Happy New Year

I would like to wish all of you a very happy, safe, healthy and exciting new year. May your medical tests come back clean...may your jobs remain secure...may your bills be paid...may your pipes be full...may your coffee be fresh and hot...may your cats be well-fed.

New Acquisition 12/23/2008 Stanwell 190

I really like Stanwell pipes so when I saw this new panel billiard shape I knew I was going to have to start collecting them. This one will be the first one in what I hope to be a series of one in each finish. This one is in the Legend finish. The brass band is a nice touch to the transition of the reddish-orange to the jet-black stem.

New Acquisition 12/23/2008 Mario Grandi freehand

For a long time I wondered about how good the Mario Grandi pipes are. I've seen them on EBay for a couple of years now but so far very little information about them. I recently found out that the pipemaker who makes the Mastro Beraldi pipes also makes the Mario Grandis.

This pipe was the very first Grandi I have seen sporting a white stem. It also has a gorgeous blue acrylic shank band and the shape reminds me very much of the 2002 Nording Hunting Pipe.

My Review of "Haunted Bookshop" by Cornell & Diehl

INTRO: Burley is such a versatile creature. I think of it as the rice of tobaccos. Alone it is nutty, full, creamy and higher in nicotine than its condimental counterparts. Used properly in a blend it will take on any flavor thrown at it like a chameleon running across paint swatches. When used improperly, it is bitter, harsh and just plain nasty. Haunted Bookshop is one of those blends where prime leaf is used and used very well. The burley base retains much of its nutty flavors yet gets along very nicely with the red Virginia and Perique.

CAUTION: The cut is rather fine and upon inspection the visual appearance looks like something you would see in a little jar of seasoning. Due to this cut, I have noticed a lot of "dust" in the tins which makes packing tedious as one tends to get tiny particles of tobacco in the mouth when testing the draw and lighting up. Lightly shaking the tin helps to settle a lot of the finer particles which helps to avoid having a sandstorm hit your tongue.

CHARACTERISTICS: Haunted Bookshop burns faster than most other blends. It also makes a lot of powdery ash that usually requires dumping halfway through the bowl. Tamp this tobacco lightly and you should have no problems. It burns dry, bites very little and leaves the pipe clean. It will "color" your pipe on the first bowl so avoid trying this in a favorite pipe to avoid ghosts.

SMOKING: On the initial light you taste the cigar-like flavor of the burley and Perique. Throughout the bowl the cigar flavor trades places with the subtle sweetness of the red Virginia. The nutty flavors are there and the prune-like presence of the Perique speaks its voice each time you sip it softly. When puffed hard the burley flexes some muscle and you get a big bold bass note with a sidekick of nicotine.

SUMMARY: This blend is similar in the vein of "Old Joe Krantz" but with more high notes, sweetness and less nicotine. It is strong enough to satisfy a nicotine craving, yet light enough to be enjoyed all day.

Haunted Bookshop is a natural blend reminiscent of the old-school blends of a time when a man came home to a clean house, a hot meal and a happy family. No fancy tricks here, just good honest tobaccos skillfully put together to form a delightful and relaxing smoke. Well done!

New Acquisition for 11/01/08

This is a beautiful Viprati billiard. It has a rather large bowl with some nice grain and wood shank bands. This pipe makes the sixth Viprati in my collection.

New Acquisition for 10/08/2008

I fell in love with this gorgeous Viprati pipe when I saw it on EBay recently. I love that famous Viprati craftsmanship with the silverwork and that sexy deep dark red lucite stem.

Unusual Pipes: Briar Roll

Words escape me when I try to describe this pipe set. Any ideas?

Unusual Pipes: Storage Stand Pipe

This pipe is really unique! The little box in the front is meant for tobacco storage. I cannot tell by the picture if the pipe itself is just a ball or if it is attached to the rusticated strip of plateaux in the back. Either way, this is quite a piece!

New Acquisition for 9/22/08

This is a beautiful rhodesian from Luigi Viprati. It is graded as a two-clover and has some nice grain with a worked engraved silver band.

Unusual Pipes: Sphere and Plane

This is some geometrical eye candy! Spherical bowl with a plane surrounding the lower half of the globe. This is a Lorenz pipe.