If you are curious about types of tobacco and what they mean for the pipe smoker, Cornell & Diehl, a company I grow fonder of with every passing day, has an excellent two-part primer on its YouTube channel. Jeremy Reeves, C&D’s head blender, gives a good, clear presentation from which I learned much.
Here is part 1.
And here is part 2.
PS: The YouTube Pipe Community (YTPC) is a great source of pipe-smoking tips and and reviews. In the future I will post about my favorite channels.
I am now back home, and my excursion with Prince Albert pipe tobacco is at an end. To recap, in the tobacco department, I took only the Prince with me on my weeklong motor trip to Austin, Texas. Only on two occasions did I smoke something else, both times when I was enjoying a local tobacconist’s hospitality. Otherwise, it was the Prince and the Prince alone.
So what are my findings from this personal experiment? Several:
First, Prince Albert sustained my smoking interest. I never grew bored with it or failed to look forward to a smoke. The Prince is a lot more complex than it’s given credit for. It’s considered a drug-store or OTC or codger blend, but it is a damn good one. It’s got body and strength, and it never bites or hits me with nicotine. It is reliably tasty. (I can say only that it tastes like tobacco.) That is why I thought it was a good choice for my experiment.
Second, I enjoyed not having to agonize several times a day over which tobacco to smoke, as I do at home every day. At least for a short while, I could indulge my lazy streak and smoke without having to think about what to smoke. (I still had to choose among the several pipes I took with me, but that was okay.)
Third, I took enough Prince Albert along to carry me easily through the week. Still, I liked knowing that if I needed some in a flash, I had only to get to a Walmart, where it is cheaply available. That was a good feeling.
Fourth, while I thought about the condiments — latakia and perique — of which I was depriving myself, I didn’t really miss them. Oh, I will enjoy them again now that I am home. But I did not experience longings for them. I did, however, experience a longing for the pleasant maple flavor in C&D Autumn Evening. It was the first thing I smoked when I arrived home.
All in all, my experiment demonstrated that Prince Albert is a solid tobacco and probably badly underrated by smokers who limit themselves to “premium” blends. I won’t be smoking it exclusively, but it will be in my rotation.
Perique is angular, sharp. Latakia is curved, smooth.
I’ve long enjoyed straight Virginias and burleys, but lately those leave me unsatisfied, and I find myself craving tobaccos blended with latakia, perique, and Orientals. Now I’m finding it hard to go back. That’s often the way it is with pipe smoking.
If you have yet to explore the world of these tobacco-blend condiments, you might consider doing so. A world of amazing flavors and aromas awaits you.
A Hobby, Not A Habit 