What are you enjoying now?

Why, thank you for asking! I have had some wonderful opportunities to enjoy several bowls of good pipe tobacco these past weeks. This time, historically, had been a time of looking with a jealous eye toward spring. This year is no exception. I long for the warm summer afternoon pipes and late night conversations over endlessly burning bowls of tobacco.  Yet, as Graham Green so well writes in The Power and the Glory: "One of the Fathers has told us that joy always depends on pain. Pain is part joy. We are hungry and then think how we enjoy our food at last."

So my anticipatory celebration in the pain of the cold has consisted of several in my regular rotation.  First, plenty of Edwards Special Balkan. This is a blend that is simply synonymous with satisfaction for me. On situations where it is better for me not to smell like a walking Latakia bomb I have been favoring C and D's Nutty Irishman.  I have been poking through this bag for about a year now.  I bought it loving the smell of the topping, but have found it to be a bit bitey. This was a surprise because the time I had it before there was little or no bite.  I suppose our tastes do change.

Another C and D blend I have been enjoying is Morning Drive Time. I bought this for purely romantic reasons.  The idea of blends that honor the working man was too attractive to pass up.  This VA/perique blend lived up to its high calling marvelously. While Dunhill's EarlyMorning Pipe never lived up to the hype for me, Morning Drive Time fits my breakfast smoke profile.

On the over the over the counter side I have been lusting after another package of Carter Hall, which I love so dearly.  However I cannot indulge in it because I still have a package of Sir Walter Raleigh to get through. While satisfying for that burley fix, it simply is not Carter Hall.  Which I recognize is like saying, "This cup of tea simply is not a cup of coffee!"  Yet in pure preference Mmy mouth remembers something lovely about the simplicity of Carter Hall burley.

Finally, my other old standby, Black Watch from Edwards in Denver. It is the first pipe tobacco I remember smoking. I smoked it too quickly and too hot. It bit my tongue, but at the time I knew no better. The vanilla aroma brings back those first beautiful bowls. Then When I learned how to smoke slowly and enjoy the true flavor of the tobacco in sweet sips this tobacco came alive in new and exciting ways.  

But what have you been smoking, dear reader?

Haunted Bookshop

These weeks have made way for much satisfying pipe smoking. And with increased pipe smoking there is an increasing desire to write about said lovely pleasure. But what has been the head? Great question. Still a great variety of Latakia blends. I just finished my small tin of three oaks by macclelland. So nice. Great Virginia's mixed with the finest Latakia, for all I know! There has also been a good amount of Frog Morton burning up, one of my few repeat purchases. Along with Nitecap and Black Mallory. I have recently purchased two new 'baccys one Presbyterian which I invested in because I once went to a Presbyterian Church and found that everyone there was rather smokey already, so why not go for the gold! Seriously though, I'll let you know when I crack that tin. I have a handful of tins open that I have not yet finished. Including some Irish flake which is another repeat purchase, and very rewarding. I would much like to try Full Virginia Flake and Squadron Leader. But that is still future tense. The other new tobacco I have cracked enjoyed several good bowls: haunted bookshop by c and d's. This is a really nice burley blend. And it really has a nice flavor. Keep in mind, I love Burley Over The Counter blends. I do have a dream of buying a big tin of carter hall before the year is out, but it is money and I simply don't smoke enough of it to justify the purpose. Actually, i think I just like the size of the jar, on top of adoring Carter Hall, which I very much do. So Haunted Bookshop tastes to mee like all of he things I love about CH plus a perfect seasoning of perique. It really is just right, a bit more and it would gobble up the nutty burley flavor a bit less and you may not appreciate it as a major part of the blend. Double win on this one. Because someone may ask, there is also no chemical taste like unto CH. it's a good sturdy blend, likely a repurchase, though at this point I promise nothing.

Warm Smoke and A New Circle!

It took longer than I had expected, but the time has at last come. I have been out almost every single night in the past two weeks enjoying a pipe. The crickets haven't started singing yet, but the stars do shine. Ah, blissful smoke rings rising gently into the glorious inky blackness of the nighttime sky! In addition to this great joy I have some other news:

Pipe Smoking Bloggers

So I have joined the Pipe Smoking Bloggers ring for bloggers who blog about pipe smoking. (Was that a haiku? No? Okay.) Three ways I would invite you to be involved:

1) Keep reading my blog. It really means a great deal to me that you do.

2) Click over to http://pipesmokingbloggers.blogspot.com/ and follow said blog, checking the other followers to find other great and interesting pipe bloggers.

3) If you are a pipe blogger of follow this link to join the crusade (perhaps a bit of an overly dramatic way to put it, but hey, there you have it!) http://pipesmokingbloggers.blogspot.com/p/join-us.html There you will also be given a choice of two "Blog Buttons" which you can add to your blog (Mine is proudly displayed in the side bar at the top.)

Nutty Irishman

Besides the reality that I feel that this Pipe Tobacco by Cornell and Deihl describes me personally in a deeply personal way it was a pleasure to smoke. Here is the "tin description" from C&D's Website:

Imagine a bottle of Frangelico and a bottle of Irish Mist having a head on collision and you'll have an idea of the flavor and aroma of Nutty Irishman, though the end product has a uniqueness that goes beyond the characterization.

The first thing to note about this tobacco is the last thing that I usually notice: room note! I smoked this in my car on the way to Bible Study one night and the next day had someone get in my car and comment on how nice it was, and what air freshner I had used to get that great "nutty smell". I kid you not, it smells that good.

It is a typical C&D's aromatic aside from that. I mean that as a compliment. Natural flavor, high quality bulk tobacco and great light food grade topping that leaves no goop in the bowl or bite on the tongue. This is on my list for my next big order from C&D's. If you like an aromatic this one will get the job done.

Check back soon, warmer weather means more smoking, means more Pipe Reflected reminiscing.

Too Busy Not to Smoke a Pipe

Being in pastoral ministry it is inevitable that everything ramps up to Easter Sunday. It is a blessed time and a celebration I revel in. Any opportunity to gaze most steadily at my Savior with my brothers and sisters in the Lord is a blessing. Yet in the Church that "ramp up" includes extra devotions, services, and special plans for each service. All of this can create the sad illusion of "busyness." And so often my pipe smoking time gets squeezed out (it has also been cold, which makes it tougher to get out). However, I notice that lack of time at the pipe causes a muddled and frazzled disposition that cannot be accounted for other than by facing the reality that I require a great amount of solitude to function in my role as a follower of Jesus, a husband, a father, a pastor and a friend. I have been thankful to take the time, and enjoy a bit more of the generous gift of PipePastor. Some highlights:

Smooth Black and Gold Cav - This one is from Aramark. Very nice, more blacks than golds. It has a tough of that "aromatic chemical" flavor to it, but not much. The beauty of this tobacco is that it does a marvelous job of sweetening as you progress through the bowl. If you like medium cased Cavendish tobaccos this one will serve you well.

Hiland's Snowflake - If Hiland's were my local shop this tobacco would almost certainly make my regular rotation. Hiland's blenders have really mastered that "natural-aromatic" balance. This is what I appreciate about a number of the Edward's blends as well (Blackwatch, Good Companion, Branywine, etc.). G.L. Pease wrote that all tobaccos are cased to one degree or another, and a well cased aromatic shouldn't act so different from a "natural". This one passes the test. The tobacco is good, flavorful, and develops nicely throughout the bowl. The flavor is difficult to put a finger on and the tobacco is mild, but not too mild. Great smoke.

Cornell & Deil Apricot - Okay, this had everything going against it in my pipe. First, I am not a fan of fruit flavors or toppings. Second, it was my third bowl for the night. Third, even if I did like fruity flavors, I am not terribly fond of Apricot. If the previous things aren't true for your this may be worth a try. For me this one simply wasn't what I am looking for. It was also hard to keep lit, but that could be any tobacco, bowl to bowl.

Cross Eyed Cricket - Cornell and Deihl also makes this one. This was a tobacco that seemed to generate a lot of heat on tobaccoreviews.com as many liked and many really disliked it. I am not adamant about the "purity" aspect, so I found it fun, light and playful. I have to tell you that the person I was smoking with really noticed the "room note" as being particularly pleasant. I enjoyed this one, but I will have to do it again to decide if I am going to buy another tin.

Jack-knife Plug - (G.L. Pease). This tobacco is "Holy Crap Stop the presses!" good. Striking. and delicious. My second "plug" tobacco and it is simply everything that I look for in a tobacco. Really high quality. I don't want to say much more about it as I will probably do another post just delving into the beauty of this excellent tobacco.

I would encourage you to take some time out and read Joffre's article Juxtaposing Good Friday and Earthday as it is noteworthy: http://joffrethegiant.blogspot.com/2011/04/good-friday-and-earth-day.html

Finally, I would encourage you to think on these lines by Robert Frost:

The Pasture

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;

I'll only stop to rake the leaves away

(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):

I sha'n't be gone long. -You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf

That's standing by the mother. It's so young,

It totters when she licks it with her tongue.

I sha'n't be gone long. -You come too.

Mmmmm...Mud!

I am about half way through my first tin of Mississippi Mud and have enjoyed it a great diehl so far. I have been on an adventure to understand and enjoy perique more (or at least be able to identify it). I get conflicting definitions of what perique does in a blend from different sources. This seems to be the case with a number of pipe tobacco things leading me to conclude that everyone has a different mouth, a different way of smoking, and a different reason for smoking. I am led to believe that there is a fair amount of perique in this blend (it is named as the first condimental on the tin). I have had a bayou bulk blend from Edwards that claims to be heavy on perique and it's the same taste. Spicy, spicy!

I love the zip that this tobacco has. It's not overly punchy, and it doesn't ruin my mouth for later. I don't really taste the latakia...I'm sure it is there, I just seem to hone in on that perique taste. I can't really say what the room note is because I smoke outside, that doesn't mean that anyone else agrees on it though! One reviewer smelled someone else smoking it and fell so much in love with it that he went out and bought a larger can to make sure he could perfume his house with it before company came over (note to self, don't ever do this), another reviewer claimed that the best point of comparison to the smell of this tobacco is that it most resembles the smell of someone extinguishing a wood fire with their mornings outlet of fluids. I personally can never tell if something smells good or bad as I love the smell of pipe tobacco in almost every case. My wife however only knows one tobacco by name - this one. I can smoke this on the way to my destination in the morning, and my wife will be able to tell that I had smoked Mississippi Mud when I return home that night. Anything that has that distinct a smell must be good. Same rules apply to dairy products...no, strike that, different rules for milk.

All said and done, I love this tobacco, it has a flavor that keeps me wanting more of it, I finish most every bowl I start because it's just so interesting (whereas with less interesting tobaccos I may just get cold and go inside, finishing the bowl in the morning). Don't be scared by the look of it (it does look very much like mud). The taste is great. I have to admit, I would love to be a tobacco namer (is that a job?). C&D seems to have the most fun in naming their blends and designing their tins. Even still, it seems like they named most of them after watching too many Tex Avery cartoons (I'm looking at you Bow-Legged Bear!). It doesn't make them any worse for the smoking, though!