A year of pipe smoking in retrospect

[KevH]

So it's been exactly one year since I decided to take up pipe smoking. It's been an interesting journey.

I'm an athletic 29 year old that grew up in a non-smoking household, yet I love and respect the past and have been described as "an old soul" by friends. I had only smoked a few cigars in a social setting before. I always abhorred the smell of cigarette smoke and my grandmother died of lung cancer. I remember always loving the smell of pipe smoke (what I now know to be aromatics) and went so far that I remember buying a candle called "autumn lodge" that basically mimicked the scent of a vanilla aromatic. I'm not sure if it was Jeremy Brett as Sherlock or images of Tolkein and CS Lewis, but something drew me to pipe smoking. I literally woke up one day and said in my mind, "I'm going to smoke a pipe."

I did a bunch of research online and in the first week of January last year wandered into a tobacco shop. I told the elderly proprietor my situation and he recommended I buy a $75 pipe (which I later found for $35 online) and because I  had mentioned I had smoked a cigar or two in the past he recommended an English blend (which I now know is one similar to Dunhill Nightcap). It was a horrible experience.

Later that same day I went to another tobacco shop where the other shopkeeper gave me conflicting information and a bag of a cheap berry aromatic to try. I didn't care for that either. Not one bit.

Now a bit confused, but still determined back to the internet I went. I found Teldford's shop in the SF North Bay. What a wonderful group of people! I bought some Squadron Leader and tried it in a Missouri Meerschaum purchased from Walgreens. This was closer to the experience I was looking for!

Since then I have bought three Dunhill estate pipes (and a bunch more estates..thank you ebay), learned that I love latakia (Penzance and some other blends) and bought probably a dozen other tobaccos most of which I didn't care for.

As the end of this first year approached, I decided to try something I should have just tried in the first place - Captain Black in a corncob. All of my aromoatic experiences had been negative to this point, but I thought what the hell.

I bought a pouch and put it in a cob with a Walker stem. What a beautiful experience! If I could go back a year I would tell myself to start here. So here is to a year of pipe smoking in the past and the many more to come.

 

[loneredtree]

Thank you for posting your story Kev. The resources provided by the net and these forums are a great help for both the novice and the old timer. You have made good use of these. This journey of discovery is for all of us a trial and error search for what at the times pleases our palate. It does help to hear what others have found to be useful. Yours has been helpful to me. Keep posting and happy puffing.

 

[RDPipes]

Kev, I went through just about the same thing, I think many of us have, the journey to find the right tobacco. I smoked some real nasty stuff for a long time thinking it was just me and that one day I'd just get use to it until a generous member here sent me a tin of Escudo. Wow! what a difference it made, like night and day and, I've been smoking it ever since.
Now just wait till you find the right pipe. Granted many pipes out there smoke just fine but, if your able to spend just a little more on a real quality pipe you'll see a big difference. I don't own any Artisan pipes but, the change for me was a Mastro De Paja estate and I've been in love with them since.
I'm sure when I finally do get my hands an Artisan pipe I may find it even better but, until then I'm very happy with my Mastros.

 

[Tate]

Its funny that for so many of us, pipe smoking started out so poorly, but we trudged through the low points to find the great times we knew we'd see.

 

[mejoshee]

I was introduced via a couple aro blends "rum raisin" & the like. I bought one corn cob and a basket pipe and was given a hasty "off you go" by the pipe store employee. To be fair, they're more of a cigar place, so it's not surprising. However, there is so much incomplete information, it's a wonder I even had more than a couple smokes.

I did quit for a while and went back to an occasional cigar, but then I finally took it up again in full swing last spring and I haven't looked back since. Technique is more important than with cigars, but the tobacco is much more varied, in my opinion, so it's sort of a wash as to which is "best". Being a variety fiend, though, it's certainly nice to have options.

That said, learning how to smoke is the first step. Finding out what you like will last you the rest of your life, it seems.

Come down to Edward's in Palo Alto one of these Sundays and Jeb & I will hang out with you!

 

[KevH]

Josh - I work Sundays right now, but once my schedule changes I certainly will!