Today we're gonna talk about some of our recommendations for those who have smoked some pipe tobaccos before, particularly Aromatics, and are looking to jump into some other pipe-tobacco families.

[Andy Wike]: Last time we talked about our top Aromatic smokes for beginners.

[Alan Britt]: Yeah, Aromatics are typically a good starting point, but you can get boxed into one family though. A lot of people will just stick with it because it's what they're familiar with and when you get into the different families of Virginias, Va/Pers, Burleys, Englishes, and Scottish blends, it can be overwhelming. Don't worry, your good friends at Smokingpipes are here to lead you in the right direction.

PS402 Luxury Twist Flake by Peter Stokkebye

[AW]: The first recommendation we're gonna talk about is PS402 Luxury Twist Flake by Peter Stokkebye. If you smoked some Aromatic blends, perhaps some of the recommendations that we gave in our last video on this topic — make sure you check that out if you haven't already — and if you're looking to get into the wider world of Virginia blends, I think Luxury Twist is a really good transition blend as well as being an exceptional blend on its own.

[AB]: The perfect crossover, in my opinion. It is a Virginia flake. Presentation wise, it's super unique; compact and twisted square flakes. The tobacco is forward, but if you're coming from smoking Aromatics, it still has this very light casing.

I would call it somewhere in the chocolatey realm. Shane Ireland always said that it reminded him of Almond Joy, and that resonated. I think that's a perfect comparison. It's just so good.

[AW]: It's surprising every time you light it up.

[AB]: It's one of those tobaccos I should smoke more. It's a phenomenal blend and it's an insanely good seller for people who've been smoking a pipe for decades.

[AW]: It also ages very well.

[AB]: Yeah, I think for someone who is transitioning and taking that next step out of Aromatics, it's one of the best options.

[AW]: Also, a lot of the blends we're sharing today are ribbon cuts. What's cool about Luxury Twist is that it is a flake cut, so you do get exposure to that presentation style, but I think it's a very easy flake to work with. It rubs out pretty finely. It's easy to pack. The moisture content's good. So you won't really have to futz with it too much. You can just load, smoke, and enjoy it and start developing your palate.

Pegasus by Cornell & Diehl

The next blend is an unsung sleeper blend in C&D's portfolio, Pegasus.

[AB]: It's one of C&D's quintessential Burley blends. It's a Ronowski blend from the pre-Laudisi days. It's been around for quite some time, and for good reason. It's great for those who want an old-school Burley blend that smokes great and isn't super fussy.

It is made up of Burley, Virginia, and Black Cavendish. It reminds me of the olden days of Burley blends, but with a slightly modern twist.

[AW]: The Burleys come through and you get this nuttiness. It's a drier sort of finish than something like Luxury Twist Flake, for example. You're not gonna get as much sweetness from Pegasus as you would that blend, but it does give you a really nice introduction to Burleys.

Burleys do smoke differently than Virginias. They have a different pH, so your palate might react to them in different ways than others. There are some people who don't get tongue bite at all from Virginias, for example, but they will from Burleys just because of the actual pH of their mouth.

Pegasus is a really great blend to just experiment with the Burley family. Of course there are Virginias and Black Cavendish in this as well, but a lot of the blend is made up of various Burley grades. You get a nice sense of both the nicotine content — Burleys being one of the most potent of varietals — but also a lot of body from the Black Cavendish and a decent amount of sweetness from the Virginias. There's no real top note or anything like that, so it's a really good introduction to the Burley family. From there, you can go and try things like Redburn, or some of the more complex Burley mixtures, like the five blends in the Burley Flake series, for example.

[AB]: Yeah, it's also worth mentioning that Pegasus is one that I've heard Jeremy Reeves recommend for people getting into the C&D Burley portfolio as a great starting point. Obviously not just for Cornell & Diehl, but for Burley blends as a whole, I think that stands true.

Bayou Morning by Cornell & Diehl

[AW]: Next up we have one of the C&D blends that I first started with when I was really getting into the portfolio. Classic, always a very good seller for C&D, and that's Bayou Morning.

[AB]: If I had to put myself in a box, Va/Pers are the one. It's one of my favorite tobacco families.

[AW]: What do you mean by Va/Pers? Just for the folks at home who don't know.

[AB]: Yeah, a Va/Per would be a Virginia blend that also contains Perique, so Virginia/Perique shortened is Va/Per. Bayou Morning is, I would say, the best-selling Va/Per in Cornell & Diehl's portfolio. I think it's just a perfect starting point where it contains 25% Perique, which is, for those of you who don't know, a hefty portion.

[AW]: Yeah, it's pretty substantial.

[AB]: You're gonna get a very good representation of Perique to start your journey in that category.

Perique, for me, has this dark fruit, we often call it stone fruit, sweetness, but it also has these rich, earthy, loamy qualities too. Umami is probably the best way to put it. Perique undergoes a very unique process that results in a tobacco that is unlike any other.

[AW]: What's really nice about Bayou Morning, too, is that, like all C&D blends that contain Perique, it's from 31 Farms, C&D's partner farms in St. James Parish, Louisiana. It's grown, harvested, and barreled in the traditional way. Those guys just really follow all the traditional steps, and I really think 31 Farms Perique is the best in the industry. There's just so much flavor packed into that super dark leaf. There are stone fruits, the molasses, rum-like sweetness, and there's a boozy quality to it.

But Bayou Morning's great. There's a nice mix of Bright Virginias in there as well as Reds, so you get to see how both of those varietals can enhance sweetness or lead down the baked goods route. And then you're also getting that hefty portion of Perique to really up the spiciness. It's a great blend to smoke first thing in the morning if you do have a pretty high nicotine tolerance.

[AB]: Yeah, but if you don't, make sure you have a little something to eat.

Star of the East by Cornell & Diehl

[AW]: Moving along here, the next blend we're gonna talk about is just completely different from the other ones that we've talked about so far, and that's Cornell & Diehl's Star of the East. Like all of these, it's available in bulk. You can also find it in a flake format, Star of the East Flake. It is just a really good representation of what Latakia can do.

[AB]: We're venturing into English territory with these next two, which can often be polarizing for new pipe smokers. I didn't get it at first. But it's something you definitely should try. Some people love it immediately, while some people it takes some time to grow an affinity for it. But Star of the East, much like we spoke about with Bayou Morning, is a really good representation and will let you find out very quickly if you enjoy Latakia.

[AW]: Of all the blends on the table, Star of the East contains the most Latakia as a percentage. It actually makes up around 50% of the blend. The term "Lat bomb" gets thrown out a lot in the industry, and then in the community. I don't think it's ever really meant as a negative connotation, it's just that when one component makes up 50% of the blend, that is really the prominent note that you get.

Star of the East is very Latakia forward, so you're getting this really interesting smoky, incense-like quality to it.

[AB]: I think that's enhanced too. There's a good portion of Turkish tobaccos in Star of the East, hence the name. It represents that style of Latakia and Oriental blend, but it's dominated by Latakia, whereas more traditional Englishes would be more Virginia-forward.

[AW]: Virginia, Oriental, with a little bit of Latakia. If you're interested in getting into English blends as a family, I think particularly if you find things in Greg Pease's portfolio, for example, that seem interesting to you, like Quiet Nights or Chelsea Morning, Star of the East is a really great introduction, available in bulk, that you can get in one ounces all the way up to 16 ounces and try your palate against Latakia, the super smoky, incense-like leaf.

Mountain Camp by Cornell & Diehl

The last entry here is another unsung hero of C&D's portfolio. It's a blend that, for those who know, they'll cellar it deep. You might have never tried it before just because it's not one of the ones that's talked about all over the place. Mountain Camp is another English blend, but it takes a very different direction than Star of the East.

Rather than leading with a 50% portion of Latakia, the overall balance here is a bit more diversified. So you've got some really nice Virginia grades, Black Cavendish, a good bit of Turkish leaf, Latakia, Perique, and Burley.

[AB]: It's often referred to as a Scottish-style blend, which, depending on who you are, that's for another video, your definition can change on that, but we're gonna call it a Scottish-style blend.

[AW]: I think, whether you're talking about the inclusion of Black Cavendish or the inclusion of Perique, it fits those definitions. It's just a really good example of how some of these other components that we've talked about can come together in different percentages and yield a completely different experience.

In Mountain Camp, you're gonna get the spiciness from the Perique. It won't be as noticeable as Bayou Morning, for example, but it's still there. There's a good bit of body and nicotine from the Burleys. The Black Cavendish really helps carry everything through the smoke, and there is some Latakia, of course, so you do get that smoky, incense-like character, but it's all over this foundation of really solid Virginia grades and Oriental.

[AB]: Yeah, I think it's a great representation of blending prowess and balance. I use this term lovingly; I often find myself drawn to these kitchen sink-style blends where it has a long list of components like this. Blends like Mad Fiddler Flake and HU Nashville County are ones that I personally love and go to often. Mountain Camp is gonna be a great first venture into that style of blend.

[AW]: Oh, yeah. And it's nice to enjoy any time of the day, I think. There's an old thing where it's like if Bayou Night is meant to be smoked in the wee evening hours, Mountain Camp is best taken on a day fishing.

It's a little bit lighter in percentage of Latakia and Perique, but it does have that same experience, but just with a different sort of balance that is more well-suited to all-day smoking.

Recommendations Beyond Aromatics

[AB]: Those are five recommendations for when you're venturing outside of Aromatics and want to try different styles of pipe tobacco that may sound intimidating from the outside. As always, your good friends at Smokingpipes are here to guide you. You are more than welcome to call our customer service or shoot us an email. We reply quickly during business hours.

[AW]: Five great blends that are all available in bulk. You can get 'em from one ounce all the way to 16 ounces. Give them a try, and then from there, you can branch out into other blends.