I’ve been a pipe smoker for 25 years. I am fortunate to live near Milan Tobacconists located in Roanoke, Virginia. In my opinion, Milan is the finest purveyor of pipes, cigars and tobacco in the United States. They have a tremendous assortment to chose from and the customer service is second to none. Even their location in historic downtown Roanoke makes for an interesting visit.

Besides the great customer service, location and a fantastic selection of merchandise, you’ll find my favorite part of Milan Tobacconists – their house blends. Behind the counter is a wall full of big jars, each filled with a unique blend of tobaccos. They have aromatic, non-aromatic and english blends just sitting there waiting for you to experience. If you don’t know what those are don’t worry. The owners, David and Renée are very knowledgeable and both are a pleasure to speak with.

My favorite blend is Colonial Pastime. On their website, milantobacco.com, they say, “The smoking qualities of Colonial Pastime are similar to that of an English pipe tobacco, but with the room note of an aromatic.” This blend really does live up to that description. The room note is absolutely wonderful. I’ve had relatives that think smoking of any kind is abhorrent come into my home after I’ve just finished a bowl of Colonial Pastime and ask me what smelled so good. The look on their face when I told them it was pipe tobacco is an interesting one. They changed the subject.

As time goes on I intend to write reviews about the different blends Milan has to offer. I’ll write my reviews as a blog post under the heading pipes and tobacco.