Although I have been smoking in some way or form for a while now, in the past I primarily smoked house-blends of pipe tobaccos from the local tobacconist. It wasn’t until the last few years that I began exploring the vast array of tinned tobaccos available through the web. After having read some reviews, I recently purchased a tin of Presbyterian Mixture for the first time. As I smoked my first bowl, I was really enjoying it, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about what I read in a review; that is, “these tobaccos are not what they used to be…”
Over the past few years I have noticed many pipesmokers paying big bucks for vintage tins of Dunhill, Balkan Sobranie, etc… I have also seen many references to tobacco blends when ‘back in the day’…We all know that over the last few decades, there has been a dramatic decline in pipe smoking. I doubt NASA scientists and engineers are still puffing away at their consoles while they monitor the Space Shuttle’s mission to the International Space Station as they did 40 years ago during the Apollo missions. (Have you seen the movie Apollo 13?).
All of this has left me with the impression that today’s tobaccos are becoming inferior to their yesterday’s counterparts. A classic example I come across frequently is the comparing of Dunhill produced by Orlik versus Dunhill produced by Murray’s versus Dunhill produced by Dunhill (in the 70’s). Additionally, with all of the new legislature, antismoking propaganda, tax increases, trade restrictions, etc., it seems that the availability of obtaining that ‘special leaf’ which once made each blend unique are becoming restricted to blenders. Adding the fact that I do not know anyone else of my age who smokes a pipe, I wonder what lies in the future for the art of pipesmoking.
Over the past few years I have noticed many pipesmokers paying big bucks for vintage tins of Dunhill, Balkan Sobranie, etc… I have also seen many references to tobacco blends when ‘back in the day’…We all know that over the last few decades, there has been a dramatic decline in pipe smoking. I doubt NASA scientists and engineers are still puffing away at their consoles while they monitor the Space Shuttle’s mission to the International Space Station as they did 40 years ago during the Apollo missions. (Have you seen the movie Apollo 13?).
All of this has left me with the impression that today’s tobaccos are becoming inferior to their yesterday’s counterparts. A classic example I come across frequently is the comparing of Dunhill produced by Orlik versus Dunhill produced by Murray’s versus Dunhill produced by Dunhill (in the 70’s). Additionally, with all of the new legislature, antismoking propaganda, tax increases, trade restrictions, etc., it seems that the availability of obtaining that ‘special leaf’ which once made each blend unique are becoming restricted to blenders. Adding the fact that I do not know anyone else of my age who smokes a pipe, I wonder what lies in the future for the art of pipesmoking.