawny, No Name, Whiskey Flake, Whiskey Ready Rubbed, Airman Mixture ( a light Balkan/Oriental colour mixture which would disappear by the mid 1960s.)

The above were mild/medium strength fairly bland blends suitable for smoking in “mixed company.”

The only new Player's blend to be launched in the period under discussion was Sherwood Flake, which came out in the mid 1960s but disappeared by the early 1980s. Sherwood had a much more pronounced room note, making it more suitable for smoking outdoors or in masculine company at work or in a saloon bar.

W.D. & H.O. Wills Tobaccos

Capstan and Cut Golden Bar were Wills main brands – again mild/medium strength bland blends suitable for smoking in “mixed company.”

Bulwark was a much more robust offering aimed more at working men, suitable for outdoor smoking or in a saloon bar.

Bell's/ Mitchell's

3 Nuns, 3 Nuns Empire Blend – mild/medium Virginia and Perique blend, fairly bland, suitable for smoking in “mixed company”

Ogden's of Liverpool

St. Bruno Flake, St. Bruno Ready Rubbed, St Bruno Empire Flake – classic British tobaccos of medium strength and mild room note – acceptable just about anywhere though the Empire variety was a few pence cheaper and slightly more pungent.

St. Julien Mixture – a light ribbon cut tobacco advertised a suitable for either smoking in a pipe or as RYO cigarettes – always an aroma like wet socks.

Aintree Flake, Aintree Mixture – another long running British Classic with a more pronounced nose than St Bruno and a somewhat sharper taste in its flake form, the mixture was milder and acceptable just about everywhere.

Gold Block – mixture of Virginia and Burley, mild with subtle nutty aroma. In its original form the cut was Negrohead. Acceptable anywhere at any time.

Walnut Bar, Walnut Flake – a strong tobacco with a powerful nose – definitely one for the outdoors or the saloon bar.

Rich Dark Honeydew ( later put out under the Gallagher label ) - a medium strength dark tobacco with just a hint of black chocolate to its taste. Probably best outdoors or in masculine company.

Tam O' Shanter – a strong tobacco for the outdoors or in the saloon bar.

Old Gold – a mild to medium blend with a taste like licking pennies! Inoffensive, mildish tobacco acceptable everywhere.

Briar Rose – another mild/medium fairly bland tobacco, but acceptable everywhere.

Amphora – offered in a plain and an aromatic version; mild to medium in strength with a subtle aroma to the aromatic making both acceptable in any company.

Digger Flake, Digger Shag – medium to strong tobaccos for outdoors or in the saloon bar.

Murray's

Erinmore Flake – medium strength British classic with quite a pronounced nose. Just about acceptable in mixed company but not ideal.

Erinmore Mixture – though the same name a very very different tobacco from the flake – mixture was a colour mixture with a tendency to smoke hot and on the thin side, but with little by way of room note - acceptable everywhere.

Gallagher

Condor Sliced (until the mid 1960s) then Long Cut, Condor Ready Rubbed, Condor Bar, Condor Twist (actually a chewing tobacco, but often smoked as well) – the Condor family of tobaccos was definitely for the working man on the shop floor, the outdoors or in the saloon bar; strongly flavoured and with a strong room note!

Talisman came out in the 1970s but was withdrawn when Condor Light was introduced around the 1980s and was basically similar to Condor original but not so strong.

Rich Dark Honeydew – see entry under Ogden's of Liverpool.

Four Square ( Churchman's ???)

Offered a range of tobaccos similar to those put out by Players and none would have been out of place in “mixed company.”

John Cotton

As with Four Square above

Sobranie

Always regarded as a more upmarket label than almost any other, with the exception possibly of Dunhill – Sobranie’s blends included

Sobranie Balkan, Virginia No 10, Virginia Flake and one other who's number escapes my memory but it came in a black tin with gold lettering and artwork – possibly Sobranie 659? All Sobranie tobaccos would have been acceptable in most companies.

Alternatives to Sobranie Balkans were, Baby's Bottom, Barney's Punchbowle, Rubicon, Parson's Pleasure and Presbyterian Mixture.

John Sinclair

John Sinclair Flake was effectively a superior version of St Bruno Flake and was acceptable just about everywhere.

Cope's

Cope's Escudo was billed as 100% pure tobacco with no additives. A bland tasting medium Virginia in the style of Players Medium but some pipe smokers found it produced a dry mouth and left an aspirin like after-taste. Could be smoked anywhere without causing offence.

House of Craven

Offered Craven Mixture and Craven Aromatic, both mild to medium Virginia type blends. The aromatic was subtle and similar to Amphora. Both could be smoked anywhere.

Benson and Hedges

This old established label famous until then for its cigarettes and cigars began offering Mellow Virginia Flake, Mellow Virginia Ready Rubbed, Rich Virginia Flake and Rich Virginia Ready Rubbed in the early 1970s.

These were essentially sweet Virginias with a honeyed taste and nose; the “Rich” offered a slightly fuller flavour and strength. B&H's tobaccos were acceptable in all companies.

Sadly the “Rich” option was dropped in the 1980s.

Co-operative Society Tobaccos

Revor Plug – a strongly flavoured strong tobacco with a pronounced room note. Smoked by working men mainly – suitable for outdoors, factory floors and saloon bars.

Mahogany – the co-op's version of St Bruno but as the room note was more pronounced and not to everyone's taste some discretion could be required by anyone choosing this tobacco as to where to smoke it.

Centurion Mix – a medium strength tobacco, fairly unremarkable in most aspects. Could have been smoked in most contexts but limited appeal, as it was an “own brand.”

Plug Tobaccos not already mentioned

Warlock, Warhorse, Bulwark – all fairly strong tobaccos and definitely for the outdoors or the saloon bar.

Other Once -common Brands

I have had to include this classification, as I simply cannot remember who made these tobaccos!

Exmoor Hunt – a medium strength mixture, on the dark side similar to Rich Dark Honeydew but with a sharper taste. A very middle class English tobacco.

Highland Sliced -”The size of a Threepenny, the strength of a Handshake” said the advert. A very strong handshake it would have been! Suitable for the outdoors, the factory floor and the saloon bar.

Mick McQuade – again a tobacco for the outdoors, the factory or the saloon bar.

Conspicuous by their absence from this list are the Dunhill