Establishing a rotation...

[bentbulldog]

I just did an inventory on all the tobacco I have opened and sitting in my station and came down to 68 blends!!
I either don't smoke enough, too slowly, or my TAD outpaces me. I'm trying to establish a rotation, no more than 30 blends but it seems that I've been doing a lot of testing. This will take a good while...

I'd like to hear your experiences.

How many blends have you had opened at one time and
if you established a rotation, how many blends do you keep and how long did it take to establish one?


This is what I have opened, not mentioning the tins I still need to open:

Ashton Gold Rush
Barclay Rex Barclay Slice
Boswell Apple Streudel
Boswell Bear Blend
Boswell Berry Cobbler
Boswell Chocolate Cream
Boswell Christmas Cookie
Boswell Cupcake
Boswell Dan's Blend
Boswell No Bite Delight
Boswell Northwoods
Boswell PA Dutch Treat
Boswell Paradise
Boswell Sweet Tea
Campanile Red
Captain Black Dark
Captain Black White
Cornell & Diehl Pirate Kake
Erinmore Erinmore Flake
Esoterica Margate
Esoterica Penzance
Esoterica Stonehaven
Gawith & Hoggart Best Brown #2
Gawith & Hoggart Black Cherry Twist
Gawith & Hoggart Bosun Cut Plug
Gawith & Hoggart Brown Flake Scented
Gawith & Hoggart Brown Flake U/S
Gawith & Hoggart Coconut Twist
Gawith & Hoggart Glengerry Flake
Gawith & Hoggart Louisiana Perique
Gawith & Hoggart Rum Flake
Gawith & Hoggart Rum Twist
Gawith & Hoggart Sweet Maple Twist
Gawith & Hoggart Whiskey Twist
Gawith & Hoggart Bright CR Flake
Hearth and Home Candy Corn
Hearth and Home Cinnamon Roll
Hearth and Home Marble Kake
Hearth and Home Snow Drift
Hearth and Home Yule Log
Just4Him Shortcut to Mushrooms
Lane 1Q
Lane BCA
MacBaren Black Ambrosia
MacBaren Vanilla Cream Flake
MacBaren Virginia No.1
McClelland Frog Morton
McClelland Grand Orientals:
McClelland Grand Orientals:
Peretti Omega
Peretti Oriental no.40
Peretti Royal Blend
Peretti Tashkent
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake
Peterson University Flake
Piperoom Middle Earth Blend
Pipeworks Wilke 10
Pipeworks Wilke 191
Pipeworks Wilke 524
Pipeworks Wilke Gramercy Park
Pipeworks Wilke Rum cake
Rattrays Red Rapparee
Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake
Samuel Gawith Firedance Flake
Samuel Gawith Full VA Flake
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding
Sutliffe Molto Dolce
Tewsberry Hobbits Weed

 

[J Soshae]

Wow, that is quite a list! You should not attempt that alone. It appears you need to recruit some help. :cheers:

It would be wonderful to open another FVF & Frog right now. When I finished my last FVF tin, I opened the Stonehaven. At my slow speed I should be able to open something else in about 2 weeks.

My open tobaccos are:

Newminster
Red Rapparee
MB Virginia #1
Stormfront
Half & Half
RLP-6/1-Q blend
Stonehaven
Penzance

 

[monbla256]

I smoke at most 6 blends on a regular basis and tin wise only 3 so I have 3 bail top jars open and 3 tins at one time. I'm a disciple of the K.I.S.S. principle of life  :twisted: :twisted:

Tin wise:
* Royal Yacht
* Presbyterian
* Crown Achievement

Jar wise:
* FM2000
* RC5100
* CV2010
But I have added one other recently, a tin of the new Durbar but that's all I need ! :twisted: :twisted: BTW this level of 'baccy has been acquired over 40+ years of smoking so you have time :twisted: :twisted:

 

[idbowman]

Excluding any baggies or partial tins that I've been given/traded as samples, I only keep at most 5 tins/jars open at a time.


1 Virginia/VaPer/VaCav
1 Latakia/English
1 Burley based
2 additional blends (usually stronger/weaker VaPers or Latakias than the two I've got open, but also the occasional aromatic, Lakeland, seasonal blend, or something that I just randomly get an urge to try)


At the moment, that amounts to:
Va = SG FVF (soon to be gone and replace, most likely by GLP Telegraph Hill)
Lat = McC British Woods (soon to be gone and replaced, most likely by some variety of Frog Morton)
Burley = Park-Lane Fireside
MiscA = Viliger Mid-Day
MiscB = Nothing, but I usually pop a tin of MacB Plum Cake each October, so it's a matter of time.




I find that if I've got all the major genres covered, plus a few other blends available to dip into, I'm almost always able to reach for something I'd like to smoke. I tend to smoke tins/jars to completion before tiring of them and needing to open something else, so that helps...if you're the type that likes a lot of variety, I would imagine my approach would be exceptionally unsatisfying!

 

[bentbulldog]

I'm kind of with monbla where I would LIKE to keep it simple. I have a few blends in my celar that I have never tried and am tempted to give away and stock up on my favorites instead. I don't want to nor intend to go through EVERY blend that is attainable.

 

[monbla256]

I'm kind of with monbla where I would LIKE to keep it simple. I have a few blends in my celar that I have never tried and am tempted to give away and stock up on my favorites instead. I don't want to nor intend to go through EVERY blend that is attainable.

When I started smoking back in 1969, there were not near as many blends/mixtures available as we obviously did not have the web and e-commerce. You went to a Pipe/Tobacco shop and basically experienced what was available there. There were a few Mail-Order sources that one might find more variety to chose from and of course often you would travel and find other blend/mixtures not available in your area. Plus you had the influence of local pipe smokers to guide you at times so we did not have the "wide open" idea of types and specific blends to complicate things. I honestly would hate to be a newbie in today's pipe world as it would be like a kid turned loose at FAO Schwarz toy store and told ".... you can have ANYTHING you want" and then turned loose to ALL 5 floors !! :twisted: :twisted:  Any other pipe smokers we met gave us guidance, but it was usually along the lines of the 2 to maybe 3 blends/mixtures that they might have or did smoke!! Personally, I think this way was a BETTER way to learn as you spent some time focusing on just a few varieties and types of blends/mixtures and truly got to KNOW them! JMHO :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Thomas Tkach]

I feel your pain. Here's something that might help: buy some 4oz mason jars. They'll each hold about an ounce of tobacco. When you open a tin, you can split it into two jars and then only have to smoke half of it before you move on. This will cost you some dough in paying for the jars, but eventually you can reuse them.

Another strategy that I'm trying to use myself: get your specific categories that you want, and find your favorite blends in those categories. I can be sort of easy to please with tobacco. Maybe I just have an undiscriminating palate. But I've been trying to focus on finding a favorite or two or three in each category and mostly major on those blends in my cellar, and then rotate between the favorites. I get pretty specific in my categories (light VA, Stoved VA, VAPer are all different), so I can still have a lot open at once, but if it's smaller doses of each, it's more manageable.

Another wrinkle: I don't smoke much lat in the spring/summer, so I have a shift in rotation with seasons.

I hope this helps.

 

[Old Nate]

That's a lot of tins! Wow... Which means lots of jars! I used to do the same thing, to a lesser extent. A lot of what I opened is now tight and secure in jars. What I have opened:

Marlin Flake
SG BBF
M. Red Cake
M. Beacon Extra
PS LBF
NM Superior Round Slices
M. VA NO. 24
F&T CVP
FM OTB
M. British Woods
Orlik GS

Several of these are almost empty and I'm planning on getting this open tin rotation down to 5 or 6.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

I forgot to mention an example of my own progress: PS LTF. I really liked it when I first smoked some. I jarred up about 3.5oz and before I got to them I found other pure VAs that I like more, so even though it's a good tobacco and I don't hate it, I'd rather smoke BBF or Newminster SNF, so the LTF is up for trade or sale, and I won't buy more of it. There are tons of good tobaccos, but I'm looking for the best (and best bang for buck).

 

[RDPipes]

Wow is right, :affraid:  I don't even have that many different blends, lets hope there all in good airtight containers, hate to see that much tobacco go to waste. Myself, I try not to have any more the 3 blends open at one time, Morning, Noon & after Supper smokes. Although when I get a new blend in it's hard not to sample it, so I reckon I have technically 25 blends open right now but, there all in either screw top tins or have been transferred to 4oz. canning jars. The only thing not opened is my stash of aging Escudo and a tin of Christmas Cheer I'm saving for .....what else, Christmas.

 

[MichaelM]

According to my inventory (which may be right) I have 18 open blends.  That doesn't include 5 or 6 that I haven't gotten around to adding but it does include 3 or 4 aros that I may never finish.  I have a few core blends that I'll likely always keep going like PS LBF and Three Nuns and an OTC burley.  The others might get replaced by something else similar so I would have a couple of BurPers and a lat heavy blend but not always the same ones. This is the challenging part for me. I should finish the Crown Achievement before I open the Plum Pudding, but I never do that. But its a hobby, not a job. As long as your happy with your selection and storing it properly then enjoy. Come to think of it, that's the same way I approach the cigars in my humidor. Its funny that opening a tin of tobacco seems like a bigger investment than clipping a cigar, but in terms of cost they average out to about the same.
Mike.

 

[Fr_Tom]

Basically I keep 8 to 10 things open at the desk right now. About half of those are staples that I am likely to always have out. The rest are tins I am sampling essentially. Two things are open in the den. Two things are open in the car. Two things are open in the office.

Right now I have out at home by my desk
ODF
Louisiana Red
PS Pressed Burley
PS Natural Dutch Cavendish
Oriental Dusk

There are also various tins open
Capstan Blue
Dark Twist
Vintage Syrian
Mixture: Scottish Blend
OGS
Virginia #1
I have a jar with about 4 oz left of Newminster Superior Round Slices open.

At the office I have
MacB's Golden Cavendish
PS Aromatic Dutch Slices

In the car I have
PS Amsterdam
Sutliff Golden Dream

In the den I have
PS Cube Cut
a tub of Sugar Barrel

I will often have smaller samples I am trying too from things I have gotten in trade.

When the Sugar Barrel runs out, I will probably open a tub of Angler's Dream. I am out of Cube Cut except for what is out, so that will probably be Old Companion.

This seems like a lot now that I look at it, but I go through them pretty quickly and top up containers. The container with Oriental Dusk will get a jar of something, and I usually change that one just for variety. The last jar was Three Friars. The next one might be Or Olam. The tin category has things that are usually a single tin I am trying. When one is gone, I open something new. Vintage Syrian and OGS are repeats.

 

[gravel]

I have one open pouch and some sample baggies.

I am taking my time through these .5 oz or less ziplock bags.
GL Pease Bohemian Scandal
GL Pease Renaissance
Sullivan & Powell Gentleman's Mixture Original

To balance that finery I have these samples too.:
Condor
John Bull
Clan (yeah, really)
Mixture No. 79 (why not? I already have Clan.)
Trust Aromatic Slices (a pouch I opened - not bad with morning coffee)


Once I'm done with this 6 oz I expect an existential crisis.

Note to future Secret Santa. This is not a shopping list.

 

[bentbulldog]

I feel your pain. Here's something that might help: buy some 4oz mason jars. They'll each hold about an ounce of tobacco. When you open a tin, you can split it into two jars and then only have to smoke half of it before you move on. This will cost you some dough in paying for the jars, but eventually you can reuse them.

You'll probably laugh but most of these blends are already in 4oz mason jars in their own separate containers, sitting on the shelf above my pipes! :affraid: :affraid: :affraid:

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

Right now I only have three open tins and two squat 8oz mason jars, that comprise my "rotation".

100g Hall o the Wynd
100g 2013 Christmas Cheer
2oz Westminster
Uhle's Perfection Plug (jar)
SG FVF (jar)

However, I have no qualms about dipping into my jarred blends. Most of my "cellar" is in 16oz jars in a closet upstairs, and rarely sees the light of day, but I keep about two dozen smaller mason jars downstairs that I will dip into whenever the mood strikes.

 

[Thomas Tkach]

I feel your pain. Here's something that might help: buy some 4oz mason jars. They'll each hold about an ounce of tobacco. When you open a tin, you can split it into two jars and then only have to smoke half of it before you move on. This will cost you some dough in paying for the jars, but eventually you can reuse them.

You'll probably laugh but most of these blends are already in 4oz mason jars in their own separate containers, sitting on the shelf above my pipes! :affraid: :affraid: :affraid:

Well then, they're not really open. No need to worry, carry on. I leave a lot of stuff in that situation.

 

[Domer]

I've found tobacco dries out faster after opening one of those rectangular tins.
I transfer those to mason jars after opening.

 

[Stick]

Crikey. You types across the Pond know how to stock pile 'baccy!! I've just placed an order for 3 x 50g tins and it's cost £40 ($65). That's probably why I only have approx 4 tins unopened and 5 on the go...

 

[bentbulldog]

Crikey.  You types across the Pond know how to stock pile 'baccy!!  I've just placed an order for 3 x 50g tins and it's cost £40 ($65).  That's probably why I only have approx 4 tins unopened and 5 on the go...

Thats probably why I have so many.

Pipe tobacco is so relatively cheap (KNOCK KNOCK on wood) I could stockpile myself till I die and still not break the bank.