Please recommend a tobacco.

I use to smoke a pipe quite a few years ago but then I gave it up. I want to start again. We didn't have forums back then. So to save me time and money, could you recommend one or two good tobaccos to try?
I use to smoke Borkem Riff. (I know it's not spelt right.) One more question. I was looking at pipes and I noticed a lot use a filter. Should I get one that uses a filter or not?

I'm thinking of buying this pipe. What do you think?

LaCroix Lovat Pipe #9885

Welcome to the Brown Leaf, Ron!

So what I am hearing, and correct me if I am wrong, you are looking for a quality aromatic blend? Since you used to smoke Borkum Riff, do you want to continue to smoke aromatics or are you looking for more of a cross over blend to move you towards a non-aromatic blend?

If you want a good quality aromatic, I would recommend something like Cornell and Diehl's Autumn Evening, Sutliff's Molto Dolce, or GL Pease's The Virginia Cream. For a cross over blend, I would recommend the McClelland Frog Morton series.

As for the pipe, it is a pretty pipe. I am not familiar with the LaCroix brand. But I have a basket pipe that is beat up, ugly, and not worth a plug nickel that is one of my best smoking pipes I own!

Of course taste is subjective. But half of the fun is the exploration and experimentation with all the different blends out there. Check out Tobaccoreviews.com . It is fully searchable for any type of blend you are interested in.

Like Bill said, the Frog Morton blends are a great place to start. Sorry I don't know anything about your prospective pipe, but it looks like it will work.

Thanks for the input. I will check out these blends. I never gave much thought to aromatic blends or not. Guess I will start with one.

The pipe looks pretty nice! Depending on the blend your looking into there is great stuff out there. Carter hall and prince albert are pretty light but tasty, as said above frog morton line is very good for a crossover or light english style (I love frog morton cellar), orlik golded sliced is nice and is well liked for a virginian (I also like dunhill elizabethan). So many good blends out there grab some and try it out. Its fun finding out what you like and dislike. My palette changed from when I started. At first I hated englishy (latakia) blends. Might have just been the first one I tried. But now I love them. Might even be my favorite. Have fun!

I've been reading some good things about Lane 1 Q tobacco. What do you guys think of that one?

shave/brush said:

I've been reading some good things about Lane 1 Q tobacco. What do you guys think of that one?

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I've never actually smoked it, just given it a whiffs from time to time and been around someone smoking it, so keep that in mind. I would bet that you would find it along the lines of but a good step up from the Borkum Riff you used to smoke.

Of course, Borkum Riff still is around and readily available if you want to pick up a little to get back into the swing of things. I don't if it's the best idea, but it's there.

As for the pipe you posted, it sounds like a fine one. I'm not familiar with the brand, so I can't go any further than that.

For getting back into things with a smaller investment but a larger value, the Morgan Bones line has been getting a lot of love around this forum, recently. If you are looking for a good smoker without bells and whistles, you might want to consider one of those.

Don't worry too much about filters. I've found them overrated. If your tobacco isn't too wet and you don't smoke too hard, then you really have no need for a filter. The only filter I find at all acceptable is the Savinelli one, which is just a triangular prism of balsa that fits into the tenon. Anything else is either something you don't really want to smoke (i.e., paper, cardboard) or is a pain in the neck to keep clean.

Cheers!

shave/brush said:

I've been reading some good things about Lane 1 Q tobacco. What do you guys think of that one?

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I like to have it every now and again. I'm pretty sure that it was the second tobacco blend that'd I bought in a large quantity. I think that it's a great starter blend. It's an aromatic, but it's not so sweet that it seems like your smoking candy. I think that it's a good blend to try out.

You should consider getting a Brown Leaf badge. It's only $1 (accessed through the CONTRIBUTE tab) once for access to the Brown Leaf's tobacco trading and PIFing sub-forum, The Stock Exchange. Plus, it helps to let us know that you are of age to buy tobacco.

shave/brush said:

I've been reading some good things about Lane 1 Q tobacco. What do you guys think of that one?

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I have a few mason jars full of 1-Q ageing in the cupboard somewhere. It and Captain Black is about all I ever smoked until a member here convinced me into trying Frog Morton about a year ago . I don't know why, but I took to latakia like a duck on a junebug.

I don't smoke a pipe much, maybe once or twice a week on average. But when I do, it's probably going to be a tobacco with Latakia.

shave/brush said:

I've been reading some good things about Lane 1 Q tobacco. What do you guys think of that one?

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Lane 1Q is a very popular/prevalent aro. I like it well enough, but there are others I like better.

Claudel Xerxes said:

I like to have it every now and again. I'm pretty sure that it was the second tobacco blend that'd I bought in a large quantity. I think that it's a great starter blend. It's an aromatic, but it's not so sweet that it seems like your smoking candy. I think that it's a good blend to try out.

You should consider getting a Brown Leaf badge. It's only $1 (accessed through the CONTRIBUTE tab) once for access to the Brown Leaf's tobacco trading and PIFing sub-forum, The Stock Exchange. Plus, it helps to let us know that you are of age to buy tobacco.

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+1 on the Brown Leaf badge.

oc_in_fw said:

+1 on the Brown Leaf badge.

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I don't have a PayPal account.

Anything Frog Morton. I just love everything they put out.

I ended up buying: McClellan Frog Morton, Carter Hall, and Lane 1-Q. It seems like a good start. Any tips on which order I should use them in?

shave/brush said:

I ended up buying: McClellan Frog Morton, Carter Hall, and Lane 1-Q. It seems like a good start. Any tips on which order I should use them in?

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Based on your previous pipe experience, the Frog Morton is going to be the most unfamiliar style of blend out of those 3. I would start there so you can get a feeling on if you like/dislike English style blends. That way you'll know fairly quickly if you want to check into other English style blends, or just ignore them completely from here on in.

You don't need to have a Pay Pal account to get the Brown Leaf Badge. You can use a debt or credit card through Pay Pal as a guest.

All three of those are good choices. You should choose the smoking order by whatever you think smells the best. But, if you're looking to for a stepping stone type of order, then I would go with Carter Hall first, 1-Q second, and Frog Morton last.

Once you have the Frog, you never go back...

Claudel Xerxes said:

then I would go with Carter Hall first, 1-Q second, and Frog Morton last.

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+1 Great advice.

I'd also recommend buying a Missiouri Merchum Cob or two. They are great inexpensive pipes that do not require the break-in of a briar pipe. You may find them useful to use while you decide what you like. Some tobaccos ghost (leave residue) in a pipe that can make it difficult to appreciate a different tobacco in the same pipe. I do find that a few bowls of Carter Hall will unghost most pipes.

I ending up buying this pipe: