Going to give pipes a try.

[keith_mahoney]

So I read "getting started in pipes" thread and only half listened to the advice and jumped right in like a clueless noob.

I went over to pipesandcigars.com and ordered 2 country gentleman corn cob pipes with all the tools and required accessories.

I just couldn't bring myself to start out with cheap tasting, noob friendly, mass market tobacco though so I also ordered Steve B's elite VA sampler and on an email recommendation from Russ Ouellette I ordered some Stogie and Steamroller as well.

Hopefully I haven't shot myself in the foot with jumping straight to Virginia's but if all else then fails I can put these up in some canning jars, bite the bullet and go get something from Walgreens to ease myself into it.

[oooo35980]

ToH has a decent selection of pipe tobacco, might be better than Walgreens anyway.

[Pseudosacred]

I didn't start with drug-store stuff. I bought a tin of Petersons Connisuers Choice. It's an aromatic, so it was a good starting point.

I read about Virginias being a not-so-good choice for starters, because it smokes best when "almost going out" and, if you smoke cigars, the essence that makes it great is hard to pick up on.

But hey, not everyone has to do things the same

Good luck!

[Thrak]

I started with the aromatic stuff from the cigar store.

[GreekGodX]

First bowl I had was an aromatic. Then went right into Virginia's. Never looked back

Patience is the key. Patience, lots of patience. Did I mention you need patience?

[keith_mahoney]

I spend hours a day reading books while smoking a cigar.
Cigars last me around 2 hours and usually take a re-light or two, so I'm sure I'm close to smoking at a pipe pace. The only thing I think I will have to work on when my gear gets here is to sip it instead of the deep pulls I do on cigars.


Anyone have any tips on what order to try my tobacco in or what to keep in separate pipes? Here are the blends I ordered from pipesandcigars.com:

Stogie
Steamroller - these two are Burley blends and steamroller has Latakia in it. My thought is to smoke these in one pipe but to get a feel for Stogie before moving on to Steamroller which has Latakia.

*Rolando's Own
*Virginia Spice
*Marble Kake
*Anniversary Kake
*AJ's VaPer

The Marble Kake is a Virginia blend while the rest are VaPers so I figure to use my other pipe to first get a feel for the Marble Kake before moving on to the VaPers in the same pipe.

Is this sound reasoning or is there something I am neglecting?

[MarkinAZ]

Thats a nice selection of tobacco's in the Steve B' VA Elite sampler Keith. All in all, looks like you have a great bench mark to begin from. For the fun of it, I'd start off as follows:

Stogie

Anni Kake (make that the first one out of your Steve B sampler)

and finally...

save your Steamroller for last (jest sayin)

And welcome to the world of smoking a pipe

[Zanaspus]

I agree with the consensus of Russ' Vas being great. That said, I don't suggest you start with them. Vas require a little knowledge of cadence to avoid scorching the tongue. Honestly, I would say go get some Carter Hall or PA for your intro smokes. (not that I ever followed my own advice ) Good luck!

[keith_mahoney]

I received my package today and just finished up a bowl of Anny Kake. Everything went well. I used the Frank method to fill my bent K. Gentleman after I got it lit I only had to do one relight (it wasn't even out, just not putting out enough smoke) and with judicious use of my tamper, smoked it all the way down untill the wood in the bottom of the bowl started smoking.

It was an enjoyable experience. The tobacco was a little too sweet though and needed to be balanced out with some more spice for me. Maybe that will change as the pipe breaks in as I read they are a little sweet in the beginning.

Not even a hint of any tongue pain. Hopefully I am not too susceptible to tongue bite.

[DaBear]

If you want more spice you'll love the VaPers you got, though some blends tend to emphasize the sweetness of perique over the spice.

I stand corrected, forgot Anny Kake is a VaPer. Either way, you'll find a good VaPer out there with more spice. I'd recommend C&D Bayou Morning Flake.

[keith_mahoney]

Well I am four days in and haven't touched a cigar yet. I probably need to pick up a couple more corn cobs sine I've been lighting the 2 I have up with too little rest in between.

I finally tried that Steamroller out last night before bed and that may just be my favorite bowl I have had so far.

I went to the exchange to get some more filters and picked up some CH and SWR on a whim. The CH was pretty good and I actually mixed it half and half with some Marble Kake at lunch today so I didn't have to smoke so slow and that was a very good bowl.

I haven't tried the SWR yet and probably won't until the CH is gone. I just can't believe that any tobacco that goes for under a dollar a pouch will be any good, but hey, I was wrong about CH. I guess I should have listened to Mr. Moo to begin with.

So far I like every tobacco I have tried even though there are a couple of the VaPers listed up above I haven't got around to yet.

[DaBear]

Always fun seeing another startin the slide down the other slippery slope.

As long as you're alternating bowls with the cobs, you'll be fine, you only have to worry about letting the cobs cool down between bowls. Thats the beauty of cobs, low maintenance and dirt cheap. When the sucker burns out(there's no way getting around it, it will happen, no matter how much you cottle it) its $5-6 to replace, as opposed to burning out a nice briar which will typically run 10 times that, though then again, a briar can last a lifetime with proper care.

[keith_mahoney]

Well it's been almost 3 weeks now. I am loving every minute of it. I've only had 3 cigars since starting pipes and two of them were from friends talking me into it.

So now I have a list a mile long of pipe tobaccos I want to try. Where am I going to put it all?


Oh yeah, I've tried a couple bowls of Carter Hall and while it's not so bad I am glad I didn't start with just that.