Pipes have killed cigars for me.

[Macion Grey]

Hello all you BOTL. No, it is not because I don't smoke cigars anymore that I haven't been here in a while... I haven't been here in a while because I haven't been anywhere in a while, but that is neither here or there.

Pipes have shot cigars in the face holding an elegant, scroll-worked revolver with an ivory handle. I have had some of my all time favourite cigars gifted to me after I lost my stash, and none of them can hold up to the colossal vitality of what I remember them to be. They all taste... sort of bland. I get glimpses of what I used to enjoy in them, but now cigars taste... like a big leaf rolled up and left in a shed.

I smoke flake tobacco now, almost exclusively, in a Meerchaum or Briar. Ribbon cut is nice, with offerings like Westminster, Montgomery, Royal Cajun and so fourth... but flake is magical. Complex, satisfying and relaxing. Folded and stuffed, slow burning and cool smoking. Every experience is a discovery on how intricate something so simple can potentially be. Sure, pipes take time to master, yet most things worth your while are.


So, Cigar Pass may be home, but the Pipe Room is my den.

 

[insight]

Traitor!

 

[Macion Grey]

Don't blame me, blame the pipe.


Oh, but don't confront the pipe directly, or I fear it will cut a swathe through your midsection whilst politely brusing aside your insults in a genteel manner.













Pesky typos

 

[LilBastage]

I'm glad you stuck with the pipe and found great pleasure in all it has to offer. The reward is definitely worth the effort.

 

[StatHaldol]

Hello all you BOTL. No, it is not because I don't smoke cigars anymore that I haven't been here in a while... I haven't been here in a while because I haven't been anywhere in a while, but that is neither here or there.

Pipes have shot cigars in the face holding an elegant, scroll-worked revolver with an ivory handle. I have had some of my all time favourite cigars gifted to me after I lost my stash, and none of them can hold up to the colossal vitality of what I remember them to be. They all taste... sort of bland. I get glimpses of what I used to enjoy in them, but now cigars taste... like a big leaf rolled up and left in a shed.

I smoke flake tobacco now, almost exclusively, in a Meerchaum or Briar. Ribbon cut is nice, with offerings like Westminster, Montgomery, Royal Cajun and so fourth... but flake is magical. Complex, satisfying and relaxing. Folded and stuffed, slow burning and cool smoking. Every experience is a discovery on how intricate something so simple can potentially be. Sure, pipes take time to master, yet most things worth your while are.


So, Cigar Pass may be home, but the Pipe Room is my den.

Very well said...my smoking experience has been much like yours. Now when I go to the tobacconist's shop I head straight for the pipes and pipe tobaccos.

 

[Wurm]

I like both.

Pipes in the Winter, cigars in the Summer.

 

[souldog]

Macy, you snob!!!

 

[vortex]

I'm glad you found the pleasure of pipe smoking so rewarding. I smoke both but there are times when a cigar just doesn't do it so I know what you mean. And the tremendous variety of pipe tobacco makes it more interesting.

But there are cigars I get in the mood for and nothing else will do at those times, too. But I buy require a much more limited stash of cigars now. Which is a good thing.

 

[Macion Grey]

I am sure there are going to be times when I would like nothing more than a Por Larranaga Montecarlo lazily hanging out my mouth on a scorching hot day, but I have to wonder if when I light up I will be as dissapointed as I was recently. Perhaps a measure of time will equalise this pipe bias?


For now, I am happily stuck in the wide world of pipes.

 

[ironpeddler]

Like life itself....you realize everything is cyclical the older you get.

One day you may decide to light up a cigar only to have it taste like heaven on Earth! :love:

Ya' just never know....

 

[beyond the band]

I have been experimenting with the pipe for a few Months myself. I have purchased 5 or 6 different types, aromatic and non. I just can't seem to get the satisfaction of the cigar.
I'm not giving up though.
Maybe I'm not using the proper tobacco. Is there such a thing as pipe tobacco that tastes similar to cigars?

 

[Spad31]

I have been experimenting with the pipe for a few Months myself. I have purchased 5 or 6 different types, aromatic and non. I just can't seem to get the satisfaction of the cigar.
I'm not giving up though.
Maybe I'm not using the proper tobacco. Is there such a thing as pipe tobacco that tastes similar to cigars?

Crush up a cigar and smoke it in your pipe? I'm betting it'll taste pretty similar.

Trey

 

[Macion Grey]

I have been experimenting with the pipe for a few Months myself. I have purchased 5 or 6 different types, aromatic and non. I just can't seem to get the satisfaction of the cigar.
I'm not giving up though.
Maybe I'm not using the proper tobacco. Is there such a thing as pipe tobacco that tastes similar to cigars?

Crush up a cigar and smoke it in your pipe? I'm betting it'll taste pretty similar.

Trey

There are some blends that use cigar leaf in them, such as McClellands Dominican glory and Fox's Bankers.

Give them a try.

 

[ZiZiJohn]

I had a similar experience over the past year and a half or so. I think it had at least in part to do with the fact that I could indulge my curiosity about many different blends for less money (one tin of pipe tobacco with more than fifteen bowls cost about as much as one premium cigar) and the fact that I could control the time commitment involved--I certainly don't have the time to smoke a Churchill every day (or every month, for that matter.)

That said, I lit up a few cigars last weekend, and they were sublime... sometimes, nothing else will do. Give it time, and I suspect equilibrium will be reached.

 

[badhangover]

I prefer cigars over pipe smoking. By a long shot. But it's not that I dislike pipe smoking. I've mostly just been too lazy for their maintenance cleaning and lugging them around - in addition to the need for several pipes to rotate through if regularly smoked. And I just plain (strongly) prefer cigars.

But crap like Billion dollar cigars (and I wish that were an outright joke rather than merely a gross exaggeration) really make me ponder the value of cigar tobacco vs the relatively inexpensive pipe tobacco world.

People like pipe smoke. Chicks dig pipe smoke. Heck, I think babies even dig pipe smoke. The fact is, I've never been asked to put a pipe out. On the downside, I've had some self anointed age judges tell me how old I look to be smoking a pipe and I've had many youngsters giggle to me, "Heh heh, what are you smoking in that thing?" But more often than not, it's a great conversation starter - as many people feel inclined to approach me and tell me how much they love the odor of pipe tobacco. And I'm not talking about aromatics either (or, heaven forbid, hookah). Hot girls have routinely gotten friendly with me as they related to me how it reminded them of their youthful memories of their deceased grandfather(s). Kinda sick and perverted in a way, but nonetheless great for my pickup mojo.

As for cigars, I love 'em, but man am I tired for being the evil one to light one up. Sure, it's one thing to say I don't care about others when I'm clearly in a place which permits smoking, but it does get tiring to always be on the wrong end of an evil glare or outright boos and hisses. Really ruins the feng shui of a good cigar experience. And I'm not feeling too much love from my side of the coin either. It feels at times like Habanos SA is determined to price me out of their product line. Like I'm riff raff who's lowering the property values of their neighborhood with my cheap presence. Sooner or later, they're gonna shun me right out altogether.

I also like that I can smoke as much or as little pipe tobacco as I want.... and can light it, set it aside and later return to it without having to pitch it as a total loss.

Or maybe it's just the variety of fine tobacco I enjoy. Both in cigars and in pipes - and I shift from one to the next with (nearly) equal appreciation.

 

[LedZep]

I'm enjoying the pipe almost exclusivly now..

It is very nice.

I did light up a maduro Nub yesterday with a buddy at the B&M..
It tasted as good as it did... But I still thought of a pipe with a bowlful of Stonehaven while I was smoking it.
I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Vin