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.

Black Gold

Truthfully, I don't know if I would ever have tried this tobacco had it not come so highly recommended to me! When thinking of the words "black gold" I would have happily applied it to coffee, or to oil, even to a Blackberry telephone (never really got into it as the trackball always seemed to get messed up), but a tobacco that could be defined by its mere monochrome coloring doesn't seem to promise quite enough to draw my attention. This tobacco, available in bulk from Hiland Cigars (www.hilandscigars.com), is described as: "Medium to full aromatic cavendish. Rare Green River Burley is the only tobacco used in this blend. The process is top secret!" Of course there is a challenge given in this description, and while I have some guesses, I wouldn't want to make them public, as they are bordering on the ridiculous! But onto the tobacco review.

This tobacco was recommended by PipePastor, (Youtube channel page - http://www.youtube.com/user/PipePastor). Finally, I put in my order and waited. First thing's first I must say the gentlemen at Hilands Cigars were helpful and shipped quickly, even responding personally to my questions. Before going on with my appreciation of the tobacco I have to share (with permission) PipePastor's instructions to me before I packed my first bowl (which was, consequently, a total success):

"Open it carefully. Take your time. Smell the box, feel the moist weed in your hands. Squeeze it and feel it stick together like chocolate cake crumbs. Rub it and smell it as it releases the "love". Pack it classically, holding your pipe bowl so that your first finger and thumb overlap the top of the bowl a little. Gravity fill it to the top of your finger and thumb. pac it gently down till it's almost half way down the bowl. Repeat but this time pac it a little harder till it's almost at the same level as the first. Repeat one more time and pac it a little harder till its just below or level with the pipe bowl. Then char it good, around 10 - 15 puffs making sure the flame hits the tobacco evenly. It will expand alot and some will spill over the edge of the bowl. Not to worry, they are behaving themselves Christianly, gladly giving their lives so that you can get an excellent first light. Now tamp rather hard, while puffing around 5 times. Tamp again, and do the same. One more time and do the same. Now you're ready to enjoy the whole bowl without it going out with frequent tamping due to the moistness and expansiveness of the tobacco. Take your time, breath a little through your nose and see if you can pick up all the glorious nuances of taste and smell."

I would hope that the care with which this introduction was written helps explain just how much a tobacco can mean to us. It was written with the care of someone introducing an old friend to a new friend, knowing that the mutual acquaintance will enrich everyone involved. So, in case you were wondering, I had absolutely no chance of giving this tobacco an objective review. But since I don't believe there is much value in objective reviewing in the realm of pipe tobacco (movies, books, coffee or any other matters of taste) I won't hesitate to move forward!

This is an aromatic to beat all aromatics. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have no bias against aromatics, and don't even suffer from the the tongue bite that so many report when smoking aromatics (and I thank the Lord for the tongue that I have!), so this comes from a lover of non-goopy aromatics as a preset preference. This tobacco is an absolute delight. There is a wonderful fullness of taste that simply coats the mouth beautifully. The aroma as it burns, and is breathed out the nose has the decadent and rich flavors of chocolate and vanilla together (my two favorite aromatic flavors), combined with a great tobacco flavor in the burley.

This will probably not become the only tobacco I will ever smoke (as stated in previous posts, I am too much of a tobacco whore, and I'm not looking to commit!) however, I can firmly say that I have no intention of ever being caught without this tobacco, henceforth. This has become (in only a few short weeks) my "go to" tobacco for parties, smoking groups, Bible studies. This has become the tobacco that my pouch has been full a few weekend trips and long drives, and when I do bring it to groups with other pipe smokers I find the people I smoke with emptying out their bowls of whatever else they are used to to get another bowl of this in.

I wouldn't want to oversell this tobacco, but I must share one more note. When tobaccos are rated words like "room-note", "flavor", "strength", and "flavoring" are used (as seen at "tobaccoreviews.com") however there is another category that I would like to add. The name "aftertaste" has such a nasty connotation, however I would prefer to call it the "echo." The Echo of this Tobacco is miraculous. The taste of frosted chocolate stays on the tongue and permeates the mouth. I came in from a nice bowl of this tobacco and my wife offered me a brownie and I declined feeling like I had already had too much desert today, because the taste was still so vivid from 30 minutes ago. Then I realized that tobacco was calorie free and had my brownie with all the more pleasure! (how did I get so chubby again?) I actually even detect a note of this a day after often times (this is two toothbrushings and 3&1/2 meals later, mind you!) and the taste is simply delightful.

I am excited to know that there is yet more "gold" at the end of this rainbow as there is also a "Black Gold Plus" which, evidently, has some Virginia flake in it. So that means that there is yet another adventure ahead when I am finished with the half pound of "Black Gold" that I am enjoying! I will, of course, update when I make the leap!

Both of these tobaccos are available from Hiland's Cigars (as mentioned above) and are available in half pound increments and up, and well worth it! Here are the links:

Black Gold: http://www.hilandscigars.com/bulk-pipe-tobacco/aromatic-blends/black-gold.html

Black Gold Plus: http://www.hilandscigars.com/bulk-pipe-tobacco/aromatic-blends/black-gold-plus.html

Deepest thanks to PipePastor for his fellowship, thoughtful words and great recommendation! And a happy Thanksgiving to every pipe smoker, cigar smoker, and then to everyone after that in alphabetical order!