What bum turned you on to your favorite blends?

[Cool Breeze]

I was just thinking about this earlier. I was totally new to pipe smoking right as the other site went poof. So my entire pipe smoking career has been fueled and enabled by you bums.

I was thinking this afternoon about who it was that turned me on to the many blends that I love. Here's a not so complete list of a few of them.

@Tony78 will have the longest list, as I was paired with him in the newbie sampler trade. He sent about 20 different samples for me to try. I had just started trying a pipe and up until that point had only smoked aromatics and truthfully had not enjoyed any of them. Here are the ones that he sent that are now on my list of favorites.

Full Virginia Flake - My absolute favorite. If I had to choose a deserted island tobacco, this is it
Orlik Golden Sliced - The very first pipe tobacco I really enjoyed smoking
Dunhill Nightcap
PS Luxury Bullseye Flake
Frog Morton
Dunhill Royal Yacht - I know some don't like it, but I do. A lot.
PS Luxury Navy Flake

There's probably a few I'm forgetting but it's getting late and I took a sleeping pill about an hour ago so you know, its kinda fuzzy.

@Tobias Lutz turned me on to the H&H blends after a review contest. Out of the blends he sent, these stuck out to me and I will always have some of these on hand.

H&H AJs Vaper
H&H Virginia Spice
H&H Burley Kake - I'm not an aromatic fan but this one is amazing. My favorite aro hands down.
H&H Ten to Midnight - Very good English blend. It's a crumble cake which was new to me. I like it a lot

@Haebar bombed me not too long after the Bum site got started good. There was one in there that certainly stood out.

PS Proper English - This is a great English blend that can be picked up very reasonably priced in bulk. I'll always have some on hand.

@BryGuySC turned me on to Samuel Gawith Navy Flake after I mentioned I hadn't tried any before. Amazing smoke and definitely in my top 5 favorite blends.

So I was just sitting here thinking about who turned me on to what blends. Any of you have some that stick out in your minds?

Thanks again guys. You bums are pretty cool.

[BryGuySC]

Great idea for a post!
I'll have to put some thought into it later this evening.

[Emperor Zurg]

Tobias got me started with a bunch of recommendations, all of which I liked except one.
Neverbend sent me a sample of Glengarry flake, which is really nice.
Branzig sent me a sample or Red Rap, which is also very good.

Other than that, I just sample what people are commonly smoking in the 'what did you smoke today' thread.
In general, it seems I like most non-aromatics except burleys (although there are a few burleys I like once in a while).
Aromatics are usually a let-down for me, although there is a small list of them I really like.

[Bruck]

Reviews & comments by @JimInks have broadened my horizons @Alligator Gar recently sent a sampler of burleys that I've been burning thru
A BOTL co-worker who isn't on this forum turned me on to balkans, 759 matches, and the like @Tobias Lutz inspired me in the homemade blends department.
Hard to list them all, really.

[Aguineapig]

Madbricky turned me onto the D&R blends a while back, which I loved and stocked up on. I like that style of simple tobacco, shipped dry.

[Lostmason]

To be honest I had tried pipes several times mostly OTC blends, Captain Black, Borkumriff, that sort of tobacco.It wasn't until I got in here (CigarBum) and started learning the tricks and tips that I truely started enjoying my pipes.First I learned how to pack it right,and believe me ,that was a Big deal.I had never considered the Boutique blend or the fancy tins and stuff.The way you guys talk em up got me interested in trying some but afraid to invest alot of money in a bunch of samples that I may or may not like and then be stuck with.So with being welcomed into the newbe trade I hooked up with a sizable load from @Haebar for the simple cost a small tin and time,BTW Thanks again @Haebar .So that being said my list of Favorites is small but growing :

Sutliff Highlander
Old Joe Krantz
C&D Odessa
@BryGuySC was kind enough to then bomb me with a few burley blends that I'm STILL working on (seriously Thankyou Bryan ) so from those I have to add

Southern Comfort "Carmello"

And lest I forget @NeverBend recently included a tin of Germain's Plumcake.I have been obstinatly refusing to try anything with fruit of any kind in the name,but Pete,this stuff is a true AHA,OMG moment for me.Wendy wants me to slice it and serve it toasted with a bit of butter.( I'm tempted !)Thanks Pete for opening my eyes to some blends that I would otherwise have missed.

Matthew

[Haebar]

I regret that I have not kept records of who has given me what tobaccos, so please forgive me if I am not able to mention anyone in particular. There are so many tobaccos that I enjoy that I am a little overwhelmed trying to remember how I came to know about them. The one that I have been enjoying tonight, Gatlinburlier Mountain Mall Mix, was purchased based on an influence of @Tobias Lutz . Many months ago he posted pictures of a purchase of many different blends that he had bought from the Gatlinburlier Smoke Shop that raised my curiosity. Bulk blends from smoke shops were something that I tended to steer clear of; many times I have been stung with goopy aromatics or otherwise disappointed. It raised my eyebrows that Tobias was interested in the shop blends from smoke shop relatively close (1 hour) from where I live. This summer the girlfriend and I took a quick morning trip to Gatlinburg and I picked out some of their blends and just got around to trying the first one tonight. This is, without a doubt, one of the best tobaccos I've ever smoked, aromatic or not. In addition, when I am researching a blend, I look for what @JimInks has to say about it.

[bluenoser]

So far I'm surprisingly enjoy 2 aros the most. Tobias gave the captain black white with the review thread he had. Find the stuff pretty tasty.

and El Whedo gave a sample of h&h burley kake with my nps trade. All great samples buy fell in love with the stuff from the first bowl. Will most likely be among my first order of tins along with a few other h&h tins I'd like to try.

[Cool Breeze]

and El Whedo gave a sample of h&h burley kake with my nps trade. All great samples buy fell in love with the stuff from the first bowl. Will most likely be among my first order of tins along with a few other h&h tins I'd like to try.

The H&H blends are underrated IMO. They're very reasonably priced and are fine quality tobaccos.
If you get into Vapers make sure and try Virginia Spice and AJ's Vaper. Both are phenomenal. Some may think it blasphemy but I think AJ's Vaper is every bit as good as Dunhill Elizabethan.

[c.ortiz108]

Great thread! I was fortunate enough to be on a roll winning contests right around the time I started getting more interested in pipes, and trying out new tobaccos. Just when I was thinking about signing up for the pipe noob trade, all this abundance fell into my lap and I never did sign up in the end!

First it was @Tobias Lutz pipe quotation contest, which @Hermit also won but generously passed his half of the winnings on to me. I ended up with almost 2lbs of tobacco! There are a few I still haven't tried, but so far the most surprising has been SG Firedance Flake. Right when i was starting to think I just don't like aros, I approached this stuff almost reluctantly - I mean seriously, heavy blackberry sauce on slabs of wet tobacco? But it blindsided me with an almost surreally pleasing combination of flavors! With the samples Tobias sent, by process of elimination, I found that Burley was the problem, not aro per se. And that's just as valuable to know as discovering a new favorite blend - developing my palate and figuring out what I like. I was also a runner-up in another of Tobias' giveaways, and won a tin of Dunhill Navy Rolls. I haven't cracked it open yet, but it's definitely going to help me get my heard around the whole VA flake/roll genre (along with the OGS he sent in the previous package).

Then there was @tmoran 's fun Mixture 79 review contest, where I was a runner-up twice! This turned me on to the weird and wonderful 1792, and the as yet unopened Presbyterian Mixture.

Last but not least, @NeverBend 's expertise has been an invaluable resource in helping me understanding the different kinds of tobaccos, processing, and blending houses. I was also fortunate enough to get in on his new blending activities, and get samples of his new and re-created blends. So far I've only tried one - The Professor - just when I was getting curious about lat-aro blends, and it didn't disappoint! He also sent a few other samples which I haven't tried yet.

The generosity of these guys is inspiring.