What was your first smoke?

At the age of 50 I decided to smoke cigs. Camel unfiltered was my pleasure. Still had my pipes sealed up in a box from the 60's.
They were my first smokes with Kirk's House Blend as the tobacco. Never found anything like it since.

Did you crave Dorito’s afterward?
Certain smokes affect the memory...

Despite messin around with Marlboro's, back in the 70's when I was a kid, my first real smoke was a Cuban Cohiba, given to me by a dear friend and mentor, USMC General Jim Robinson, back when I was stationed in Pensacola FL in the early 80's.

A little later that summer, 82 I believe it was, he and I were out sailing his 39' Sloop, a Cheoy Lee if I remember correctly, when he appeared from below decks with a gift for me. A Dr. Grabow Royalton, not unlike this one...



I don't recall what my first bowl was, but I'm pretty sure it was Borkum Riff, being as that was the Generals favorite brand.

Over the years I sadly lost that first pipe, but last year, while visiting the Dr. Grabow factory in Sparta NC, I shared my story with the gentleman running the factory.  Before the tour was over he walked up to me and handed me the pipe pictured above.

It is to this day one of my favorite briars.

I don't smoke much Borkum Riff these days, but I do,  nonetheless, greatly the General and his thoughtful kindness of introducing me to the wonderful world of cigars and briars.

Mine was SWR in a Medico squat bulldog.

First butt- A Winston filter(the old 80s kind before the whole 'no bull natural' campaign.' I remember staring at the eagle on the pack and thinking it was cool. I was 5 or 6 and my two friends were a few years older. They were the kind of kids who were already known by our town cop. haha We were 'exploring' a warehouse behind a trucking company where we had found a stash of Penthouse magazines. I'm not sure whether it was the Winston or the magazine that made me sicker. haha  I take that back.  Just recalled it was a couple weeks after my 7th birthday.  I remember because grandpa got me a scooter and ran it over a week or so later in the driveway(the same weekend of the cigarette. haha)


First cigar was around age 12. A friend stole a few from a convenience store. We smoked them sitting on a bank, tossing rocks into the pond in the wood behind our school. I recall selecting a big fat one from his bounty that was called a 'something Vega.' I only recall the name because it was a character on a video game I liked at the time. To me cigars always taste mildly like the smell of manure. Not that I've ever had a good one.

My first pipe was around 14-15. I bought a Dr Grabow- Pretty sure it was a Duke. First tobacco was a pouch of Middleton's Cherry. Easy to see why I didn't stick with it. haha

A few years back, my interest in pipes rekindled when I saw how many pipes and blends were actually available online. I couldn't wait to get back into it, so I drove over to the local tobacconist (Allegheny Smokeworks) and set myself up with the whole package. I bought a half-dozen tins(mostly Dunhill and a can of Capstan) and a dozen 2oz samples of bulk blends. A few aromatics, a few English etc as well as a Bjarne Viking Skagen bent egg and a couple MM Legends. I still love the pipe, though it tends to gurgle and can be irritating with moist blends...  I believe the first smoke I had out of the Bjarne was Skiff Mixture and I have fond memories of that first week ghosting my beard and pipes with the stuff.  I am still quite fond of the tin note.  

My first tobacco was a Latakia blend from a Tinder Box in a basket pipe purchased for me by my father. I think he wanted me to switch off of cigarettes. As a teen I smoked Camel non filtered. My best friend and I also smoked Players and English Ovals cause we wanted to be like Sean Connery’s James Bond. Anyway I quit cigarettes entirely when I was 20 as a result if strepped throat. But the pipe and tobacco continued.

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, but my first pipe was a clay pipe with a bamboo stem that I bought at a medieval fair. My buddies and I went to a nearby tobacco shop, and I bought an aro called "IQ 140." I had a hell of a time with that pipe. I'd love to have another, though.

Mine was Borkum Riff Bourbon Whisky in a Willard Canadian that was my father's. I got better tobacco and pipes before long.

And it looks like little brother didn’t like you as much either, Jim.

Mine was a heavy English house blend of a b&m in Charleston SC.. smoked out of a Viking Classic basket pipe purchased at the same store. I smoked that one blend out of that one pipe for over five years and hated just about every smoke.

I plead the Fifth!
The first thing I smoked in a pipe was Called Mr. Henry. Probably 1Q.
The first tobacco was a nickel cigar just to irritate my cigarette smoking co-workers. It backfired big time. I smoked Little Nippers Rum Cured Crooks for a while when the situation called for it.

You beat me to it😁. Jim and pipestud are two of the champion blend reviewers of the world!!