Brown Leaf Newbie Check-In & General Chat

[Boro62]

Granted, they do not get much (or any) respect from much of the pipe smoking community at large. I think of it as a bit of elitist snobbering, personally. Find what you like, and continue to like it. We see some of the same thing with shaving items and some of the drugstore stuff.

I think a lot of it is snobbery. But I can also see a lot of the more "seasoned" pipe smokers not liking it because of how mild it is. The thing is mild doesnt always mean its bad. This whole tobaccy thing is a huge YMMV. Ive seen my tastes change all the time. And sometimes OTC is just what the doctor ordered.

Smoke what you enjoy, its all that really matters. And if you want to try something new and different, hey thats we are here for....to enable each other

 

[Deltaboy]

I am, we get paid this week and a can of Prince Albert will be with me at the Civil War Reenactment this weekend.

 

[Deltaboy]

That was much of my younger years, except it was a Dodge dump truck, and I was in the back of it so my dad didn't catch me smoking. lol

Both of my Great Uncles had my back and never let Mom find out they were letting me smoke a pipe or have a chew of Red Man or Beech Nut.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Both of my Great Uncles had my back and never let Mom find out they were letting me smoke a pipe or have a chew of Red Man or Beech Nut.

Yeah, my great uncle was like that as well. My mom couldn't figure out why I was willing to spend the day on a Saturday at his place doing yard work instead of other more "fun" things. hehe

 

[Deltaboy]

Yeah, my great uncle was like that as well. My mom couldn't figure out why I was willing to spend the day on a Saturday at his place doing yard work instead of other more "fun" things. hehe

What I enjoyed was finding out years after I got grown that my Dad knew the whole time and never said a word about it.

 

[Shave_Rat]

What I enjoyed was finding out years after I got grown that my Dad knew the whole time and never said a word about it.

My parents stayed pretty clueless, thought my dad wouldn't have really cared. My mom, however... another story altogether. heh

 

[Deltaboy]

My parents stayed pretty clueless, thought my dad wouldn't have really cared. My mom, however... another story altogether. heh

When Mom found out they were both already passed on and she said if they were alive she would kill them. Dad and I got a big laugh over that one. She was a mad as a little wet red hen. I look forward to seeing those two one day just inside the Eastern gate. They were honest hardworking Southern Gentleman.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I don't think my mom still to this day knows about those things. She just figures I picked it up from dad and such in the long run. It makes me wonder what happened to my great uncles pipes though, now that I think about it. They weren't anything major, Dr. Grabow models, iirc. Would have been super cool to have them now though.

 

[Senshi]

I enjoyed reading your posts Dustin and Deltaboy!

 

[Winchester38]

In keeping with a similar vein, I've often wished I had some of my grandfathers old pipes. I've found boxes and pouches from a few, and they appear to have been pretty run of the mill stuff. Brigham, Grabow, etc. I can recall many a Sunday visit to the old homestead, and him packing a bowl of Amphora, Old Port, or Sail, and settling in to read the newspaper after eating supper.

Oddly enough, one of my fondest memories of him, was him repeatedly telling me, almost every time he lit a cigarette, to never take up smoking. I can't count the number of times it happened. Strange thing is, he never once said it when lighting his pipe.

I never did take up cigarettes, but took up pipe smoking, almost wholly as a result of my fond memories.

 

[captaincaveman]

Granted, they do not get much (or any) respect from much of the pipe smoking community at large. I think of it as a bit of elitist snobbering, personally. Find what you like, and continue to like it. We see some of the same thing with shaving items and some of the drugstore stuff.

To be fair, while there is plenty of reasonless snobbery, there is also plenty of reason for lack of respect. It is like the McDonalds or candy of pipe tobacco, low quality base drowned in sugar. Flavor is lacking compared to scent; its best quality is its room note, which is fine if you're smoking for others but priorities may differ if you're smoking for yourself. It is difficult to smoke, downright goopy and won't dry out (I have a pouch that's 8 years old, unsealed, and still goopy)...but because it's by far the most available option, it discourages noobs from sticking with it.

That's not to say it's worthless, but there are real reasons for it to have less respect than a nice Dunhill or GL Pease blend.

I have been thinking lately of grabbing a new pouch and giving some fresh stuff a try, as well as breaking out that old pouch.

 

[Kilroy6644]

Any hunters out there? I'm planning on going deer hunting for the first time this week, and I'm wondering what would be a good post-hunt smoke. Any suggestions? Sutliff Heavy English, Captain Black Royal, and Nording Hunter Labrador are my top three choices, but any of the Missouri Meerschaum blends would also work, as would McClelland Holiday Spirit 2014.

 

[Shave_Rat]

To be fair, while there is plenty of reasonless snobbery, there is also plenty of reason for lack of respect. It is like the McDonalds or candy of pipe tobacco, low quality base drowned in sugar. Flavor is lacking compared to scent; its best quality is its room note, which is fine if you're smoking for others but priorities may differ if you're smoking for yourself. It is difficult to smoke, downright goopy and won't dry out (I have a pouch that's 8 years old, unsealed, and still goopy)...but because it's by far the most available option, it discourages noobs from sticking with it.

That's not to say it's worthless, but there are real reasons for it to have less respect than a nice Dunhill or GL Pease blend.

I have been thinking lately of grabbing a new pouch and giving some fresh stuff a try, as well as breaking out that old pouch.

Not all the drugstore blends are goopy, some are actually on the drier side. Most of the cavendish based ones seem goopy, but I've seen that with almost all the cavendish's. lol

 

[captaincaveman]

Not all the drugstore blends are goopy, some are actually on the drier side. Most of the cavendish based ones seem goopy, but I've seen that with almost all the cavendish's. lol

I thought we more more specifically discussing Captain Black and Borkum Riff, which are all you can find around here for OTC blends unless you really search high and low or get lucky. On further thought, Rite Aid may have Prince Albert. I know they have Half & Half but I have no idea what it's like, I stay away from it because it reportedly tastes of anise.

PA, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Carter Hall are not goopy at all and have much better smoking behavior, but they don't have the flavor of an aro or English that might draw someone in, they're just plain burley. They also don't get the same level of disrespect/snobbery that we're discussing...I really can't say I've ever seen anyone disrespect them at all, just people who don't particularly like them. Disrespect is the way that people turn their nose up at goopy OTC aros.

 

[Shave_Rat]

I thought we more more specifically discussing Captain Black and Borkum Riff, which are all you can find around here for OTC blends unless you really search high and low or get lucky. On further thought, Rite Aid may have Prince Albert. I know they have Half & Half but I have no idea what it's like, I stay away from it because it reportedly tastes of anise.

PA, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Carter Hall are not goopy at all and have much better smoking behavior, but they don't have the flavor of an aro or English that might draw someone in, they're just plain burley. They also don't get the same level of disrespect/snobbery that we're discussing...I really can't say I've ever seen anyone disrespect them at all, just people who don't particularly like them. Disrespect is the way that people turn their nose up at goopy OTC aros.

I actually custom blend OTC's now. A pinch of Capt. Black and a pinch of Carter Hall or one of the non-goopy, non-aro's. It works out great, it cuts the goopy, it mellows the sometimes too intense topping on the aro, all around win for me.

 

[Deltaboy]

I enjoyed reading your posts Dustin and Deltaboy!

Your welcome though we are from different sections of the Country we have very similar interactions with our extended families and pipe smoking.

 

[captaincaveman]

I actually custom blend OTC's now. A pinch of Capt. Black and a pinch of Carter Hall or one of the non-goopy, non-aro's. It works out great, it cuts the goopy, it mellows the sometimes too intense topping on the aro, all around win for me.

That sounds like a great idea. I ought to try that.

If I didn't always keep myself so thoroughly stocked with new blends to try I could get more into trying my own mixtures/blends of existing blends. I'd probably really enjoy it. Some day...

 

[Shave_Rat]

That sounds like a great idea. I ought to try that.

If I didn't always keep myself so thoroughly stocked with new blends to try I could get more into trying my own mixtures/blends of existing blends. I'd probably really enjoy it. Some day...

What happened to me is this... I had a basic sort of blend, without any aro component, and I really didn't like it, but felt bad tossing the small sample away, and there wasn't any BL badge for pif'ing that stuff yet. I also had a heavy cavendish aro sample that I liked, but it was pretty wet, and a bit too heavy on the topping, flavor wise... So, 1 + 1 equaled a nice road smoke in a beater cob. That got me to experimenting when I hit upon blends I didn't like as they were.

I also learned that there is no way to "fix" Grousemoor, Ennerdale, or the cob you smoked that stuff in. They were all lost causes.

 

[Deltaboy]

Some times tons of things are lost causes.

 

[cursethis]

What happened to me is this... I had a basic sort of blend, without any aro component, and I really didn't like it, but felt bad tossing the small sample away, and there wasn't any BL badge for pif'ing that stuff yet. I also had a heavy cavendish aro sample that I liked, but it was pretty wet, and a bit too heavy on the topping, flavor wise... So, 1 + 1 equaled a nice road smoke in a beater cob. That got me to experimenting when I hit upon blends I didn't like as they were.

I also learned that there is no way to "fix" Grousemoor, Ennerdale, or the cob you smoked that stuff in. They were all lost causes.

There's no need to fix the Grouse or Ennerdale. They're perfect the way they are.