A New Pipe and Three Oaks

I love the cob. Perhaps it is the dog days of august, the heritage of being an American pipe smoker with what I view to be the most thoroughly American incarnation of pipe smoking. Mark Twain, General MacArthur and so many others have seemed to enjoy this wonderful vehicle for tobacco, and so do I. So on my trip down to Denver I bought a "Country Gentleman." Unfortunately the bark was not included, but I would have loved to have a bark pipe stand! I like the straight stem and I am certainly working my way up to either a "freehand" cob or a MacArthur cob. However, I can hardly find time to finish a bowl in my general cob so that may have to wait. Either way, great smoker, no surprises.
On top of the fact that I love the cob, I also love McClelland tobaccos. Frog Morton being previously reviewed and much loved, this is another Latakia blend by MacClelland. Note: I got the yellow one (syrian latakia) not the white one. Tin description:

Rare Syrian Latakia, with its renowned mellow smokiness, is balanced with naturally sweet Orientals and aged Virginia leaf to create a satisfying blend reminiscent of classic Syrian Latakia blends of old. Formulated by Tad Gage to reflect the character of original Three Oaks Pipe Tobacco, it tantalizes with intriguing differences.

So, you can pick up that this is a "copy blend". It seems like there is some satisfaction in saying things like "I hate copy blends" or "I normally don't like copy blends." However, none of those things would be true. I have never tried the blends they are trying to copy, so I have no gauge for that. Furthermore, I think it is funny that people have a problem with blends that seek to replicate a previous blend. Musical concerts are filled with pieces that have been done well before and we seek to do them well again. I don't mind in the slightest when a brewery attempt to recreate a recipe that they have loved. It seems quite natural to attempt to attain something similar to a great blend of days past. In fact it seems to me to be a rather noble goal. Just like making seeking to make a new blend is a noble goal.

That aside, this tobacco is a great smoke. Delicious. It is my impression that McClelland has a distinct edge when it comes to Virginia tobaccos and virginia blends. I still have never been bothered by the "ketchup" smell, but it does have that nice "McClelland Aroma." In comparing it to Frog Morton it has all of the same advantages of the great virginia tobaccos, and more latakia taste. Where I would give Frog Morton to a first time tobacco smoker and recommend it to anyone who was interested in testing out some English blends, Three Oaks seems a bit more specialized, less accessible. It is nice and full, sweet and spicy. Not too strong, and worth smoking. I don't know if I will buy more when it's gone, but I haven't regretted it for a shadow of a moment.

Living the Dream

It happens to all of us. First you like the way pipe smoking looks and smells, then you finally purchase your first pipe (hopefully one that looks pretty). Then you being your career as a serious smoker. Start with some drug store blends, or maybe your local tobacconist has some aromatics that smell so nice in the jar you just have to try them.

Yet it doesn't end there. Very quickly, you start buying more pipes, more tobaccos (often faster than you can smoke them). You start saying things to yourself like, "I really want to taste the difference between Syrian and Cyprian latakia." Or perhaps, "I wonder how much perique I can handle before I am unable to operate heavy machinery?" Then you start looking at all of the beautiful pipe shapes and wondering if maybe, just maybe, you could make a pipe. After all you have that lathe you bought when you were thinking about becoming a professional baseball bat/table leg maker. This could work! But that turned out to be a lot of work, and when you looked at your collection of pipes you had your beautiful Savinelli sitting next to your self made pipe that looks like it was fashioned by left handed six year olds who were attempting to create something that they could pretend was a ray gun in an upcoming alien invasion. So you decide that pipe making is best left to the pros, and you are glad that you can participate in these aesthetic masterpieces by purchasing them, caring for them and smoking them.

Then you think about tobacco. Sure you couldn't grow tomatoes or flowers...but what about tobacco? The fleeting moment of thought that perhaps growing tobacco might be illegal, and then you think..."Wait, we have become totally communist yet? Have we?" And you think about all that probably goes into growing tobacco, and you think how much work the Rattrays, McClellands, the Cornells and the Deihls of the world probably had to learn before they could bring you Black Mallory, Christmas Cheer and Mississippi Mud. So you decide to enjoy what they have to offer (have you picked up on the fact that when I say 'you' I mean 'I' - of course you have - you are a genius.)

Well, one man is living the dream. I was through the resources on the PSB (http://pipesmokingbloggers.blogspot.com/ - go there.) and chanced on a man who has combined desire with courage and undertaken the great task. Exile (the blogger) has grown and dried and is now curing tobacco and he is incredibly open handed with his technique. (http://thepipesmoker.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/harvest/#comment-419) It lit every fire in me to think "I could do this! I really could grow some head of my own." His latest post charts the adventure, the providence and the ingenuity of creating something totally his own to smoke. At this point he's less than two weeks out of reviewing his own tobacco, so check back frequently. If you lose the URL for his site you can always find him through the PipeSmokingBloggers site (http://pipesmokingbloggers.blogspot.com) generously led and flagshipped by Joffre the Giant (http://joffrethegiant.blogspot.com/) as well as see some other great pipe and tobacco related blogs.