Bjarne Nielsen, the owner and the founder of Bjarne Pipes, passed away in February 2008. The company was founded in 1973 and became Denmark’s largest pipe manufacturer of 100% hand made pipes. Bjarne Nielsen’s pipes are recognized as a great value. His goal was to make high quality Danish pipes at a reasonable price. Bjarne pipes are hand made of the highest quality Grecian and Calabrian plateaux briar. Get one of his excellent pipes while you still can.
This is a Viking pipe, made by Bjarne. This pipe measures approximately 5 1/2″ Long x 1 7/8″ High with a bowl diameter of 1 1/4″ and a maximum bowl width of 1 1/2″.
By: John St. Mark
The label mentions "blackberry, cassis, mocha and clove." … You take a sip … it tastes like wine …
You have a good bottle of cabernet sauvignon. The label mentions "blackberry, cassis, mocha and clove." Your pinot noir is said to be reminiscent of "strawberry, rose and autumn forest earth." The chardonnay: "pear and melon, with a hint of butter." That sauvignon blanc contains "essences of citrus, passion fruit, and wild herbs."
You open a bottle, pour a glass, enjoy the beautiful color and aroma, and take a sip. It smells and tastes like… wine. Are you missing something? Where are all those flavors and aromas supposed to come from?
The descriptions may seem fanciful, but they are (or should be) based on characteristics the wine actually possesses. An ability to identify component aromas and flavors in wine is largely acquired through practice; don’t worry if they are not immediately obvious to you. If you want to, you can learn to recognize them.
Real Briar Polished Pipe #1. These Briar pipes were made by Lorenzo in the late 1970’s. This pipe measures approximately 5 1/2″ Long x 1 3/8″ High with a bowl diameter of 1 1/4″and a maximum bowl width of 1 5/8″.
Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) June 20, 2009 — California legislators are grasping at tax straws that don’t exist as they seek to raise billions of dollars that don’t exist for a balanced state budget that doesn’t exist, according to the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.
Two legislators - Democrat Assemblyman Tom Torlakson of Contra Costa County and Democrat State Senator Alex Padilla of Los Angeles - have introduced AB89 and SB600, respectively. The bills propose to increase tobacco taxes to as much as $2.10 per pack of cigarettes on top of the current $.87 per pack state tax and recently increased federal taxes of $1.00 per pack plus correspondingly stiff increases on other tobacco products like cigars and pipe tobacco.
"It’s easy to call these ‘tobacco taxes’, but the truth is they are discriminatory taxes that target some 15 percent of California adults who enjoy tobacco in one form or another , whether they smoke cigarettes or savor hand-made cigars" said Chris McCalla, legislative director of IPCPR.
"Real people pay these taxes… real people at all economic levels who vote and who have had enough overspending by government. They are customers of our more than 200 members throughout the state of California who are smoke shop owners and manufacturers or distributors of premium cigars and other tobacco products. They are, for the most part, small, family-owned businesses that employ thousands of their neighbors. As taxes go up and sales go down, their businesses are as threatened as the jobs of their employees and the sales, income and other taxes collected by the local, state and federal governments," McCalla said.
Proponents of increased tobacco taxes claim they will make it more difficult for under-aged individuals to purchase cigarettes.
"Higher taxes do not make it more difficult for teen-agers to purchase tobacco … they only make it more expensive for them and everyone else. If we want to keep kids from smoking - and we agree that everyone should support that goal - we should be enforcing the laws that are already on the books as do all members of the IPCPR," said McCalla.
McCalla disagreed with an editorial in a California newspaper (Wednesday, June 17, Los Angeles Times) that said increasing state tobacco taxes would be a "fair and constructive" way to find "balance" for the budget.
"The bills’ sponsors are estimating that these new, taxes on 15 percent of Californians might generate up to $2 billion as the state seeks to fill its $24 billion deficit. That is anything but fair, constructive or balanced," McCalla said.
Just because a place has a smoking lounge, it doesn’t mean the folks who use it simply hang around smoking and, um, lounging.
"I had a guy come in here and did his whole bills for a month-and-a-half," recalled Jan McClellan, the retired city policeman who owns Sal’s Tobacco, Pipe & Coffee Shop with his wife, Sally. "He smoked a cigar."
Another user, he said, was a laid-off Warner Gear employee who puffed a stogie while studying the textbooks for his new profession-to-be - nursing.
Laptop computer users can also access the Internet here.
Of course, some guys just come in to light up, grab a cup of coffee and talk.
If you haven’t smoked a flake tobacco before then Mac Baren Navy Flake might be a good one to start with. It’s a fine smooth smoke that will definitely have you coming back for more. I’d classify this as a high-quality slightly aromatic blend. This is far from a "drug store" tobacco. It is actually quite pleasant in many ways …
Boston, Mass. (PRWEB) - Apparently State Rep. Ted Speliotis doesn’t believe Massachusetts has gone far enough to control the lives of its citizens, but the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association and its several dozen members statewide believe that the tipping point of public opinion has been reached against legislated deprivation of their individual rights.
Speliotis’ bill to essentially ban smoking within 25 feet of windows and entrances of buildings is expected to be reviewed this week at a State House hearing.
"People are complaining today that governments at all levels have gone too far by intruding on their lives and taking away more and more of their rights," said Chris McCalla, legislative director of the IPCPR. "Well, a smoking ban such as proposed by Speliotis only serves to embolden legislators to deprive more and more people of their rights in an ever widening variety of categories . That’s why smokers and non-smokers alike should take a stand against legislated smoking bans of any kind."
McCalla cites the Federal Reserve Bank which uses data supplied by the Bureau of Statistics to prove that jobs are lost and businesses are threatened in areas where smoking bans are tolerated.
Stephen Willett, owner of tobacconist L. J. Peretti Co., a family operated business in Boston for nearly 140 years, agrees. He is among the Massachusetts members of IPCPR who, along with their customers, are even more strident in their opposition to government control over lifestyle decisions.
"What hypocrisy! Many of the same state and federal legislators who vote for smoking bans or over-the-top tax increases on tobacco enjoy cigars and pipes or smoke cigarettes whenever they get a chance. Businesses should be left to decide for themselves to allow smoking or not and customers can patronize them or not. That’s the American way," said Willett.
"For nearly a century and a half, our business has survived wars, weather, depressions and other man-made and natural disasters. However, the recent actions of our local, state and federal governmental bodies have hurt us the most. They’ve raised tobacco taxes too high in order to pay for programs they can’t afford. They’ve restricted smoking or banned it outright in order to control us, which denies us of our constitutional rights," Willett said.
"Our customers are outraged and have reached the tipping point on issues like this that deprive them of their rights," he added
Say hello to Valerie and join her in a nice relaxing pipe smoke after a day at the office.
Pipe Girl Valerie - CLICK HERE FOR FULL GALLERY
Bjarne Nielsen, the owner and the founder of Bjarne Pipes, passed away in February 2008. The company was founded in 1973 and became Denmark’s largest pipe manufacturer of 100% hand made pipes. Bjarne Nielsen’s pipes are recognized as a great value. His goal was to make high quality Danish pipes at a reasonable price. Bjarne pipes are hand made of the highest quality Grecian and Calabrian plateaux briar. Get one of his excellent pipes while you still can.
This is a Viking pipe, made by Bjarne. This pipe measures approximately 5 3/4″ Long x 1 3/4″ High with a bowl diameter of 1 1/8″ and a maximum bowl width of 1 5/8″.
Tad Gage and Fred Hanna gave a 1-hour presentation and seminar at The 2009 Chicagoland Int’l Pipe & Tobacciana Show on Saturday May 2, 2009.
For your viewing convenience, we have split the presentation into 13 clips of 5 minutes each.
The lighting is a little dark at the beginning of the first clip, but give it a minute and it is corrected.
Tad Gage authored the book, "Complete Idiots Guide To Cigars" and writes for Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine amongst many other accolades. Fred Hanna has written numerous articles about pipes and pipe smoking published in many venues.
The syllabus for the seminar was:
Introduction
How analyzing and understanding what you like enhances the experience and the fun
How tasting can lead to your own blending experiments
Know what you like, like what you know: tasting and describing tobaccos
Fred’s tobacco analysis and rating sheet (Fred)
Identifying individual components (Tad and Fred)
Using your eyes
Picking apart the blend (visual and tasting raw leaf)
Analyzing the components
Effective tasting and analysis techniques (Fred)
You can’t make a bad blend good
The right pipe (draft, airhole, briar, minimal cake)
Prepping, slow smoking, analyzing as you go
Analyzing cellared vs. “new” tobacco blends
The Cat’s out of the bag (the Soderman conundrum): once you’ve rehydrated an old tin, you have to smoke it
Some tips on describing what you’re tasting (Tad)
Trying Your Hand At Blending
Creating your own unique blend is a time honored tradition (Tad)
Makers work hard to create blends, but they’re not sacred
Be a chef: add ingredients a little at a time
Using straight base/blending ingredients vs. mixing already created blends
Use your tasting guide as a roadmap to creating your own (Fred)
Personal blending tips (Tad)
Home stoving of tobaccos (Fred)