A Few Thoughts about Pipe Tobacco

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 If there is a Holy Graul for pipe tobacco, it has to be Balkan Sobraini, which is about as rare to find on the market as hens teeth, if you'll allow for the analogy.  I am one of a few who has had Balkan Sobraini.  It is a Virginia and Oriental mix that is superior to most anything.  Sutliff makes what it calls a Balkan Mixture which sells for about a tenth of the price.  I put that in my wish list and we'll see when it comes time to order more tobacco.

I received a bag of Super Value Ultra that I will describe in two words.  Mellow and smooth.  That is all one needs to know about this tobacco.  It is Burley with the Cavendish as I assume is Virginia and the flavoring is what I will say is vanilla with a note of just a tad bit of chocolate.  It gets less than three out of five stars on Smoking Pipes, but it is what some would say is a drug store tobacco.  But like Captain Black Original, if one just wants to smoke a pipe this will do nicely.  Nothing complex about it as most any Cavendish is smooth and mild without being complex.  

Drug store tobaccos don't generally get high reviews on Smoking Pipes.  But it gets four and half stars on Pipes and Cigars.  The most common remarks about it is that it is smooth and mellow as would be a description for most any Cavendish tobacco blends.  There is nothing wrong with having a tobacco around just to smoke tobacco.  Sometimes smooth and mellow is what some pipe smokers want just to smoke a pipe.

I put it in the same category as CBO.  There is nothing special about Super Value Ultra.  It's just simply good enough to have around.  Sometimes I want something complex and sometimes all I want is smooth and mellow.  I won't say it is better than CBO, but it might be about the same.  Again it is better than the two plus stars it gets on Smoking Pipes.  But if I'm in the mood for something more complex and contemplative I'll smoke an English like Revelation.  

I just won't be ordering any tobacco until closer to Christmas.  I have plenty of tobacco now as this bag of Super Value Ultra is a twelve ounce bag.  It is good to just have around like CBO.  As to whether I will ever find Balkan Sobraine, I don't have my hopes up.  Smoking Pipes could send me an email saying they have it, but by the time I want to order they'll be sold out.  So, I don't have hopes of finding that tobacco.  But it is a pipe tobacco every pipe smoker wants.  Price?  At a pipe shop a 50g tin would retail at upwards of $75.  That is about an ounce and a half.  It just might be THE most expensive pipe tobacco sold today.  

I tried some more Eileen's Dream the other evening and it has mellowed to some degree.  I'll let it sit for a few more weeks and try it again.  But Eileen's Dream is not going on my shopping list again.  Tofay's pipe is my Peterson System pipe and I thought I would smoke a bowl of Super Value Ultra this morning after having smoked a bowl of Velvet.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave 

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