Welcome to 2018 and my ramblings about the world of the cigar and pipe lifestyle. Two-Thousand and Seventeen was a good year for me, and I'm looking forward to an even better 2018, so I figured today I'd talk a little about truly understanding "What 'cha smokin'".
Like everybody that enjoys cigars and pipes, I wasn't born with the knowledge of what cigars and pipes were, or why people chose to venture into the smoking game, so years ago, even though I was very fortunate to have somebody take copious amounts of time to teach me about the game, it took me many years to fully comprehend the subtleties about it. I'm referring to knowing and understanding just what you're smoking. I wrote and earlier blog entitled "Now I Understand", which touches on this topic a bit, but this blog goes deeper.
As I record this blog I'm enjoying a very, very nice bowl of Majestic English pipe tobacco in one of my favorite pipes and I thought I'd share how one might truly get this same euphoria I have at the moment. When I woke this morning, I started planning my day and on the agenda was what would I smoke. I've reached that point in my life where I actually plan what I want to smoke based on my feelings and mood. It's approximately 25 degrees outside, so I know I wanted something with some body, lots of flavor and something I could easily enjoy, hence the English blend I'm enjoying. That planning includes the tobacco or cigar I want, the pipe I'll use and any food or beverage as well, so it's not just running to the cellar or humidor and grabbing the first thing at hand and off I go.
I think back to many, many years ago when I thought Aromatic pipe tobacco was the "end to all ends" and man was I wrong. Of course as a "new to the game" aficionado, I clearly had no idea. Give me something sweet and mild and I'm good to go. Well as it goes, if you stay in the game long enough you evolve, your palate evolves and your curiosity grows and more than anything your level of knowledge grows, well for most it does. Knowledge includes the understanding of tobacco regions, tobacco characteristics, flavoring profiles etc. With cigars it includes ring gauge and length of a cigar, long or short fillers, wrappers and more. With pipes one considers tobacco cut (flake, plug, ribbon etc.), casing (flavoring), nicotine levels, type of pipe (Briar, Meerschaum, Pear wood, Corn Cob etc.). For instance if you're enjoying a very sweet Aromatic pipe tobacco, you may want to stay away from a Corn Cob pipe, because they smoke sweeter than other types of pipes and that would add another level of sweet to the tobacco. Or if you're having a very bold coffee with a cigar, a very full-bodied cigar may not go to well together. That's why having knowledge can lend to a more pleasurable session.
Let's discuss pipe tobacco first, and we'll start with Aromatics. Typically Aromatics are cased with some type of flavor and in rare instances they are not cased because the tobacco used has a natural flavor to it. With some casings it makes the tobacco very wet, which will make it burn different, and the way you smoke it will be different, how many times you ignite it will be different, if it bites the tongue comes into play etc. Other casings can give off unusual taste (soapy, chemical and the sort) if they're not packed and smoked the correct way. To my experience most Aromatics tend to be on the mild and medium body side, so if you're looking for a kick, Aromatics won't be what you're looking for. Most do have great room notes which is another factor in enjoying the smoke.
Then there's English/Non-Aromatics. Nothing but tobacco here folks, "straight, no chaser". They also will burn differently depending on the moisture content, the cut, and the type of tobacco itself. An example would be Burley. A ribbon cut Burley versus a cube cut Burley burn extremely different, even though it's the same tobacco. That also determines if you will take full draws or just "sip" from the pipe. By and large English/Non-Aromatic blends are a bit more dry and tend to burn hot, so the type of pipe used is a HUGE factor. Of course if the tobacco is burning too hot, that completely ruins the smoke. Because these type of tobaccos have no casings, they tend to be on the medium to full-bodied side.
With cigars, the type of filler makes a difference as well as the size. You can have two of the exact same sized cigars from the same company, same line and if one uses a long filler it'll taste different than one with a short filler. Some years ago, I used to enjoy a great bundled cigar called Villar y Villar (the non-Cuban version), that was made in Nicaragua with long filler tobaccos. For years, it probably was the most consistent cigar I enjoyed. When I purchased a box/bundle, I knew exactly what I was getting. In the mid 2000's, the blend started using short fillers. Completely changed the smoke, still a nice smoke but nowhere near the the consistent cigar I was used to. I could light one up and enjoy it and then 2 hours later, light another one up and it was so different. Also, what you light the cigar with makes a different as well, matches, butane, lighter fluid all make a difference. The normal things affect the smoke as well, ie., the wrapper, how fast it's smoked etc.
So as you see you have to have some type of "understanding" of what you want to smoke, which brings me back to this pipe smoke. I never would've imagined that I would be an English blend Connoisseur, but that is my favorite type of pipe tobacco. As I remember my first attempt at a English blend, I was just totally turned off by it, because I didn't understand it. I loaded a bowl of it and started smoking it like I had done with my Aromatics, WRONG! Man, it was strong, it was bitter, it gave me awful tongue bite and just harsh flavors all around. Later as I gained more of an understanding of tobacco, and learned how to actually smoke an English blend, I then understood the laws of tobacco.
Hopefully, this will help you get more out of enjoying a cigar or pipe and not be one to just "smoke" them. The next time you enjoy something, stop and actually think about how you're smoking it, what you're smoking it in, what you had to drink with it, what the weather is, and as many other things that might affect the way you smoke cigars and pipes. One last thing, back in the day when I started in the game and would visit smoke shops, I would giggle to myself when I watched some of the "old heads" smoking their cigars and pipes because they'd take a draw, they'd look at the cigar or pipe, then they'd look at the smoke, they'd make that funny motion with their mouth like they had a mouth full of mouthwash, and they'd just literally stop and think. What goofballs I thought, how pretentious, like they're experts. Man, funny how time, knowledge and experience changed my views and opinions, as now I'm sure to someone, I'm the goofball. So until next time....... CLP (Clip, Light and Puff).
Gregory
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