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Forgive me for what must be a frequent question, but best "room note"?

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
@Columbo and you others, thanks! I may get something I can smoke through the winter after all! I will try to get smallish samples of all of these and start experimenting.

Nightcap. Mmmmmm. That's my filet mignon. But no way I could smoke that in the house and stay married. No way. :lol:
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
I’m going to second @Columbo recommendations. SWRA not only smells good, it is a really good smoke. My wife swoons when I take the lid off the tub. I smoke a lot of PA and SWR as my daily fare. I had an uncle that smoked SWR and I loved the aroma. I would also suggest you give Carter Hall a try as it is readily available in a pouch. As far as the PA now produced in the Dominican Republic, it is exactly the same as that made in Tucker, GA. The Sutliff Match PA is not. In any case, these codger blends are top notch comfort blends. I don’t even bother with the boutique blends any longer.
 

Columbo

Mr. Codgers Neighborhood
As far as the PA now produced in the Dominican Republic, it is exactly the same as that made in Tucker, GA.

I’m nearing the bottom of my present tub of LLRR. I might just try a tub of the DR version after all because of your good experience with it. My nose, despite my face, misses it.
 
It is difficult for me to judge the room notes of tobacco when I am the smoker but I assume the correct answer, as with anything smoking-related, is Condor Long-Cut. I would think Peterson University Flake would be a good choice too - it’s a nice burley-based smoke and the plum topping is pleasant.

Based on my wife’s feedback, the more objectionable indoor smokes would be any latakia (did you start a bonfire?) and virginia (are you smoking cigarettes?) blends. So I think go burley and get something with some kind of aromatic topping that you still like. Nobody died when I smoked my favourite Erinmore Flake indoors so I guess it also has enough burley to not leave a cigarette room-note.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
I’m going to second @Columbo recommendations. SWRA not only smells good, it is a really good smoke. My wife swoons when I take the lid off the tub. I smoke a lot of PA and SWR as my daily fare. I had an uncle that smoked SWR and I loved the aroma. I would also suggest you give Carter Hall a try as it is readily available in a pouch. As far as the PA now produced in the Dominican Republic, it is exactly the same as that made in Tucker, GA. The Sutliff Match PA is not. In any case, these codger blends are top notch comfort blends. I don’t even bother with the boutique blends any longer.

Excellent intel on the PA! Your contention that it is the same as ever may make me go ahead and get a can instead of trying to find someone who does small samples. If your wife likes it that much, and based on others' comments, I think I'm safe getting it.

Best outlet to try to get PA, SWRA, half and half and carter hall? are there B&B tobacco vendors, or just for shaving stuff? Thanks again for the help!

Yikes, PA is about the highest rated stuff at Pipes and Cigars. I also got the 1Q. I should be good for a while when this order arrives!
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Excellent intel on the PA! Your contention that it is the same as ever may make me go ahead and get a can instead of trying to find someone who does small samples. If your wife likes it that much, and based on others' comments, I think I'm safe getting it.

Best outlet to try to get PA, SWRA, half and half and carter hall? are there B&B tobacco vendors, or just for shaving stuff? Thanks again for the help!

Yikes, PA is about the highest rated stuff at Pipes and Cigars. I also got the 1Q. I should be good for a while when this order arrives!
You might check your local grocery and drug stores. I buy PA, SWR, SWRA and CH at my local grocery. They are easy to find on most, if not all, online tobacco shops. Yes, PA has been around for about 100 years a d has always had a following. It is a very smooth blend you can smoke all day. Same with SWR which I didn’t care for at first but it grew on me and I smoke it a lot now. I smoked mostly English for many years but somehow tired of it. I still have a bowl of Walnut Mixture on occasion. It was a Middleton mixture of seven tobaccos introduced in the 1800’s and Sutliff nailed in their Walnut Match. His shop was on Walnut Street in Philadelphia so there is no Walnut flavoring; actually there is no topping. Oddly my wife loves the smell even though it contains Latakia so that’s a “codger” you may want to avoid.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Thanks again! The stuff I like, I'll smoke outside when I can, when the weather is nice. But these are great tips for the wifey! Preesh, all!
 
Excellent intel on the PA! Your contention that it is the same as ever may make me go ahead and get a can instead of trying to find someone who does small samples. If your wife likes it that much, and based on others' comments, I think I'm safe getting it.

Best outlet to try to get PA, SWRA, half and half and carter hall? are there B&B tobacco vendors, or just for shaving stuff? Thanks again for the help!

Yikes, PA is about the highest rated stuff at Pipes and Cigars. I also got the 1Q. I should be good for a while when this order arrives!
Pipes & Cigars, SmokingPipes, 4Noggins, WVSmokeShop, and TobaccoPipes all have these codger blends most of the time. Another good blend is Granger. There's also Match Field & Stream -- reportedly the original was Pres. Ford's favorite blend way back when -- and Match Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. I first heard about these last three here, though I remember Sir Walter, Prince Albert, and Half & Half on the shelf at the grocery and drugstore. All have a very mild cocoa-and-molasses note. Half & Half is unique: Mixed with the burley and Virginia are coriander, cardamom, and mace. Not a "floral" scent, but appealing nevertheless.

I lit a bowl of F & S this Sunday morning, tamped it lightly, and put it down to step outside. When I got back to the kitchen and picked up the pipe, the aroma was almost edible.

Don't ask me why I didn't get into the codger/drugstore blends in the '80s when I first took up the pipe. Maybe there was a tiny bit of snobbery to my choices (which were mostly from Tinder Box) back then. I'm glad I've encountered the classics now.
 
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Oh, and JCinPA, the Match Prince Albert at Pipes & Cigars -- maybe I got an odd batch, but my first half bowl of it made me nicotine-sick. And it's reputed to be as mild as the original. Columbo tells me that 4Noggins has the real PA in 2-oz batches, so you could try it without springing for a whole tub.
 

Columbo

Mr. Codgers Neighborhood
Excellent intel on the PA! Your contention that it is the same as ever may make me go ahead and get a can instead of trying to find someone who does small samples. If your wife likes it that much, and based on others' comments, I think I'm safe getting it.

Best outlet to try to get PA, SWRA, half and half and carter hall? are there B&B tobacco vendors, or just for shaving stuff? Thanks again for the help!

Yikes, PA is about the highest rated stuff at Pipes and Cigars. I also got the 1Q. I should be good for a while when this order arrives!

Obviously, buying local is best. For these kinds of blends, if you can’t find them locally: JR Cigars, WV Smokeshop, P&C (with some CS caveats) usually have the best prices. But SP and TP and a few other pipe-centric online vendors have better service than most for just a few dollars more. Lately, I’ve found WV to be checking the most boxes on these old time blends.

STG seems to be redistributing most vendors with the 7 oz. tubs on their brands, at significantly higher prices. And there are plenty of complaints about that. There are some 12 and 14 oz. tubs still floating about, but we may soon start seeing that dry up. Pouches, individually and in box packs, are still available on all lines. STG has done an admirable job maintaining their brands’ quality under the circumstances. Especially those that were abused (and got bad reputations) by prior blend owners. All good blends nowadays, as long as you know how to smoke them. A lot of pipers who cut their teeth on heavy aromatics approach them badly, and don’t.

Middleton has moved all their remaining pipe tobacco production off-shore (just two left), is now offering the 14 oz tubs. again, but not any pouches so far.

Lane 1Q you can buy just about anywhere. It is still a generic house blend in many smaller tobacco outlets. It is a more modern era heavily topped aromatic. It should have a strong room note appealing to non smokers.

If your goal is a happy wife, stick to aromatics. How much an aromatic is up to you. I pointed out a couple older blends that still taste like good tobacco. Another with good tobacco flavor and excellent room note is Stanwell Melange, if you are ok with Danish blend sensitivities. If you want the very best in full-bore room-captivating aromatics, then it’s Boswells, although he is very expensive in Pennsylvania (I can only afford him once a year anymore).

It sounds like you ordered from P&C, so you should be ok.

That’s the latest that I am aware of. The war on pipe tobacco (actually on all tobacco) is escalating, so things can change quickly going forward. If the proposed US tax sneaks through, they will all become painfully expensive luxuries.

The other truism is how well-thought-of and sought after all these formerly taken-for-granted blends become once they become hard to get or unavailable. The physics of Unobtanium. For us old puffers, it’s just a further PITA.

A plethora of matches and alternatives have emerged for many threatened or now gone blends. Some are good approximations, others simply good but no where near their namesakes. I generally don’t chase matches for matches sake. But some of those also have a respectable room note. The good news is that you can buy them all in 2 oz. samples, and decide for yourself.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Columbo, you're ex military, aren't you? SP? TP? STG? I haven't ordered yet, actually. Good tip on 2 oz samples on Prince Albert, but with a couple of other things to try, it seems to be pretty much universal SWMBO will love that, so I'm good buying a can of it right off the bat. I'm getting a can of PA, a pouch of SWRA, a couple ounces of Lane 1-Q, and a pouch of Captain Black original.

That should get me started pretty well, I think. Like with shaving stuff, I am quite sure I'll branch out later. You guys are awesome!
 
Columbo, you're ex military, aren't you? SP? TP? STG? I haven't ordered yet, actually. Good tip on 2 oz samples on Prince Albert, but with a couple of other things to try, it seems to be pretty much universal SWMBO will love that, so I'm good buying a can of it right off the bat. I'm getting a can of PA, a pouch of SWRA, a couple ounces of Lane 1-Q, and a pouch of Captain Black original.

That should get me started pretty well, I think. Like with shaving stuff, I am quite sure I'll branch out later. You guys are awesome!
SP is SmokingPipes, TP is TobaccoPipes, both vendor sites. STG is Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the company or conglomerate that seems to own so many of the old classic brands.

I think the 4 blends you've chosen should be okay with anybody's olfactory.
 
I would jump in and second Field and Stream Match, also EGR. I mostly smoke on the front porch, and my wife opens the windows when I was outside smoking those. I keep a tin of Man Baren 7Seas Black in her car. Recently she asked to smoke that by name ("Hey hon, can you smoke that pirate ship stuff?"). Honorable mentions to Mac Baren Symphony and Peter Stokkebye Optimum.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Pipes & Cigars, SmokingPipes, 4Noggins, WVSmokeShop, and TobaccoPipes all have these codger blends most of the time. Another good blend is Granger. There's also Match Field & Stream -- reportedly the original was Pres. Ford's favorite blend way back when -- and Match Edgeworth Ready Rubbed. I first heard about these last three here, though I remember Sir Walter, Prince Albert, and Half & Half on the shelf at the grocery and drugstore. All have a very mild cocoa-and-molasses note. Half & Half is unique: Mixed with the burley and Virginia are coriander, cardamom, and mace. Not a "floral" scent, but appealing nevertheless.

I lit a bowl of F & S this Sunday morning, tamped it lightly, and put it down to step outside. When I got back to the kitchen and picked up the pipe, the aroma was almost edible.

Don't ask me why I didn't get into the codger/drugstore blends in the '80s when I first took up the pipe. Maybe there was a tiny bit of snobbery to my choices (which were mostly from Tinder Box) back then. I'm glad I've encountered the classics now.
It took me over 40 years 😂
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Columbo, you're ex military, aren't you? SP? TP? STG? I haven't ordered yet, actually. Good tip on 2 oz samples on Prince Albert, but with a couple of other things to try, it seems to be pretty much universal SWMBO will love that, so I'm good buying a can of it right off the bat. I'm getting a can of PA, a pouch of SWRA, a couple ounces of Lane 1-Q, and a pouch of Captain Black original.

That should get me started pretty well, I think. Like with shaving stuff, I am quite sure I'll branch out later. You guys are awesome!
I’m going to start smoking ARKO in a Hookah now that you mention shaving stuff 😂
 
If you're getting 1Q, you might also want to pick up some Lane BCA. It's not bad on its own, but a 50/50 mix of the two gives an excellent room note.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
I’m nearing the bottom of my present tub of LLRR. I might just try a tub of the DR version after all because of your good experience with it. My nose, despite my face, misses it.
I look forward to your take on it. After all, I didn’t notice the difference between PA and PA Match until I had smoked a great deal more PA. I smoke the remainder of the Match while I read late in the evenings and have noticed a foul tasting leaf in there occasionally. I’m wondering if you have experienced this. It is a taste that lasts only a few seconds and doesn’t really linger but it is a bit off putting. I’m glad you bought PA back to my attention. I went through a tub a few years ago and really liked it but bought tubs of several other codger blends to try and quit smoking for a few years and didn’t get back to PA. This was before the last tax increase when these old blends were quite inexpensive.
 
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