The Binary Blends Experiment Part One

For most of the time I’ve smoked a pipe, I’ve loved bouncing from one blend to another, always trying something new. I’ve racked up a few favorites, but I always have had this nagging feeling that I’m missing something by not giving any one blend its due.
More precisely, I’ve been wondering to [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized on Mar 29th, 2007, 6:13 pm by admin     

Bailey’s Front Porch by Cornell & Diehl

For a change, I’m going to do a “live review.” Usually, I try to get to know a blend a while before putting my thoughts together - this one I’m going to write as I smoke it for the first time.
The flame seemed to jump into this tobacco and nearly light itself. The [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco on Mar 22nd, 2007, 5:51 pm by admin     

Blue Note

Blue note has stiff competition with other aromatics in my rotation that smoke better, taste better, and are more economical.
I’m not a big fan of fruity type flavors in my tobacco - even in an aromatic, and this one is fruity, but I’m not basing my overall review on that bias.
The blend is extremely sweet [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco on Mar 18th, 2007, 6:07 am by Eric  3 comments   

Old Joe Krantz

People told me this is a burley blend.  I’d call it a Perique blend!  Perique is center stage here, and holds your attention the entire bowl.  The other components stay out of the way and allow the star to show her stuff.
Perique’s fig-like fermented character shines with OJK.  You get the peppery character too, but [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco on Mar 5th, 2007, 4:25 pm by Eric     

Smoke-ability

I’m not sure if that’s even a word, but I’ve found myself using the term a lot lately on the pipe discussion boards.  What does it mean?  Pretty much, it describes the quality of a blend that allows you to puff away at it with abandon with no ill effects.  This isn’t a mandatory thing [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco on Mar 4th, 2007, 6:03 pm by Eric  1 comment   

Laurel Heights

This blend from Greg Pease’s Fog City Selection generated a little controversy in the pipe world because it is billed as a Virginia blend and the small amount of Latakia it contains is not mentioned in the tin description, which reads:
Tin description
Rich, ripe, red leaf forms the base of this wonderful Virginia blend. The flavours [...]

Read the full article...
Posted in Pipes and tobacco on Mar 3rd, 2007, 11:57 am by admin