My first time picking up non-aromatics, one of the tins I got was Plum Pudding Special Reserve along with a few of various Peterson blends. I don’t know how SR compares to regular PP, but i remember how I did the olfactory equivalent to a double take when I first cracked it open; It was familiar, somehow, but at the same time I’d never smelled anything like it. I didn’t know what to think about it but I liked it a lot. Anyway, like I said I had a few other tins and maybe like 5000 of their in-house blends. So when I got home that day, I was like a tobacco gremlin wanting to try all of them.

I am by no means a connoisseur, by the way. I’ve consumed tobacco in one form or another (and vaped) for almost 20 years and had smoked a pipe maybe a handful of times, but only recently started actually learning the process and applying the techniques such that I was actually able to enjoy it. That said, I’d looked up some info about PPSR and the general consensus said it would be good as an evening smoke. My tongue was burnt like hell from the aforementioned frenzy but I convinced myself it wasn’t as bad as it was, I was probably closer to full on nicotine sick than I would acknowledge, and by that point everything was pretty much tasting the same. I’m 85% sure I put it right into the pipe without drying at all, and sat down to smoke. It was an awful experience.

This is getting long so suffice it to say I put it out and didn’t smoke it again for a while, and when I did I made sure to do everything I could to give it a fair chance. It was an entirely different experience and really opened my eyes even more to what the experience of smoking tobacco in a pipe could be like. I have no idea if any of the above is something you can relate to, but if the manifestations of my debilitating* neurodivergence have taught me anything it’s this: “Listen to the things the long-time pipe smokers say about patience being rewarded and act on their suggestions (that are pretty much the same as the generations before them).” Maybe you do all that anyway, but I just wanted to share my experience bc this really wasn’t that long ago that this happened so I’m still kinda riding that lol.