Next up in my rotation is the pipe next to the Prince Albert tin...a Peterson Irish Seconds I acquired back in 1996. Best pipe I've ever smoked. The first pipe I ever owned, an Irish Seconds bent purchased in 1989 when I was 19, is not pictured but still in the rotation. I didn't realize when I bought it that it would provide a lifetime of enjoyment.

Some time around five years ago, I went through my tobacco collection and threw the aging remnants of all my Lane and "drugstore" blends into a big Tupperware, blended them, and divvied them up into three mason jars. The blend is perhaps 50% Smoker's Pride Natural Blend, 20% Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish, a full pouch each of Bugler and Carter Hall, and pouch remnants of Crown Achievement, Kentucky Club, Velvet, Very Cherry, Prince Albert, Drum, and Black & Mild.

The whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. I am halfway through the second jar, and this hodgepodge just gets better and better as time goes on. When it's gone, I'll miss it dearly...

I'm still kinda new to pipes. But have a growing collection.

Those 3 in the picture look like nice pipes.

I was wondering if it would be ok to mix pipe tobaccos like you did. So I'm glad to hear you can.

I'm finding that my tastes are for English, Oriental, Balkan blends.

So I've been trying to figure out what I should do with the aromatics, burley and other tobacco's I have, that I'm not smoking.




My last pipe smoke was yesterday. Tried out my new Morgan Bones Rhodesian with some Peterson my mixture 965.

They both made for an enjoyable smoke.

Thanks for the compliments! I have 5 or 6 good pipes in the rotation, along with a couple of ol' beater Grabows that I really should retire.

Yes, you can mix tobaccos. Almost every pipe tobacco you can buy is actually a blend anyway, so there's no reason you can't make up your own blends to suit your personal needs and tastes.

What burley and aromatic tobaccos do you have on hand that aren't in your rotation? Let's see what we can do to make something serviceable out of them!

Its not much but like 1\2 oz of old Joe Krantz, 1oz Haunted Bookshop. But I may just keep that one and not mix it. 1\2 oz lane black Cavendish, 3\4 oz lane dark red cavendish and 1\2 oz oz of Lane 1Q.

I thought I read that the lane dark red cavendish is no longer being made.

Not sure if these blended would be worthwhile or not?

I really don't see many worthwhile possibilities for blending what you already have on hand. What I would do if I were you:

1. Devote a pipe with a wide-diameter bowl just for smoking aromatics. Learn to how do a proper loose pack, and then enjoy the rest of your Joe Krantz, Haunted Bookshop, and 1-Q without adding anything to them.

2. Save the Black Cavendish and Dark Red Cavendish for a rainy day. The day will eventually come when you're away from home and run out of (or forget to bring) the good stuff, and there's no tobacconist handy. You'll end up buying pipe tobacco at a gas station or grocery store. Grab a pouch of Carter Hall or regular Prince Albert to get by with. After you've returned home, you can use the pouch of whatever you brought home (assuming you found it OK to smoke) as a base into which to blend your cavendish varieties. I would make a small batch using 25% cavendish; have a couple of bowls and if the 75/25 blend is more satisfying than the base tobacco was straight up, you are on to something. You can then further tweak the cavendish level until you've found the right balance for you.

Sutliff Rum & Maple in a Savinelli 320

That pipe is a beauty!

Thank you. It's one of my favorite shapes.

Enjoying Sam Gawith Chocolate Flake in a Briarworks Bullmoose, accompanied by a nice cup of hot tea. Turkey breast smoking on the Weber kettle in the background.

Smoked some Prince Albert mixed with some Sutliff 507 shoved Virginia in the MM Country Gent Cob.

Was an enjoyable smoke

Got some pipe tobacco from a friend I used to swap cigars with.

Peterson Royal Yacht
Carter Hall
Sutliff 515 RC
Sutliff 507 SV

I've gotten around to trying them all.

Like the Carter Hall so much that I ordered some up. Also like the Sutliff 515 RC.

Also picked up a pouch of Prince Albert and enjoy it too.

Didn't expect this to happen. But I'm enjoying the Prince Albert and Carter Hall more than anything else to smoke throughout the day.

That said I just smoked some Peterson's Royal Yacht when I got home tonight in the Kirsten.

Carter Hall and Prince Albert are classics.

New Year’s Day pipe, Sam Gawith Chocolate Flake in a deep bend Peterson.

Rattray’s Black Mallory in my favorite Nording pipe. Black Mallory is an interesting Scottish blend, a little lighter on the Cyprian Latakia with some oriental/Turkish, unflavored cavendish, and Virginia. Complex flavor, medium bodied.

I don't remember that Nording. Was that a recent acquisition?

No, I’ve had it several years, and it is my favorite Nording. The horizontal rustication fells really good in the hand, and I really like the contrast of the white stem on the darker pipe. I finally acquired one of the signature Nording designs unfinished with military mount. It will take many years for it to color in. The classic Nording has never been my favorite, but Erik Nording was at The Briary a couple of years ago. Thinking that may well be his last trip to the States, I got one and got him to autograph the bag and date the pipe.

C&D Oak Alley in a Skip Elliot handmade pipe, with a cup of coffee, and my relatively new Corona lighter. Oak Alley is a fairly full bodied burley, Virginia, oriental/Turkish, and Perique Krumble Kake blend. Very smooth, complex blend,, but it will kick your behind if you’re vitamin N sensitive, as I am.

But it is so good, especially when cellared for at least a couple of years, preferably longer. It’s also very good with a fresh tin as well. I have a couple of tins put back for aging. I usually sip it slowly in s smaller bowl to lessen the vitamin N. The Skip Elliot handmade is perfect for this, such a wonderful pipe it literally smokes itself. Skip uses a 4 mm drill for the shank, slightly larger than most. The rustication makes for a superb feel in the hand.

The Corona lighter is hands down the best lighter for the money, costing about $150. There are more expensive lighters, but this design is head and shoulders above most. Butane fueled, with it’s proprietary flint, it is super reliable and it holds way more fuel than most butane lighters. If you’re a pipe smoker, it may seem a little pricy, but it’s a superb investment for the long haul.

Looking back over a few older posts, and noticed you mentioned My Mixture 965. That was an original Dunhill blend, now made by Peterson. I have a couple tins left over over from the Dunhill days. 965 is a Scottish blend, essentially an English blend with some amount of unflavored cavendish. They typically have a little less Latakia than most English. Actually English blends aren’t defined a a presence of Latakia; the key thing is no flavoring at all, although most do have Latakia. Another good Scottish blend you might think about is Rattray’s Black Mallory.

Newminister Navy Flake in a Chacom straight, with some nice Irish Tea and a touch of honey.