Fred Hanna’s New Book for Pipe Smokers a Must Have
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Kevin Godbee - Mar 21, 2012
- 6 min read
The Perfect Smoke – Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection, By Fred J. Hanna
Kevin Godbee
It’s not often that a new book targeted to pipe smokers and collectors gets published. We are after all, a pretty small niche market. So when a new book does come out, it almost feels like there should be a celebration. In this case, I think a celebration of Fred Hanna’s latest labor of love is warranted … and you should buy the book too. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m planning on getting an autographed copy when I see Fred at The Chicagoland Int’l Pipe & Tobacciana Show on May 5 & 6. I already know the book is going to be great. Fred is a genius when it comes to pipes and tobaccos. He has a PhD in psychology, and was awarded the "Doctor of Pipes" designation at the 2010 Chicago show. He has been in the hobby for countless years, is known for his love of straight grain pipes, and has his own tobacco blend produced by McClelland, called Wilderness.
Fred has spoken publicly and has been published innumerous times on the subjects of pipes, tobaccos, and in his professional field of psychology. He has many extremely fascinating insights that tie together psychology, physiology, health, and relaxation with pipes and tobacco. The way Dr. Hanna expresses his knowledge, information and wisdom is just purely captivating. The book is a combination of past works, and new writings, and is the perfect opportunity to get inside the mind of one of the brightest people in the hobby.
Below are some of the pipes featured in the book, although they are in black & white in the book.
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In an unprecedented manner, there are two forewards—one by Gregory L. Pease, and the other by Tad Gage. Both are well-known tobacco blenders, pipe collectors, and columnists / writers. Dr. Hanna tells us; "The book consists of 17 or so completely new essays on pipes and tobaccos on a wide range of topics. It also includes another 17 or so revised and updated essays from previous publications, dealing with original and still popular topics such as pipe smoking and problem solving, air-pocket packing, pipe mud, tin baking, brand vs. briar (first published 11 years ago and still a hot topic), old vs. new tobaccos, mysteries of the break-in process and many more."
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"The book also contains around 70 or so photos of pipes and vintage rare tobacco tins. They are in black and white as [color was cost-prohibitive]. There are 2 forewords in the book, generously written by Gregory Pease and Tad Gage. I know 2 forewords is rather unique but I could not decide on which of them should do it (as they are both such good friends) so I asked them both. It turned out pretty cool, as both of the forewords are quite different. It is being published by the NASPC Press which allows me the privilege of having the book edited by Bill Unger, who is a professional editor and a PhD in literature (in the book, he included some comments from the editor as well). This is the 2nd book published by the NASPC Press."
The price of the book is $25 for U.S., $30 for Canada, and $35 for overseas. To order online, just send a Pay Pal payment and note to: bill@naspc.org. You can also use the Perfect Smoke Flyer & Order Form – PDF. NOTE: The book will be available in early May, but you can pre-order.
Here is the book cover, front and back –
Here is a preview of the Table of Contents –
THE PERFECT SMOKE:
GOURMET PIPE SMOKING FOR RELAXATION AND REFLECTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Some Thoughts from the Editor
Foreword by Gregory Pease
Foreword by Tad Gage
One of the World’s Most Underrated Pleasures: An Introduction to the Perfect Smoke
BOOK CHAPTERS
CHAPTER ONE: PIPE SMOKING
Seven Essential Pipe Skills: Plus Suggestions for the Perfect Smoke
The Benefits of Nicotine: Drug of the Devil or Gift of the Gods?
Tasting Pipe Tobacco: The Sublime and the Ambiguous
Pipe Tobacco Rating Form
Mysteries of the Break-In Process: The Roasting Effect
A New Pipe’s First Bowl: Avoiding Premature Conclusions
Notes from the Tobacco Bakery
The Air-Pocket Packing Method
CHAPTER TWO: PIPE TOBACCOS
Adventures in Tobacco Blending: From the Sublime to the Sacrilegious
Legends Tobacco Blend
Wilderness Pipe Tobacco: A Blend or a Discovery?
Desert for Latakia Lovers: Introducing the Aromatic Latakia Bomb
Marvelous Marcovitch: A Tale of Perseverance Paying Off
Tobaccos of Yore, Tobaccos of Today: A Conversation Between Tobacco Enthusiasts
CHAPTER THREE: PIPES
Choosing the Great Briar Pipe: Factors to Consider
The Magic Pipe and the Quest for the Perfect Smoke
The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipe Smoking and Tasting
It’s Still the Briar, Not the Brand: The Ambient-Air Effect, a Castello Rumor, and a Few Quotes
Brand Myth Epilogue: Pipe Tasting and Collecting and the Problem of Subjectivity
Charatan Pipes: Some Notes on Collecting, the Dunhill DR, the Lane Stamp, and the Great Charatan Shapes
More with Moretti
The Best Sandblasted Pipes Are Being Made by Americans
The Oom Paul’s Background
Pipe Mud: A Solution to the Problem of the High Draft Hole, Burn-Out Spots, and Other Pipe-Bowl Problems
CHAPTER FOUR: PHILOSOPHICAL MUSINGS
My Philosophy of Pipe Collecting: Talking Pipes with Rich Esserman
Pipe Smoking and Problem Solving: How the Pipe Stimulates Thought and Contemplation
The Question of Style: The Artisan, the Artist, and the Master Pipe Maker
What is Meant by Smoking Quality: Engineering Versus Taste
The Grand Community of Pipe Collectors: Pursuing the Pleasures of Pipe and Smoke
CHAPTER FIVE: WHIMSICAL EXCURSIONS
The Hidden Benefits of the Expensive Pipe Tamper
The Amazing Tinsky Cloudburst™ Pipe
Test Your Pipe-Collecting Knowledge
Fred H. Biographical Sketch
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Once again, the price of the book is $25 for U.S., $30 for Canada, and $35 for overseas. To order online, just send a Pay Pal payment and note to: bill@naspc.org. You can also use the Perfect Smoke Flyer & Order Form – PDF. NOTE: The book will be available in early May, but you can pre-order.
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Kevin Godbee is the Publisher & Editor in Chief of Pipes Magazine. Kevin started smoking pipes and cigars in 1998 and started an online cigar magazine & community site in 2005. (The site was acquired in 2008 and no longer exists.) He launched PipesMagazine.com in 2009, and in less than three years the site has become the largest trafficked pipe smoking related site, and the #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information. In the beginning of his career, Kevin worked in the hobby and specialty toy business for 16 years in sales, marketing, advertising and product development for three different manufacturers, and with his own company. Over the last 10 years working in the online business, he has become an expert in Internet Marketing and SEO. Kevin is a Certified Master Tobacconist (CMT) through Tobacconist University, a member of Cigar Rights of America and is a "Media Member" of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association. In his spare time he sings, plays guitar, cooks, and enjoys all the wonderful places to go and things to do in beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, Florida where he lives in his penthouse bachelor pad. Kevin has been smoking pipes and cigars for 14 years. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
There’s a pipe in my collection that I cannot bring myself to smoke, though I’ve had it for more years than I care to recall. It’s old, or shall I say, well experienced; that experience, that oldness came to it long before it was in my possession. The pipe is an old Comoy’s Grand Slam from the 1940s. The shape (#93), a slightly canted, stack billiard (sometimes referred to as a Belgian) is right up my alley, and it’s a beautiful example of it. It came to me with some wear and tear; nothing unusual for an old pipe, but more the signs of one that has been well loved, smoked a lot, treated as a favorite tool, cherished, in a sense, by frequent use. It’s the pipe equivalent of a vintage car that’s been driven a lot, enjoyed fully and maintained adequately, rather than one kept in a spotless garage, dusted and detailed weekly, brought out only for leisurely Sunday drives, or to be ogled behind the ropes at the next Concours d’Elegance. When it arrived, those uncounted years ago, it wanted a little restoration. Nothing dramatic needed to be done to it, but the stem was oxidized, the finish a little dingy. The cake was even and fairly thin, and the airway was relatively clean, both signs that its previous owner cared for it, but the bowl’s surface was a little drab and dull. It took little effort to reveal its beauty, to show the lovely contrasted stain and interesting grain beneath the old wax. I often think I should do before and after photos of pipes that I work on, but those thoughts always come after the work’s been done. This one would have been a great illustration of how years of handling that can sometimes make a pipe more beautiful, can other times make it just look grungy. Once I’d cleaned up the externals, it was time to address the inside bits. I approach this a little bassackwards, I realize. It would be more sensible to take care of the inside before addressing the outside, but it’s how I roll. If an old pipe isn’t pretty to look at, it’s unlikely that I’ll care much about it, and cleaning is usually the hardest part, or at least the most boring part of any restoration for me. Alcohol and pipe cleaners. Lots of pipe cleaners. That’s why I leave it for last. Sometimes, I’ll even give a pipe a test smoke before a deep cleaning, just for a point of reference. I gave it a sniff to get an idea of what I was up against, and it stopped me cold. There in that bowl was an aroma that I had not smelled in decades. My head was instantly filled with memories of being in the back room of a fabled Berkeley tobacconist’s shop where I stumbled upon a few jars of long discontinued blends. One of them, a blend called Forty and Eight, had the most engaging and unusual scent of any tobacco I’d stuck my schnoz into. It was sweet, but not in a candy store way. There were none of the usual vanilla, cherry, berry or anise notes of typical aromatics, nothing that could be compared to aftershave or deodorant soap, but something almost musky, a little earthy, something exotic. The shop’s owner couldn’t tell me what was in it, how, or where it had been produced. The old blend had been retired before he’d bought the place. The printed catalogue gave no clues, either, other than being overprinted with the word “DISCONTINUED” in bold, rubber-stamp type. (And, I don’t recall it as being “highly aromatic” as the description indicates.) There was still quite a bit in the jar. Being, at that point, an intrepid explorer of all kinds of tobaccos, whether I thought I’d like them or not, I had to give it a try. It was burly based, but also comprised a good measure of virginia leaf, and maybe some other varieties; I didn’t have enough experience at the time to really pick it apart. But, that aroma was unlike anything I’d experienced before or since. It was something now completely lost to time. Until it wasn’t. Memories are powerful things, and there is no sense more tightly bound to memory than our sense of smell. One whiff was all it took to carry me back in time, conjuring a vivid recollection of something long submerged in the inky depths of a subconscious mind. Look, I know as well as anyone that pipes are meant to be smoked, and that many feel it almost sacrilegious to have a pipe and not set it to its intended task. In this case, I simply can’t. I won’t. Ever. Rationally, I am fairly certain this pipe would probably be a great smoke. It was too well loved by its previous caretaker to be anything less than that. My choice not to smoke it is an emotional one, not something rational. Of the thousands of pipes that have passed through my hands over the years, this is the only one to create such a singular and vivid, almost Proustian recollection of temps perdu, of lost time. It revivified a long dormant memory that is mine, and mine alone, and that’s enough. I keep it in a drawer with other old English pipes. In some ways, it’s nothing special, just a nice old pipe. I don’t lavish it with any particular care that arguably befits the hidden treasure that it holds. It’s not in a special box, or displayed preciously in a glass cabinet. Every once in a while, I take it out, point my nose bowlwards, and every time, those memories return just as powerfully as they did the first time. I have no idea how long it’s been since its last owner smoked it, but in the years I’ve had it, there seems to have been very little degradation of the aroma, and that’s […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big one—Christmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. It’s in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. It’s aromatic! 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Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, “I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.” Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Pundit’s way of summing it up. You just don’t go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ain’t easy to turn on the lights in Pundit’s rock pit head. Now it’s time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
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Ohhh, I will get mine!!!
Thanks for this! I will surely add it to my list.
I will be ordering mine shortly. I think when people who don’t know Fred read this they will see why he is one of the most respected men in the hobby. The GKCPC is just thrilled he is going to be our guest speaker at our annual banquet at this year’s GKCPC Pipe Show.
I can’t wait to hear Fred’s presentation in Kansas City, and to read the book!
Kevin! What a marvelously well written and beautifully illustrated promotional article! Maybe Dr. Hanna will invite you to coauthor his next opus!
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I have enjoyed several of Dr. Hanna’s web publications over the years, and I look forward to this long overdue book. It’s sure to find its way onto everyone’s bookshelf, which means Dr. Hanna will get writer’s cramp signing copies at the Chicago show. Thanks for the heads-up.
Great! Thanks Kevin I will be ordering a copy.
Can’t wait to get a copy
Thanks Kevin for bringing this to our attention. Just placed my Paypal order with Bill. Outstanding Table of Contents. Promises to be a great book. The other one my eye is on, is Neill Archer Roan’s book. Thanks.
Thank you Kevin for your kind words and great review! I am deeply grateful to you.
Also, I want to make it clear that the book will not be available until Early May!
Thank you for your orders and interest!
Best regards to all,
Fred
I’m always pleased to direct my fellow pipe smokers and collectors to new items made with them in mind, especially items that I think are extraordinary.
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My pleasure Fred. I updated the piece to note that the book will ship in early May.
Fred, we might want to have Bill Unger send some copies to the GKCPC show for sale there. I would expect after the banquet that some people will want to purchase the book.
Hopefully early May means it will be available at the Chicago show. I can’t wait to read it!
Thank you, Kevin, again, for all your help.
And for sure, we will have copies of the book available at the KC Show. I had so much fun at the show last year, hanging out with all those great people, that I am greatly looking forward to attending again. We all had so many laughs that I was walking around for the entire week with a frozen grin on my face.
I look forward to purchasing the book and reading it with a pipe in hand.
Fred! Russia is looking forward to your book!
Fred great book!
Thanks.
This looks like a must have.
Thanks guys! I hope you like the book!
Well, mine arrived last weekend. I enjoyed it so much perhaps you will allow me to post a brief review:
This new book by Fred J. Hanna is something I would recommend to all who feel it worthwhile to seek knowledge of how to increase the pleasure obtained from smoking the pipe. Although Dr. Hanna is well known as a collector of straight grain pipes, this book is not about the hobby of collecting but an exploration of how to get the maximum gourmet enjoyment from the act of smoking a pipe – as it says on the tin, the perfect smoke.
Well written? Yes – although a series of essays, there is a constant theme which links the book into an articulate whole.
Wisdom from Olympus? Well, to me, yes – but not propounded in that way at all; Dr Hanna offers opinions from his experience (and experiments) in a diffident manner always acknowledging that the tastes and experience of others may be different –
( so much so in fact that we realise how much of a mischievous nature is contained in Bent’s sometimes controversial posts on forums)!
Enjoyable? Immensely so – both in the sense of fun running throughout the book and the more esoteric pleasures described as available from pipe smoking as in the enjoyment of fine wine and food.
A great book? For me it is, and is probably the one in my library of pipe books that most accords with the way I enjoy this hobby – not because it is articulate, wise or fun, but because it made me think for myself.
Thanks Fred.
Hi Jim,
I am greatly honored by your review. Thank you. I deeply appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts and impressions. Seems to me you really “got” what I was trying to do.
Fred
Hi Fred,
I just started reading your book and so far it is Great!! This will mark the time that pipe smoking becomes very popular again!
I was told that Mark Tinsky actually wrote the book and he let you put his name on it…is that true?!?! heehee!
Duane
sorry…..That should be:
I was told that Mark Tinsky actually wrote the book and he let you put “YOUR” name on it…is that true?!?! heehee!
I am 1/4th of the way through the book, and it is super excellent! This really is a must-read for anyone that is into pipe smoking beyond just a passive pursuit. If you want to really understand pipe smoking and maximize your enjoyment, and really “get it”, you have to read “The Perfect Smoke – Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection, By Fred J. Hanna”
Duane G. Beitmen said:
“Hi Fred,
I just started reading your book and so far it is Great!! This will mark the time that pipe smoking becomes very popular again!
I was told that Mark Tinsky actually wrote the book and he let you put his name on it…is that true?!?! heehee!
Duane”
Hi Duane,
Thanks for your post and thank for the kind words about the book! As for Mark Tinsky… Everything I know I learned from Mark Tinsky. And everything I will ever know I will only count as knowledge if Mark Tinsky declares that it is knowledge. I don’t know who told you that, but I am afraid that my problem extends far beyond this book. 😉
Fred
Kevin said:
“I am 1/4th of the way through the book, and it is super excellent! This really is a must-read for anyone that is into pipe smoking beyond just a passive pursuit. If you want to really understand pipe smoking and maximize your enjoyment, and really “get it”, you have to read “The Perfect Smoke – Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection, By Fred J. Hanna”
…
Hi Kevin.
I am very happy that you are enjoying the book–so far. It was great seeing you at the show. Thanks for your kind words and thanks again for all the great things you have done for our hobby. Pipesmagazine is a huge positive influence for pipe smoking and something of which we can all be proud.
Fred
mitgaard said:
“Fred! Russia is looking forward to your book!”
…
That is very exciting! Thank you for your interest. I hope you are not disappointed.
Fred
ernestolondero said:
“Fred great book!
Thanks.”
…
Thank you!
Hi Fred,
I probably shouldn’t give this away this, BUT I will acknowledge my source…heehee!
I was ordering a briar from Mark Tinsky and I mentioned your book and he said,
“I wrote that book and let Fred put his name on it…Go ahead and ask him!”
Mark is a “funny guy” and he said that you would get a kick out of my asking! heehee!
I’m farther into your book now and it is really good…and…without even trying, I’m automatically becoming more mindful when I smoke my pipe!
Duane
“Duane G. Beitmen said:
Hi Fred,
I probably shouldn’t give this away this, BUT I will acknowledge my source…heehee!
I was ordering a briar from Mark Tinsky and I mentioned your book and he said,
“I wrote that book and let Fred put his name on it…Go ahead and ask him!”
Mark is a “funny guy” and he said that you would get a kick out of my asking! heehee!
I’m farther into your book now and it is really good…and…without even trying, I’m automatically becoming more mindful when I smoke my pipe!
Duane”
Hi Duane,
Great to hear you are discovering the benefits of mindful pipesmoking!
And thank you for revealing your source. Yes, it is true that Mark is the true author. He allowed me to think that it was mine because of his great compassion and caring for others. I suggest to you that whenever you find yourself wondering about an issue or a question about life, call Mark and ask him what the correct answer is. Mark Tinsky is the only person I have ever met, in any state or country, who is always right. 😉
Fred
Hi Fred,
Your comments about Mark Tinsky are more of a reflection on you then anything else. Your level of humility, great compassion and caring for others is one of the aspects of your book that I found most enjoyable and it’s my honor to be having this discussion with you. I’m sure your book will be a great success and will help many people, like myself, to enjoy their life a little more!
Duane
Hey Fred,
I forgot to give you a “special thanks” for the method you give on how to rate tobacco blends. I tried to do that on my own and I wound up with a whole bunch of papers laying around, but in re-reading them I had no more of an idea of where things stood then I did before I started and I just throw the papers away! heehee!
I’m only about half way through the book and I have already gained more then I would have ever imagined from your sharing your experences and suggestions!
Thanks,
Duane
Hi Duane,
Thank you for your feedback. It is very valuable to me. I am happy to know that you found the tasting form for pipe tobaccos to be valuable. I am also very happy to know that the book is continuing to hold your interest!
Fred
Hi,
Well, now that we know who actually wrote the book “The Perfect Smoke”…by “Fred J. Hanna”…”Fred did!”…and seeing how I somehow got hooked into this book review, I have to review it correctly…(because my own reputation is at stake here! heehee!)
I read up to page 57 and then I met with Fred’s chapter on the tobacco blends “he” made and how “Great” they are, (which happen to be for sale). Although it was very good reading…I sort of felt belittled and as if I had been sucked into a self-serving advertisement. But, the book up to this point has been so great and very helpful to me and, although opinionated, it has been very honest. So I decided, maybe I’m misjudging him, maybe his writing about “his” own blends is “his” just being honest about things and Fred is actually just trying to help us to find that “perfect smoke”! So, I sent off for a tin of his “Legends” and one of his “Wilderness” pipe tobacco blends…and I’ll get back with you later after I sample them! (Being aware that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure…especially with food, wine & tobacco.) heehee!
Duane
Hi Duane,
My purpose in writing the articles about my blends, believe it or not, was not to sell tobacco. Actually, I wanted to write about the experience that I had putting the blends together and the impressions that people had of them. If it came across as an advertisement, I apologize. I was worried that it might and I see that in your case my message did not come across in the way I hoped. Like I said, I am sorry.
On the other hand, they are my tobaccos and of course I would think they are good! For a long time, I debated whether I should write about them in the book. And I figured some might take it as self-serving. But just as Greg Pease writes positive things about his tobaccos on his website, I decided to write what I thought of these blends in my book. Oh well.
As I wrote repeatedly in the essays on Wilderness and Legends, these blends are not for everybody and they may not be for you as well. You may be disappointed… BUT remember that when you do get them, open the tin and let the tobacco be exposed to the air while before before smoking.
Once again, I am sorry. And allow me to add that the amount of money that I have received from those tobaccos is not much. But the joy I derived from making them, and writing about them, was huge.
Fred
Relax Fred,
Certainly no need to apologize…heehee! I really enjoyed reading that section too…You are a good writer and I was able to feel your experiences as my own…and you have inspired me to do a little blending on my own too! (One of which has turned out really great! heehee!)
And “If” your book had ended at page 57…It would have been already well worth the price of the book to me. But…I still want to smoke those blends….Yes!! I am looking for “The Perfect Smoke!….and, I think, you have pointed me in the right direction!
Duane
Thank you Duane. Your comments are much appreciated. Good luck with your adventures in blending. I think it is one of the unsung joys of our hobby.
Fred
Hi Fred,
I honestly don’t believe that your chapter on blending tobacco was self serving because it would be so out of character from all you had written before that, so don’t take “my paranoia” personally…(besides that it has already helped me…heehee!)…it’s just an automatic red flag that goes up in me from past/present experiences. Like I’m a first time visiter to “Pipemagazine” and I was looking for something on their “Home Page” that might tell me who they are and what they are all about…and, unless I missed something, about all that I see are advertisements and where I can sign up…and as you know…that is a common thing everywhere.
Your book is great and a “must” read for anyone that smokes a pipe or that is even thinking about it…or for anyone who wants to better understand those that do!
You should probably put this on Amazon where you don’t have all the advertisements in your face.
Duane
Had my first bowl of “Wilderness” and it took about half the bowl for me just to get my footing properly in place. As is mentioned in Fred’s book, a person’s mind set and attitude has a lot to do with smoking a pipe and tasting tobacco…and I sat down to smoke “Wilderness!” A wilderness to me consists of pine needles and jagged rocks and I didn’t think much of it at all with that attitude. But, when I let the tobacco tell me where it was coming from, I (mentally) found myself sitting in a soft leather chair with a smoking jacket on (reality was a plastic chair and a T-shirt, so I really enjoyed the vision) and with nice people around me to socialize with. Then it was delicious! It’s a very polite, smooth and sophisticated smoke with a very nice creamy taste, that I can’t quit describe, just after each puff. And, I found it “very” relaxing! I found the tobacco great, but Fred sure misnamed it…he should have named it “Destiny” or “Serenity” or something that better reflects it’s “smoothing politeness”.
Kevin what you guys have done in pipesmagazine.com is amazing.
I have never ever seen such a nice pipe forum for years…
Most of the pipe and cigar forums are run by people with lack
of education & social media knowledge. Those old school forum administrators who have the exclusive possession of the forum,end up in monotonous chanting of the same members ,and social masturbation of some people helping them to satisfy their thirst for being in the limelight.
Therefore ; I strongly believe that pipesmagazine.com will be the leader pipes magazine in the coming years.The advertisers’ interest and the rapidly increasing population of the forum are just a few evidences of this fact.
All the Bests
& Warm Regards
Great Book , Fred..
Thank you, Yavuz!
Fred
I finished reading Dr. Hanna’s book and I guess I’ll just go back and keep re-reading it (because there is nothing better out here to read on pipe smoking) that is until his next book in his: “The Perfect Smoke” SERIES comes out. I think the next one will be about the religious and spiritual aspects of smoking a pipe. (I hope I’m not giving anything away here), but I believe it “might” be called “Zen and the Art of Smoking a Pipe”…or something like that?!?! heehee!
Duane
Fred, I was wondering whether this book will ever be available in Kindle format (or PDF)? With the current increase in popularity of pipe smoking in younger demographics – some quote up to a 600% increase since 2007 – I think it’s a worthwhile consideration to think about exploring markets that this market is more familiar with: books in electronic form.
This book is no longer available. Tried to order but check returned with note that it is no longer available.