My Review of Mac Baren's "Honey & Chocolate"

I have long been a fan of many of Mac Baren's offerings so I wanted to try their newest blend "Honey & Chocolate". This is a black cavendish blend that is heavily topped with cocoa, honey, licorice and sugar.

The cut is your standard Danish loose cut with short ribbons of dark brown and black leaf. The moisture content is rather high but not quite "wet". The smell from the tin is a heavy musty scent with a slight resemblance to chocolate.

Packing is pretty easy and I went a little light on the pressure. The initial match brought forth a very dark and heavy flavor similar to the tonquin topping of Sam Gawith's "1792 Flake", although the Mac Baren is not as sophisticated as the Lakeland flake.

When pushed, this blend will bite quite hard. The flavor becomes one-dimensional and tastes not unlike old coffee grounds. If puffed with a lot of respect the tobacco burns slow and cool and requires few relights. A slow cadence rewards the smoker with a subtle sweet dark chocolate flavor and exhaling through the nose only enhances this effect. The general flavor is different from any other blend I have smoked before and it would be correct to say that one might need to acquire a taste for this.

For a moist tobacco it smokes dry and leaves the pipe walls clean of any sticky residue. It does, however, color the flavor of the bowl after one smoke so you may want to avoid using a favorite pipe to try this one.

My review of Peterson Special Reserve 2007 tobacco

This tobacco comes in a beautiful burgundy collector tin with the actual tobacco inside of a sealed cellophane bag. The leaves are light and fluffy and range in color from light tan to black. The moisture content is more towards the dry side and it is not sticky. The leaves do not stick together when pinched. The cut is a mixture of ribbon, crimp and broken flake. The tin description is that this tobacco is a Virginia, Burley and cavendish blend with a top flavor of rum, macadamia nuts and coconut. The smell in the bag is more of a cinnamon/allspice motif, however, it is not overwhelmingly strong.

Packing was very easy and I used the "three-level" method. In keeping with the theme, I smoked this in a Peterson Irish Whiskey billiard that is kept for plain and sweetened burleys. It was nice to be able to pack an aromatic blend into a pipe and not have sticky fingers afterwards.

At the first match I tasted a harsh "burning lettuce" flavor and almost instant tongue bite. The smoke mellowed a bit and I started to taste a little bit of the casings. This blend starts off tasteless and builds as the bowl progresses. I consider this characteristic a positive since you are able to ease into the flavors as opposed to being blasted with it from the first puff.

This blend thrives on a slow puffing cadence where the flavors can come alive slowly and cleanly. It does not produce a lot of large smoke clouds but instead you get just what you take. The flavors build and I taste something similar to one of those cherry cordial candies with the dark chocolate shells. I also taste a spirit of some kind but it leans more towards a whiskey rather than a rum. The real treat is in the nose exhalations where you can taste a slight sweet/nutty flavor mixed with the spirits. I did not taste or smell any coconut but perhaps a more distinguished palate will pick up on that. The casings enhance the tobacco but never become overwhelming at all. The room note is very pleasant.

The flavors remain consistent throughout the bowl and it ends in a sweet farewell. There was no moisture in this smoke at all and when I ran a cleaner through the pipe it came out dry. All that was left in the pipe was a fine light grey ash. The pipe walls were clean and there was no residual smell left in the pipe. There was no harshness that usually accompanies many other blends as they wind down to the end.

I would highly recommend Peterson Special Reserve 2007 for anyone who enjoys a top-quality aromatic blend. Just remember to smoke it slowly or it will bite you big time.

"Unusual Pipes" No. 8

I've seen large pipes, jumbo pipes, "magnum" pipes...I've seen "stacks" and "chimneys" but none quite like this one.

This was a pipe on Ebay but I could not find any of the actual dimensions listed, nor was there a brand name. The stem is unusual being as long as it is without any bends which would make it very difficult to smoke. I also wonder how one would be able to tamp and clean a pipe like this.

Not a pipe that one would consider a good functional pipe...but it certainly is unusal!

New Acquisition for 11/13/2007

I have a passion for Savinelli pipes and when I saw this one I knew I had to have it. This is an unusual line called "Savinelli Standing". These pipes are standard Savinelli shapes that have been designed to be able to stand on their own without the use of a stand or rack. I like the burgany stain and the thick shank.

New Acquisition for 11/07/2007

Here is the newest member of the family: a new Ben Wade Roma giant canadian! This beast is eight inches long and two inches high. I'm looking forward to filling this bowl up with some good tobacco and sitting down for a nice three-hour smoke.

I purchased this pipe this afternoon from Puffers Pipes and what a great service they provided! Check them out for yourself. Thanks much!

Burley Revisited

A while ago, I wrote an article about Burley tobacco. Since then I have continued smoking many various burleys and I feel that I have gotten to know this leaf pretty well. Here are the qualities that make a good burley:

1. Dry smoke: A good burley smokes dry and cool. One should rarely need the use of a pipe cleaner during the smoke and should have very little moisture when cleaning the pipe. 2. Nutty flavor: A good burley has a nutty flavor. It should never be bitter but instead should host a warm wood/nut-like flavor similar to that of a walnut. 3. Sweetness: Because there is no natural sugar in Burley, there should be very little sweetness, however, there should be a hint of it at times. It should be subtle and in the background. 4. Chocolate flavor: A good Burley has a slight natural chocolate flavor. It should be subtle and in the background but definately present. 5. Consistency: A good Burley should be consistent throughout the bowl. While the fullness should increase some, it should not become overwhelming nor grow weaker as the bowl progresses. 6. Clean Pipe: Good Burley should leave your pipe clean after smoking. This means no sticky residue on the walls of the pipe once you dump out the ashes.

Burley is a very underrated tobacco but many seasoned pipemen love it for it's natural charms.

Peretti's "Park Square" review

Intro: I have smoked many VA/Perique blends and have enjoyed almost all of them, yet none have ever stood out like Peretti's "Park Square". It has established itself as my main blend of this genre. Loved by many respectable pipemen, Park Square is a diamond in a mountain of rubies.

Appearance: Dark red, brown and black ribbon/loose-cut leaf. Pretty even ratio of all three.

Pouch smell: Cloves, pepper and fruity wine.

Smoking quality: Park Square burns cool, dry and leaves the pipe clean. It can bite if pushed hard which is only to be expected given the nature of this blend. When treated properly, relights are a minimum.

Taste: Upon the initial puff, one tastes the sweetness of the Virginias. Soon, the spiciness of the Perique kicks in and it all comes together in a well-balanced flavor of subtle sweet with a dash of peppery spice. It is best when smoked slow and savored. The fullness gradually grows throughout the bowl but never becomes overpowering. Eventually, it goes out and will not relight. Turn the pipe over and see the soft white fluffy ash fall out of the bowl and into your ashtray. You will feel sad at first that the smoke is finished, but there is always more. You will want more.

New Acquisition for 10/10/2007

This is a Ser Jacopo I purchased brand new on 10/08/2007. It is a "Maxima Maxima" and the dimensions are: Length:18,5 cm. Height: 7 cm. Bowl Diameter: 5,6 cm. Chamber Diameter: 2,3 cm. It is my very first Ser Jac. I've wanted one for quite a while since I have heard so much about them over the years. This is a BIG pipe!

Last Smoke of the Day Thoughts and Musings

Today was a busy but decent day. The weather was sunny and clear, the temperature varied between 72-76F with very little humidity. I spent a couple of hours sitting on my deck with Valentino, my nine year-old German Shepherd Dog. In between watching the cars pass by and the occasional neighbor walking a dog, Valentino enjoyed the time by napping. I, on the other hand, was fielding some phone calls and e-mail conversations on my Blackberry while gently sipping on some Peretti's "Park Square" in a small Stanwell straight grain. My oldest daughter was home from school today so she was running around the yard trying to catch bugs with a net.

I was in the middle of typing an e-mail when suddenly Valentino started barking at something across the road. I looked up and saw a man walking out of the woods! He put some branches down then started back towards the woods when I noticed something strange around his face. I looked closer and saw that in his mouth he held a half-bent Peterson System pipe! He went into a nearby house that had recently been sold to some new people so I am assumming that he might be a new neighbor. This is incredibly cool since he would make the third pipe-smoking neighbor of mine. If you went down the line of houses on my street you would find five cigar smokers, three pipe smokers and myself. I made a mental note, and a Blackberry note, to myself to meet the new neighbors and talk pipes. I just hope this one is actually knowledgeable about them instead of the "No-frills aromatic in a Grabow/cob/basket pipe" like the other two guys on the street.

My thoughts of having another piper to chat in-person with were interrupted by my son's pre-school calling to tell me that he woke up from his nap with a high fever. I packed up and took him to the doctor's office. The diagnosis was a simple viral bug he must have picked up at school. You would think that having a fever would slow an almost-five year-old boy down but not my kid! Despite a temperature of 101.8F he was still a spinning blur like that of the old "Tazmainian Devil" cartoon character.

So now the house is quiet, the brats...err...children are all in bed and I am sitting here enjoying some Peretti's "Omega" blend in a Nording Signature freehand. I made some tea I got from Singapore that is extremely dark and bitter. I enjoy a good tea with my last pipe of the day because it really slows things down nicely. I use an old three-minute sand timer for steeping the tea at which time I gently fill the pipe. If everything is done properly I will be taking the final sip immediately after the final puff of the bowl. It's just a little ritual and method I like to employ on occasion. Valentino is sleeping again only now it is in front of the children's bedrooms. My three cats are all curled up and napping....which is what they do for 22 hours every day.

I hope you enjoyed reading this bit of my evening as much as I am enjoying living it.

Old-School American Blends

This is a good time to be a pipe smoker. There are myriads of blends available in all sorts of forms and configurations. English blends with top quality leaf abound with premium burleys in various forms. We have matured virginias, virginia flakes, virginia plugs, stoved virginias, red virginia, lemon virginia, black virginia, brown virginia...there's "old belt", "middle belt" (championship belt?). We have a multitude of virginia and perique blends that are commonly referred to as "VApers". Aromatic blends are rampant with every flavor that one can think of. Any of these types of tobaccos can come in various cuts...plug, cake, crumble cake, ribbon, shag, slice or flake...spun-cut, loose-cut, twist, rope and navy-cut (sound like a song yet?).

Many years ago, pipe tobaccos were mostly burley-based and not topped with a lot of fancy syrups and perfumes. They were the staples of the American Pipe Smoker in a time when a guy could go to work in the morning, smoke all day in the office and come home to a happy family and a hot meal. After dinner the family would gather in front of the television set and enjoy some good wholesome American entertainment. The sounds of the old classic shows and the smell of Dad's pipe smoke are still cherished memories for many folks to this day.

In today's social climate of "political correctness", those happy carefree times are long gone but certainly not forgotten. While we are no longer allowed to think about wives taking care of the home and children, or smoking at work, or Mom cooking real food, we can take great comfort in knowing that there are still some blends that are reminicent to that golden age of the pipe.

For the past year or so I've heard many pipe smokers discuss blends from a shop in Boston called "Peretti's" and how wonderful their tobaccos are. Foolishly assumming that these were probably just re-labelled Lane blends, I dismissed any thoughts of trying any of them. Recently a fellow pipe smoker, whom I have a great respect for, sent me a sample of "Park Square" from Peretti's. This is in no way anything close to Lane tobacco...this is some real "old-school" American tobacco! After cursing myself for not having tried this before, I started to panic in fear that this blend might end up discontinued like many of the other great classics. Upon my initial order I received a sample of a fine English blend called "Omega" and, once again, I was overwhelmed at how wonderful this stuff is!

I am enjoying these treasures from Peretti's immensely and with each bowl I am trasnported back in time fifty years...when a "tv" meant "television" and not "transvestite"....when "PC" meant "Pepsi Cola" and "Perry Como"...when food was cooked at home and had fat, grease, salt and sugar without the shame, guilt and warnings of impending death with each bite taken.

This is a good time to be a pipe smoker.