Frog in Your Throat?

I picked up 100 g of my old favorite Frog Morton on my trip to the big city last week. This baccy is an always beloved, never disappointing favorite for me. There is some latakia, and a nice dark set of earthy flavors. I have been told that there is a vanilla topping in there somewhere, but I taste only sweet earthy, light, english goodness. This tobacco is good in much the same way that Dunhill's My Mixture 965 and Rattray's Black Mallory are good. After smoking them it makes it hard to imagine a world in which they did not exist. Well worthy of their massively publicized reputation.

It has been said of a good story line that the end should not just "make sense" but that it should be inevitably. It should bring us to the point of saying, "Of course it had to end like that, there was simply no other way." Frog Morton is a tobacco like that. It is enjoyable story, with high points and deep intrigue ending with a simply inevitable ending bringing both pleasure and challenge. Truly fantastic.

The merits of the tobacco aside, the merits of the tin art are not something to be scoffed at. For some reason the frog is a perfect mascot for the pipe. Though I know not why. Let's examine some examples and see if anything comes to be more clear.
Frogs do have a particular way of looking dapper, and distinguished. Yes, they are a bit fat, but they are supposed to be. The pipe seems to fit very well with their distinguished image.
This seems to confirm the "gentleman frog" ideal mentioned above. Even when talking about being broke, the frog still looks his best, even with nothing besides his full suit and what would seem to be a bayou churchwarden beyond any I have seen.
This frog reminds me of one of my life goals: to enjoy a bowl totally in the buff. The circumstances will have to be planned out correctly, as I am not able to smoke indoors. That aside, this frog brings about the congenial friendliness of the pipe that sits back on a toadstool and enjoys the day that is laid out before him.
This gent seems in no way arrogant. I must admit, suspenders do something grand for most any outfit (including a barrel), and this is no exception. I love the clay pipe, and the way the artist seemed to catch the upward gaze of the frog in a way that is optimistic, but not obnoxious.
This curmudgeon brings a less flattering view, perhaps. But then we note the cane that seems to insinuate the dignity of age, and most importantly the animals rushing either to or from their doom behind him. We find this pipe smoking frog to be the only one in the picture with any bit of sense, and a look on his face that tells us that he is well aware of the fact. Perhaps this is the best picture of a pipe smoking amphibian, as it shows the world racing around in circles while the pipe smoker smirks and enjoys his moment!

And this was all my limited time were able to provide. I will always be blessed with the images of Richard Scary, many of whose animal heroes enjoyed the pipe. And think that other pipe suited animals would be bears, river rats (thank you Wind and the Willows), owls, and certain breeds of dog. While other animals like snakes, foxes, small dogs and chickens are particularly unsuited to pipe smoking.

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.

Famous Pipe Smokers and their Tobacco

I received a beautiful birthday present of a church warden pipe (thanks Ma!) which I will feature in a future notice, but this post is inspired by my mother in a different way. She is apart of a series of postings dedicated to Kenneth Graham's master work The Wind in the Willows (http://fraiselachrymose.blogspot.com/) this is a wonderful book that weighs very heavily into what I view the perfect life to be like. She asked me if anyone smoked a pipe in that book. If memory serves, the Rat does. Even if he doesn't ever do it in the book (which I believe he does); he ever will in my mind. This got my mind rolling around the other famous pipe smokers who never told us. So I thought I would expose them, as well as the tobaccos that they smoke:

The Rat from wind in the willows smokes stoved red virginias, and some Frog Morton for a treat. Usually from his clay pipe (living near the river is a bit humid for briar) and when he is in the mood for a good sit from a larger calabash.

Pooh smokes mostly from a corn cob pipe, but occasionally pulls out an old rusticated pipe with an 1/8th bend in the stem. He smokes honey cavendish, of course.

Brave old Captain Nemo is fond of smoking Burley based blends in a straight billiard shaped pipe.

Chuck Norris, never to be outdone, holds the tobacco in his bare hand. Lights it with his burning rage, enjoys it in such a way as to not influence children to smoke, while deriving more pleasure from it than most mortals are capable of experiencing. He then delivers the only truly objective tobacco review that is available to humanity and posts it on tobaccoreviews.com using a different handle each time (so there is still some challenge for the rest of us).

Who else smokes a pipe and we don't know it? What do they smoke?

Picky Pipers?

I would not say that a healthy fear of making money is the average business owners problem. Though perhaps it may be the fear of the unwitting employee. My topic today is one that I would be interested to hear many responses from varied sources. We all, as pipe smokers, have our own way. For some of us it is more about the pipe, for others, about the tobacco. These are both fine and admirable. For some it is about the lore, and feel, for others it is about the experience. We all smoke pipes for different reasons, and may judge a pipe by wholly different standards when the day is done. That being said, how particular are you?

My mother-in-law wanted to buy a pipe for me this year for Christmas. This is actually one of my favorite exercises in life. Two of my favorite pipes, though they may not be my nicest pipes, are the two my wife picked out for me. One is a larger rusticated pipe (Eriksen) and the other is a smooth finish (unbranded). Both 3/4 bent stems. The first large rusticated one reminded her of a teddy bear, thus naturally, was meaningful to me. The second was "more intellectual and academic" and made her think of C.S. Lewis (something of a hero of mine). I like that, I like the idea of people picking out the pipes that they think suit me, or fit my personality.

The checker at the store they went into, however, claimed that "You should NEVER buy a pipe for a pipe smoker! It's FAR too personal!" And thus cost herself a sale. Hmm...This seems silly. Isn't the best thing to do to say, "I would be happy to find a pipe I'm sure he will love, but just in case I would keep the receipt. Pipe smokers can be finicky." Seriously, it's like someone bottled stupidity and anointed this poor clerk's head with it to make sure that no money was made that day. I couldn't understand it if I wanted to.

That being said, how picky of a smoker are you? Every pipe I own has its own character. Certain tobaccos work better in certain pipes. This is just the way of things. I don't even think I can make correlation between nicer pipes and nicer tobaccos working exclusively in them. Could someone buy you a pipe, or would you rather have the money to pick it out on your own? Is the value of a pipe sentimental or is it purely based on quality? Inquiring minds want to know.

Teaser: I just bought a new pipe from Dave at the VSL. It relates to one of my favorite iconic pipe smokers. A free smiley face emoticon goes to the person who can guess who that iconic pipe smoker might be. It should be here in a week or so...

First impression: this guy is top notch. Friendly, helpful and more than fair with pricing. Check it out.

http://www.virtualsmokinglounge.com/index.html

or on his Youtube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/VSLDavid