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.

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.