International Pipe Smoking Day 2012: (So You Want To Be a Pipe Smoker)

Well, If things are going as planned, the date on this post will read February 20^th, 2012. While you would be correct in recognizing that this is President’s Day, a holiday that most institutions do not recognize, it is also International Pipe Smoker’s Day.

On this day, Pipe Smokers gather in a number of venues to celebrate a bond that is created between people who keep this form of tobacco usage alive, and promote the habit to new and curious participants. 

It should be noted that a year ago I wouldn’t be writing this review, but publishing a video on YouTube, as I was part of an active community of vloggers who spend countless hours watching and pontificating on all things tobacco. I am currently on a hiatus from YouTube because of a lack of quiet space to shoot video, and misplacement of my data transfer cable for my camera.

Today I am smoking some Blackpoint by GL Pease in a prized Mark Tinsky Christmas pipe (’87 if reading the stamp correctly) that was gifted to my by my brother for my birthday last year. In brief it is a cool, sweet and floral smoke.

Now hopefully a few of you reading this are looking for information on getting started with the hobby, and for you, as part of my service to the pipe smoking community I have included some answers to questions often asked by the new or would be pipe smoker.

To give credit where credit is due, the below information can be obtained from a number of sources I have used in my own education, and as well more in depth information can be obtained just by going to Google and using the search feature. Novel idea, I know.

What do I need to start smoking a pipe? How much will it cost me?

One of the very attractive things about pipe smoking, to myself at least, is the scalability of the hobby. To begin the hobby it wouldn’t really run most people more than about 20 bucks or so.

For a starter pipe, corn cobs are great and can be had for about 5-8 dollars, a pipe tool, one a simple as a “nail” style will do, can be found for 1-3 bucks, pipe cleaners, another 3 bucks, and some tobacco (perhaps the hardest item to decide on) can range from 5 to 10 bucks for a 2 ounce bag of bulk tobacco from your tobacconist to a 50 gram tin, respectively.

How do I choose what tobacco to smoke?

First, find a tobacconist that sells a large quantity of pipes and tobacco. You might have better luck using an online source just because most tobacconists that I have encountered seem to add pipes as an afterthought to cigars and premium cigarettes.

As a new smoker I would avoid anything listed as a flake or plug and search for a ribbon cut, which resembles as you might imagine, short, fine cut, ribbon.

As well as cut, another aspect of pipe smoking is the wildly diverse world of blends, which at least for myself as a newbie pipe smoker, scared the poop out of me.

If you are not coming to this hobby as a smoker of cigars or cigarettes, I would probably suggest beginning with either an aromatic or an English blend. Aromatics are often suggested, as am I suggesting, because they are relatively strait forward flavor wise, sweet, and easy to obtain, while the English blends, blends that are blended with latakia, burn easily and “cool”, and generally are not nicotine bombs.

For cigarette smokers, burley based blends are my suggestion due to their high nicotine levels, and similar nutty flavor, sans the essence of burning paper.  (Just a side note, my brother will often go on how one burly blends tastes like one cigarette or another.)

Cigar smokers, for you I would suggest most blends, including those with cigar leaf, just don’t expect to get the same experience that you get when smoking a stogie. Viva la difference.

How do I pack the pipe?

There are a number of different means to pack a pipe. I would suggest going to YouTube where the subject is explored in great detail, with moving pictures.

Personally I use the “jam it in till its full” method, but this method is easier once you know how to gauge the density of the filled pipe. I am sure for every pipe smoker there is a unique way they fill their favorite pipe, and with practice you will learn how to pack your favorite briar with your favorite blend in a means that gives you the most pleasure.  Before you begin to apply flame to that tinder, pull air through the mouthpiece, there should just be a slight resistance. If it feels like your trying to drink a triple thick milkshake, it is probably a good idea to empty that pipe and start anew.

Okay, I’ve bought, and filled my pipe, how do I light it?

Place the pipe in your mouth, and while drawing in air circle your flame around the whole circumference of the tobacco, trying for an even char. Once started, use your tamper on that tobacco while continuing to smoke.

At this point it is highly likely your fire has been put out, this is normal, don’t go getting neurotic, this is what pipe smokers refer to as a “charring” step, designed to prime the rest of the tobacco. Just light it up again, as before, without the additional step of tampering.

And there you go; you are now smoking a pipe, in the not so suggestive manner. If your fire goes out, relight it. It happens to the best of us.

Try to keep pulling smoke slowly and gently; just frequent and strong enough to keep the fire going without burning down all of Atlanta.

Anything else?

Just remember that pipe smoking is not a science, but an art, a personal art. Through the process of familiarizing yourself with the tools of the hobby you will eventually find a pace and a technique that works best for you, and brings you to that sweet nicotine and flavor induced Nirvana.

If this has wetted your appetite, or if you are already a veteran pipe smoker, you might check out the Black Ops Tobacco Society. Operated by some good friends of mine, also from YouTube, it is a tobacco centric blog that often explores all of the little extra nuances pipe smoking has, as well as some good cigar related info.

(Sorry for any typos, run on sentences, and other egregious errors. My editor at the time of publishing decided to get sick and needs her rest. Thanks for reading!)

Four Fantastic Things #4: Go-To Pipe Tobacco Blends

Being that Its summer, and I have not been focused on pipe smoking, maybe only picking up briar once or twice a week at most, it has been a while since I talked pipes, so in this edition of Four Fantastic Things I will be talking briefly about four of my favorite go-to tobacco blends.

#1 Mac Baren Vanilla Cream 

 In my own opinion, it is my belief that any social pipe smoker should have at least one aromatic blend. Yes, I’ll agree that most aromatics do not offer the complexity or burning characteristics of non cased blends, but the sheer amount of people that will have a positive reaction to the sweet vanilla or cherry and tobacco aromas make a selection almost a prerequisite for the public smoker. These positive reactions lend themselves to make passers-by advocates and new smokers of the leaf.

For this niche Mac Baren’s Vanilla Cream, being at least perceived to have less of a casing, tends to have less moisture and more tobacco flavor than 1Q, fits the bill.

 #2 Samuel Gawith’s Squadron Leader

When it comes to a strong English blend, I am hard pressed to find one that is more balanced with wood and leather notes, with a good supporting latakia backbone. If this was the only English available, I wouldn’t bemoan the loss of any other English standard for too long.

#3 G. L. Pease Robusto

If you’re familiar with Intoxico, you are likely aware that I have a lust for cigars. Now this tends to be a trend more so in the summer, than in other seasons. For my prime pipe smoking seasons, Fall and Spring, I will often reach for a tin of this tobacco that, again in my own opinion, is more cigar forward than other blends 

I’ve tried. Others, such as Cornell and Diehl’s Billy Bud, is latakia heavy and not what I am looking for in a blend containing cigar leaf.  

#4 Cornell and Diehl’s Haunted Bookshop

 In the four tobaccos presented here, perhaps this has become the most regularly smoked of all the blends that I keep on hand, which is somewhat contrary to my initial trek into pipe tobacco exploration.  For the first 3 or 4 years, it seems that I had no interest in perusing any burly based blends what so ever.  I had probably had 2 or 3 different mixtures, all of which would have been from premium or boutique producers, which failed to impress me. For years I would almost avoid with a passion any blend that suggested it contained any of the leaf.

But as time passed, and I became more entrenched in the hobby, I felt I should give these blends another go. When making an epic tobacco purchase about a year ago, I acquired a wide range of blends, including a mess of burley blends with various combinations and ratios of this condiment leaf or that one.  

After a series of bowls of this and that, the blend I have come back to, time and time again, has been Haunted Bookshop.

While I will not say that this tobacco is the most amazing blend available, it is the workhorse in my pipe arsenal. It has this designation because it is mild enough to not be in conflict with a wide range of beverages, from soft drinks, and coffee, to beer and spirits, but still has enough flavor to keep this smoker interested bowl after bowl thanks to the addition of perique in its mix of burly and red Virginia tobacco.  

Get The Most From Cigars, Pipe Smokers

YouTube Has Driven Me to Petty Crimes

As much as  i try to stay on the short and narrow path, vanity had brought me to "acquire" this cocktail vase/chalice on my birthday because i thought, while in a drunken stupor, that this object would be quality content on my pipe related Youtube channel. Three months later I've not even attempted said video. The karma i lost stealing this has paid off in an excellent tool for refilling the dogs' water bowl.

Pork and Pipe Smoking

Living in the South Eastern United States one quickly learns to find the best places to dine on swine.  Coming from Texas, where beef barbecue is king, it took me a while to even try pork BBQ, but once I had my first pulled pork sandwich on two pieces of white bread, with the just as alien BBQ sauce that was thin, vinegary and spicy, I knew I had been missing out.

One place that my wife and I enjoy for ribs is a small regional chain known as Dreamland. Based out of Alabama, the company has two Atlanta Metro locations, their only ventures outside their home state.

 While I will say I have had more tender, fall off the bone, pork, the sauce here is one of the best I’ve had the pleasure to enjoy.   

As with most BBQ sauces from the region it is vinegar based, but whereas most are thin, and will soak bread, compromising a piece of white breads integrity,  there sauce is still thick, and will adhere to a piece of white bread, and stick quite nicely to ones ribs, and ones lunch.   Perhaps my enjoyment of their sauce is the happy medium between the sauces of the east and the molasses based sauces that I left in Dallas.

As well as the delicious, smoky and sweet meats that this chain cooks up, the branding of the restaurant also gets points by displaying the founder’s image, clenching a pipe. Being a pipe enthusiast it’s a fresh change of pace to see the hobby so predominately displayed.

Enjoy these pics from Dreamland BBQ, or better yet, find a way to get a slab.   

 

Squadron Leader

As I fill my Viking bulldog this Friday evening with a healthy bowl of Squadron Leader from Samuel Gawith I realize how much this blend has grown on me since the first bowl I smoked in late January. Over the past 2 months after picking pipe smoking back up, with few exceptions, the only blends I have smoked more frequently have been my mainstay of aromatics. In contrast, my non aromatics have been there, but nothing that I was craving to smoke regularly with the exception of a Luxury Twist Flake (that has a extremely light topping) and Frog Morton on the Bayou, of which I only smoked about an ounce of each. In half the time I have smoked the same amount of SL .
Upon the initial light a nice barnyard/hay flavor fills my mouth, and sings the notes of coca and mild pepper when expelled through my nose. I think of how this is better than any Cuban cigar I have ever had the pleasure of smoking.
As the bowl hits the halfway point the spice mellows out and develops a woody tone that carries till the end of the smoke. There is just enough of everything and not too much of anything.
The nicotine is there, but not so much it knocks me to the floor. It gives me a nice feeling of softness in this late hour as if a cloud that wants to float me off to sleep.
I realize how this tobacco is just one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever smoked, and how it is the perfect close to a long day and a longer week.

Happy Smoking

Drugstore Challenge #1 – Dr. Garbow Vs. No Name Italian Briar

Just as a point of interest I thought I would match boutique pipes, those sold through tobacconists, and mass produced pipes head to head to see how they compare, and which would be the better smoker. In this initial “challenge,” a featherweight ranking if you will, between a no name Italian estate bulldog, most likely sold as a basket pipe before being acquired by myself through eBay, and a Dr. Garbow purchased new at a local Rite Aid.

In order to somewhat level the playing field a bit I have smoked the Garbow “challenger” regularly over the past couple weeks, building a slight cake on the bowl, always smoking a cherry blend, either Boswell’s Cherry Smash or their Pennsylvania Dutch Treat. The “defending” Italian Briar is also a pipe dedicated to cherry aromatics.

Each round represents the elapsing of 15 minutes for the Garbow, and about 20 for the Italian briar. The discrepancy is for the larger capacity of the defending pipe.

Round 1- Both pipes come out hot. The Garbow’s veneer seems to make it feel hotter, but his smoke stays cool, only displaying a slight bite. Meanwhile his larger opponent struggles to keep things dry. There is gurgling as a precursor to some tongue bite.

Round 2- After a hot finish both gladiators slow their pace and cooled off considerably, making each pipe easier to handle. The doctor though, is still clenched between the teeth, using his light weight to dodge and deflect handling, while Italian briar has to be pulled from clenching teeth that stress under his weight. Oh and what’s this!? The Defender has gone down and is need of a relight!

Round 3- This has been an upset not seen by this sportscaster ever before. Going into the match money was heavy on the defender. The perception on Garbow was marginal at best, but after three rounds of fisticuffs only one relight was needed to clean his chamber while remaining warm to the touch after a hot start! The defender, in contrast, struggled to keep lit in the closing round. He seemed bulky, heavy, and without the grace of his opponent.

In all seriousness I am really surprised that I preferred the Garbow in a head to head comparison. As I built cake on the Garbow it always felt really hot to touch, but I also generally smoked while driving, so I was likely smoking faster, and not realizing that I rarely had to pick up the pipe. In this match up the value is still in Garbow’s favor, being 10 dollars less than the average basket pipe if purchased new.

Going forward I will remove his veneer and refinish the pipe to see if that helps with the heat. Even if I kept the pipe as is, I am truly happy with the purchase.

Click here to see more pictures of the main event.

Happy smoking!

Boswell's Cherry Smash

Of the blend’s I picked up from Boswell pipes, this is perhaps my favorite, as evidence from the decimated remnants of the ounce of this tobacco that remains unsmoked after of only having for about two weeks.

The pouch note is that of maraschino cherries, and looks beautiful with blond reds contrasted with specks of black of ribbon tobacco. While the casing is obvious, it is only slightly sticky to the touch as the bowl is packed, as opposed to the goopiness of McClelland’s Take 6.

Upon lighting the fodder, it is very mild in flavor. Light whispers of hay and cherry can be tasted, the cherry being only slightly more predominant. At the mid-bowl a nice generic spice is tasted, and made more apparent when pulled through the nose. This profile stays consistent through the end of the bottom of the pipe.

On the nicotine front I would say it has a mild to medium content.

Overall it is a very nice cherry aromatic that is easy to smoke, even if it is for the most part lacking in dimension. A very good morning and social smoking experience.

New Pipe, New Tobacco's.

My wife will probably kill me.
But, It was 30 bucks, and I love blonds.

Its from Brandt, a pipemaker I'm not familiar with, but it looks like it might smoke well, and it has some nice lines.

Maybe if i can snag a nice Boswell I'll be cured of my pipe desire for a while...

While I did not get a pipe I did call Boswell Pipes during my lunch and picked up a few tobaccos:

Christmas Cookie
Penn. Dutch Treat
Chocolate Cream
Cherry Smash
Boswell's Best
& Boswell's Premium Burley

Guess I'll have more fodder for Intoxico in the coming weeks.

Happy Smoking!

McClelland Take 6

When I decided that I would reintroduce myself to pipe smoking I was interested in trying to find a cherry aromatic to add to the fray. After smoking about 4 or 5 bowls of Take 6 all I can say for this blend is that it smells nice to those in the room.

The tobacco is very sticky because of its casing, so much so that I often want to wash my hands after packing the bowl. Keeping this weed lit is also a chore. In the course of smoking my last bowl it took no less than six relights.

Finally, keeping this tobacco off of my “buy again” list is a lackluster flavor is what I imagine a bar of cherry soap would taste like, for it leaves a mild, waxy, fake cherry flavor in my mouth. The experience was somewhat like drinking lukewarm tap water when you want a glass of water; it wasn’t unpleasant, just not good.

Peter Stokkebye Luxury Twist Flake

It's been a nice morning in my household. Woke up about 6 did some dishes, made some hot tea, and filled the bowl of my Savinelli Sharewood Rock briar with a healthy load of Luxury Twist Flake.
Right now, as I smoke, I am listening to Mingus Plays Piano, probably one of my top five favorite albums of all time for any genre, and Fischer is at my feet, sleeping, which is odd for he usually sleeps in the living room, which is a much softer and warm place.

Before i get into the smoke itself, I want to comment on the cut of the tobacco, which is as the name states, flake tobacco. Now for those that don't smoke, pipe tobaccos come primarily in ribbon and plug cuts. Ribbon as the name implies, come in small ribbons, and looks like cigarette tobacco. Plug tobacco is formed by applying heat and pressure to the weed, pressing it into a cube of tobacco. Flake is produced by cutting that block into sheets (flake is also known as sheet) about the width of a dime. To fill a pipe with flake it is generally rubbed out into smaller pieces and packed into the pipe as a ribbon cut would be, but the individual strands have more density.

This is the first flake tobacco I've tried, and I really like the way it smokes. It seems to last much longer and smoke a touch cooler than ribbon cut tobaccos. It also stays lit without much work. I let it sit for a good 2 minutes and I didn't even have to relight it to keep it going. I love the tactual quality as I prepare it for smoking, and unlike ribbon, I think it looks fucking beautiful.

It did have a little bite and a lot of moister when i starting smoking, but I would attribute that to puffing too fast when I initially lit up.

After three bowls I have nothing but praise for this mild tasting tobacco. Tasting the tobacco without pulling the smoke through my nose it stays pretty unflavorful from beginning to end, so much that i cannot discern any flavors, but it sings going through the nose. The first half of the bowl has a rich coffee and coco note with a nice pepper/spice finish, reminding me of a Cuban Partaga Short. At the midway point to the bottom of the bowl it mellows out and has a nice "tobacco" flavor with a hint of the pepper continuing to the end.

The room note seems mild. Hard to tell with my wife unable to comment as she enjoys a bath.

I love this smoke. Took me a good hour and forty-five minutes to finish.
I am finding a lot of good stuff in Virginias that I missed out on when I first starting smoking pipes. I'll have to try more plug and Virgina tobaccos in 09.

Happy smoking.

Frog Morton on the Bayou - McClelland

For Christmas, as you should be aware if you read this blog, I was gifted a Castleford pipe and a tin of Frog Morton on the Bayou. A Cajun blend from my Cajun wife :) .

The tin note is that of ketchup, earth and pepper.

Because of the Perique in the blend it did share some similar pepper flavors from the Bayou Morning that I've reviewed previously, but overall was quite diffrent. Instead of the sweetness of a Virgina baseof the Morning, the contrast of Oriental and exhibited a more earthy, smokey flavor with a floral high note that complements the pepper notes really nicley.

The bowl burned quite well, staying dry despite the fact i can be a fast smoker.

I would say the blend has a medium flavor, not being as overpowering as a Dunhill Nightcap for example.
Meanwhile the mixture does have a mean nicotine punch, so smoke it on a full stomach.

I Highly recommend this blend. Happy Smoking!

Cornell & Diehl - Bayou Morning

Hello all, hope you're having a nice Sunday afternoon.

Today as my wife sits in her recliner, sleeping away the weekend, I have lit up a bowl of C & D Bayou Morning. This blend according to Outwesttabacco.com's description is "a strictly Virginia/Perique blend with stoved red Virginia" tobacco.

In the pouch is has a sweet and tangy nose akin to a sweet mustard.

It smokes quite nice, and has a mild to medium strait tobacco taste with a natural sweet taste. It has a subtle pepper note that really comes out when exhaled through my nose. I am through about half to three quarters of the bowl as I write this, and i can feel the nicotine, even after a large lunch.

I have never really enjoyed Virgina blends in the past, but this bowl has been the exception. I can definitely see myself smoking and purchasing more of this blend, and would readily recommend this to any pipe smoker.

My wife did not love the room note, but she tolerated it easily.


Happy smoking!

Peaches & Cream - Peter Stokkebye Pipe Tobacco

Happy 2009 on this New Year's morning. Thought I would start the day with Charles Mingus and a smoke before breakfast.

Filled up one of my new ebay pipes with a bowl of Peaches and Cream that was waiting for me in the mail yesterday from Outwest tobacco.com.

In the pouch/baggie it has a nice mellow sweet coconut smell to it, unlike 1-Q that kinda reeks of its vanilla casing.

Once packed into my pipe and lit it burned consistently and cool, never developing any bite. A slight gurgling did occur during the halfway point, but i would attribute that to not tampering the bowl regularly.

Becuase my wife isnt here, i cant really say what the room note is like, but if its simular to what i smell in my moustache then I would say its a nice, mellow sweet/fruity smell.

Unfortunately neither a peach or real tobacco taste developed during the smoke. It didn't have an unpleasant flavor, but then again it didn't have much flavor at all. If i can get over the fact that this was boring to smoke, the mild flavor and likewise nicotine punch might make this a good morning smoke. I will see if the flavor grows on me after a few more bowls.