I'm just trying to start out with pipes. I've been a cigar smoker for quite a while and been meaning to try out pipes for a while, especially for the winter when it is cold.

I've had a cob before, but couldn't find any good tobacco in my town, so that experiment failed. But I wanted to try it again, and thought that it would be fun to make my own pipe, so I bought a pre-drilled briar kit and carved my own pipe. Well, it is done, and now I'm ready to try it out.

Eventually I'll get a bunch of different bulk and tins to try, but budget is somewhat tight with Christmas coming up, so I ordered some Frog Morton (to be honest because I saw it on Modern Marvels way back when), and some Escudo.

So, which should I try first? The Escudo, or the Frog Morton? :-)
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if you've smoked a cigar the past few days, i'd go with the Frog Morton, because you wouldn't be able to taste the Escudo.

i say this because i was a pipe smoker, then smoked cigars almost exclusively for 5 yrs or so. when i came back to pipes, i could only taste pipe tobacco with latakia or orientals until a few months after i had totally stopped smoking cigars.

whenever you do try Escudo for the first time, don't freak out cuz it's in the shape of a large quarter (curly cut/spun cut) instead of ribbon cut. just fold it in half, then rub it gently between in your palms and it'll fall apart into ribbons.
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So wheres the pipe? I would love to see how it came out. I have a couple of predrilled blocks I am finishing up on.
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Frog Morton First. give yourself a few days of no-smoking before trying the Escudo otherwise it will have too mild of a flavor.

I love escudo though!
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Well, you were all too late. I had the Escudo, which was pretty good! I hadn't had a cigar for a few days, so I could taste the tobacco. It seemed to have a ton of flavor when the pipe was hot, a bit of pepper and spice, but nothing too strong, then as the tobacco burned a bit, the smoke cooled down and gave me more of a creamy smooth taste. I'll try the frog morton next and see what that is like.

I'll take some pictures of the pipe and send them. There are a lot of things I could have done better on it, but I like it for a first pipe, and it smokes really well (granted, I have no experience). It makes it a bit more special that it is something that I made.
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Here are pics of the pipe (taken with cell phone):

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Frog!!!!
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Wow that pipe looks really cool! Good job. My dad smoked a pipe when I was a kid, I remember him sitting there reasding a book, I loved the aroma of it. he stopped many many years ago. I snagged his pipe and have been trying to get the hang of smoking with it.
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I'm in the boat with the frog as well. Nice pipe btw should work out great for a beginner.
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Sweet looking pipe!!

Glad you enjoyed the Escudo!
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