Top 3 pipe tobacco vs. top 3 cigars

[mike.casey]

I'm new to pipes, but have been smoking cigars for a little while. I think it would help me out tremendously if you guys listed your top 3 pipe tobaccos, and your top 3 cigars.

This should help me in the future with my pipe tobacco selections.

Thanks!

[sam a]

my favorite cigars and tobaccos change and rotate like a game of musical chairs almost daily. but at this moment i'd say my faves are:

cigars:
quai d'orsay coronas
punch monarchas
la gloria cubana medaille d'or no. 1

baccies:
hearth and home magnum opus
samuel gawith full virginia flake
gl pease union square

but if you ask me tomorrow, chances are the list will be different

[ROTHNH]

Everyone's tastes are different ... hell, my own tastes have changed a surprising number of times over the years.  Basically I really don't have "top 3 favorites" -- just those I like (in varying degrees and for varying reasons).

For cigars, I'm all over the map -- usually full with the occasional mild-medium when I'm in the mood.  Here are 3 of the many I enjoy -- Joya de Nicaragua Antano 1970 Gran Consul (full), La Flor Dominicana Cabinet Oscuro (also full, but I enjoy most LFDs), Kristoff (medium to medium-full, any frontmark is a good choice).  I'll throw in a couple fine mild-mediums too -- H. Upmann Signature and the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real.

As for pipe tobacco, if you're just starting out and if you have one nearby, visit a good tobacconist -- most good ones will bend over backwards to help you select what works best for you ... most beginners end up with some samples to try and often gravitate toward mild aromatics starting out.  I blend my own and it's more of an English mixture.

[87North]

It's tricky for me to answer that as my favorite is often whatever I'm smoking right now.  I have compulsive issues and tend to love one thing intensely before I switch to the next just as intensely.  As far as some of my favorite cigars I really like San Christobal, LFD, AJ Fernandez Blends, and any number of others.  My pipe tobacco selections are even more varied as I go from  VA and VA/Perique flakes, to English/Balkan blends, to Burley blends depending on what I feel like that day...  I know I'm not much help.  The best thing is just to try a few things from the different categories and start from there.  It's kinda just like learning what you like in a cigar.

[kola]

This is an interesting proposition for me. I typically do not like any kind flavored cigar very much, certainly not on a regular basis. I go for cigars with oomph (JdN Antano, MoW, Oliva V, etc) or for the ones with good tobacco spices (Torano 1916 Cameroon, H Upmann Vintage Cameroon, Gran Habano Crojo 2002, etc). But when it comes to pipes, I like the cased black cavendish blends like McClelland raspberry, cherry and vanilla blends. I have discovered a couple English blends that are pretty good, but so far I always gravitate back to the flavors. Go figure.

[mike.casey]

Thanks for all the input so far. I've smoked a few mild tobaccos thus far, mostly aromatics, and I might as well be blowing bubbles out the thing.

I've also had black duck, and old hollywood, which I liked more than the others. My cigar tastes are on the fuller bodied side, and I'm thinking I want a little stouter pipe tobacco as well.

[Ken Kelley]

I'm not a pipe smoker...yet...so I can't help there. Like most everybody else, my taste in cigars is all over the place. That said I can say that the top three TYPES of cigars I like are 1) maduro/oscuro/dark wrappers 2) medium full to full 3) mostly Nicaraguan blends...and Honduran...and Dominican...and, well, it's hard to say. That's a lot of help, eh?

[sam a]

mike.casey - 3/18/2012  6:48 PM  Thanks for all the input so far. I've smoked a few mild tobaccos thus far, mostly aromatics, and I might as well be blowing bubbles out the thing.   I've also had black duck, and old hollywood, which I liked more than the others. My cigar tastes are on the fuller bodied side, and I'm thinking I want a little stouter pipe tobacco as well.

 

if you are looking for something stouter, i would recommend you look to some of GL pease's offerings. he has lots of fantastic fuller tasting latakia blends that i think are a good way for those who are crossing over from full bodied cigars to go. a few of his blends that come to mind are:

maltese falcon

chelsea morning

key largo

quiet nights 

lagonda

westminister

blackpoint

robusto

 

and he also has a few non-latakia blends that are pretty stout:

haddo's delight

jackknife plug

triple play

 

those are all probably a good place to start IMO.

[mike.casey]

Thanks Sam!

Will do.