Savinelli USA Closes, Laudisi Dist. Takes Over
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Kevin Godbee - Oct 8, 2012
- 0 min read
It was just announced moments ago that Savinelli USA is closing its North Carolina-based U.S. subsidiary and appointing Laudisi Distribution Group (LDG) as their new American distributor.
LDG is a subsidiary of Laudisi Enterprises, run by Sykes Wilford. As many industry people are aware, Laudisi Enterprises also runs Smokingpipes.com. The two company divisions will operate independently, with SmokingPipes.com being a customer of the distribution company.
Over the 11-years that the retail division has been operating they have built-up a substantial logistics infrastructure. The processes that are already in place should well-serve the national retail tobacconist network, perhaps even better than the Savinelli subsidiary was able to.
The following letter just went out to retailers.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 605. Our featured interview tonight is with Pete Prevost. Pete is a pipe maker and the President of the BriarWorks pipe factory in Columbia Tennessee. BriarWorks is a a pipe maker co-op with several other pipe makers, including Todd Johnson, who co-founded it with Pete. Brian and Pete will be talking about what’s new at BriarWorks, and how they are getting ready to attend the Chicago pipe show. (This was recorded before the show that took place last weekend.) At the top of the show, Brian will give his report of his travels and what happened at the Chicago show.
When I first started with the pipe as a quirky and precocious teen, the only tutelage I had at my disposal were scenes from old movies in which a well dressed chap would stick his pipe into a pouch, scoop tobacco into the bowl and press it down unceremoniously with his thumb. Then, with great flourish, he’d strike a match and light the thing with all manner of cinematic excess, puffing up vast clouds of smoke falling just short of completely obscuring his visage. While it may look good on film, it’s a terrible approach to actually enjoying the thing. Somehow, though, this “technique” seems to have survived in the contemporary vernacular, at least to some extent, even with bit-loads of information handily at our fingertips that should dissuade us from the practice. But, at the time, this misguided approach was all I had; it’s no wonder my early days of puffing were fraught with difficult lighting, harsh, bitter smokes and tongue bite, all culminating in a fireproof mass of ye old soggy dottle in the bottom of the bowl. Ultimately, the resulting frustration made me give up the pipe, at least for a while. While the idea of it was still very appealing, the practice of it was not. It wasn’t until a few years later when, still full of curiosity and romantic notions of pipe smoking, I wandered into a real tobacconist’s shop, and learned my “method” was a long way from the techniques that would bring me to any sort of pipe smoking bliss. So, after my poor start, and under the guidance of someone who actually seemed to know how to do it right, I was given the opportunity to approach the process anew, this time with much greater success. 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Before we begin, I should tell you: this tobacco review is being written by an A.I. Not the fancy new GPTs or their ilk; no, this is last century’s meat-and-bone, all-organic model. To be fair, a large part of what we call knowledge is merely the accumulated perceptions and impressions gathered from a life wandered through, synthesized into a spongy mass of what-it-is-that-we-think-that-we-know. The algorithm for this prompt is simple enough: pump thousands of bowls of smoldering plant matter into a gaping maw, cross-reference the chemical sensations with all other matter previously ingested or inhaled, sieve it all through the diffuse and fractal twin lens of memory and emotion, and churn out a panoply of adjectives that attempts to convey the sensations to someone who hasn’t experienced it yet. Odds are that a diligently trained monkey could succeed half the time; if this reviewer nears fifty-one percent then that would qualify as an unrivaled success. 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A first whiff from the tin releases the aromas of shoe leather and hide glue in a base of clay soil with a campfire wafted over it like last night’s beach party. Once it’s been accustomed to oxygen again, subtle hints of sweetness poke through from the Virginias: lemon rind, light milk chocolate, the dregs of a peaty Scotch, and muddled cherry. Old regulars like fresh-sawn oak and tilled earth are there, of course, with distinct notes of truffle, creosote, damp peat, and pine bark mulch. As an aside, I’ve been re-potting my camellias and the similarity of aroma to the ericaceous soil mix is notable; the Katerini really brings the unique depth of its vegetal complexion when supported by the Rustica and afforded more voice in the mix. The smoky Cyprian Latakia, in turn, is backed by equal earthiness from the Rustica, which overall exhibits a profile similar to dark-fired Kentucky; it leans more toward the woody and vegetal end of that spectrum, echoing and amplifying those traits of the other constituents. The tobacco is presented pressed and cut into a couple of thick, hearty flakes in the tin, lightly moist and easily crumbled to prepare—I prefer mine with a bit of drying time. The out-of-this-world tin art for this episode in the series is Major O’Meara smoking a cavalier. In the absence of confirmation, I’m going to hazard a guess he’s of the Ithklur species. The first taste from the light is sweet, with hints of that milk chocolate dancing around the edges. The Virginia leads the smoke through the top of the bowl, and orchestrates it well. Thoroughly smoky with lemony, grassy highlights from the Virginia spectrum, it soon segues into the mid-bowl profile: heartier, smokier, with the flavor leaning to the mildly acrid and tangy tinge that is the campfire-esque signature of English blends. Caution advised, it can turn overly bitter if pushed—this is where one’s sipping technique is required to maintain the fullness of flavor through to the heel. I did tend toward a lot of relights, though it may have as much to do with technique as with the blend. Pacing is also important as the nicotine starts to manifest; though the Rustica’s contribution has been tempered well by the stoving, it can certainly upend an empty stomach. At the end of every bowl, the mouthfeel somehow gets better. The balance of sugars in the tobaccos would seem to be spot-on in this regard. I started out my tasting in cobs, then cut short an unpleasant bowl in a meer, and finally landed on my best instrument with the lovely Dunhill 4427 pictured, a quaint group 4 shell briar with a gentle curve and Cumberland stem supporting a perfectly executed acorn bowl. It surprised me here, as I’ve learned through the years that I generally have the best experience with English blends in large, wide bowls. With this blend it seems that to get the best out of the Katerini’s somewhat diaphanous influence the smaller bowl fared much better. Room note is very English, so the company you keep will either love it or hate it, and it doesn’t linger too much. I find it paired best with a strong coffee; Sumatran beans complement the flavors well, as do Ethiopian if a lighter brew is preferred. Overall impressions of the blend are that it’s a curiously interesting take on the English genre, almost a reductive reconstruction of the theme using the unique components. This blend, if nothing else, expanded my vocabulary of sense perceptions with the uniquely treated leaf. While the average human can distinguish approximately one trillion (1,000,000,000,000!) different aromas, multiplied by seven basic tastes, and wholly dependent on variables from body chemistry to atmospheric conditions, our overworked and underpaid simian brains can’t effectively catalog them all. Our pet adding machines are exceedingly good at this, however, and someday soon they’ll be the ultimate and unequivocal authority on what something tastes, smells, looks, or even feels like. Until that time, friends, revel in the moments that can be stolen to savor over a bowl of Pipe Force: Episode I.
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According to this news release, If all goes as planned, we the customer, should not see a change as far as availability and selection is concerned. Best of luck to Laudisi Enterprises and Savinelli on their new venture. Thank Goodness this wasn’t about another Pipe or Tobacco company going belly up. Thanks goes to Kevin for the news update.
Savinelli is a good solid brand, and no offense to them, but their former US subsidiary seemed a little “sleepy” to me. I think Savinelli Pipes will see an increase in sales and market share with the marketing and business energy of my friend Sykes powering the brand.
It’s great to hear that Sykes is taking over the distribution. Good news for him, Savinelli, and us.
Kevin: Where did Ruben and Steven Ysidron land after Sav USA closed? Ruben was with Savinelli since 1969 and Steven was just recently handed the baton, I believe.
@pipeline – The Italians took over the operation sometime around late-winter / early-spring of this year (2012). I put a call into Steven at the time to get the news of where he was going, but he didn’t return two phone calls. Steven took over around this time last year, and left around March if memory serves me correctly. Giacomo Carlesi from the home office was running things from about March until now.
Thanks, Kevin.
I re-read the Spring 2011 Pipes & Tobaccos Magazine article on the changes at Savinelli USA. It was a curiously unsettling piece when I read it then and turned out a forecast. Ysidron’s comments made it sound like things were not “customer service friendly” at Sav USA but were going to change with Steven taking over day to day ops. It also mentioned Savinelli getting a new CEO in Ms. Rivolta. It really was not the kind of PR article that Savinelli USA probably intended it to be about new pipe lines, EVEN BETTER customer service, responsiveness to developing consumer trends, and reassuring the Savinelli customer that what they like about Savinelli products will remain unchanged. I would not have been happy if it represented my company.
Sykes: Read up, amici. Free and unsolicited advice above on rolling out the Laudisi-era of Savinelli distribution. You’ve got more glaring problems to solve. That consultation will cost you. (-: