A little sampler advice please

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ciocc

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I've always been one, back when I smoked a pipe frequently, to just smoke one tobacco. Reading this forum has prompted me to order a number of blends. It seems if I smoke them one bowl after the other, I will accomplish nothing.
Any suggestions on the most beneficial way to test different tobaccos?
 
One at a time! Keep it simple! It's always a bit of bother to me whe people f@#$ up simple , Ken :tongue:
Pacem en Puffing! :tongue:
 
I agree with Pipetongue. Pick one blend, and smoke 'er up!
I usually have to smoke about 2 ounces before I get down the packing, puffing, and taste nuances of a new blend. Give 'em all a fair chance, and enjoy!!!
 
Smoke just one tobacco as advised above and smoke it in the same pipes. Part of really enjoying the subleties of a blend is tasting just that blend without the ghosts of others interfering. I've heard that some tasters use clay pipes for this purpose.
 
Ditto what the others have said. I remember when I first tried SG's FVF I just wasen't that impressed but after a couple of weeks I came to enjoy it alot. Now it's my favorite.
 
Ditto to all of the above. I've found that a corn cob is great for trying a new blend.
 
It seems if I smoke them one bowl after the other, I will accomplish nothing.
I don't follow. What you accomplish by doing that is finding out which blends you like, and which you don't. Why would you stick to a single blend you don't care for???

Anyway, I have always found sticking to the same blend pointless and boring—speaking for myself, of course. If you enjoy it, more power to you.

Life is short! No use wasting it on boring blends!
 
I will try a new tobacco in several different sized pipes and maybe meerschaum
also before I decide if it's for me.Sometimes you have a tobacco so foul that
common sense stops me after 1/2 a bowl though.If it's a heavy English it gets
smoked in a meer since all my briars are used to Va.'s

Winslow :sunny:
 
My advice is to try a blend several times before deciding whether to keep it, toss it, or hoard it. Your body chemistry, mood, what you've had to eat and drink, time of day, the pipe, weather...all influence how a blend tastes. I don't think it's necessary to smoke one bowl of the same blend after the other, just try it 6 to 10 times before making a decision.

Jim...my ha'pence worth if that
 
...body chemistry, mood, what you've had to eat and drink, time of day, the pipe, weather...all influence how a blend tastes.
Absolutely. And, with time, one learns to know precisely what one wants, when. But that can only be accomplished by trial and error.
 
I´d keep a few open (2 or 3), and just give sufficient rest between smokes. Try to use the same pipe for a particular blend, too. Tobacco flavor tends to linger in the bowl even after it´s out, and you´ll taste it along with the next blend you put in. As much as the taste of any particular blend, is learning HOW to smoke it. Some tobaccos are more finicky than others and it might take a bit of practice to get the best out of it. Enjoy the discovery!!
 
Yes. It often takes several bowls before your palette thingy begins to draw the flavor. I like to rotate and smoke two or more different blends in the same day but like others posted, I have pipes dedicated to them.
 
Ol'Dawg":800r5zlp said:
My advice is to try a blend several times before deciding whether to keep it, toss it, or hoard it. Your body chemistry, mood, what you've had to eat and drink, time of day, the pipe, weather...all influence how a blend tastes. I don't think it's necessary to smoke one bowl of the same blend after the other, just try it 6 to 10 times before making a decision.
I agree...and further...I find that sometimes 6 months or more down the road my opinion might change yet again; often as a result of having tried still more blends in the interim. For me, seasonality plays a big role: some blends I rarely touch in summer will be go-to's in winter and vice versa. Whereas you are in FL, season may not be as significant; but the point is that many external factors can affect the desirability of a blend.
 
I'm going to go a little against the grain here.

I went with a nice sampler from pipesandcigars.com when I first started this hobby several months ago since I had no idea what to expect of anything.

I also had 3 pipes for starters. One I used for Virginias, and one for everything else. A third I really didn't use.

I worked my way through each blend, smoking about 3 bowls before moving to the next.

I was able to find out really fast what I did and what I did not like, without ghosting playing too much of a factor.

Now, I have it narrowed down, spending a good amount of time with one blend, and can even return to a one-off blend if I choose.

I'm not discounting what these other fine gentlemen are saying, just relaying my experience.
 
One other tip; take notes! By the time you get to the last tobacco, you may have forgotten all the little nuances you liked (or didn't like) about the others. I have a number system I use, others use a letter grading system (A, B, C, etc.). Good luck in your quest to find your nirvana tobacco.

Smokey
 
I have to thank everyone for their advise. I will certainly take it to heart. I might have been a little missleading: The 'sampler' is not a prepared sampler, it's a number of blends that I've ordered. So far, however, I haven't received them. P & C is back ordered on a number of them... so, I'm waiting.
In Briar We Trust
Barry
 
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