Which tobacco?

[Pipe Dude]

I tried Gawith Hoggarth's Ennerdale Flake for the first time this morning and it felt a bit like smoking pot pourri!

Yeah, the Lakelands' baccies can be a bit 'floral'. Broken Flake No 7 is my favourite. Sweet, but less soapy than Ennerdale.

[crusse]

Walnut Flake definitely sounds like a blend I should try. I don't find the floral casing to be that pronounced in St Bruno (at least compared to some of the aromatics I've tried, which I really have to be in the mood for). It just seems to add a rich fruitcake sweetness to the blend, without making it soapy. Some of the stronger aromatics seem to smell much nicer than they taste: I tried Gawith Hoggarth's Ennerdale Flake for the first time this morning and it felt a bit like smoking pot pourri!

[captain duff]

I still haven't found a better any-time pipe tobacco than St Bruno

On that basis I would definately recommend Ogden's Walnut Flake - to my palate it is the St Bruno base tobacco blend but without the floral ('lakeland' style) casing, so a purer tobacco taste, but also a hint of nut in there somewhere (although I've always assumed it was caled Walnut Flake due to the colour rather than taste - could be wrong though!). Also have an experiment with contrasting St Bruno ready rubbed with St Bruno Flake, as many think the Flake superiour in terms of tatse intensity (I like both though myself - and sometimes ready rubbed is good when I'm feeling lazy!).

Incidentally, none of the Ogden's (Imperial Tobacco owned) blends have been made in Liverpool for years, despite what the packaging states. The front of the old factory still stands (grade II listed) but the rest was knocked down a while ago, so as far as I'm aware the Ogden's stuff comes from Spain these days...

[crusse]

Then I guess I'd better put the Balkan mixture in a drawer and try it again in a few months. In the meantime, I might try some blends that contain less latakia to see if I can handle it in smaller quantities. I wish that I could put my finger on exactly what I was tasting when I tried the Balkan mixture. The smell reminded me of creosote, but the flavour was completely new to me, and very overpowering. My brain seemed to be telling me 'your taste buds can't process this information so they're going to reject this flavour!'

[Pipe Dude]

I'll keep that in mind - I'm willing to try any tobacco once, but I don't think that the heavy, spicy flavour of latakia is for me. Or maybe it's an acquired taste?

Never say never with pipe baccy......

When I first started out, I couldn't stand perique. To me, it tasted like I was smoking burnt celery. I got two bowlfuls into a tin of Dunhill Nightcap and gave up. Fortunately, I didn't bin it and just put it aside. As my pipe experience increased, I 'learned' to like blends where perique was a less dominant component and re-visited the Nightcap about 6 months later. I was amazed when it instantly turned into one of my favourite baccies of all time.

[crusse]

I suppose I could imagine a toned down latakia blend going well with a smoky, peaty single malt, but it would have to be a LOT less strong than Gawith's Balkan Mixture. I will look out for those syrian latakia blends next time I make an order. Thanks for the advice Smallclub.

[Smallclub]

Or maybe it's an acquired taste?

It is definitely an acquired taste! That said, heavy latakia blends are special, they should be reserved as after-dinner smokes, or for these moments when you drink strong booze…

Syrian latakia is more "supple", less leathery and less smoky, unfortunately there are very few blends that contain REAL syrian (I'd recommend McBaren HH Syrian, McClelland Wilderness and 3 Oaks Syrian but I think they're not imported in the UK – maybe the McBaren?)

[crusse]

I'll keep that in mind - I'm willing to try any tobacco once, but I don't think that the heavy, spicy flavour of latakia is for me. Or maybe it's an acquired taste?

[Smallclub]

I also tried Gawith's Balkan Mixture and found it revolting. It reminded me of the smell of creosote!

Then you don't like latakia, or at least blends with a high % of latakia.
(about latakia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latakia_%28tobacco%29)
If you want to try latakia blended with a much lighter hand I recommend Samuel Gawith's Skiff Mixture and Dunhill Early Morning Pipe.

[crusse]

[QUOTE=captain duff;168893]My best advice would be to sample very widely until you find what works for you (although you can be sure this will shift over time!). Of course getting 25 or 50 gram tins or packets to try stuff out is very expensive, so definately go down the sampler route such as these:

http://www.smoke-king.co.uk/acatalog/Tin_-_Packet_Samples.html

http://www.eacarey.co.uk/shop/tobacco.html?tobacco_style=98

http://cigars.gauntleys.com/search.p...s&o=popularity

Wow you must have been reading my mind! I ordered ten 5g samples of different tobaccos from Smoke King a couple of days ago, and I'm now happily smoking my way through them. But I still haven't found a better any-time pipe tobacco than St Bruno. I have to be in the right mood for strong aromatics, and the blend made with cigar leaf that I tried (Gawith's sliced brown I think?) was nice but too strong to smoke regularly. I also tried Gawith's Balkan Mixture and found it revolting. It reminded me of the smell of creosote! Still, trying out all these different baccies is a lot of fun.

[captain duff]

My best advice would be to sample very widely until you find what works for you (although you can be sure this will shift over time!). Of course getting 25 or 50 gram tins or packets to try stuff out is very expensive, so definately go down the sampler route such as these:

http://www.smoke-king.co.uk/acatalog/Tin_-_Packet_Samples.html

http://www.eacarey.co.uk/shop/tobacco.html?tobacco_style=98

http://cigars.gauntleys.com/search.php?gq=&f=producttype%3Atobacco%2Ctobacco_packtype%3ALoose,producer:Pipe+Tobacco+Sampler+Packs&o=popularity

If you are used to cigars then something like Gauntley's own Nottingham Blend made with cuban cigar leaf could be a useful starting point for spicey flavour. St Bruno as you have mentioned is very good (and of course widely available) but not to everyone's taste (I love it myself). Due to the high tax in the UK there is not very much difference in price between a cheapo blend (e.g., Clan) and a very good 'expensive' one (Dunhill etc.) so bear that in mind and aim for the better quality for a extra one or two quid for a 50g tin.

[Smallclub]

I just can't believe how many pipe tobaccos there are out there.

Yes it's amazing isn't it? The fact that you like something like St Bruno is a good point. Try to stick to blends that are not artificially sweetened, and a new world of flavors will open to you, and incidentally your ability to assess a fine cigar will be improved.

[crusse]

duly noted....looks like I have my work cut out to sample all those baccies.

[Pipe Dude]

Just don't ever try Clan or Gold Block... they're a whole world of tongue bite. As for the number of pipe baccies, it's well into the thousands

http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/browse_all.cfm

4184 and rising!

[crusse]

Yeah I love the fruitness of that Erinmore. I shall put Walnut Flake and Condor on my to-try list.

I just can't believe how many pipe tobaccos there are out there. I used to smoke roll-ups (gave up 2 years ago) and there are about 5 readily available brands to choose from. I've browsed the mysmokingshop website and there are literally hundreds of different pipe tobaccos! Plus pipe tobaccos are way more flavoursome and satisfying...I don't get why more people don't smoke a pipe.

I'm 25 and most of my friends think that I'm weird for smoking cigars and now a pipe, but I reckon they're missing out (although I might kill someone the next time they tell me that my cigar or pipe stinks when they're smoking a cigarette).