Common Misconceptions Redux
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Kevin Godbee - Feb 1, 2011
- 6 min read
By Russ Ouellette
A while ago, I wrote a column about myths, urban legends and misconceptions tied to pipe smoking. [Common Misconceptions About Pipe Tobacco, June 20, 2010]
I mentioned at the end of the column that I would be glad to address other such items if folks wanted to email me with their thoughts. The stream of emails surprised me, as I believed that most of the other myths had been discredited long ago. I also have received some requests about supposed misconceptions that are actually true (i.e.- Someone who has been repeatedly told over the years that “Burleys are the easiest on your tongue” thought that I should warn people that Burleys are the cause of tongue bite. They may or may not be the cause, but other strains can cause bite as well.). So, let me address these new ones that have been sent my way:
Tongue Bite is the same as Tongue Burn– Most people who complain of tongue bite aren’t experiencing bite at all; they’ve simply burnt their tongues. Tongue bite is a chemical reaction, usually caused by alkalinity. The sensation is similar to a cramp and is different than “leather tongue” (a sore, heat damaged tongue). The common causes of leather tongue can include improper packing, smoking too fast and tobacco that is either too dry or too moist, among others. True tongue bite doesn’t leave the tongue raw and bumpy as is common following heat damage. Since Burley can produce alkaline smoke, it is commonly targeted as the culprit regarding bite, but other tobaccos can have a higher pH as well.
If tobacco is overly moist, PG is the cause– I often get complaints from people regarding excessively high moisture in tobaccos, especially with aromatics. With my own blends, I get the opposite complaint (being too dry) because I add no additional water or humectants, but when a blend is damp, pipe smokers love to point fingers at propylene glycol. I’m not a fan of PG, but it has its place, especially with mass-market tobaccos that may sit on a retailer’s shelf for a year or more. Additionally, there are times when PG isn’t the reason for goopy tobacco. Flavorings, water and other humectants (like sorbitol) are added to some tobaccos, and can, in turn, make the tobaccos too wet.
Virginia blends smoke hot– This statement is very much like “pianos are black”. Just because one Virginia blend is a hot smoker, doesn’t mean that all of them are. Yes, the higher sugar and lower oil contents of Virginias can contribute to a hotter experience, but with careful processing and the right kind of cut, Virginias won’t burn much hotter than, let’s say, Burley. One of the other reasons for the higher heat in Virginias is due to the thinner, more easily combustible leaves. This is one of the reasons that Virginia flakes are common; the pressed flakes will burn much slower and cooler when not rubbed out completely.
Perique Myth– #1– “There’s only one farmer growing/making Perique.”
Actually, there are at least seven farmers currently growing Perique for L.A. Poché, beside whatever Percy Martin produces, and more farmers will be joining the fold; the future for the Cajun leaf looks promising.
[Editor’s note: Direct information provided from L.A. Poché Perique owner, Mark Ryan, is that in 2011 there will be 10 – 12 farmers growing Perique (including Percy Martin and his two sons) and that is expected to double next year. In acreage, last year there were approximately 15 acres of Perique grown. The estimate for 2011 is 70 acres. L.A. Poché Perique is also instituting the use of greenhouses this year as well. PipesMagazine.com will be on location for the unveiling of the new greenhouses this spring.]
Perique Myth #2– “Most of the Perique on the market is fake.” The truth is that all of the Perique sold commercially for more than 30 years is a blend of true St. James Perique and Perique-method processed Burley. In fact, by law, if the tobacco doesn’t contain real St. James Perique, it can’t be called Perique. So, if you have been smoking domestic or imported blends containing Perique since before 1980, you have been smoking the so-called “fake” Perique.
[Editor’s note: Mark Ryan believes the start of the blending goes back even further to the 1950’s for some producers and later the rest followed.]
The more expensive the pipe, the better the smoke– Probably the majority of pipe smokers who have been into the hobby for more than five years can attest to the inaccuracy of this statement. There are, however, elements of truth that probably contributed to the maxim. Firstly, the more expensive pipes are usually going to come from the most skilled craftsmen, who are in high demand, and as such, their engineering tends to be of the highest level, which tends to yield a pipe with better smoking qualities. Secondly, pipes made of briar with tight grain will normally sell at a higher price due to the rarity and beauty of an exceptional piece of wood, but tightly grained briar is often harder and transfers heat very well, resulting in a better smoke. Lastly, carvers who buy higher grade plateaux briar spend more on every block, which, in turn, drives up the cost of each pipe. Additionally, pipemakers who use premium briar are less likely to allow a pipe with a noticeable flaw or fill to be sold with their name stamped on it. The high rate of rejection pushes the price up even further, and so the work of some of the best makers will be quite pricey due to the refusal of these artisans to allow themselves to be associated with anything below their standards. Most of the time, any carver who is that particular about his or her work, will feel similarly about the engineering and smokeability of the pipe as well.
All that having been said, I own a 30+ year old, no-name Italian meerschaum-lined Canadian that I paid less than $30 for, and in all those years, I have never had a bad smoke from that pipe. Hell, it has a remarkably thin vulcanite stem, and after all these years, I still haven’t bitten through it. I know many people who swear by their Dr. Grabows, Medicos and off-brands, and I’ve owned some pipes that were rather expensive that smoked horribly.
So, I guess that the most accurate statement on this subject would be, the more expensive the pipe, the more likely that the pipe will smoke well.
I enjoy the opportunity to counter some of this misinformation, and I’m sure that there’s a lot more out there, so if you know of a myth you’d like me to check into, just use the contact information at the end of this column, and I’ll gladly try to put together part three.
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Russ Ouellette is the blender/creator of the Hearth & Home series of tobaccos for Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe and www.pipesandcigars.com in Albany, NY. He has been a pipe smoker and blender for over 30 years, and enjoys feedback from the pipe smoking public. You can reach Russ at russo@pipesandcigars.com or by calling 1-800-494-9144 on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 am to 5 pm and Friday from 1 pm to 5 pm. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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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! Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! 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.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. Naturally a Virginia-Perique, it is enhanced with a traditional core of black Cavendish. In the tin it holds much promise, with a lightly bready and very woody, if ever-so-slightly sour, aroma. After some time acclimating to air, the bouquet softens further and offers hints of the burley with some chocolaty notes wafting through the more dominant dry grassy aspect. The tin art is of a coin-style bas-relief bust, presumably of a founding Sutliff brother, à la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blend’s description: Reflecting on Sutliffs 175 years of tobacco excellence, we came across a brand that embodies true value, SILVER QUARTER. This name pays homage to Sutliffs roots, the legacy of two brothers who popularized pipe smoking in the burgeoning mining society of San Francisco. We celebrate this heritage with a coin cut composed of the finest African Virginias, complemented by a core of Perique and Black Cavendish. The tin notes are, forgive the pun, on the nose for a good VaPer blend: mild tart sweetness peeking out from behind dried hay and slight chocolate undertones, with a lightly tannic finish of weathered oak. It is always a joy to prepare a coin cut, my preference being to put a few in my palm and vigorously warm my hands together to fully break them apart. These well-formed discs pack and light easily, and smoke with little prodding to the end of the bowl. For technical points it scores well—it smokes light, and it’s easy to tend the ember. While it gets sharp after a few quick bowls, pacing should be heeded to easily smoke down to the heel without inviting bite. Of the flavor, though, I am left a bit wanting. There are tart and high notes aplenty, but very little of the lemony citrus I would anticipate, as well as scant midtones; they tend more toward the red wine-vinegary and sour. The flavors are muted, also, lacking the sweetness and piquancy of other marques—the small measure of Perique tickles the nose now and again with peppery hints, and there is a smidge of a deeper sweetness to be found in the Cavendish from puff to puff, but overall it lacks some dynamism. The Virginias, to my palate, come off a bit on the dry side, and here they dominate the blend. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are neutral, again evincing more of the dry, woody, tartly tannic end of the spectrum. The blend has plenty of polish, but not enough depth or richness (*yet) to make it a standout. Here, comparisons are inevitable: Luxury Bullseye Flake has more sweetness, both from its Virginia as well as its Cavendish, and a better finish; Davidoff is similar but with a pronounced umami that is absent here; as for Escudo, I haven’t had any fresh tins lately so it would be unfair to compare. 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Bewitched by a dissonant charm, we’ve created Maple Shadows. In a season that is defined by the unlikely harmony of treats and frights, we’ve joined the enchanting sweetness of maple with the earthy spice of Dark Fired Kentucky for a smoking experience that captures the senses with an otherworldly fusion of flavor. This may be the best aromatic blend Sutliff’s ever made—and they make a ton of them. First off, it’s not overbearing in the least—quite the opposite, it is also one of the more restrained aromatics they’ve ever made, with a clear but very light topping that melds oh-so-well with their choice Kentucky added to the mix. Opening the tin, the sweet maple is up front and center, but so too is the must of fallen leaves, bready pie crusts, and a crackling fire in the hearth—a perfect invocation of Herbstdüfte in a can. Packing best in an open and capacious bowl, the flavoring is subtle, and recedes to the background while puffing. With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 631. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with pipe maker Dan Keller from Good Made Better. Dan is from South Dakota. Growing up working in the family hardware store where he was always finding solutions to fixing things, he ended up always wanting to make things. He now makes elegant handmade pens, pen holders, portable desks, blotters, blotting paper, book carry cases, and of course artisan pipes. At the top of the show we are continuing the virtual tour of Brian’s pipes with his “f#@k you pipes”.
Great stuff Russ!
Thanks Russ – great information. After smoking pipes for over 20 years I have found some real gems in those inexpensive pipes. Ahh to think of all the money I could have saved in my youth – when I only bought high grade pipes.
Always a pleasure to read Mr. Ouellette’s down to earth, practical take on pipe smoking. There’s more to it than just dispelling myths. From his web page comes my favorite, a common sense approach to building (or not building) carbon cake at the bottom of your pipe bowl: If you never smoke a bowlful down that far, don’t worry about how much cake is down there!
Russ,
Whereas I agree with almost all you say in this article, there is one point I must comment on- the use of propylene glycol.
Even though you are no fan of it, you go on to say it has it’s place, especially in mass-market tobaccos that may sit on a retailers shelf for a year or more.
Can we just be clear what we are talking about here: propylene glycol is that strange, sticky, almost florescent liquid that is AUTOMOBILE ANTIFREEZE.
Surely to heaven, even if some unfortunate soul buys mass-market tobacco that’s been on the shelf for a long time, they don’t want to smoke antifreeze!
If cats or dogs drink antifreeze, they die, because it destroys their kidney function.
Very often the products given off by compounds when they are burnt are much more toxic than if the compound is ingested orally.
I dread to think what propylene glycol gives off when it’s combusted- and I shudder to think that ANY producer has the nerve to put it into pipe tobacco.
I think to some degree there exists an attitude in governmental food-safety agencies that if we are stupid enough to smoke tobacco, then we deserve no protection as consumers, ie that manufacturers can put whatever the hell they like into tobacco blends….but ANTIFREEZE for cars? No thanks!
Great article, Russ. Your point about pipe price reminds me of a woodworking buddy who visited a woodshop in a third-wold country. He was bored one Saturday and while taking a walk a short distance from his hotel he was drawn to the door of a small woodshop by the unmistakable noise of a saw. He looked around and immediately noticed that the “saw” had no guards; no brand name, and in reality was simply a piece of lumber with a blade mounted an arbor from a discarded appliance poking through a slot. As he stood there feeling smug and sorry for these poor, primitive craftsmen his eyes began to adjust to the low light, and what he saw made his jaw drop! There were pieces of furniture and cabinets in various states of completion; all with intricately detailed carvings and precise exposed joinery. He said there were tighter, finer dovetails than he had ever seen, and that they were all made using tools that he would have passed on if they had been in a cardboard box labeled “Free”. That experience changed him by snapping him from the never-ending tool buying trap he was in and getting him focused on the heart of woodworking and put the “craft” back into the Craftsman.
I learned many years ago that I enjoy smoking pipe tobacco. Sounds simple enough, but that’s just the start. I went on a 15 year journey and spent hundreds of dollars, but eventually was brought back where I started: The corn cob pipe. Cobs give me the taste that I want, the burn-time that I expect and being a natural, American-made product I get a satisfaction that I never felt when smoking a briar.
Perhaps it’s just me, but in the end that’s all who matters.
Scott
P.S. tobaccoblender, just because a product or chemical is used in anti-freeze that doesn’t make it bad. Heck, there’s more “Dihydrogen monoxide” in anti-freeze than propylene glycol, yet I bet you still use it. Read this: http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html
Tobaccoblender:
You’ve been misinformed about propylene glycol (which, as I stated, I don’t use). The main component chemical in antifreeze is ethylene glycol (which is decidedly toxic), not propylene glycol, which is food-grade and FDA approved for consumption. Its purpose in food is maintain moisture is a variety of products so they don’t dry out on the shelf.
It’s unfortunate that their chemical names are so similar as this inaccurate rhetoric has been used for years to scare the crap out of pipe smokers.
Russ
Good job, Russ.
Excellent article Russ,
I feel somewhat jaded in replying.Although I have over 25 years smoking a pipe, my knowledge is nowhere as extensive as yours. When I say 25 years, that refers to when I began buying retail pipes and retail smokage.However as a kid, we grew up raising burley here in the mountains of NC.One of the things that we have done was make our own smokage and pipes,in secret of course. Our favorite was simply some burley leaves, dried, and twisted.We would take this, pour molasses on it put it in a fresh cut cherry tree limb.We would basically gouge out a hollow place,put the leaves in with molasses and some apple slices.We then would tie the halves back together and dip the whole limb in wax. It went on a shelf in the barn until the next year.Of course we would be removing the limb placed there the prior year.Our smokage would have to be dried out for a while before we could smoke it.No preservatives, no blending,no fancy store bought pipes.No cake,no pipe tools,no idea what we were doing for that matter.Simple hollowed out corn cobs and cane/bamboo stems.But then again,we never heard of those terms.We thought it was great. We just didnt want to get caught smoking by our parents or grand parents, and we never was.And I can honest say that was some of the best smoking I had ever done.To me, that distills a great many myths in itself.
Great article as usual, Russ. I have and smoke a number of less expensive pipes as well as some “better” ones, and always get good smokes from them.
Always great advice Russ, and dispensed in the most genteel manner.
Russ:
Enjoyed your article about the quality of pipes usually smoking better then other less expenisive pipes. Your reasoning about the “mechanics” of the pipe being very important. Since reading Rick Newcombe’s “In Search of Pipe Dreams” I have begun with an intermediate expense pipe and drilled the stem and draft hole to Rick’s recommendations. Low-and-behold this pipe began to smoke alltogether better. Since this experience I have drilled most of my pipes the in the same manner. However, I have found some of my better, more expensive pipes not needing this drilling sequence since my Costellos are already are mechanically right.
Again, thanks for the common sense appoach about what makes a pipe smoke well.
Regards,
Steve
great article!! by the way… what kind of tool is that on the article pic Russ? it looks like a czech tool but is 4 way?? curious…