New guy, saying Hi! Full of questions.

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Herzl

Herzl

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Already, your FAQ has drastically transformed my experience for the better. I thank you. My thousand-dollar a month cigar habit with walk-in humidor is currently impractical, but I like tobacco. Thinking I would save money with pipe tobacco, a pound about the price of one or two decent cigars, I see this can be as or more expensive. I've definitely been losing to TAD, the PAD storm building on the horizon.

Aged single malts deliver satisfaction with a small amount at a time. I don't drink often. When I do, I'm not reaching for small beer. I fell off a cliff with an ultra-popular blend, not the usual breathless ecstasy but crushing disappointment that it delivered virtually no nicotine. Then confusion; how could such a weak-nicotine blend possibly be so popular? Most say that blend is just tobacco, but I have a pretty good idea what tobacco tastes like, and there is definitely something else there. To research the issue, and inspired by the Kilted1 recipes, I bought all the potential blending components to see if any imparted that relentless machine-oil aftertaste. I don't contend that I'm right and the rest of the world wrong. I surely can't blind taste a blend and analyze its contents and proportions, but I know nicotine when I 'see' it. Or don't.

1792 is my base. However, there are some 'medium' I like, particularly Kendal Mixture, and my first love, Full Virginia. I like; Dark Birdseye, Dark Flake, Kendall Dark, Kendal Kentucky, Cob Plug, and twists (Black XX, Brown #4, Sweet Rum, Brown Bogie, Black Irish X). My not-up-to-snuff list that I've bought only proves that nicotine is integral to my satisfaction. Admittedly, accustomed to buying cigars by the box, carry-over trying blends by the pound may be part of my apprehension about being wrong with a selection.

I apologize if too politically incorrect for me to say so bluntly; I like nicotine, for better or worse, the reason I'm here. My question: What exactly does 'strength' mean? What are 'main-liners' (as alluded to in a GLP chronicle) like me, to expect? What is the relationship between 'taste' and strength?

Thanks
 
Hi, Herzl,
Hang around a while, experiment & enjoy the ride.
Welcome and don't worry about being PC around here, the rest of us don't.
 
Welcome. I know some folks who say Dunhill 965 is not the strongest blend in the world in terms of nicotine content

However, one night some years back, I was having a bowl... and suddenly, I was looking for a place to relieve a bout of nausea.

The relationship between blend and person is hugely personal. What works for some does not for others, and vice versa. The lemming mentality of the cigar community (I have to have THAT CIGAR that CA rated 98!!!) is generally not found here. For every brother of sister of the briar who craves any given blend, I can find a review or a comment online which reads the opposite.

That's why I'm an advocate of Rule 1 of the Briar: Smoke what YOU enjoy, ENJOY what you smoke.
 
Welcome aboard, Herzl.

What the Brothers said: smoke what makes you happy in the pipes that you like.

To address one of your questions, p&t jargon isn't always consistent. I've seen "strong" used to refer to nicotine hit, but also to the intensity of flavor--either in general, or with regard to one component flavor. It gets more tricky still, because the size and draw of your pipe, cut of the tobacco, and packing methods will all affect the strength of what you're smoking.

(If you really miss Vitamin N in a big way, talk to us about nasal snuff. That always does the trick for me.)
 
Greetings,

No need to apologize. You're just saying you like high-octane smokes and a flavour you have found in the smokes you've listed. If you smoked cigars as your main smokes, then the pipe tobacco's you've listed are pretty much what others have enjoyed who were mainly cigar smokers.

Have you yet tried Peterson's Irish Flake? It is a pretty good VA and Burley blend and gives nicotine satisfaction to most who smoke it.

Again, welcome here!
Regards, Lisa Marie
 
john-in-kc":0vj1ffmg said:
Welcome. I know some folks who say Dunhill 965 is not the strongest blend in the world in terms of nicotine content

However, one night some years back, I was having a bowl... and suddenly, I was looking for a place to relieve a bout of nausea.

The relationship between blend and person is hugely personal. What works for some does not for others, and vice versa. The lemming mentality of the cigar community (I have to have THAT CIGAR that CA rated 98!!!) is generally not found here. For every brother of sister of the briar who craves any given blend, I can find a review or a comment online which reads the opposite.

That's why I'm an advocate of Rule 1 of the Briar: Smoke what YOU enjoy, ENJOY what you smoke.
Click to expand...
I agree whole heartedly !

Some pipe clubs I've participated in used to do blind tastings of blends. The best way to do this, and it can be lots of fun if you want to participate, take a couple of blends. Have some one devise a method to keep record of what blend A, B, C are and empty the contents of the tin, pouch or whatever into separate un-labeled tobacco jars . Come up with a universal 'rating form' which standardizes 'rating criterion'. Then you smoke the blend without presuppositions of what it is you are smoking. It's sometimes amazing to observe the results! Sometimes 'well respected' blends don't fair so well, or ideas of what the blend is composed of can vary widely.

Like it or not prejudices exist, whether one is talking blends, blenders or pipe carvers. We have our Dunhill, Castello, Danish Pipe carver lemmings, don't let anyone fool you.

I think you will find the world of pipes infinitely more complex and varied than the world of cigars. This isn't to say one is 'better' than the other, its just that there are way more variations in the world of pipes and tobacco blends than there are in cigars.

:pipe:
 
Wekkum.

Strong blends: I stumbled into pipe smoking on curiosity and here discovered that, for me, flavors were VERY dynamic, "participation" with the pipe was fun and the desire for nicotine went from seriously required (with cigs and Copenhagen) to incidental (with cigars) to non-existent. I guess I'm no longer a nicotine addict. While I can (but very rarely) smoke 5 bowls/day on the odd weekend or during a long day in the car, I can just as easily miss five days of pipe smoking without heebie-jeebies or a wild-eyed, "Gotta have a pipe NOW!" look.

With coffee the big caffeine is in robusta beans but the big flavor is in the arabicas; with tobak, large nicotine is piled in burley but, some might argue, there is more flavor to be had elsewhere (and some burlites would not - they know who they are). If you want the head rush and are new to pipes, buy you the burley-primary blends like Prince Albert and Carter Hall. It is toasty-tasty, easy to fill, easy to smoke and has a room note that most people smile at. If you ever get sick of Prince Alberts burley (many will smoke nothing else) move along to burley exotics like Esoterica Stonehaven or burley not-so-exotics like Exhausted Rooster, Butternut Burley and Old Joe Krantz.

If you want a flavor horizon less nicotine-influenced there remain the other hundreds of virginia bright, latakia, cavendish and perique blends we all enjoy. They are there, waiting, for when you want them. Except the Balkan Sobranie and, lately, the Dunhill stuff. :) Puff on.
 
Welcome to the Brothers of the Briar, pull up a chair, fire up a bowl and make yourself at home.
 
Welcome! For nicotine you've covered the bases. SG flakes are a class unto themselves.
 
Hey bud, I won't call myself a converted cigar smoker because I've smoked them about equally throughout my life. Cigars do get expensive. I have 6 humidors and not a one full any more. However, with pipe tobacco you can smoke the best stuff for still pennies a day.

Welcome to briar, my friend. Let us know how we can help you with your journey.
 
Mister Moo has hit the nail on the head. Burley is one of the lightest tasting tobaccos as a rule and has a generally high level of Vitamin N. Virginia is tastier and sweeter, because the higher sugar level, and because of the sugar level also has a tendency to "bite" or burn hot. Perique is spicier, latakia adds a "smokey" element, "orientals" add...etc. And you can get tobaccos with cigar leaf in them too if you want.:D

If you haven't found it yet, get over to Tobacco Reviews at: http://www.tobaccoreviews.com/browse_all.cfm

You will find reviews of most of the commonly available tobaccos from the US and Europe. Now the trick is making sense of the reviews. :lol!:

How it works, is you try a blend, then read the reviews and see what reviewers agree with your taste buds. Then check out what else they liked or disliked. :study: You'll find that there are reviewers who if they give a tobacco 4 stars you will know that its worth trying, even if you only would rate it a three. :cheers:

Most of the reviews will list the components. at the top of the page. Although there can be a world of difference between two blends which list the same ingredients.

Try to get samples of the major types to start with: English, Balkan, Burley, Virginia, Virginia Perique, and a good aromatique, and then start refining your TAD. It's probably easier to start with a couple of ounces of a blend and then get the pounds when you are sure you like a particular blend. Blends you don't care for probably please someone else and can be traded.

Welcome, light up, and enjoy,

Al (in Canada)
Squadron Leader in a Brigham bulldog
 
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