New Pipe & First Smoke

Howdy everyone,

Just picked up my first pipe today, a Brigham Voyageur.
Heres the pic from the company website:Attachment 74356

Also picked up a house blend of tobacco called Smoking 965 described like so:
Same as Dunhill 965. Benchmark English blend.
Latakia, bright & brown Cavendish.
Full-bodied & rich with a cool smoke.

Now I've never smoked a pipe before so i wasn't too sure what to expect. I told the store employee i wanted something plain for my first smoke and nothing too aromatic, he recommended this belnd and said it was one of his favorites.

Happy with my purchases i made my way back home and took out my goodies to enjoy them further.

I took my new pipe out and grabbed a pipe cleaner to just make sure it was all clean and there were no particles inside.

The i set about with the tobacco, I read all that i could about filling the pipe properly and i think I did good. I grabbed a pinch and dropped it in and tapped it in lightly so it was about half full, then added more and pushed it down a but harder to it was about 3/4 full, and then finally another top up and an ever harder push down.

Now i was told it should be springy and feel like your sucking on a milkshake and i think it was about right.

For the light i just used some wooden matches and did two lights as i also read.

Now like i said it was my first pipe and it was different than what i experience with a cigar.

That being said i found it enjoyable, it was lighter and not as strong smelling and easier to puff away.


Once i finished i gave it another clean up with a pipe cleaner and now im waiting for it to cool down completely so just take it apart and maker sure its all cleaned out properly.


I added a pic of my little purchase today pre-smoking.

If any of the more experienced guys have any tips or recommendations for me im more than happy to hear them.

Also im open to some tobacco recommendations!

Congrats for your first pipe. Looks nice. Many people who try pipes have their first experiences not so good. Learning to fill and smoke a pipe takes little time. Just like driving with a bicycle or using straight razor. You have studied your homework well.
Now i have no experiences of the tobacco blend of yours. Flakes are probably more difficult to start with. Some experienced pipe smokers say that new pipe should be baptized with sort of a neutral tobacco such as pure Virginia until the cakes has been built at least for little. Personally i think it is up to you.

Some like Latakia, some don't. I do like it very much, but i smoke it only outdoors or in my garage as my wife says it smell like a toilet cleaner. With some aromatic blends the room not is very nice, but the taste (imho) is something different. If you've smoked cigarettes before and now want to get rid of them i would suggest you to choose tobacco as strong as possible. Most aromatic blends are mild in nicotine thus not much help for those who want to get rid of the cigarettes. SG Bracken Flake, Synjeco Bad Nun, Peterson Irish Flake and Ashtons Artisan Blend are my experiences of really strong tobacco in vitamin N.

It is always difficult to give any tobacco recommendations as it is up to personal taste. Would be nice of the pipe smokers here would give opinions about their top 3 or top 5 pipe tobaccos with little reviews. That would also help those who've just begun to smoke a pipe. If you like Latakia, then i would suggest SG's Balkan Flake or Squadron Leader or JF Germain's Special Latakia Flake. SG's Chocolate Flake is one of my favorites. There's Latakia, but only very little.

thanks for the tip i agree we should start a review thread for pipe tobacco.

As for cigarettes i have never smoked them, I only smoked cigars maybe once or twice a week. I figured I would try the pipe as well and see which i enjoy more. So far it is a tie but i think once i get the hang of the pipe i will enjoy it more than a cigar.

As for the tobacco choice i will have to experiment with whatever i can find and let you know what i think, hopefully i can find some good ones online or locally

Basil,

If you head to "Tomas Hinds Tobacconist" near Yonge and Cumberland.....they have an excellent selection of pipe tobacco, both in the pouch and by weight (for loose product). I really enjoyed their Christmas blend a couple years back. It's reasonably priced as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Maxi

Basil,

If you head to "Tomas Hinds Tobacconist" near Yonge and Cumberland.....they have an excellent selection of pipe tobacco, both in the pouch and by weight (for loose product). I really enjoyed their Christmas blend a couple years back. It's reasonably priced as well.

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Thanks for the tip, i ended up getting everything from smoking cigar on bayview. Next time I'm downtown ill have to check tomas hinds out

I knew you were a big cigar guy but never knew you were also into pipes.

I've got a couple in the "Tobacco drawer" right under the humidor. I enjoy cigars a bit more, simply because I'm a better cigar smoker than pipe smoker. But I do like the pipes as well. They're brilliant on a cool fall day, during a walk.

I like Smokin' cigar too. The owner leaves a little bit to be desired IMO (I just find him a bit too aggressive for my tastes), but their service is good and their products are good. That's where I bought my second humidor.

We'll have to sit down and have a smoke when I get back in the city.

I agree the owner does seem a bit pushy so i dont buy much when hes there, but i got lucky and there was a younger kid there who i could tell was a bigger pipe smoker compared to cigars so i got lucky.

Sounds like a plan to me then!

I recently picked up some Brigham's English Mixture and found it very enjoyable. It seems like a good entry-level english tobacco.

I have never tried their tobacco. But I think my next purchase might just be the English mix. I've heard some good things about it.