Always give your pipes as many chances as you can to shine. I have a pipe from a well-known factory that is a beautiful group three Canadian. I have had it for years and I have continued to smoke it through the years, not because it smokes well but because it is such a beautiful pipe. But every time I smoke this particular pipe I am disappointed. The pipe is drilled way off center and smokes very wet. The last time I smoked it was a few years ago and I put it away in disappointment and forgot about it. Fast forward a few years and I decided to bring it to work and use it as one of my work pipes, After the first bowl I realized why I never smoked the pipe, the taste was terrible. I then loaded up some Hearth and Home Virginia Night, since this has been my morning smoke for almost two months. Nope, the tobacco tasted harsh and bitter. I then packed a few bowls of Orlik Golden Sliced, again terrible. I was about to give up on the pipe and bring it back home in defeat, when I packed a bowl of one of Russ’ new blends and boom, this blend really sang in this pipe. I am smoking it now. I taste the spice of the perique and the sweetness of the Virginia’s. The blend has a richness that this pipe amplifies. I have hope for this pipe now. After all these years I look forward to smoking this pipe in the morning while I work. Some pipes smoke great from the first bowl and some come around years later. I remember reading about the late Jim Benjamin and he said it took decades for one of his pipes to finally break in. That sounds crazy but I believe it.
I am so happy that I finally have a tobacco that sings in this pipe. I was feeling lucky last week and decided to pack a bowl of Virginia Night and guess what, it was horrible. I will only smoke one blend in this pipe. At least it smokes one blend really well.
Check out Talking Tobacco in the next day or two for a sneak peek of the blend.
“… when I packed a bowl of one of Russ’ new blends and boom…”
Who wrote this? Or does Russ eschew the personal pronoun?
Anthony, this article was written by our pipe guru, Kevin Getten. That why he used my name in reference to the blend.
Russ
Thank you for catching that, I missed it while I was editing my post.
Kevin