Just a couple of comments on tobacco

A few days ago I remembered that I still had that sample of C&D's Briar Fox that I had received from smokingpipes.com a while back when I placed an order for a couple of pounds of bulk.  It had dried out a little, but it was still okay, and I went ahead and gave it a moistening treatment anyway.

Briar Fox is a Virginia/burley blend that is pressed into blocks.  I have to be careful with certain burley blends because some of them give me Half & Half flashbacks.  There are a few burley blends that I still like on occasion, such as C&D's Haunted Bookshop, which I still order by the pound now and then--although I like it better with more Perique.

I liked Briar Fox.  I don't normally do any very eloquent tobacco reviews, so I'll just say that I liked it and the burley was not overpowering.  So if you're looking for a decent smoke without any "spice" tobaccos in it (for some reason), you could try Briar Fox.

Comment number 2:  Today I went by the local cigar shop/tobacconist to get a few ounces of bulk to hold me over until I can make another big online order.  I've requested this mix before, so I knew I would like it:  2 ounces Virginia, 1.5 ounces Perique, 0.5 ounce Latakia.

The guy said, "a half ounce each of Perique and Latakia?"

"No," I repeated, "an ounce and a half of Perique."

He raised his eyebrows, and as he poured it into the bowl with the Virginia, remarked, "That's a lot of Perique!"

I only replied, "Yeah."

It still amuses me how it seems that everyone who works there has this thing about Perique.

It's a decent blend, very simple and nothing fancy, but it works and I like it a lot.  But if you have some kind of scary-thing going on about Perique, maybe you'd want to avoid it.

Just a few tobacco comments

I haven't updated my online tobacco cellar in quite some time, but it's still there to give anyone who cares an idea of what I like to smoke.  I recently made a purchase for the first time since Cornell & Diehl was sold.  So I ordered from smokingpipes.com.  Am I wrong, or is their bulk tobacco much less expensive than when C&D was selling it themselves?

Anyway, they were out of my standard Bayou Night at the time, so I ordered some Byzantium.  Their description:

An intriguing interpretation of the classic Balkan.  Redolent of Latakia, Orientals and bracing Perique.

Since I so thoroughly enjoyed a tin of Samuel Gawith's Balkan Flake recently, I decided I'd try this instead of waiting until Bayou Night came back in stock.  Now almost finished with my first pipe of it, and the word is:  it's good.  I like it.  If I had some straight Perique on hand, I'd probably give it a dose to increase the Perique content, but I am enjoying it as it is.

Since I depleted my entire stash of tins that I'd had in the cabinet for a few years, I also ordered one tin each of the aforementioned Balkan Flake, 1792 Flake and Escudo.

I'm pretty sure the last time I ordered from C&D, their bulk tobacco was running around $40 per pound, but this pound of Byzantium was only $25 from smokingpipes.com.  So I'll probably be ordering some additional tobacco soon:  Bayou Night for sure, and possibly a tin of Three Nuns now that it's available, and maybe a tin or two of Nightcap.

I also got a small free sample of C&D's Briar Fox, which I haven't tried yet.  I'll post some thoughts on it when I get around to trying it.

I guess I should also add that, while waiting for this shipment to come in, I finished off the last of my St. James Woods.  This is the only Perique blend I've had that I didn't really care for.  I don't think I'll ever be ordering it again.

Manly smells

15 manly smells from The Art of Manliness.

I'm not certain the person writing the article is really that familiar with pipe smoking.  I've never heard of pipe tobacco that includes cloves, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to smoke such a thing.  Also, the smell of "cherry wood?"  Probably just meant cherry-flavored tobacco, which I do not care for.  Still, nice article.

Personally, I think I would replace Old Spice with English Leather.  As for gun cleaning solvent, there are so many...but my favorite is Ballistol.  One whiff of that and you'll know you're cleaning a manly firearm (ha ha).  Also I think an even better smell than a hardware store is the smell of a feed store.  Also I think WD-40 would not be out of place on this list.

My dad always wore (and still wears) plain old Aqua Velva after shave.  The smell of it always reminds me of him, although I prefer the Aqua Velva "musk" scent (the brown kind) to the original (the blue kind), myself.

Latakia blends

I used to love smoking different latakia blends, but slowly turned toward more Perique-oriented tobaccos and now prefer them.  But, I've recently been going into my cellar and smoking some of the older stuff just to get it used up.

I'm sure some readers will sniff in indignation when I say that I was not impressed by Maltese Falcon.  I bought a tin because I had read so many people singing praises about it, but to me it just seemed like too much latakia and nothing to balance it.  So...sorry, but I can't recommend it.

On the other hand, I has just popped open a tin of Samuel Gawith's Balkan Flake.  Oh, man, this stuff is fantastic.  Highly recommended.

This is old news...

But new to me, because I just found out.

Three Nuns is back in the U.S.

I've looked around, and it's available now from a wide variety of online suppliers.

Yay!

New tobacco order has arrived

The last time I ordered tobacco from Cornell & Diehl, I got a pound of Mountain Camp.  This was one of my favorites back in the olden days, and is a cousin of my absolute favorite Bayou Night, because it contains all the same varieties but with the ratios of Latakia and Perique reversed.

I have been smoking the Mountain Camp almost exclusively lately in order to use it up, and have finally come to the end of it.  I don't think I'll order it again.  It seems I have just lost my liking for strong Latakia blends.

A couple of days ago I received a new order which I will detail in a future post soon, but for now I will just say that I am thoroughly enjoying a custom blend that I had C&D whip up for me which is heavy on the Perique.  I'll be posting a couple of macro shots of the fresh leaves that have just arrived soon and detailing once again the custom blend that I'm enjoying tonight.

I also have to look forward to some thorough reaming and cleaning to get the Latakia out of several pipes.  I don't hate it or anything like that, I just prefer it now in smaller ratios so that it doesn't dominate.  Happy puffing!

A brief word on Nightcap

Dunhill Nightcap.  Back when I was a n00b pipe smoker hanging out on alt.smokers.pipes, I heard a lot about this stuff.  Mostly, remarks on how strong it is.  For some, the strength is a complaint, for others, a compliment.

I don't remember where I first bought some Dunhill tins to try, but back in ye olden days I bought one tin each of Early Morning Pipe, My Mixture 965, and Nightcap.  Back then, the light latakia of EMP was my favorite and I bought and smoked a few more tins before I lost my interest in latakia as a primary flavor.  I enjoyed smoking the 965 but it didn't impress me a lot and I never bought it again.

I must admit that the first few times I had Nightcap, I got a little dizzy.  It seemed quite powerful for some reason.

I kept going back for more.

Some time ago I was given a $25 Visa gift card from my employer for some reason (maybe a safety bonus or something--I forget), and today I ran by The Humidor on San Pedro and picked up a tin of Nightcap, which I haven't had in years.  Yes, literally years.

I still really like this stuff.  But after so many pipes full of C&D's Bayou Night, as well as numerous other blends that I spiced up with formidable amounts of Perique, it doesn't make my head swim anymore.

I must admit that if I had some straight Perique on hand right now, I'd mix up a sample of Nightcap with some extra Perique in it, just for fun.

By the way, the last time I was there, a couple of months ago, I bought a tin of Perique, which I have since used up.  When the guy handed it to me, he asked sharply, "You don't smoke it straight, do you?"  "Well, I have..." I admitted.  "But mostly I just mix it with other stuff."

I carried it over to the cash register and the other guy rang me up.  Then suddenly he asked sharply, "You don't smoke that stuff straight, do you?"  It cracked me up.  Is there some kind of taboo against it?  Anyway, I wouldn't recommend smoking it straight because it doesn't burn very well on its own.  Mix it with a little something that burns easier, like some plain old burley or Virginia--or both--and you can still mix it pretty strong if you really want to blow the top of your head off.

Or if you can find some maduro that's been cut up for pipe smoking, mix it with that and give it a try.  You may not like it, but it will keep the mosquitoes away.

Macro shot: 1792 Flake

Click to enlarge.

Bayou Night macro shot

I haven't mentioned it on this blog yet, but I recently got a halfway-decent digital camera, so I'm not restricted to relying on lousy cell phone photos anymore.  Here's a macro shot of some Bayou Night.  I hope to post more such photos in the future.  I cropped this one just a little to keep the container out of the photo, so it isn't perfectly proportioned for a computer desktop, but it's very close.  If anyone wants to save this for personal use as their desktop wallpaper, feel free.

This is the only photo I've taken so far on the topic of pipes & tobacco, but if any readers wish to follow my flickr photostream, just click the link to go there.  My new blog that focuses solely on my attempts at photography is With Camera Eye.

I think I overdid it...

Today I stopped by the local shop (The Humidor on San Pedro) and bought a couple ounces of Perique to mix with my Grey Ghost (from C&D) to make more of my hybrid creation which I call Don't Tread On Me. I didn't bother to weigh the mix, I just slapped some together. I think I put in too much Perique.




Ha! Just kidding! There's no such thing as too much Perique!

Three pounds from C&D

Today I spent over an hour packing away my recent big tobacco order--big for me, anyway, at 3 pounds. One pound each of Bayou Night, Gray Ghost and Exclusive, all from C&D. Half a pound of each was put away in vacuum-sealed bags, the rest in Mason jars.

The Gray Ghost is drier than most other tobaccos I've had, it seems. The previous batch was also on the dry side and I rehydrated it almost from the very beginning. The dryness means it takes up more space than the other blends; a Mason jar would hold only 3 ounces of Gray Ghost compared to 4 ounces of the other two. This may be something to be wary of if you are particularly particular about the moistness of your tobacco. The most dense of these three--as usual--is the Bayou Night, and I'm pretty sure that is because of the very high Perique content. I have custom-ordered Gray Ghost with Perique mixed into before; I think this is a good idea not only because I like the flavor but also because it helps bring the moisture content up.

I also updated my online tobacco cellar (link in the sidebar), so you can see what I have if you want. I'm still not entirely sure how many bowls I average per ounce of tobacco, but I think 12 sounds about right. I know from my last pound of Bayou Night that one pound lasts right about 3½ months--during which time I smoked almost nothing else. So 14 months sounds about right for what I have on hand. I would like to keep my stock at more than 1,000 bowls; the current calculation has me at 862 bowls, a little short. I do need to re-weigh some of the tinned tobaccos I've opened and put in Mason jars because I no longer have full tins and that will bring me down just a little. I'll try getting that done during the coming week.

I have posted a couple of items regarding pipe smoking on my other blog recently which I didn't include here because they are mostly aimed at non-pipe smokers, but if you wish to read them click on Gooorrraakkk!!! and Pipes and hummingbirds.

Bayou Night!

I have said before that Bayou Night from Cornell & Diehl is my favorite smoke. I have been without for about a month now and finally was able to order a new pound. Checked the mailbox on the way home from a Halloween festival just a little while ago to find it waiting for me. So I am now enjoying a before-bed bowl of this excellent stuff. The latakia seemed a little more pronounced than usual on first light, but maybe that's just because I haven't had it in a while. Further into the bowl the Perique has asserted itself.

I'll bother with stuffing it into Mason jars tomorrow. For now, it's just time for a bowl.

Rehydration: another option

I'm sure all pipe smokers eventually run into the problem of having some tobacco that has become too dry. There are numerous methods of rehydration, some more sophisticated than others. My last batch of Gray Ghost from C&D was a little too dry already when I got it, so I have been rehydrating small quantities of it as I go along.

My usual method of rehydration is to put some tobacco in a Mason jar, then place a small medicine cup (of the kind that you get any time you buy any kind of liquid medicine these days) upside down on top of the tobacco. I moisten a little tissue paper, fold it into a square and squeeze all the excess water out, then place it on top of the inverted medicine cup and close the lid. Give it 24 hours or so before smoking any of it. Sometimes it might also help to take the cup & paper out and mix the tobacco up, because the top layer will be more moist than the bottom, then return the cup & paper to their positions and give it more time. I use the cup so that the moist paper does not come into direct contact with the tobacco.

Another method would be to take a small amount of the dry tobacco and mix it with another tobacco that is already extremely moist. You can mix it with an identical blend that is plenty moist, always making sure that the dry stuff goes in in small quantities so that you don't dry out your good tobacco too much. I have done this in the past with some Dunhill Nightcap that I had let get too dry, by simply adding it into a new tin of Nightcap.

In the last couple of weeks, a side-effect of my mixing Gray Ghost with Perique has been to rehydrate the Gray Ghost. I have purchased straight Perique from two sources: C&D and Cup O' Joes, the latter of which is McClelland's brand Perique, and is the version I am using at present. Both versions have been quite extremely moist. So moist that it has tended to balance the overall moistness between the GG and Perique quite well.

This method of rehydration may be something to keep in mind next time you have some tobacco that has gotten too dry.

Making do

In case I haven't declared it recently enough, my favorite pipe tobacco is Bayou Night by Cornell & Diehl.  I ran out a few days ago, and I need to wait for the next paycheck before I order more.

I have plenty of other perfectly good--some excellent--tobaccos in my "cellar" (which is actually a cabinet), but none of them are Bayou Night.

And then I remembered:  I still have some C&D Gray Ghost, and I still have some straight Perique ordered from Cup O' Joes.  It's been a while since I mixed up any Don't Tread On Me.

DTOM is my own personal concoction, made by mixing Gray Ghost with Perique.  Gray Ghost is a blend of maduro and Virginia.  The "don't offend innocent bystanders any more than really necessary" mix is 3/16 Perique to 13/16 Gray Ghost.  A more robust mixture, which tends to drive away anyone downwind, repels mosquitoes and doesn't have so much a "room note" as it does a blast radius, is 3/8 Perique to 5/8 Gray Ghost.

I didn't really feel like digging out the digital scale and weighing out such specific amounts, so I just mixed it about half and half, along with about a quarter-pipeful of leftover Bayou Night.

A little rough.  Should be much better in a few days, when the flavors have had time to meld a little.  But it will do.  It will do.

I am doing my first official pipe tobacco review

I got a sample from a place called Bennington Tobacconist in Boca Raton, FL and a form to fill out on various aspects of what I think of it. So far, not bad, and if I was a bigger fan of latakia I'd be all for it. A very nice medium latakia English blend that I wouldn't hesitate to put in my cellar if I liked latakia enough to do that. But I tend more toward the Perique-heavy blends these days, and have for several years now.

What's the name of the blend? I don't know. It's only labeled "TEST #4." I guess they didn't want any kind of identification to bias the reviews.

Big sample, too, about 1 1/2 ounces. The way I smoke latakia, I could seal this in a Mason jar and it would last me for years.

Sunday Afternoon pipe work

I did a long-overdue pipe cleaning today. I didn't clean every pipe that needed it, but I did clean up four pipes that were badly in need of a cleaning and reaming: the Wellington, the Kaywoodie author, the Velani Dublin and the Velani octagon. These four pipes have been getting most of the work lately, and the Wellington especially needed a good cleaning because the reservoir gets gunked up pretty bad. I use a q-tip soaked in Everclear to clean it out.

I did this cleaning today because yesterday my tobacco order came in: one pound each of Bayou Night and Gray Ghost, both from Cornell & Diehl. These two blends have been my favorite smokes for a long time, although they are very different. Bayou Night is a Perique blend that has a lot of Perique; Gray Ghost is a blend of Virginia and maduro cigar leaf. One thing they have in common is that they are both quite robust. I have really been missing the little "sting" in my nose from the Gray Ghost. I have just finished a bowl in the author and am about to load it up again. Yes, I sometimes smoke the same pipe twice in a row without cooling it. Some pipes are up to such use, and some are not. I have done this with several of my pipes and so far I have not caused the downfall of civilization, so I don't worry about it too much. Since the author has a screw-in stem, I just unscrew it, give it a cursory clean, and keep going.

The Wellington and the Velani Dublin have been my truck pipes for a good while now, in fact I consider the Wellington to be on permanent station in my truck since it has become sort of my "signature" pipe. I carry pipe cleaners and a little Everclear in an old pipe sweetener container in my truck so I can give them light cleanings between smokes. I brought them inside today because they both needed a good reaming. The cake was getting a little too thick; somewhere on the heavy side of a nickel's thickness, I'd say.

I also made a long-overdue update to my online tobacco cellar, and finally put a permanent link to it in the sidebar, if you care to see what I have on hand. I will try to keep it more current during the coming year, and update it at least once per month.

Smoking the dregs

Yesterday I packed the last of the 1792 Flake into a pipe. There was nothing left. I think this is the first time any tobacco has "come out even" so to speak. I guess I was using just the right pipe.

Today I took out the last dregs of C&D Gray Ghost that I've had sealed up (with the Pump 'n' Seal) for a few months, dumped some Perique into it and mixed it up. This still remains one of my favorite smokes, and it was good to have it again. A few minutes ago I loaded up a pipe with what was left, then topped it off with some Haunted Bookshop that has also had extra Perique added to it.

Why go to this trouble? Ah, so hard to explain. Or perhaps not. I have a few more jars of C&D samples that I know I will smoke but will probably not enjoy so well. My next order will be several pounds in bulk, enough to last me for years. Probably.

But there are tins back in there that I fear to open. They tease me. They taunt me. Escudo, which I've had before and I know I will thoroughly enjoy; so thoroughly that I will probably not smoke anything else after I've opened the tin. And St. James Woods, which has been recommended to me so highly that I'm sure it will be another favorite.

Oh, but I still have several disks of Bullseye Flake that might hold me over for a few days, putting off the inevitable opening of another tin. I managed to stop myself before I had smoked all the Bullseye, but I know once I start again it will be all over.

Planning the next order is sometimes difficult, sometimes not. I've pretty much decided on what to order next time. One pound each of C&D's Bayou Night, Gray Ghost and Exclusive. Two tins of 1792 Flake. Several ounces of Bullseye. Some straight Perique.

My tastes continue to lean more and more toward Virginia and Perique blends, the exception being Gray Ghost which has maduro in it. Lately I've been carrying C&D's Stanhope in the truck.

Stanhope has an on-again-off-again relationship with me. The first time I tried it, I thought it was one of the best things I'd ever smoked. The second sample, a year or two later, didn't thrill me so much. This latest sample is somewhere in between. It seems to have almost a velvety texture this time, and the latakia is now quite noticeable. I've steered away from latakia since I developed such a love for Perique, and it seems I've developed a sensitivity to it. Where I once loved all I could get, I now think that most latakia blends have too much and would be improved with less.

And I do miss having Bayou Night. It still remains my favorite smoke, anytime of the day or night. But unfortunately, if I have it on hand I tend to reach for it over anything else, and it doesn't last long.

What's the point of this post? No point. Just some rambling thoughts on pipe tobacco.

Mixing your own

Recently there was a question at My Pipes Community about blending your own tobacco. Now, professional tobacco blending is a real art form that requires extensive knowledge and experience, plus a healthy dose of natural talent like any other art. However, there's no reason why the casual pipe-smoker can't have fun doing some kitchen table blending on his own.

A first recommendation: blend small amounts. If you screw up and create the most mind-numbingly horrible tobacco ever invented, you want to be able to throw it away without losing too much of your inventory. Get a small digital scale that will measure very small increments, such as units of at most 1 gram and/or fractions of an ounce. Such scales are cheap and easy to find. I got one some time ago via eBay. Keep a record of what you mix and how you mix it.

Just because your good idea doesn't blow your mind when you first light it up doesn't mean it's a failure. Leaves of varying flavors need to meld together for a while. Allowing time for the leaves to "marry" almost always improves the flavor. My method is to put the new mix in a jar and shake it up real good to get everything mixed, and then vacuum seal it. I have Food Saver vacuum sealer and I use the bags-on-a-roll so I can cut my own size bags. The vacuum-sealing not only helps to preserve it, but also when the bag squeezes down on the tobacco it has a "pressing" effect. If you let such a bag sit for a few weeks, you will have to tear off hunks and rub them out before loading them into a pipe. And yes, I said "a few weeks." I have a general rule of not declaring a new mix a success until I've had an ounce or two vacuum sealed for at least a month so I have a decent sample to pass verdict on.

But where to start, and what to use? I've been a big fan of Cornell & Diehl for a long time, and Mr. Tarler will sell straight leaf of just about anything for your own personal blending experiments. If you order one of the 5- or 8-item samplers, you should be able to get just about every kind of leaf you need. Of course, there are many other places to buy straight leaf, just check around.

One good way to start is if you have a particular liking for a certain kind of "spice" tobacco such as Latakia or Perique. Try adding varying amounts of your favorite spice leaf to already established blends to spice it up a little and make it even more to your liking.

I have come up with two successes so far by adding a spice leaf to already existing blends. One is made by using C&D's Gray Ghost (Virginia and maduro) and adding Perique. The ratio is 13/16 GG and 3/16 P. I do it in increments of 1/16 because when you do come up with something good and you want to order it in bulk, it makes it much easier for Mr. Tarler to mix up your custom blend (each 1/16 becomes a full ounce when ordered by the pound). I call this blend "Don't Tread On Me." The version above is the "mild" version, and is more forgiving to innocent bystanders (it is quite robust). The version I really prefer is stronger, and mixed 5/8 GG to 3/8 P.

The other I haven't really named yet (well, in my experiment spreadsheet I call it "Nightgaunt"), but it is made by mixing 7/8 Yale Mixture (C&D blend of Virginia and Latakia) with 1/8 Perique. Yes, I am a real Perique lover, and I always have some straight stuff on hand for blending experiments.

I don't usually start out by measuring everything exactly. I usually start by just throwing a couple of bowls worth together and giving them a try to see if I want to go further with it. A couple of days ago I threw together some Perique and Balkan Sasieni. I didn't measure it, but it was roughly 70% Perique. It was good and had a real kick. Today I mixed up some Perique with C&D's Oriental Silk (which already has some Perique in it), at about 50/50. This one is actually quite good and I think I'll be refining it in the future.

I don't have any advice for mixing aromatics. I don't care for most aromatics and I have never done any such experimentation with them. Although now that I think about it I can't help wondering what 1792 Flake would be like with a little Perique mixed in.

More on the infamous 1792

Wow, it has been a long time since my first trial run of 1792 Flake. I didn't want to smoke it in the Kirsten again, because I wanted to smoke it in a regular all-briar pipe. But which pipe? Having heard scary stories about 1792 permanently flavoring a pipe made me wary. But I needed to smoke this leaf again. One smoke was not enough to form a valid opinion.

I don't think two smokes are enough, either.

So I finally decided on the unnamed Italian bent billiard sandblast. This pipe has always had an odd quirk of imparting its own flavoring to anything smoked in it (sort of chocolatey hints). So I figured nothing would be lost if it became permanently flavored with 1792. Also if you check the old post I mentioned that the tonka flavoring seemed to put me in mind of lightly flavored chocolate coffee. I decided this pipe would be a good match for it.

The bowl of this anonymous 'blast has significantly more volume than does the Kirsten, and it was a much longer smoke. In that first post (linked above) I mentioned that it made me thirsty. This larger bowl made that a problem. In fact, the thirstiness didn't go away for hours. I woke up several times during the night to drink water. This thirstiness effect will probably put me off 1792 for even a semi-regular smoke, but I think I will continue to keep it in my cellar. I am very interested in trying it outdoors and getting some opinions from innocent bystanders.

Room note? Oh, room note. Well, after finishing the smoke I went outside for a few minutes, and then came back in. The house in general was pretty much free of any smell, but inside my Sanctum, where I had smoked the pipe, the room note was not so much a note as a klaxon. Or maybe a gong. A big gong.

1792 Flake is not for the faint of heart. Or the faint of nostril. I think this would be a good barbecue smoke. When I barbecue, I also enjoy outdoors pipe smoking, and I usually stick with something fairly robust that is still noticeable--and that blends well--with mesquite smoke (C&D's Gray Ghost is my favorite barbecue smoke). I'm not sure yet how well 1792 would "blend" with mesquite, but it should have no problem beating it into submission.

Alas!

Last night I smoked the last of my Blockade Runner. Sniff. Next time I'll have to order a whole pound.