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Ageing without hoarding

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
One thing I haven't gotten used to through this exploratory phase of the journey, is tobacco drying. I'm OK at putting out the right amount to air out, but the what and when can often frustrate.

I fancied a pipe an hour ago. Just one of those "now feels like a good time" moments. I decided VaPer, I decided Brog Puella - the smaller of the two, and in turn decided to open the sample of Cabbies Mixture. I took out a few of the scraggy coins, and could tell by the weight that they were too wet. My decision of what I want to smoke right now, became my decision of what I would be smoking tomorrow, and I had to rethink what I want now.

I settled on Charatan Rolls, for no other reason than my sample is dry enough to smoke, and I'm just giving that a half hour airing, just to be sure. Having then smoked that bowl, that VaPer that I had the urge for, will I still be in the mood for VaPer again tomorrow, or will I fancy something darker, or more aromatic?

Deciding what I want to smoke next, when I want to smoke it, and laying the tobacco out in advance so it's ready, is one of the more tedious aspects of this hobby for me. Several times, I've set out what to smoke next in advance, only to not be in the mood for it when the time came. Or it hadn't quite dried to the right level.

Often, I will end up with one or two pipes laden, and unsmoked, just waiting for the mood for that bowl to return, or for the uppermost leaf to dry off a little more, to accept a flame more readily. That's great when I get the urge, and I can just choose from two pipes that are already sat there, ready to go. Not so great if you haven't prepped that way, and I have to start rummaging through for a sample that's ready to smoke.

As I'm swamped with samples at the moment, it's actually a battle to stop them all drying out before I come to smoke them. I need to come up with a nice easy system, of keeping them all hydrated, except one or two allowed to start airing slowly. Likewise, when I eventually start pulling tins out of the "cellar" drawer, I need to keep the tin moist for the couple of months (or however long) it's on the go, while not having to wait 6-18 hours when I do fancy a smoke.

Work in progress...
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
I've actually been foregoing drying time in almost all cases and I've found that with lighter packing I'm not having difficulty. Granted, there are blends that just must be dried...but that seems to be the exception. Try packing a bit lighter and see if that doesn't help a bit. You may find it doesn’t work for you but you might be surprised. It's worth a shot anyway.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I've actually been foregoing drying time in almost all cases and I've found that with lighter packing I'm not having difficulty. Granted, there are blends that just must be dried...but that seems to be the exception. Try packing a bit lighter and see if that doesn't help a bit. You may find it doesn’t work for you but you might be surprised. It's worth a shot anyway.

I can get away with that with a mixture, but not flake.

With flake, I'll sometimes pack ahead of time, and leave it packed and unsmoked for a few days. The top will air enough to catch a light, but the rest dries to a very smokeable level.

A low of my tobacco samples though, are from the Gawiths, as they're the ones that are available weighed out, and a little drying time is essential. Likewise with tins, they don't tend to dry to a "ready to smoke" level, till at least halfway.

Also, the Brogs, much like clays, seem to work better with a firmer pack than one would do with a briar.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I no longer own a pipe that doesn't sit upright. :clap:

In total, nine pipes have left the building. The three Missouri Meerschaum hardwoods got binned, and the six "topplers" got rehomed, with the proceeds going towards a Falcon. That should be here tomorrow. :biggrin1:

There have been a lot of changes this year for me in terms of smoking. A branching out into untried tobaccos, a reset of the pipe array, and laying away a few blends to develop age characteristics. It's been fun. I also think it's been well worth it. Any wrong turns have been inexpensive, and yielded valuable lessons. I've ended up in quite a happy place, tobacco wise, with four more pipes yet to "receive" this year, and a healthy (but not excessive) buffer stock ageing.

Now it's time to put the feet up, and reap the rewards :p
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I'm glad this all came together for you! After all the work you put into this, it's great to see it all coming to fruition.

Thanks buddy. It's been an interesting point of the journey, where many questions have been answered. Those questions mostly being variations of "what do I want, and why?"

There's still plenty of Aimless Wanderering to do :biggrin: and there's currently no space for the bulk blends I like (of which there are several), but they can get integrated over time. Somehow.

I didn't expect to find quite so many tobaccos that I really like, and there's still a pile of samples I haven't reached a verdict on yet. In a way, I'm actually glad there's less choice over here. It's overwhelming enough as it is :lol1:
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
I no longer own a pipe that doesn't sit upright. :clap:

In total, nine pipes have left the building. The three Missouri Meerschaum hardwoods got binned, and the six "topplers" got rehomed, with the proceeds going towards a Falcon. That should be here tomorrow. :biggrin1:

There have been a lot of changes this year for me in terms of smoking. A branching out into untried tobaccos, a reset of the pipe array, and laying away a few blends to develop age characteristics. It's been fun. I also think it's been well worth it. Any wrong turns have been inexpensive, and yielded valuable lessons. I've ended up in quite a happy place, tobacco wise, with four more pipes yet to "receive" this year, and a healthy (but not excessive) buffer stock ageing.

Now it's time to put the feet up, and reap the rewards :p
Always happy to help :thumbup:
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Just settling into my second bowl of Sunday's Fantasy in the new Falcon.

IMG_20201002_124000_edit.jpg


It's a very easy smoke with a very free draw. The bowl is a little wider than I expected at 19mm, though I did see sales listings varying from 17mm to 21mm.

This is replacing my Ozark Cherrywood as my small aromatic pipe, but with an additional bowl might end up as my small Lakeland pipe too. It's still new, and still smokes and tastes like a new pipe, but it's showing promise already.

It's also potentially replacing the topplers as the "park bench" pipe, for smokes when out and about. I was very concerned about parting with the little bulldog and zulu especially, but this pipe shows a lot of promise of filling the role practically, whilst emulating the look to an extent, depending what bowl is attached - though it still looks like a stoner's pipe to me :biggrin1:

I'm pleasantly surprised that the metalwork doesn't get too warm, and the threads are free yet secure. One thing I do have to get used to, is the bowl depth in relation to the stem. Normally, a pipe is about finished as the ash starts getting level with the top of the briar stem, but with the nature of this pipe, it's much higher, as the bottom of the chamber is just past halfway between rim and stem.

As such, it looks a bigger bowl than it actually is. Not that it causes a problem, as it still delivers a fair length smoke, depending how it's packed. I think this pipe will be getting a lot of use over the coming weeks and months.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
As you pretty much all know, unless you're just visiting this thread for the first time, I've been wading through a sea of samples, trying to find MY tobaccos. The ones I want on the repeat purchase list, and get one on order when the aged one comes out from the drawer.

As you also know, I have a cap on how much tobacco I want to keep. That being 20 tins. So that allows me one tin/pouch of 20 different blends, or duplicates if I don't find 20 favourites.

Three blends each of English, Lakeland, Virginia, Perique, and Aromatic, plus five other blends gives me that twenty. Checking my notes tonight, and consolidating them by type, it seems I've already found them... and more. :facep:

English/Orientals:
First off has got to be (#1) Squadron Leader. That was the tobacco I first cracked pipe smoking with, and it remains a favourite. Second, I'm going to plump for (#2) Germain's Eighteen Twenty, with (#3) Skiff Mixture in reserve if the Germain's goes AWOL. I'll not be committing to the official third spot vacant just now, but there's several tins stewing in the bottom drawer, including Germain's King Charles, which I anticipate being a contender. There's also a few samples such as Exmoor Mixture which I haven't tried yet. As a placeholder, I'll say (#4) Presbyterian Mixture, as I know I could grab a pouch of that at any time and be happy.

Lakelands:
This again may change with time, although there'll always be a place for (#5) Condor Long Cut. Another safe bet for me is (#6) Coniston Cut Plug Unscented. Being unscented, it doesn't strictly fall in this category, but it can arrive somewhat ghosted, depending on the batch, and it also smokes well in a Lakeland ghosted pipe. Finally No.7 Broken Flake, which is actually (#7) on this unfolding list. A lighter Lakeland with a hint of vanilla. Very nice. On occasion, I may even get a yearning to dial the Lakeland up to 11 with a pouch or tin of (#8) Ennerdale.

Virginia:
This is an odd category, as I won't fully know my favourites until I've smoked some aged stuff. That said, I love (#9) Germain's Brown Flake. Even if the Best Brown and Full Virginia Flake in the drawer don't bowl me over after a few years, I know I can console myself with a bowl of Brown Flake. (#10) Sherlock Holmes by Peterson was love at first smoke too, so that's at least two safe Virginias. (#11) Dunhill Ye Olde Signe is getting third place, untried. I already have three tins of that in the drawer for smoking at different times, to assess changes in a single blend. I also gave a lot of other Virginia samples to work through. New Prince, Golden Glow, Scotch Cake, Medium Flake, Gold Rush, and probably a few others are here waiting to be tried.

Perique:
(#12) Germain's Royal Virginia Perique is a wonderful light VaPer, light enough to smoke in a Virginia pipe probably. (#13) Charatan Victorian Mixture is fantastic if I want more spice and twang. Naturally (#14) Peterson’s Elizabethan Mixture serves as back up there. Talking of the Charatan / Peterson’s tag team, (#15) Charatan Rolls can comfortably take the third slot... but I haven't tried Deluxe Navy Rolls yet. I also have several Rattray's VaPers ageing, which may displace any of those three.

Aromatics:
Easy. (#16) Palace Gate, (#17) RED Mixture, and (#18) Irish Cask... yes I snuck another Perique in...
Any of the gold or mixed base shag tobaccos I often smoked could reside in here too.

Other:
This could go on till I exceed the character limit for the post, but the first five I have scrawled down are (#19) Reunion Flake, (#20) Louisiana Flake, (#21) University Flake, (#22) Rich Dark Flake, (#23) Plum Cake. There's still a bucket load here I haven't worked though yet. Solani Silver, Dark Fragrant, 221b Baker Street, and numerous Gawith flakes. Not to mention the ones I want to try but haven't bought yet, like Four Squires, Firedance, Revor, Erinmore, Hyde Park, and several of the Stokkebye 4th Gen.

So even if I ditch the Aromatics from the list, as they don't want ageing long anyway, I've already found all the tobacco I could want, with much more to explore.

Another mission accomplished.
 
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AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Further to the above...

There's fourteen of the tinned blends in in the ageing drawer that I haven't tried yet, and another fifteen 10g-15g unopened samples that need trying too. Then there's at least three more samples stashed away for my birthday that I haven't tried yet, and another tin of stuff I haven't tried yet, laid away for Christmas.

🤣

Somehow I don't think I'll be stocking multiples of anything...
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
There's also a few surprises I discovered along the journey so far.

1) Small is beautiful

I'm surprised how much I like smaller bowls. My "normal" pipe size was around 20mm (just over 3/4") x 40mm (just over 1.1/2") deep for a while, and I found myself wanting small bowls. A diameter of 16mm-18mm x 30mm deep is roughly half the volume, and perfect for 60%-70% of my smokes.

2) Barely any Burley

Burley based blends either never caught on over here, or weren't smoked in enough quantities to warrant conforming to the EU Tobacco Products Directive with them. There's lost of Virginia led, Cavendish led, and some Dark Fired led tobaccos, but Burley is very rarely the prominent ingredient. There are VaBurs, but the "drug store" type blends, don't have a seat at the table here.

3) Persistent Moderation

My consumption rate has increased a bit since I've been on this exploration, but it has less than doubled, and I will occasionally go a few days without a smoke. I was concerned that opening up to different blends, and laying some away for future, would see my consumption rate go through the roof. That hasn't happened though. Vape is still my primary nicotine delivery method.

4) English isn't colonising everything

I was pretty certain that English blends were going to be the staple tobacco type for me, but it's just one of six different blend families I'm interested in. I find myself not wanting to focus on any one of those at the expense of the others... yet.

5) Easy does it.

While I still like the occasional robust bowl like Coniston Cut Plug, or Irish Flake, the easy smoking "anytime" tobaccos are the ones I am more drawn to. In fact the beefier blends, such as Nightcap, and Old Dark Fired, got dumped in the reject blend jar. I guess I don't smoke enough to numb the tastebuds, and therefore don't need those heavier smokes to compensate. Grossly oversimplified I know, but you get my drift.

6) Ye Olde is new to me.

I do find myself liking the old style Cavendish. Not the sodden gloopy stuff, but the old drier format Cavendish in Uncle Tom's and Plum Cake. I'm really looking forward to trying Dark Fragrant.

7) Seeing Double

There's so much duplication. Charatan and Peterson’s, Peterson’s and Rattray's, Ashton and Chieftain. Time can be wasted sampling clones and tributes, instead of venturing off into things entirely new.

It's taken six months of exploration to get to this stage, but a lot has been learned in that time. Yet I still don't feel that my tastes have vastly deviated from the tobaccos I spent the previous seven years smoking. I still like Virginia with a hint of something elseI just have way more such options. I still prefer rubbed out flake to folded and stuffed. Flake stores better and rubbed smokes better (for me). I now have a better idea whether something will work for me though, just by reading the sales pitch - both in terms of pipes, and what to put in them.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Holy expletive of choice!

I've seen it!

The one!

I've never been completely 100% against spending more than my limit on a pipe. I just never saw a reason to go beyond £25. I did have to cross that threshold for my three birthday/christmas pipes, but only by around 50%. Paying the additional costs on those did seem justified, as they do all genuinely offer me something that I wouldn't have got otherwise.

What I've just seen is around 3x that limit, so still not straying into three figures in either GBP, EUR or USD - the point where many think "good" pipes start. Yet this pipe appears to be the right size, right shape, right finish, right length, right bowl size, right airway, right amount of bend, right filtration, right way up... just not at the right time of year, or when the baccy bank has the right funds... but will it will be there/available when the piggy bank is full...?

Aaargh!!!
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
No point in resisting. Totally smitten. :001_wub:

Ordered it.

I'll find something to sell, or some other way of funding it later. I think this might be my ultimate pipe. Seriously. I just wish I'd discovered it earlier...

Actually, that's not entirely true, as I'd likely still have ordered the sitting Bulldog and the two Ben Wades, as they're worth every penny too.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
No point in resisting. Totally smitten. :001_wub:

Ordered it.

I'll find something to sell, or some other way of funding it later. I think this might be my ultimate pipe. Seriously. I just wish I'd discovered it earlier...

Actually, that's not entirely true, as I'd likely still have ordered the sitting Bulldog and the two Ben Wades, as they're worth every penny too.
Well....What is it Al!? Can we get a pic or something? The suspense is killing me.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
It's almost Captain Jack. The advantage of a Captain Black pipe you see is they come pre-ghosted so there isn't all the need to buy a bunch of cans of Captain Black grape to get the flavors you crave at the outset.
 
That is slick! That's going to feel good hanging from your jaw. I like the anchor. Where does one find such branded pipes?

And Bakker, sitters are for those who put it down to do something. Not for those who just glare at the thing to do until the distraction leaves uncomfortably.
 
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