Russ Ouellette
The title of this article might seem familiar; it’s the last full line from Carly Simon’s Anticipation, and it got me thinking the other evening. I had seen a display of Pepsi’s Throwback on the shelves and remembered how different the old cane sugar blend tasted as compared to the one made with corn syrup. And then my thoughts drifted to other things like cars only using unleaded gas, how hard it is to find some old favorite items, like Teaberry gum and why cold cuts don’t taste as good as they used to.

It just seems that many, if not most things have changed in recent years, and in a number of instances, not for the better. Sure, we have better technology and things work so much faster than the old models did, but we’ve sacrificed durability for disposability and repairing electronics is basically unheard of; just throw it away and buy a new one.

… But we already knew it was cool …

By Ethan Brandt
Imagine that there is a chain gun blasting away about 20 feet in front of you. Its target: You. How do you respond? By lying down and calmly smoking a pipe, of course! At least, that’s what you would do as Robert Downey, Jr.’s rendition of Sherlock Holmes.

Naturally, this is quite a new situation for Sherlock Holmes, as is easily recognizable by even the most casual of fans. However, no matter which Sherlock Holmes we are discussing, whether he be portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr., Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Benedict Cumberbatch, or even if he is simply a character on a page, we can be sure that he will have a particular item: a pipe. The pipe, even more than the hat, coat, and magnifying glass, is a signature of Sherlock Holmes. It defined him. The question that is rarely asked, however, is how did Holmes define the pipe?

By Russ Ouellette
"I don’t get no respect, no respect at all!" If you’re 30 or older, you can’t read or hear those words without seeing the image of Rodney Dangerfield straightening his tie. Well, from my perspective, Burley is the tobacco equivalent of the late comic. Let’s take a look at this mistreated leaf.

Burley is another strain of nicotiana tabacum, which includes virtually every type of tobacco used commercially. The leaves of this plant are moderately sized, and the plants are grown widely from the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., through the south and into the Midwest. In addition, Burley is cultivated in Canada, Malawi, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

What characterizes Burley are its low sugar content, high oils and moderate to high nicotine. The dark strains of the plant are earthy, spicy and cigar-like, and have a heavy vitamin N jolt, whereas the lighter Burleys (generally referred to as White Burley) are nutty, sometimes with a bit of a cocoa note, and a more moderate nic kick.

By Russ Ouellette
I’ve been involved in sales and marketing for over 30 years, sometimes for small local firms, sometimes for large national or multi-national companies, and I’ve seen, and been involved in, a fair number of marketing campaigns with varying amounts of advertising. I’ve worked for retailers that ran weekly Sunday newspaper inserts, have done TV spots, radio and magazine ads, billboards and more. All of these types of marketing have their place, and the return on investment has ranged from spectacular to horribly disappointing, without any way of knowing how successful the advertising will be.

When I came to work at Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe, we did a variety of local advertising, all of which worked pretty well, and we did some magazine and online ads for PipesandCigars.com. Our campaigns were pretty much "fly by the seat of your pants", and we always saw a response.

By Russ Ouellette
The implication of the title of this article would imply that I’m going to hell, and if you listen to some of the antis, they would reinforce that belief. In actuality, when I see the large number of our customers who are in their eighties and nineties who light up daily, I feel confident that some of those folks are still alive and kicking due to the peace of mind and almost zen-like relaxation that smoking a pipe can bring.

As to whether I’m involved in a noble profession, that’s a matter of perspective. And I’m certainly not doing this because of financial gain. Don’t get me wrong, I get paid fairly for what I do, but there are certainly a number of other things I could do that would pay me better. So why do it? First, I love tobacco blending. It’s the closest thing I can think of to becoming a chef without having to deal with a 130 degree kitchen in July. Plus I get the additional benefit of performing my tasks and serving people around the world.

By Russ Ouellette
The time is the mid-1880s and the location is London, England, specifically a second-floor room at 221B Baker Street. The room is rather dark, and there is only one figure in residence at the moment. He’s a tall, slender man with a receding hairline wearing a well-worn dressing gown. He sits quietly in intense rumination, obviously concentrating on something which puzzles him. A thick wreath of blue-white smoke surrounds his head and blankets the rest of the room. Of course, the object of this observation is none other than the world’s only professional consulting detective, the redoubtable Sherlock Holmes.

Certainly Holmes is one of the most iconic characters in crime fiction, as is evidenced by his amazing popularity after more than 100 years since his creation. No literary creation has been featured in films, television programs, radio serials, spoofs and pastiches more than Holmes. His creator was a not-very-successful physician named Arthur Conan Doyle, who aspired to be a writer, and submitted his manuscript for "A Study in Scarlet", which wound up being published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual. The story evoked a groundswell of interest, so much so that Holmes wound up as a regular feature in the Strand magazine.

By Russ Ouellette
As with most hobbies, we pipe smokers have our own lexicon. Most people believe that our terminology exists to allow us to express complex concepts in shorthand, but the truth is that we use this slang to exclude those who are not among the cognoscenti. For the sake of clarity, however, I’m going to throw out some definitions of terms that one might happen upon in these pages and elsewhere.

DGT or Delayed Gratification Technique- To achieve the DGT, pack a pipe, do the charring light and tamp and then set the pipe aside for enjoyment at a later time. I’ve used this method and have gotten a number of excellent smokes as a result. Although the origins of this technique are unclear, I’m willing to bet that it started with a pipester loading up a bowl, lighting it, getting distracted and forgetting what he did with the damned pipe.

By Russ Ouellette
Most pipe smokers are familiar with the terms "casing" and "top dressing", but what are they, how are they used and how are they different from each other?

First, contrary to legend, most tobaccos that contain Virginia and/or Burley (which is the vast majority of blends) are cased, including some that refer to themselves as "unflavored". This, in essence, can still be true as some casings are as simple as sugared water. Casings are mostly used to lessen the negative qualities of a tobacco. If a Burley has a high pH which can lead to tongue bite, a casing (with or without a flavor) containing some sugar will help to bring the smoke back toward the acidic side, and will reduce the chance of bite. Some Virginias can be harsh or ashy, but with the right casing, that can be mitigated as well. Mostly, though, casings are not used to flavor the tobacco as much as to prepare it for other processing, much as a mild marinade is used to prepare meat for cooking and to tenderize it more than to flavor it.

By Russ Ouellette
The curing of tobacco is sometimes likened to alchemy or subatomic structure by some pipe smokers. The fact is that curing is just a method of preparing the leaf for further processing, or for immediate use, usually by using a procedure which minimizes or eliminates certain inherent negative qualities. The main methods of curing include: air curing, flue curing, fire curing, sun curing (although some people consider this the same as air curing), fermentation by pressure (as in the case of Perique) and fermentation by bulking, which is used mostly for cigar tobacco. Let’s look at each process, what it does and with which tobaccos each method works best.

By Russ Ouellette
Virginia or Brightleaf or Flue Cured … whatever you want to call it, it’s one of the most widely used strains of tobacco for pipe smokers. You’ll find it in Latakia blends, aromatics and even Virginia blends (who knew?). It’s a versatile leaf with characteristics that make it suitable for a wide variety of purposes, but how much do you know about it?

Virginia flue cured tobacco originally came from … North Carolina. A farmer found that when a batch of leaf was exposed to high heat, the tobacco turned yellow and that it had very desirable characteristics. Over time, a method was developed to be able to consistently grow and cure what became known as Brightleaf.