Hello Gents!
The short version: I'm looking for some advice on recognizing/locating or possibly straight up suggestions for non-aromatic burley tobaccos.
The long version: Now that he's approaching retirement, my dad is picking up a few of his old pipes again (mom always hated them) and he and I have enjoyed a couple bowls together this spring. My oldest brother helped usher me into the world of pipes about ten years ago. It took me a long time to realize that I really enjoyed smoking a pipe. The only issue I had was hating my brother's taste in tobacco (sticky sweet black cavendish loaded with aromatics). As it turns out my dad and I have very similar taste in our love for nutty burleys. I still have a taste for periques from when I was smoking cigarettes. We haven't ventured into latakias yet and I've had no luck finding orientals locally.
I think the next step in my tobacco education will be mail ordering tobaccos. The tobacconist around the corner from my office has a fair amount of English tobaccos, quite a few house blends with aromatics, but only two burley blends without cherry or vanilla something-or-other. The good news is the owner is a great guy and really helpful. The two aforementioned blends are great! But their tinned tobaccos move so rarely they're mostly dried out and crunchy. The problem with ordering blind is that I'm on a pretty darn tight budget, so throwing $20 at something I might hate a few times isn't a practical tactic.
The request: Do you have any suggestions for specific tobaccos you feel are emblematic of what a good burley tobacco can be? More importantly, do you have an educational resources about tobaccos to pass along? I'm a bit of a research nerd and would love the chance to read more about tobacco varieties and curing.
Thanks for your time!
The short version: I'm looking for some advice on recognizing/locating or possibly straight up suggestions for non-aromatic burley tobaccos.
The long version: Now that he's approaching retirement, my dad is picking up a few of his old pipes again (mom always hated them) and he and I have enjoyed a couple bowls together this spring. My oldest brother helped usher me into the world of pipes about ten years ago. It took me a long time to realize that I really enjoyed smoking a pipe. The only issue I had was hating my brother's taste in tobacco (sticky sweet black cavendish loaded with aromatics). As it turns out my dad and I have very similar taste in our love for nutty burleys. I still have a taste for periques from when I was smoking cigarettes. We haven't ventured into latakias yet and I've had no luck finding orientals locally.
I think the next step in my tobacco education will be mail ordering tobaccos. The tobacconist around the corner from my office has a fair amount of English tobaccos, quite a few house blends with aromatics, but only two burley blends without cherry or vanilla something-or-other. The good news is the owner is a great guy and really helpful. The two aforementioned blends are great! But their tinned tobaccos move so rarely they're mostly dried out and crunchy. The problem with ordering blind is that I'm on a pretty darn tight budget, so throwing $20 at something I might hate a few times isn't a practical tactic.
The request: Do you have any suggestions for specific tobaccos you feel are emblematic of what a good burley tobacco can be? More importantly, do you have an educational resources about tobaccos to pass along? I'm a bit of a research nerd and would love the chance to read more about tobacco varieties and curing.
Thanks for your time!