< a late night visit, at the corner of the bar
Pipe tobacco's awesome, I forgot to bring a pipe I made to Utah with me. I whittled it from the end of a maple branch that my buddy and I used to lash a ladder together. I got a woodburning pen so I burned on a scene of one of my favorite little lakes, surrounded by pine trees and saw palmettos. I should have brought it with me to remind me of old Florida. Even if I brought it, though, I guess there's not a tobacconist for 100 miles in any direction... Guess I'll stick to cigars when I can afford them and zyn when I'm on the job. I have that same sort of dichotomy for tobacco use. Cigars and pipes are really more social things for me, or if I need a while to think. Dip/zyn is for when I need to do homework or clean the shed or something.
What are your favorite pipe tobaccos if you don't mind me asking? All I've smoked so far is my roommate's old bag of cherry something from one of his army buddies.
Yes, pipe tobacco is a calming and contemplative thing. My favorite blend at the moment is John Cotton Double-pressed Kentucky, which is fairly high in nicotine, but *very* flavorful, and extremely slow burning.
I still pick up an aromatic blend from time to time, but the best I've had is now discontinued, which was called Prince Albert Soft Vanilla. It was like smoking a vanilla bean milkshake. Haha!
Still, I'm a regular smoker and have several pipes throughout the day, which tend to be a (cheaper) go-to bulk blend, which will be a Red Virginia of some type.
That handmade pipe you spoke of sounds nice. I thought of getting a briar block and trying my hand at making my own pipe, but the tools and elbow grease seemed like too much work for me (aka, I am lazy). But also, I am in an apartment, and I can't drill/sand down wood and get sawdust everywhere. Someday I'll borrow a friend's garage and give it a go, though.
But if you're looking for a good, affordable pipe while you're in Utah, I'd definitely try Etsy. I am expecting an estate pipe from the 1970s, arriving in the mail today (which is running late), by a decent pipe maker, and it was only $46. Plus I get the "history" behind the pipe (in my mind) - what blends it has smoked, who previous owners were, etc. Cool stuff.
Do well, bud