SWR, Salt and Vodka

If I've ever lied to you, dear friend, I apologize. If I've ever misled you, I confess it and ask your forgiveness. However, I make it plain once more. I have not become so much a man of taste that the very simplest things have no allure to me! I picked up a pouch of this tobacco when stocking up on Carter Hall from the grocery. Hopefully, the CH won't be quite as dry as this pouch. This is a nice burley blend available over most counters that might have pipe tobacco behind them. This is most certainly in the ball park of Prince Albert and Carter Hall. It is nice and nutty. Not too bold and never terribly complex. A fine, classic American blend.

The critique? It is quite simple. At my local grocery store I pay around twice as much for this as I do for the comparable OTC blends. The result? I probably won't be picking up another pouch of this delightful blend. This is the standing problem with simple burley blends. It is difficult for burley blends to catch up in the "bang for the buck" area of life when compared to Prince Albert and Carter Hall. Not that there aren't some great ones out there. Cornell and Deihl have some fantastic burley blends that are crowd pleasers to say the least (I believe I even reviewed "Crooner" and know that I enjoyed it, once I learned how to work with the cubed burley). So, there you have it.

I have been spending some time refurbishing a set of 16 pipes that April got off of eBay. The process has been fun and has led me to invest in new reamers, tobaccos and alcohols. The last is not because the process is driving me to drink, but rather because I have been attempting to get the mustiness out of them as they sat unused for quite some time (even to the point of having cob webs all over them). The idea of filling pipes with salt and alcohol seemed strange and unwelcome to me, but tonight I have done that with the four best of the lot. I am hoping the strange residual taste and smell gets drawn out, however, after the intense reaming that they all received at my very hand I am interested to see. 8 hrs into the treatment the salt growing quite dark. The results are yet to be seen!

Vanilla, Brownies and more leaves to rake...

Another beautiful fall day yesterday (but for some rather pushy winds). However, the fact that it was dry out gave me the opportunity to rake up no less than 14 bags of leaves in the back yard. I don't think it would have taken just so long, but the kids do love to help. That kind of help comes with the price tag of lengthening the task while making it endless amounts of fun! Yet still we had a good romp in the leaves again, which was lovely. Nothing seemed to go so well with raking leaves as some Special Balkan from Edwards, which I love (heavy latakia, cool burning, very nice), and then I wrapped up with a nice bowl of Bjorkum Riff whiskey. (By "nice" of course, I mean that my tongue was bitten off completely!) However, on other occasions I have enjoyed the BR's whiskey immensely.

I must admit I have something of a fetish for over the counter blends. I realize the many things that bring them disrespect, (chemicals, cheap tobacco, tongue bite, etc), however there is something good and honest about the over the counter blends that I truly appreciate. I suppose it simply does my heart good in the first place to see pipe tobacco in a supermarket or drug store. It makes me hopeful that more and more may be enjoying our hobby, which has a multitude of great effects. The least of which are the fact that more demand may mean more supply for our town, but more so, it appears to me that the nature of enjoying pipe tobacco is somehow generally edifying and conducive to the growth and amiability of most humans. I must say truthfully that pipe tobacco actually seems to make the world a better place, even if the impact is small.

However, I can't leave my penchant for over the counter pipe tobacco's there, acting as if it were all for "high" and "intellectual" reasons. While most OTC blends are not as complex as the bulks and boutiques that we all spend so much time talking about, they are honest. In my experience they taste and smell much like what they claim to. I adore half and half, carter hall, and prince albert. All of which are regular in my pipe smoking routine (particularly when I have the chance to enjoy a bowl in the morning). Burley is wonderful, and I love the nuttiness of each of the aforementioned blends. Things get a bit "stickier" when we get to the over the counter aromatics, but I still can appreciate an evening with the Captain or Bjorkum Riff without much complaint (if, of course I pack and smoke them correctly).

To close that rant, I have to say that smoking the whiskey tobacco while working out doors (particularly heavy working) most always results in a bit of a bite, and that's no reason to induce criticism on Bjorkum Riff. The whiskey flavor comes through well and the tobacco doesn't seem in any way "goopy" or "nasty." To be quite honest, dollar for dollar this produces a better experience than Plumcake (again, as a personal preference).

However, I have one more note to play for today's entry. Not many nights ago I had the opportunity to sample MacBaren's Vanilla blend. I was a bit apprehensive based on my not altogether impressive experience with Plumcake. However, a friend bought it, so that eased the tension. The presentation was much like Plumcake. Looking at the open tin you can tell with great clarity that you are looking at (and smelling) very high quality tobacco. Most acts like ribbon cut with an occasional flake (kind of like looking for the cashews in a jar of mixed nuts). The vanilla is more clear from the tin aroma (as compared to the lack of rum scent in Plumcake). I am predisposed to enjoy vanilla and chocolate in general as far as aromatics. The tobacco burned well and tasted nice, the slight vanilla topping came through beautifully and it was altogether an enjoyable smoking experience. The scent off of the bowl and second hand was delicious and charming. While I am not planning on running out and buying a tin of this any time soon, it was a pleasant smoke for someone who wants just a touch of vanilla in their otherwise high quality smoke. Delicious.

Now, for the real anticipation. The Pipe Pastor has recommended Black Gold from Hiland Tobacco (http://hilandscigars.com/) and I finally ordered a half pound to get me started. It fascinates me when a person finds that one tobacco that they can commit to forsaking all others. One Youtube presenter is rarely seen without Billy Budd, another continually favors various flake tobaccos. Of course Jeoffrey is very commonly enjoying the ever awesome (and awesomely named) "chocolate manhood" which I am remiss for having never tried. I have a great number of tobaccos I have enjoyed immensely. I would like to do a post on my desert island top five (which very few seem to be willing to commit to declaring) tobaccos, as I am in the mood for different tobaccos at different times, and am usually possessed of such a sunny disposition that I am able to enjoy whatever tobacco I am smoking as if it were the best tobacco on earth (take this into account when you read my reviews). In any event, once I got through my top five there are simply days where I want to try something new. I wonder, will it ever go away? Will Black Gold be the tobacco that makes me never again yearn for another? Tough to say.

I am earnestly and fully committed to my wife, to the point where other women are not even considered romantically or sexually. I my wife so much that I can't imagine life with anyone else, so I don't consider it. I love my job, and were another to open up offering me all of the money I could never hope to spend I wouldn't even consider it because I am right where the Lord wants me, and that's where I want to be. Is it possible that a tobacco exists out there that so characterizes who I am and why I enjoy pipe smoking that I forsake all other tobaccos? This is a matter for serious thought and consideration.