The Evolution of a pipe smoker. 

52 years ago, while working night shift at a assembly factory , an old pipe smoking janitor took pity on a 20 year old clerk an tutored me in loading a pipe, lighting it, 2nd light, drawing a puff to which he would always say "sip my boy....sip...tobacco should be savored like fine wines ". He noticed I had been enveloped in a cloud of smoke........now half a century later I realized he taught me the breath method......thanks ole man!!!!

The Bob Ross of pipe smoking LOL Very enjoyable my fellow Kentuckian.

hello sir, I quit straights about 5 months ago but really missed enjoying tobacco, so 3 days ago i decided to try a pipe to get some flavour, didnt really enjoy it and had a hard time getting my head around the experience, and then i found your videos, ive been having one bowl per night and really taking my time to enjoy it slow and easy and not letting it get too hot, the breath method is fantastic and i am now starting to really appreciate the flavour and calming enjoyment from tasting and enjoying my evening smoke :) thanks so much for helping out the new guys........hopefully going to be a hobby i can enjoy for many years to come.

Hello, Muttnchop. I am from Argentina. I've started with Pipe Smoking about a year ago. It was really difficult to find decent "tutorials" about how to smoke correctly in spanish, my native tongue. Your channel was and is a very helpfull resource to keep improving my smoking experience. Thank you very much for that! Sorry about my poor english and greetings from the south of the World. Gracias y Saludos!

The way I started was i read the Sherlock Holmes series and was fasinated with the pipe he smoked

the LOTR movies are why I keep ps24 in my rotation. I went through just about the same experience when learning to smoke a pipe. Great channel!

I smoked hookah for about 5 years. Then I bought a corn cob from Walgreen's and some cheap cherry tobacco. I got a bad case of tongue bite. It's taken me about a year to really get the hang of smoking from a pipe. I find my self still learning new ways to enjoy the hobby.

I am so glad I stumbled upon this video because this compliment will suite you so well. I am 35 and I come to your channel for advice on everything regarding pipes and tobacco. I look up to you like Gandalf. You are wise, calm, serious, and light hearted all at once and you make the experience more fun by being you. So, thank you for your channel and for taking the time to do this. Thank you for showing us how to care for and better enjoy such a wonderful experience!

Me and several friends started with a pipe few months ago and while doing research I came across this channel. This is so far the best source of information about pipe smoking and I really want to thank you as your channel made our enjoyment of pipe much easier! Happy piping!

Hello Muttnchop Piper, Im a pipe smoker for last 3 years, when i started with smoking i had no one to explain me how i can properly smoke a pipe, so i do some google and youtube research and start smoking. I had a lot of pipe and tobacco to try out. But after few moths of smoking i start having issues like tong bite, too hot bowl you name it all. Then i stop smoking pipe, because im also a Cigar smoker and i keep continue smoking cigars. Then i found your video channel on youtube few weeks ago, i take the time and watch them and listen carefully to your instruction, then i took my pipe and start smoking. And guess what :) im totally into it now. Special thanks to you :) So i wanna thank you very very much for all your video and instruction and the way how you explain it. I saw a lot of video but your helps a lot. I realize what i was doing wrong al those years. In this way you became my mentor on pipe smoking. Thanks again for all your works until now. So keep it up so that we (me) can learn a lot from you. Have a good day Sir. Greetings, Areen from Holland

"Kid don't bother me"....LOL! If they could only see you now! Enjoyed the story Chris! Thank you😁👍

You summed up a good point in this video. Those of us who are starting out now have the benefit of RU-vid, and people like you that care enough about pipe smoking to put this information out there. Thanks to you, and a handful of other people, my personal journey is similar to yours, but takes place inside of seven months, rather than several years.

I'm one week into pipe smoking and I'm very lucky to have gleaned some of your knowledge. Bouncing around the internet, hearing stories of veteran smoker's early experiences and horror stories of tongue bite and frustration, I realized that you helped me bypass all that. Thanks Muttnchop!

Thanks for the video. My journey is vice versa. I started with Virginias and then to latakia based blends and Va/pers. this was from 1980 to 1990.Then came burley based blends but no aromatics. Now 2017 rotation is around 7 blends,mostly English,Burley and Va/per.Have smoked few tins aromatics during these years but they're not my cup of tea. Pipesmoking is made from success and error. Everyone has had their fair share of bite and bad bowls.Have a great start for upcoming week and as always cool smokes ,mate.

Muttnchop, thanks for share you´r experience. (I start smoking pipe for the LOTR). Best regards from Argentina!!!

man, when you first hit that explosion of flavors, and no tongue bite. The pipe nirvana. That is amazing! My discovery was that you let fresh "side air" mix with the smoke, like 50/50. You dont close you lips completely when you draw in. It increases the flavors many times and prevents tongue burn. Try Peterson Sherlock holmes, which many thinks doesnt taste anything, but man! with this method you get alot of flavor. For me that is pipe nirvana. I can easily smoke a whole bowl in one go without tongue burn. Im going to look into this breathe method now. Im a pipe beginner though, used to smoke cigars, but now i'm almost all in on pipes. I really looking forward testing all the different tobaccos.

I learned to smoke a pipe by watching your videos. Thank you for taking me under your wing and showing me the correct way to smoke a pipe since I have nobody else to teach me. I don’t have it down yet but I’m still learning

I just started smoking a pipe, after many years of enjoying LOTR and being fascinated. Your video's have been incredibly helpful to me, and I appreciate that you took the time to make them, nobody I know smokes a pipe so I felt like I was on my own till RU-vid. Also, those are some pretty rad mutton chops.

I'm new to this and really loved the sensation, so I smoked bowl after bowl each evening for about a week. .. my tongue was in some baaaad pain after that. I took a few days break and started slowing the hell down, relighting if necessary but slowing down. I'm finding I enjoy it even more.

Hey Muttnchop how are you? I wanna let you know I smoked my 1st pipe tonight, and I have to thank you for all of your videos. Without all the things you've taught me through your videos I don't think I would have managed. I was recently lucky enough to be given a peterson by my grandfather, due to health reasons he can no longer smoke. It's a real shame that I can't learn to smoke directly from my grandfather, he lives on your side of the pond and I live in Scotland. You've been a great inspiration and I really appreciate your videos. I'm still fairly young (27 years old) but i'm an experienced cigar smoker (5 years or so). I really enjoyed the process of smoking my pipe tonight, but not so much the flavour. I was smoking the Davidoff red mixture. I can only describe it as "light and perfume-ey" I don't know if that makes sense to you or if you've smoked this before? I wonder if you could suggest a blend that would be more akin to a cigar. I tend to like the medium to full bodied flavours when it comes to cigars and I like a thick deep smoke. I'd really appreciate your advice, or any of the communities advice on here actually. Many thanks from Scotland. Andrew

I am fairly new to pipe smoking and just wanted to say that I enjoy your videos. They are very informative. I'm learning quite a bit from your videos. I look forward to more!

I too wanted to start smoking pipes because of Lord of the Rings. At the time I read all the books the first movie was just about to come out as well. I was enthralled with Tolkien's brilliance and the movies just helped bring it to life. At the time I was too young to purchase and use pipe tobacco so I would take any chance I could to go with my dad when he was getting cigars just so I could stare in awe at the pipes. Years later, I started my real pipe journey and your videos have been pivotal in making it an experience well worth the wait.

You grew up in Lexington??! That's awesome! I just turned 18 and have recently gotten into this sort of thing and have tried to watch as many of your videos as possible. You're a great knowledge to me and these videos are so relaxing. I live about 30 minutes north of Lexington in Northern Kentucky. But I'm moving down directly into Lexington in about a week as I'm enrolled at the University of Kentucky! Glad to see a fellow Kentuckian on RU-vid. Once again, great videos and I can't wait to watch them all! 👍🏻👍🏻

I don’t want to get all sappy, but the two people that have taught me the most about pipe smoking are my dear late grandfather and yourself. Thank you for the wonderful content.

thanks for be our guide. I tried pipe smoking in the 90s and stopped because of tongue bite and there was nobody to teach me how to pipe smoking. now with the technology im back and doing it right, thanks to teachers like you that have the patience to show correctly how it should be done. now I'm teaching others so they don't have to go through the same mistakes I made.

I have never been a "smoker" , but pipes have always fascinated me. I used to love it when someone would be nearby smoking one because it smelled so good. While I was in college I bought myself a pipe from the drugstore just to try for the fun of it. It took a while before I found a tobacco blend I could enjoy occasionally. I am 52 now and don't smoke enough to count but I still enjoy a bowl from time to time. I really like hearing stories about pipes and the art of smoking them. Thanks for your videos.

When i was 18, i brought a BC army mount pipe from tobacco shop, that was my first time smoking pipe. After that, i kept the pipe inside my table drawer. These few yrs, i started my pipe smoking hobby and i really enjoy.

Great video, I grew up in Lexington also and spent my youth at the pipe shop in Lexington mall. Keep up the good work sir!

I became a pipe smoker just recently, it was about 3 months ago. When I found your channel, I was so glad that I am not insulting myself anymore by just draw and puff and constantly getting a tongue bite and wasting the tobacco that I've bought. Thank you for the contents you bring. Plus, your chop and moustache is so damn cool 👍. Wish you a happy piping from Indonesia.

Thank you so much Muttnchop for giving us your story from the beginning, as a totally new pipe smoker in my early 30s (always wanted to try it since reading & watching LOTR too heh). Your channel has been and will continue to be invaluable advice to get a good head start, through the power of the internet from you older seasoned pipers. I'm a flavor explorer I guess you could say, I just love exploring new flavors in food, beverages, tobacco and a whole lot more. Been using our native form of oral tobacco for a very long time (Snus), and have been a smoker when I was younger for periods. But I had always heard since I was a small lad that pipe tobacco was way different. What stopped me before was thinking enjoying piping was reserved for the older gentlemen 50+ at minimum right. Stupid to even entertain such nonsense out of a fear of what you think society would think of you, but I sure did. So I'm glad I finally picked it up the hobby and to dive into all the interesting tobacco types, pipes, methods and the finer details. Everyone should have atleast ONE thing they love nerding out over. I'm mainly coming from the niche but oh so mindblowing world of real top shelf pure leaf teas and the multiple lifetimes you could spend exploring that wonderful world, it's nice to take a break with another hobby to deep dive into! There are indeed alot of similarities I've noticed in how wine nerds, fine spirits nerds, tea nerds, and pipe nerds, etc speak about flavor and the infectious passion to want to initiate more people and show them what the REAL DEAL done right can really be like tends to be very similar! I may not be entirely sober since it's a Friday night when I'm writing this, so excuse my rambling and you all have a fine day ladies and gentlemen. Now, back to try and season my first pipe!

I don't use the breath method, but still thoroughly enjoy my pipes. Thanks for what you do!

Such a good video with love. Thank you for sharing.

Loved the video... I also tried my first pipe on my 16th birthday. .. Dr G and sir walter...packed it so full you coukd barely draw it.... your video brought back very loved memories

Lexitonian here. I remember the Turfland Mall only vaugely remember the shop. Awesome to learn from you. Started smoking a pipe and went to a shop off of Southland called Schwab's Pipes N Stuff. Great store and great people. Have a Eric Nording Freehand and love it. Thanks for your vast knowledge

God bless you Muttonchop. I'm learning so much from you. A great help to get the best from my pipe time. Many thanks for all your guidance.

Each journey is our own, you're right. But thanks in large part to your wonderful videos, I got off on the right foot. 👍

I really appreciate all your videos and that you reply to messages you have helped me a ton already and can't thank you enough my friend, the breath method really works, I got a package in the mail the other day from one of your subscribers who offered to send me some tobacco well he sent me a bunch and I mean a bunch smells awesome and Dunhill is going in my rotation for sure ! thank you again sir keep up the excellent work my friend

Please come back MuttonChop Piper!

Smoked my first pipe last week at 25. I could see this becoming a bigger hobby than lighting up a cigar. Thanks Muttnchop.

I spy with my little eye a tin of Dunhill's Elizabethan Mixture!what an absolute BEAUT of a smoke that is 👌🏻👌🏻 Hope you're well my friend ✌🏻

Wow!! My local tobacco shop in Cape Girardeau Missouri is named Tobacco Lane!!! Got my first pipes there also.

Chris Great Storie and what awesome memories . I saw my Col. in the Marines smoking a pipe and I loved the smell .And that got me hooked into the world of pipe smoking . All these years later I still can see him in the COC tent with his pipe . Thanks for another great video And your the best ! Scott

Muttnchop, I honestly think your channel is very good. I've been smoking pipes since 1997. I thought after doing it for over 20 years, that I new it all. When I watch your videos, I'm always finding new ways and ideas to improve my hobby to its full potential. When I meet new pipe smokers, and they ask me questions on pipe smoking, I try to answer their questions the best I can. I also tell them that if they want in depth knowledge, just watch your channel. There's really no one putting out the pipe smoking education like you sir. A few channels try, but I think yours is the best. Again, keep up the great videos.

I was on the fence until I learned "the breath method". I really wanted to enjoy a pipe, but I was struggling. The Breath Method is the proper way for pipe smoking. I 75% of the time I smoke now doing the breath method, and the other 25% I take the pipe in my hand and sip it slowly. Its amazing! Thanks Muttonshop and to YTPC!

Hey Muttnchop, I really relate to this video. I had somewhat of a similar experience when I bought my first pipe, maybe 10 years ago ... let me tell you, I have discovered the breath method on your channel, and it made my day. That was the first day I truly smoked a pipe properly and enjoyed the experience to the maximum of its extent ... Thank you sir !!!

You're the man Carlisle. Thanks for helping all us newbies.

Thanks for the video, and kind of opening the idea of aromatics up to me once I get this breathe method down. I got frog morton on the town like you said, my smoking experience has improved. I really appreciate all the work you have put into this channel, its kind of like my pipe smoking encyclopedia.

Such a relief to hear that someone endured the same problems in the beginning as you (no flavor, tongue bite etc.) and finally get to his "flavor nirvana". That really empowers! Happy piping, Chris :)

I really like your videos. I have been smoking and collecting pipes for years and never heard of the "breath method". Tried it last night and was amazed at how easy and natural it was. I'm never going back! Thanks Mttnchops!

I am 35 years or more now smoking a pipe and it is a great voyage of discovery.It starts off awful and then it becomes better and better as the years go by.You then become an expert in all types of pipes and tobacco blends.Thats what I like to think anyway.Always buy a Churchwarden though because if you,and we all do, buy a ropey or harsh tasting baccy the Warden will take a lot of the sting out of it and it saves chucking it in the bin.That is my one and only bit of advice.I leave that to the well-versed and articulate Muttonchop.Jim.Liverpool.

Dear Chris, I've learned pipe smoking looking your great videos, especially using the breath method that you introduced. Thank you for times spending to produce these videos. Best wishes to you and your family

From this man I first found out from that breathing method. It was hard in the beginning of course it was my first bowls, it was normal but I kept learning. Now I consider my self as an intermediate pipe smoker after couple of months. What I'm trying to say is that you sir helped me a lot and saved me a lot of trouble, thank you !

Hello. I am from Czech Republic. I visited your channel by accident but I really enjoyed this video. I appreciate this kind of video as a pipesmoker (beginner). I'm your new follower :-D. Thank you and have a nice day.

Lane1-Q is my favorite. I buy it by the pound lol. Cult Blood Red Moon and Erinmore are a close second. I learned the breath method from your channel and it really elevated my enjoyment of pipe smoking. Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge.

Haha exactly. Burnt my upper lips. And then i found your breath method video after 3 bowls. Would probably have quit pipe without it. thanks again my friend. And thanks to channel (saveurs partagées) who suggested me to come here.

Best video on RU-vid thank you sir!

I'm a new pipe smoker and I thank you for your instruction im smoking the plum pudding on your recommendation as I watch this it is great. Thank you

What a great video. Thank you very much. I am a very new pipe smoker. I buyed a little Pipe here in Santiago, Chile last year. It is an awful ugly and little pipe that heats a lot and give me a bad taste and horrible tongue bite. I almost quit, but I ordered a Peterson Aran 86 and everything went better from there. I follow your advices and bought Dunhill Nightcap and Frog Morton on the town (Great tobaccos). I know you are a Savinelli fan, so I order a Savinelli New Art 315 KS. Today I came home and get the pipe on the mail. What a wonderful peace of Art! it is just so beautiful and I immediately put frog Morton on the town on it. It is heaven. I am very happy with my new hobbie. I really like it and it is because I am following your great advices. I am gonna save some more money so I can buy a Savinelli Piano Forte and Some Plum Pudding tobacco. I really want to thank you for this. Please, keep the great advices coming. Best Wishes.

Please turn up the volume of your excellent presentations. Thnx!

Very Very Informative. I also started pretty much the same way and today have reached a level where I can identify the various aromas and also how to prolong the smoke till the end and also extract the wonderful aromas. Thanks for the posting.

Thanks for the tip on the breathe method. I get so much more flavor out of it, and more relaxing smoke. Like you said. Thanks again

your channel is absolutely fantastic thank you for all your help from a future pipe smoker

Appreciate your story of your initiation into pipe smoking.Enjoy your videos.

Our journeys are not dissimilar - always fun to hear someone else's story! As a general note, Chop you are are great resource for newcomers to the hobby...I could have saved a lot of time (and scorched taste buds) if this channel were around 15ish years ago! Take care! (PS: I always liked the riddles!)

I started on Aros but knew right away that they weren't for me. While I enjoy an occasional aro now and then I still can't get into the fruit cased aros, they just reek havoc on my palate. I do however like G.L. Pease's: The Virginia Cream and keep a tin on hand for when the sweet tooth strikes. I'm just glad that there is plenty of variety of blends out there because my palate is ever changing. Sweet smokes amigo 😎

Dear Muttnchop, Thank you so much for devoting a great deal of time to share your experiences with us. You've taught me much more in very little time than I could have taught myself in years. As I've got interested in pipe smoking out of never having so much as smelled tobacco when the last remaining pipe smoker in my family died, there's no one to teach me. My friends consider me an oddity because of my growing pipe collection (you smóke these things?!) and tobacconists almost have to fear for life and family if ever they got caught giving me pipe smoking lessons. So, you're the only thing I've got. You may consider yourself my guru.I am rather fortunate, though: my wife joined me in the hobby.

I started out with a corn cobb then moved on to a missouri meershuan. Then I bought a more expensive church warden and then finally but what is now my favorite pipe, a paronelli pipe. started out with aromatics and it was hard to distinguish flavors between them. well then i bought a couple of latakias and holy crap! i love them! flavor is insanely good! haha i just can't get over how much i love them. it also makes a difference on the qaulity of the pipe.

I appreciate your teachings, and your stories. Cheers bud

muttnchop thanks brother once again, only of late have I realised how relaxing pipe smoking is and the variety ! Really enjoyed the story of your 1st pipe. Happy Easter from Dublin.

I love your talks and that you care so much about this it made me wanna try the craft of pipe smoking my first blend that I got was mac bearn vanilla flake and I am really enjoying it. thank you for all the knowledge you have given us .

Hello Muttnchop, as usual, a delight to learn from your knowledge and experiences. One again I find your channel very educational, and straightforward. I guess none of us started knowing how to smoke a pipe. It´s a long way for sure, to improve the way we treat our tobbacos and smoke our pipes. Best regards from Argentina.

Congrats Chris Muttnchop Piper! I subscribed your channel when we were only 400 in the community. Now we're 9,000! Great channel! I knew you would have lots of subscribers. Good stuff!

Thank you sir, that is a touching story. I watch your videos eagerly as a study material. I am allergic against cigarettes but very partial to hookah/water pipe, though the smoking ritual is long and prone to be a fire hazard what with all the embers needed to heat the shisha tobacco. Will start my piping journey in few days when the pipes I ordered arrive. Going to do it with my brothers, hopefully change them from being a cigarette smoker to a pipe smoker. Have a great day sir, never stop teaching and share with us your experience.

Hi, liked your vid. Luckily for me I started with Solani Aged Burley, hard to keep lit but that taste made me want more and more and more. And here I am 10 years later still loving it.

Haha, the way you describe how you started pipe smoking is where I am right now. I guess many people have a similar experience.

Outstanding video. Thank you

So true ! I pretty much learned on my own, not always fun. You miss out on a lot of good blends when your new because you dont know how to get the best out of certain tobaccos. I pretty much learned how to draw from watching other smokers. The one thing i noticed was they kept their lips still and didnt " long lip" like most beginners do. As far as packjng you pretty much learn that as you go along. Some baccys like a looser pack some tighter but at the same time neither, if that makes sense, lol. One thing you cant learn from a codger because they smoke fast and heavy mostly and just dip, stuff, and puff pretty much. Very informative video and your smoking spot looks like a nice haven as well. Peace.

Dear pipesmoker Mr. "Muttnchop"... it's always a great pleasure for me to listen to your videos and to get to know the different statements in the different stations of your smoking-life with the various tobacco types you tested in all the years - it's almost for me such an ode to the old Greek philosophy of Heraclitus: "Everything flows" - (The formula panta rhei (ancient Greek πάντα ῥεῖ 'everything flows') is a traced back to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, suggested by Plato (in the dialogue Cratylus), but literally first appeared in the late antique Neoplatonist Simplikios aphorism to characterize the Heraclitan doctrine.) - At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, I started listening to videos of pipe-smokers from various European countries - especially from Germany that are geographically closest to me - but also I kept making trips via the Net to the tobacco-farms in Virginia, Kentucky, St. James to the Perique barrels, but also I researched where tobacco was once grown and produced in European countries, especially before 1900 - along the way I found videos about the US-pipe maker Phil Rivara who made/makes beautiful pipes with various ornate designs Metal appliques. - Do you live in your childhood in Lexington in Kentucky/Virginia, in the center of tobacco cultivation? So I start listening to your videos with great eagerness and I am taking lots of notes. I don't understand the US-American-language down to the last detail - but that doesn't detract from the matter--- your sovereign way of storytelling, this always like an invitation into your home, and is probably the best profit for me that one can achieve from it. Thank you very much for that! - Greetings and best wishes, Helmut from Vienna, Austria, Europe. pipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Rivara mriverapipes.wordpress.com/

I enjoyed the riddles. Why did you stop putting them up?

Wishing you and your family well Chris.

Very enjoyable story about your journey so far. I'm just restarting mine.

I cannot tell you how happy I am to have found your channel here if that’s the right term. I am certain I would have had my fill of tongue bite after a day or so as I have done time and again. What great experiences I would have missed out on without your helpful suggestions. I was just in Louisville three weeks ago and went to a random tobacco shop in a mall to pick up a cigar for a workmate and myself and enquired about his pipe tobacco he had in some various jars by his desk. I asked for a sample of his most popular brand and figured I would give it a try when I got back to Michigan. Well I did and repeated the same old mistakes. I then researched on RU-vid how to smoke a pipe (sounds ridiculous but I wanted some good input from a professional). Some advise was beneficial, others not so much....poor advise can be given on this topic as well as good, and I think I found most of them. I trusted your demeanor there and studied your videos diligently. I think I’ve got it now, and can actually enjoy smoking a pipe and do whenever I can find an hour or so to devote to it. The flavor is so much better than I was able to achieve in the past and the practice is amazingly therapeutic. All I can say is thank you for your efforts as they have enriched my life tremendously. Cheers!

Great explanation of the joy of the pipe .

I grew up about 1 1/2 from Lexington I lived in southeast ky! Your videos are awesome thanks for all the good info!

I'm young so I don't actually have quite th story; but I used to be 120% anti smoking, no matter what, but I always thought pipes were elegant and sofisticated. Then I went to a community market and found a Tobacco store, and saw a few really nice looking, altough cheap pipes; that just stoked my interest a bit. Then, another day I was looking for a pocket knife, and I found a tobacco store near my house. It was then I decided to try the hobby. Been pipe smoking for about a year now, and have no plans of stopping. Weird how I went from anti smoking to this point.

Great video!! I enjoy hearing other people's stories of how they got into pipe smoking.

So much awesome info here! I will have to find your videos on the breath method and get to trying that way. I have been smoking for about two years almost. Enjoying learning the pipes and getting into restoration a little bit. Have a great day

You're a class act, Muttnchop!

Hahahaha, I'm 16, and I didn't even try to go to a store, I just started to make them. I know they aren't the best, but it's what I can get for now and I'm enjoying it alot

Thanks fo all the knowledge keep up the good work I m hooked on your videos

been smoking for about 2 years the last couple of months ive gotten really bad toungebite and little to no flavour because i forgot to look at it as relaxing but as a chore like you did in the beginning really started to enjoy it again luckily!

Excellent video sir! I personally am a life long cigarette smoker, but I do occasionally enjoy a pipe of aromatic tobacco... Its lovely. However as a cig smoker, I've on and off been to broke to buy packs of factory made smokes (i started with Marlboro Reds, and thats still my go to brand when i buy packs. Unless they have Lucky Strike non-filters.. which are always $8 a pack) and I discovered after smoking Lucky Strike filterless for a while when i had the ridiculous money to afford them.. That smoking Marlboro's and most "premium" cigarette brands is smoking a bunch of garbage tobaco.. So now that im not able to afford packs of $8 cigs, I've discovered Peter Stokkebye's AMAZING RYO tobacco blends... They arent very cheap at $8.50 per 1.23oz bag w/papers... However, they are so very vastly superior in every way to all the pre-packaged fitered cigs available ( save for Lucky non filters... those do use excellent blended tobaco..). Smoking the non filtered Lucky Strikes, and coming to realize how much more I enjoyed those, I did research into why they were so much better and more expencive. And ended up learning all about "reconstituted tobacco" and its use in primarily lower cost filtered cigs, but also even in premium smokes such as Marlboro and Camels... so no more pre-packed filtered cigs for me... I Love Peter Stokkebye's Danish Export RYO, English Export RYO, as well as the Burley/virginia blended Stockholm Shag blends... I wanted to mention this even though your channel is about Pipe smoking, because im certain many fellow cig smokers will see this video, and perhaps not realize (like i didnt for years!!) what we are missing when buying and paying waaay to much for factory made filtered cigs... Try getting as cheap tube-stuffer if you insist on a filtered smoke, a $3 box of tubes... and a bag of Peter Stokkebye's tobacoo.. (THEY ARE ALL AMAZING, there is a Turkish Blend for those who preffer Camels btw)... you will be amazed at the difference in the flavor, and the tobacco... Just break open a cig of your usual brand, and compair the look and color and smell of the tobacco to what you get in the bag of RYO Peter Stokkebye's... Pipe smokers have been well aware of the VAST difference between "cigarette tobacco" and real Pipe Tobacco for a looong time. Now that I am, i wont waste my cash on a pack of Marlboro's ever again... P.S. I dont care for the American Spirit RYO tobacco, its not terrible, but its not very good either... Thanks for the outstanding video sir! Sorry for the long-winded Cig Smoking comment. I'd love to hear which non aromatic tobacco's you enjoy the most!

I've enjoyed The Lord of the Rings for a long time, but for some reason it's only during this current re-read that the pipe smoking has intrigued me and lead me here, researching pipe smoking. I am at the beginning stage of the evolution. I have bought an Irish Army Briar Pipe but it's not arrived yet and I also got Capstan Navy Cut since that's what I've read Tolkien liked. I am going to watch many of your videos and asborb as much information I can so my first smoke is a good one.

For me, it went something like this: I was walking around in downtown Raleigh NC in '98-99, came across Pipes By George and went in. I looked around, sniffed some tobacco, and came out with some kind of what I think was straight Latakia with white crystals all over it...never seen its like since, some Solani 127, and a generic pipe. The Latakia was very interesting and the Solani bit like pissed off Indian Rock Python [those are evil in tube form, if you have never had the "pleasure"]. Over the years I learned all I know about smoking by pure trial and error, with a good education about varietals by George. I got very consistently into it around 2009, and started getting various blends to cellar by McClelland and MacBaren, mostly flakes, Dark Star, Christmas Cheer, Dark Twist, The Craftsbury series, Grand Orientals...you get the idea. I consistently smoked various englishes, va flakes and so forth. Now my cellar is around 20+lbs of various tins, jars and such [many over 7-10yo], I smoke many bowls per day and I have a number of Savenelli, Brebbia, Vauen, Peterson, and some others.

hey muttnchop piper great vid. I got into pipe smoking about 25 years ago from reading LOTR and also C.S Lewis. I bought a cheap pipe and aromatic blend. The experience certainly didn't match the joy Gandalf and the Hobbits talked about. Every smoke was ash and tongue bite the worst being the crud i needed to spit out every five minutes. of course no Internet. No one I met smoked a pipe. Two months ago I came back to the pipe after watching your beginners series. so thanks. By the way i love the LOTR pipe and posters you have. sorry for the ramble.

I hate ta say it Chris ! I laughed thru this whole video. Went thru the whole game back in the 60s. Took me a while ta realize. I can tell you like ta sample tobaccos. Photo interp. ;-) Keep it up. will keep up with your stuff. Yep, I'm just beginning ta realize stuff. Thanks for your in sites Sgt. Cpt. Ewing ! Take care ! Good job !

dear Sir, excellent video sharing your journey , enjoy pipe smoking!

Ok,Chris, thanks for this story very interesting, as for me I been on and off with pipe during many years of my smoking career' even I had good pipes during those early years I nevertheless did prefer smoking unfiltered cigartettes /cigarillo, yes back then I liked the pipe but somehow I didn't have patience for it as a young man + I only smoked Dunhill english blends which often led me to nicotine overdose, eventually causing me to quit pipe,but now its opposite,I'm learning thorough mistakes and truly finding what this pipe smoking is all about, partially helped with your great tutoral videos,couldn't be more happy If only these videos were available back 20 year ago.Thank You and have a Nice Easter week, Greets, Paul

Daer Muttnchop Piper, this is your best video so far. Very useful and entertaining. I too blamed those darned hobbits & wizard for getting me into this pipe smoking business! :-)

I was a cigarette smoker, then changed to roll ups. Whenever I bought tobacco I always saw the pipe tobacco, and wondered what it would be like to smoke a pipe. Got my first pipe which was a MM corn cob, but had no clue what I was doing (I didn't even know about pipe cleaners!) about a year on, I'm only a pipe smoker. Learned a lot from two people in particular, stogie farts and muttnchop piper. My wife always jokes about how when I smoke my pipe I watch pipe smoking videos, how I have someone else to smoke with! It has really changed my life for the better