The pipe Cynthia is smoking is from the Aaron Spelling Estate, and from my personal collection. It is a 1961 Root Briar in the classic Dublin shape. I vow to never clean the bit of this Dunhill again. - Kevin Godbee

Check out the full gallery here.

Ethan Brandt
How to describe the Chicago Pipe Show?

Officially, the show is known as The 2012 Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show, but if everyone said that every time their talked about it, it would be too much of a mouthful, so it is lovingly known as the "Chicago Pipe Show". This year, just as in past years, it was held at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL, a little less than an hour from Chicago proper. The show itself took place on Saturday, May 5th, and Sunday, May 6th; there were however, plenty of fantastic events going on for a lot of the week beforehand!

Before getting into the show itself, I have to give credit for their choice of locale. The Pheasant Run Resort is a great place to stay and an even better choice for a pipe show. Not only is the resort itself beautiful, equipped with both an indoor and outdoor pool, a golf course, and a fully-functioning spa, but the accommodations that they made to support us pipe smokers were really outstanding. I’m really glad that such a fantastic show has the support of the community that benefits from it.

I arrived at the resort late Thursday night, which, despite the fact that the show did not officially start until two days later, made me one of the late ones. As soon as we arrived—my girlfriend, Lauren, was kind enough to come to the show with me—we checked in, dropped our things off in our beautiful room, and set out to discover where the smoking tent was. I had been getting phone calls for the last hour from Dustin Babitzke, Nick Miller, and Adam Davidson wondering what was taking me so long, so I knew I shouldn’t delay.

By the time I got there, it was after eleven in the evening and I expected the place to be deserted: O, ye of little faith! At my estimate, I would say there were still over sixty people in the tent, some smoking cigars, most smoking pipes, but everyone was smiling. That night I was able to meet people whose work I had long admired, like Michail Revyagin, Alex Florov, Adam Remington, Steve Morrisette, and Brad Pohlmann.

As soon as I sat down next to Dustin B., I was hauled up from the table by Adam Davidson, literally by my ponytail, as he took me around the tent introducing me to more people and showing me a plethora of beautiful pipes, contained in metal cases, which made me feel like I should be delivering the pipes to some country’s ambassador through the cover of darkness. I ended up spending the rest of Thursday evening in the smoking tent with Lauren, Nick Miller, Steve Morrisette, Adam Remington, and John Crosby, and a number of others, sharing laughs, drinks, and pipes.

Friday morning is the unofficial start of the Chicago Pipe Show. From 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM that day is what was previously known as the "Pre-Show", but is now called the Smoke and Swap. Let me tell you, there was a lot of both going on in the smoking tent that morning!

The way the Smoke and Swap worked this year was that anyone, even if you were not an official vendor, could sign up for use of a half-table to show your wares, make and receive offers, and trade. From what I saw, there was a lot of buying going on during the Smoke and Swap, as there had been the previous evening. By the time I got down to the tent, which was just half-an-hour after all the fun had started, Steve Liskey already had two pipes with a SOLD sign below them. "People saw the bamboo and just went crazy," he told me. After seeing the bamboo myself, I can’t say that I blame them.

Adam Remington’s table was right next to Steve’s, with Bruce Weaver’s right next to Adam’s. With the three of these incredibly talented and fun guys in such close proximity, it was difficult to drag myself anywhere else in the tent. I did, though, and I saw a lot of great pipes for sale and met a lot of class acts. One group of people that I ran into was the Order of Collegiate Pipe Smokers, a group of younger guys all with matching t-shirts and a common interest in pipes. It did my heart proud.

Also that evening, the Chicago Pipe Show had a first ever occurrence: a wedding. The beautiful wedding ceremony brought together Seattle Pipe Club member Tom Wolfe and his lovely bride, Lennea. I know everyone at the show and everyone reading this now wishes them both continued happiness (and many more pipe shows)!

After getting cleaned up that evening, it was time to head down to the Welcome Buffet Dinner, a seven-course dinner topped off with a complementary tin of Sutliff Private Stock. There were a couple brief welcome speeches, shortly after which our table was joined by five gentlemen from Sweden, including Martin Vollmer and Anders Nilsson.

After dinner and some bottles of a nice red wine, we headed over to the smoking tent to listen to a talk given by none-other than Kevin Godbee, the man behind this very magazine. Jokingly, but very accurately, he said that he initially thought about titling his speech, "Ask not what the pipe hobby can do for you, ask what you can do for the pipe hobby". Kevin discussed, in-depth, the state of the pipe hobby today, including the resurgence of the younger pipe smoker, and the legislative challenges that it faces with RYO cigarette tobacco, the FDA and flavoring issues. Mr. Godbee also discussed what we as pipe smokers can do to help our beloved hobby flourish and survive for generations to come.

After testing out the blends for this year’s John Cotton Throwdown, of which there is separate coverage, and having a deep discussion with Martin Vollmer over gin and tonic, it was around one in the morning and time to get some rest for what I expected would be a very full day.

I was right.

There was so much going on at the show that it is difficult to convey through just words and pictures. The energy that took place in the Mega Center was palpable; the sounds of excitement were everywhere. Even making it down into the Mega Center early, as I was helping Dustin set up his incredible collection of blowfish pipes, it was still difficult to get everywhere and see everything. As Kevin has specifically instructed me to be brief, no easy task for me, especially when describing such a mind-bogglingly incredible event, I will do my best to describe a select few exhibitors present at the 2012 Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show.

Educational Displays

Right when you walk through the door of the Mega Center, you are greeted by four glass cases filled with pipes. Above each one is a sign reading, "Education Display", followed by the name of the collector responsible for amassing such an amazing agglomeration.

Two of the cases were devoted to Bobby Eichorn’s collection of Charatan pipes, which contained a variety that was a true pleasure to behold. Sadly, I was unable to speak to him, as he was constantly surrounded by such a flock of admirers that Gene Simmons would have been envious.

On the other side of the aisle were two collections: the first was entirely devoted to the bulldog and rhodesian shapes. When I spoke to Paige Simms, the gentleman who had spent so much time collecting one of my favorite shapes, he pulled out one of the pipes and said, "This is the one that started it all." It was a perfect Dunhill that had clearly been loved and appreciated for many years. "It really doesn’t get much better," he said.

The last collection was Dustin Babitzke’s aquarium of blowfish. While helping set up this display, I was able to see exactly what it takes to pull together a collection like his and like those belong to the other men: the variety of shape and size, the intricate details captured perfectly by different pipes, the way one pipe would complement another. It was truly a treat to see these collections up close.

Cornell & Diehl New Blend - Crooked Lane

At this year’s show, Cornell and Diehl officially introduced Crooked Lane to the world, a tobacco that sung beautifully in my Rubens Rhodesian and did everything a good English should do. According to the tin, "Cornell and Diehl harkens back to Old London with Crooked Lane, a rich and full English blend of Virginias, Latakia, a dose of Oriental and a whisper of Perique. We like to think something similar was a favorite of the artisans who for centuries have made Crooked Lane a world-wide destination for their fishing gear and bird cages. Fill your bowl and join us for a stroll!" A walk down a London market place with this in my pipe sounds like heaven.

Also officially introduced at the show, though some of you might have gotten your mitts on it beforehand, was G.L. Pease’s Sextant. You can read the pre-release teaser for Sextant here, but Mr. Pease himself describes the new blend as something that "defies categorization somewhat. While it has many similarities to a conventional, traditional mixture, the infusion of dark rum, and the addition of fire-cured Kentucky, especially when combined with the pressing and fermentation that occurs as a result, give it a unique sweetness and aroma." [Source:http://glpease.com/Tobacco/OldLondon/ - follow the link for more info.]

Neat Pipes

Hailing all the way from Rozzano, a municipality in the Province of Milan in the Italian region of Lombardy, is Neat Pipes, the brain-child of Luca Di Piazza. Along with displaying a phenomenal collection of pipes, from carvers all around the world, the table also featured Luciano Pipes, another creation of Luca’s. The display was lovely and it was really a pleasure to see so many people dedicated to the pipe from around the world in one place at one time.

Lee Von Erck - Von Erck Pipes

I also got the chance to talk with Lee while at the Chicago Pipe Show, though it took me a little hunting to find him; he always seemed to be off somewhere, shaking hands and sharing a laugh.

Being a pipe smoker himself for over fifty years, Lee knows exactly what a pipe smoker is looking for in a pipe and aims to deliver every time. He told me that he now makes around a hundred pipes a year, mostly because his oil curing and blasting process are both extremely time consuming. "It takes a long time," Lee said, "I could do a lot more pipes if I used a simpler blasting technique. But just look at it." Lee gestures towards one of the few remaining pipes on his table. "It’s worth it."

I couldn’t help but agree with him. Lee also told me that he is now closely working with Tsuge pipes on a collaborative project, for which he provides his oil curing and shaping expertise. Of the over a dozen pipes he brought with him to the show, all but a couple were gone by Sunday morning. Lee told me that he had even sold one pipe that had not been finished yet.

SmokingPipes.com

A presence very difficult to miss at almost any pipe show is the SmokingPipes.com table. This year, as in years past, they came out with a sizeable staff that was both knowledgeable and helpful. staff, including Tony Saintiague who came back just to help with the show and share his passion. [Editor's note: Tony is "Vice Chairman, VP Emeritus" at SPC. He left daily operations to pursue his studies"]. Master Pipe carver Hiroyuki Tokutomi was at the table, as well, along with fellow master Kei-ichi Gotoh. Through the help of a translator, I was able speak with both of these men and, with Tokutomi’s assistance, found a pipe of his the perfect size for Lauren to enjoy: a beautiful, black, sandblasted pipe with a bamboo stem that weighs about as much as a feather.

PipesAndCigars.com

PipesAndCigars was represented by the owner of the company, Scott Bendett, E-Commerce Manager, Bob Gates and other staff. Russ Ouellette was unable to attend the show due to illness, but a huge free sampling of his plethora of delicious Hearth & Home tobacco blends were available for smoking. They told me that the new Cerberus blend (that came out for International Pipe Smoking Day) was so popular that it sold out, but will soon be back in stock. The new New York Pipe Club Tobacco Blends were also being sampled, and a very impressive brand new print catalog was being handed out.

Maxim Engel - Pipes2Smoke.com

With a name like Pipes2Smoke, it’s pretty easy to figure what Maxim Engel is selling, but when I saw the pipes he brought with them, all I could do was stare. Clearly noticing my drool, Maxim approached me with a smile and took the time out of his clearly busy routine to talk pipes and ask me which ones I liked in particular. It was honestly hard for me to pick one and luckily I didn’t have to, as I would have just politely asked to be able to take them all home with me for a little test.

Mac Baren Tobacco Co.

Following in their recent tradition of releasing a new blend at the Chicago Pipe Show, Mac Baren Tobacco introduced HH Old Dark Fired. Much like everything this company releases, Old Dark Fired has been highly anticipated and will surely be just as appreciated. After snagging one of the first tins of this new blend, I got a chance to look at the back label: A bold flake of dark-fired burleys in a well balanced unity with Flue-cured Virginias. This flake is Hot Pressed, meaning that during the pressing, heat is added by steam to the tobaccos which causes the tobacco to intensify the marrying process giving us a bolder tobacco. The robust, earthly flavour of the dark-fired burleys shines through in the taste, and you will experience a deeply satisfying smoke indeed.

One of the most fascinating parts about this tobacco that will be sure to confuse a lot of American pipe smokers is that, despite the fact that HH Old Dark Fired contains zero Latakia, Mac Baren still considers it an English because of the method used in its production, specifically the steam press. According to Per Jensen, Mac Baren Product Manager, the steam press makes it so that the "tobaccos marry faster and in a completely different way than what we normally produce. In short, they alter the taste. This blend is a heavy/strong tobacco with a lot of vitamin N."

The 2012 Chicago Show was a stupendous, exhilarating, and unbelievably fun time. Leaving was a downer, but I am already looking forward to the next pipe show and next year in Chicago.

Photos by Ethan Brandt and Kevin Godbee

Ethan Brandt is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in Religious Studies and English with a Pre-Law focus. He picked up his first pipe his Freshman year in college and never looked back. Recently, he has start up a pipe-focused blog called Pipe School.

2011 Chicago Show Report

Welcome to our 4th monthly Cartoon Caption Contest. PipesMagazine.com has signed a contract with Jerry King for the production of four exclusive Pipe Cartoons each month, starting in February 2012. (Jerry has been drawing cartoons for Playboy Magazine for the past 17-years.) One of the four monthly cartoons will be published without a caption so contest entrants can submit their own entries.

SmokingPipes.com is the exclusive sponsor of the monthly contest. PipesMagazine.com Editorial Staff will judge the entries and SmokingPipes.com will award the prizes. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will each receive a Sebastien Beo Pipe with a retail value of $85, $80, and $75, respectively.

For legal and logistical reasons, the contest is only open to residents of North America, excluding Quebec.

Read the Contest Rules Here :: Enter the Contest Here
See More Cartoons Here :: See the April 2012 Winners Here

1st Place - Rick Bedor, Merrickville, Ontario
2nd Place - Tim Hawkins, Mackville, KY
3rd Place - Russell Shay, Toms River, NJ

Captions are shown below -

Chris P. Bacon
In the fall of 2005, a post on the Pipe and Tobacco Collector’s Blog sounded an alarm about the “demise of the pipe show” which, in the context of a somewhat standard gripe session about the state of pipe shows as a whole, made a provocative and impressive claim that predicted a coming storm accurately. The post stated that pipe shows, in overemphasizing the retail aspect of their gatherings, had become mere marketplaces, and this transformation dissolved the important yet somewhat intangible communal aspect upon which, at least anecdotally, the entire pipe community was based. Aside from striking gold in the mid-2000’s with a substantial lucrative boom in high-end pipe sales brought about by an influx of artisan carvers earlier in the decade, the pipe shows had nothing to show for decades of development and were in danger of becoming unexciting flea-markets, its visitors disengaged from the fact that, beyond the buying and selling, there was something missing, something important and communal and real.

I re-read this 2005 blog post prior to attending Chicago’s 2012 show this past week and threw it against the wall all weekend as I contemplated the state of the Chicago show, and the pipe shows in general, as we enter a new era brought about by smoking banishment and the deflation of the “pipe bubble” that had sustained many an investor years ago, setting the stage for the blog post in question.

The Smoking Tent

For what took place in Chicago last weekend was a genuine attempt to bring back elements of pipe shows as a whole that had somehow disappeared from view in the rush to emphasize the retail aspect of the show, as the caveat from 2005 bannered, and the successes in doing so were not solely evident from the vantage point of one single subgroup—the carver, the retailer, the pipe guy, all with their disparate interests. But if one examines the pipe show as an opportunity to engage, to bond, to fellowship with other pipe enthusiasts, it was a rousing success, unquestionably the best Chicago show in years. It wasn’t that sort of show for everyone, mind you; if you attended looking to strike gold but didn’t, or find a buyer for your such-and-such and left disappointed, then you may not agree. But the fact that such diverse agendas exist under one roof is critical: we have arrived at the point where the fragmentation and diffusion of the pipe community is so vast that it isn’t possible to label an entire gathering a “success” based upon one dimension. This diffusion is, in itself, an indication of success.

I witnessed at Chicago this year the rebirth of the pipe show in multiple ways: as a barometer of the health of something called the “pipe community”, it was apparent now there were multiple “pipe communities”—diverse yet intertwined, each relying on the other as a sort of mutual admiration society in flux, the old school (which I have come to affectionately call “The Charatan Generation”) watching as the New Pipe Community becomes fragmented into an array of subgroups. These subgroups are not infinite: they appear to be centered around many possible vortices, such as by interest in one type or shape of pipe, or a singular theme (even the phrase “retailers” appears limited in scope at this point), or political, social, or religious affiliation (there really is something called Christian Pipe Smokers, and their representative numbers are pretty impressive), and so on. It’s an exciting moment to have attended this show, subplots and all.

The pipe show as a barometer of a “pipe community”.

I don’t recall a time when I have ever thought that there was a singular thing called a “pipe community”, but that phrase has almost no validity anymore. Nowadays, there are so many pipe “communities” that are brought to rule that I don’t think you can go to the Chicago show anymore and experience it all. Diversity is key, and anything goes at Chicago, as evidenced by the almost overloaded schedule of events, workshops, meetings, and presentations which were more than window dressing. They were substantial opportunities to tune in and communicate, to believe and behold and make sense of the deeper meaning of the art that entrances us. This was the closest the Chicago (or any) show has come to a full-blown trade show in my memory, a blur of ideas and quick-tempo events stretching until well past bedtime in the tent and elsewhere, so that those preferring to smoke may not feel left out of the action because they retreated to the tent to escape and retire. It was a nice touch to use the tent as an opportunity to include people.

I developed a feeling that the show, in its efforts to be inclusive of the diversity of the New Pipe Communities, had finally acknowledged the independent, almost rebellious nature of the act of smoking that binds us as fans, and as free spirited persons. As we are confronted with social ostracism elsewhere, and an occasional feeling that pipes are possibly simultaneously “hip” and anachronistic, the CPCC answered this dilemma by crafting an event, a happening which allowed us to find and indulge and share. The fragmentation of the community has allowed for this shift in attention to detail at the show itself, and I certainly hope the other pipe shows took good notes. It appears that the CPCC has learned the lessons of the aforementioned blog post about how simply allowing for a retail exchange isn’t going to be a sufficient draw to get people to want to come to a pipe show. Chicago’s show this year upped the ante by placing these diverse communities into context: the subgroups of the New Pipe Community are not hidden from view, or simply asterisks on a show program, they are front-and-center.

Olie Sylvester Pipe

The Tent.

For those who recall the first tent show at Chicago years ago, you likely remember that there was a degree of skepticism surrounding the effect of the indoor smoking ban on the pipe show itself. It’s safe to say that by now this skepticism has been replaced by an almost anticipatory expectation that the same tent which may have inspired initial ridicule has now morphed into one of the most unique social venues associated with pipe smoking anywhere. The tent has become the visible core of the entire Chicago show, where the camaraderie of the unique interest that binds us is permitted and on full display, and where the show itself is essentially formed: novices and experts, hagglers and dealers, the interested and the curious, and old friends and strangers meet, drink (quite a bit, actually), and gather. In addition to being a social venue again this year, the CPCC reaffirmed the tent as a formal opportunity for the retail aspect of the show by moving its pre-show and swap into the tent to allow for smoking. What resulted was the literal (and one imagines, from here on out, irreversible) expansion of the showcase itself into a three-day showcase with quite a bit of validation of the concept of a “smoking show”. This decision resolves the interesting problem noted by show-goers here and elsewhere as to which “type” of show they prefer, smoking or not. In Chicago 2012’s case, they’ve got both. As always, the tent provided show-goers the opportunity to make long-lasting memories. Or, you could just disconnect from even those who come to disconnect. For those who have never attended, the tent itself is one of those huge industrial jobs that takes quite a while to assemble, and as the 2012 Chicago Pipe Show crowd found out Friday, can also get pretty humid and sultry if the conditions are right. No matter—it’s endearing itself in ways that are unexpected and fun.

Beyond its utility as a place for smoking respite, the tent is a metaphor for the community itself. Given this generation’s endless opportunities to connect without actually connecting (from message boards, to Skype chats, to other rituals), the tent is a scene, a haven to combat the loneliness resulting from the inherent disconnectedness of the YouTube era. I sensed this when I randomly spent time in the tent early on Sunday morning when it was empty. It struck me as a sort of landscape; the only sounds were the distant buzz of golf course maintenance equipment and the occasional “clink” of ashtrays placed on tables by the janitorial staff. I didn’t ever think that this tent, which was such an expensive risk, could take on so much meaning, but it has become a special place. What goes on in that tent on any given day at the pipe show is an almost spiritual and communal thing, something far greater than its physical space, something far more important than an electronic communication can encapsulate. Virtual pipe communities constitute superficial attempts to replicate connectedness, a human element to what is a very human art; this is the double-edged blade of responsibility assumed by the New Pipe Community. The opportunity provided by the tent cannot be replaced by any virtual community, however important those virtual worlds may be to sustaining things in other ways. It’s up to the ones who assume the leadership role to realize the essential importance of the tent and the show which has embraced it.

Russ Cook Pipe

The Charatan Generation welcomes The New Pipe Communities.

Collegiate Pipe Smokers

I guess it’s no surprise that we live in an era where a group of young college-age men and women feel excited enough about an opportunity to engage in an literal (as opposed to a virtual) communal gathering that they appear in customized t-shirts proclaiming themselves the “Collegiate Pipe Smokers” (with a Latin phrase, naturally, indecipherable as it may have been to me). Similarly, I counted no less than 6 pipe carvers who were attending their very first show, and they appeared to be doing quite well. I mean that ideologically as well as financially; some of the new pipe carvers really have something to say in their work that is challenging and exhilarating. The evolution of the pipe community into distinct but interrelated subgroups is now at its visible extreme: the Charatan Generation gives way to a group of young enthusiasts who may never smoke a Charatan at all, but are genuinely respectful of those who do, as they propel the pipe community toward the outer limits of creativity and individuality. A collegiate pipe t-shirt-wearer told me, “I’d like to join UPCA, they do a lot of cool stuff”, a somewhat blanket statement but one which was said in the most earnest enthusiasm, as if the organization itself had enough of an imagination and energy to contain this crew hell-bent on not allowing the New Pipe Community to be ignored, intent on taking the Charatan Generation on the ride with them. This realization was important and exciting to me, as I can’t recall a pipe show at Chicago in the past decade where I saw so many younger pipe enthusiasts whose hearts were in the right place.

It dawned on me that, roughly a decade ago, a new group of exciting pipe carvers emerged who gave the pipe community a good-natured kick in the pants, which led inexorably to the highs of the mid-00’s and the inevitable letdown experienced by the author of the pipe blog post I recollected. Now, it seems the same thing is happening again: we may be in a post-something era where the Crosbys and Johnsons are the standard-bearers, and the pipe carvers and fans of the newest sort are speaking not to the conservative clang of Charatan and Parker and Radice, but to their heroes who emerged in the 2000’s. This happens a lot, and it’s interesting to see we’re at that point now. I’m reminded of the fact that there are musicians today for whom something recorded in the 1990’s represents “classic rock”.

Is there room at this table?

Saturday, I held a pipe in my hand by a pipe carver who was attending his very first show. He was eager and excited to have anyone stop by and admire his stuff—it didn’t seem to matter if I wasn’t going to make a purchase or not (although I am certain that the fact that I did was appreciated). I thought of this: his pipes weren’t “his take on a bulldog”, or “his version of so-and-so’s billiard”, or any other responsorial name-drop. In fact, he never mentioned to me who he was admiring, studying under, or biting. It seems acceptable, finally, that a “bulldog-looking pipe” can now be called whatever its craftsman wishes to call it, no matter the name of the shape it best resembles. In other words, we’re at a liberating moment, and I saw this everywhere in the past weekend at Chicago.

If we truly feel that the real cannot be removed, and that pipe shows themselves play some sort of role aside from providing a sales venue, then we should welcome the challenge posed by this year’s show at Chicago to make good on the impressive opportunity to expand the New Pipe Communities by even more diverse persons and interests. There’s a forlorn but anticipatory undercurrent at the Chicago Pipe Show that the arrival of Monday represents the closing of a door, the end of an opportunity to retreat and learn and fellowship, and the resumption of the routines of life, as it were. This year, I took something hopeful back, a sense that the pipe show and the community it drew together were both robust and headed towards new ideas while taking the older ones along. I used to gauge the show by what sort of loot I took back home, but doing so this year almost seemed inadequate in explaining how strongly the show has come back from the dualities of an economic recession and a smoking ban. It looks like those two challenges have been stared down, and the New Pipe Community that has emerged from the changes promises to keep the flame.

Wayne Teipen Pipe

E. Roberts & Kevin Godbee
The 2012 John Cotton Throwdown

The judges were Neill Archer Roan, Marty Pulvers, and Russ Ouellette. (Russ was absent due to illness, but Scott Bendett, the owner of PipesandCigars.com did a great job filling in for Russ.) The contest was presented by the Seattle Pipe Club and New York Pipe Club, and hosted by Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club.

The 2012 John Cotton Throwdown was sponsored by Sutliff Tobacco Company.

As an extra bonus to this exclusive breaking news, Pipes Magazine also has the scoop with reviews of the three contestant blends. These are blind reviews, where Mr. Roberts only knew the tobaccos by their code letter. He did not know which blends came from which contestants. Let’s see how his reviews compare to the contest results. - Kevin Godbee

John Cotton Throwdown Contestant Blend Reviews - by E. Roberts

If you’ve ever met the Guss brothers, you know that they are like a force of nature. Not in a Lance Armstrong, Hurricane Katrina sort of way, though … no, being pipe men, they’re much more subtle; more like glaciers, or erosion. Thus it was that they wore down my resistance and convinced me to review the three entrants to this year’s John Cotton Throwdown. Despite my protests of not being a qualified English smoker, of never having tried the original John Cotton’s mixture, and of not knowing the style of the contestants, they insisted, and I acquiesced. Due to the limited amounts of the entry blends, I was only able to taste test approximately 5-6 grams of each sample over the course of a couple days. Normally I prefer to smoke through an ounce or twelve of a blend in a variety of pipes until I feel I really have a handle on it, as there are so many variables that affect the smoking experience. I am happy to report, though, that these samples were the next best thing to going to the Chicago show, and were wonderful smokes each in their own right.

My sample packets were labeled simply X, Y, and Z, and are the same packets that will be available to all attendants at the show for the people’s choice vote. Being that I have such clout in the pipe world’s inner circle, as it were, I was able to procure two packets of each blend. Membership certainly does have its privileges. To ensure I got a fair crack at each of them, my initial tastes were in briars for the all-important first impressions, followed by clay pipes to really look for the specific notes, and finally half-bowls in a meer to see how the flavor profiles tied together.

Again, I would not consider the following a full review of the blends; rather they are a narrative of my tasting notes over the course of a couple of days—the same experience the crowd at Chicago will have. As I’m writing this on the Sunday evening prior to the show, I will cast my vote as well, although I’ve been told that the article won’t be published until the votes have been tallied and the winners declared.

Blend X [Steve Books, House of Calabash]:

The darkest overall color of the three blends, and perhaps the most Latakia-forward. The pouch aroma is pungent but not overly so, and actually rather mild in comparison to the body of the smoke, with the familiar leathery tang of Latakia and a hint of old book being the main scents. Packs easily and lights with a single match. An impressive smoke from the char to the heel, really, with a sweet top note of a honey-like Virginia giving way to the Latakia mid-tones that dominate until the finish. Just a twinge of a peppery zing in the retrohale, and a certain musty note, hints at Perique in small measure. By mid-bowl the flavors really open up, with very rich mid-tones of an exceptional loamy, peaty character balanced with the sweet high notes of melon or sweet pumpkin and the low end notes of a flat chocolate stout. The room note is of that gloriously stinky Lat, unrepentant in its musky spice. A hearty blend that is rich and full in every aspect including the nicotine quotient, with an exceptional Latakia component.

Blend Y [Dick Silverman, Chief Catoonah]:

A more evenly mottled brown range, with smaller cuts than the others—although this may be due to the amount of handling it has received. The pouch aroma is of a sweet and savory barbeque-like range, which translates into the smoking as well. It’s a bit sharp on the light, and immediately very tasty with tangy, buttered popcorn notes. Overall this blend seems a bit more Virginia-forward of the three, and my guess is that there is some fine stoved in there lending caramel & maple syrup flavors, and even a hint of anise on one’s palate in the aftertaste. The room note is splendid, with the barbeque and buttery feeling translating through as well with its sweet and smoky character, and none of the sourness of more bitter Latakias. This does best in the clay, notably, and begs for repeated bowls, which I sadly do not have. The finish is lighter on the nicotine and body, yet fully flavorful.

Blend Z [Leonard Wortzel, Lane Limited]:

The lightest-colored mixture of the three, ranging largely in the caramel and milk chocolate spectrum mottled with black, and with more ribbon cuts. The pouch aroma is decidedly bready and loamy with the clay-like notes of the Latakia. This blend is the more Oriental-forward of the three, in fact, and its aroma translates into the room note with a delightful graham cracker scent. From the light through the heel, it evidences a pleasing sharpness, though not biting; the profile stays on the higher notes with a cola-like sweetness from the Virginia, and the burnt-sugar & cardamom spiciness of the Orientals dominating. It finishes with a subtle dénouement into a more rounded, toasty feel with some woody notes.

As you can see, it was well worth the sacrifice to clear out my Sunday, kick back with plenty of tea and water crackers and an old film (The Stunt Man), and make tasting notes as I whittled my way through these three wonderful blends. All were notable for their balance, and especially their distinctiveness within a common thread of flavor. Having never tried the original John Cotton’s mixture, I really haven’t the faintest idea of which one may be closest to emulating it. I do think that each of them displays a character that could make them a new classic, and despite being a confessed dabbler in the Latakia end of the spectrum, I look forward to these being available—I will add each to my cellar for sure, because each left me wanting one more bowl at the end. It’s terribly difficult to pick a favorite of the three, because with their differing forward notes they appeal to different moods. Overall, though, I found Blend X to be the most intriguing and complex, and the one that I tended to rate the others against. Its Latakia component was outstanding, perhaps especially so because I’m not a regular Lat smoker and this one really grabbed me. Ultimately, it had that certain unquantifiable something that equaled more than the sum of its parts. I would like to thank and congratulate the blenders in advance for their outstanding efforts in creating such exceptional blends, and wish them all the best of luck with the contest. I’m really looking forward to hearing what the results are, and consider them all to be winning blends in my book.

Russ Ouellette
It’s been said that your ideal blend is out there,

This is a task that has been done countless times with widely varying results. Even though I have a lot of components at my disposal, I still like certain blends with a little "tweak". Every so often I find the combination of Gawith, Hoggarth & Company’s Best Brown #4 (rubbed out) with a pinch of Cyprian Latakia to be just what the doctor ordered.

This kind of experimentation takes a number of forms. One of the most common forms of this is what I refer to as "corned beef hash" blends. In a lot of households, when there was a corned beef and cabbage dinner, it usually meant that hash would soon follow because the leftover beef and potatoes would be used, along with other items hanging around, like onions, and I’ve even had it with carrots. For a lot of people who hate to waste anything, all the tiny amounts at the bottom of the can or bag are routinely dumped into a container and mixed up, resulting in the home version of what smoke shops call the "Hoover Blend" or floor-sweepings. This, usually, doesn’t wind up becoming nirvana, however, and even if it did, the chances of recreating it are next to zero.

The second kind of home blending comes from a similar kind of practicality. Just as combining the scraps and leftovers comes from a desire to not waste tobacco, this type is an attempt to save a blend that just didn’t ring the bell properly. We’ve all rolled the dice and bought a blend on a whim and smoked it later only to find that it missed the target, sometimes by a wide margin, so rather than wasting tobacco, we keep it around and will add a pinch to another blend as an extender, or mix in some quantity of other tobaccos to make it palatable. Either way, the result doesn’t often produce something that makes one hear choirs of seraphim singing an oratorio when the tobacco is lit.

The type of home blending that will sometimes result in the perfect tobacco is when you try something new that’s just slightly off what you desire. Then with a pinch of this tobacco or a fistful of that blend, you discover the mixture that has all the elements you desire. If you’re fortunate, you kept notes or have the kind of memory that will retain the blend and you’ll have found what few people ever do- the ideal smoke.

Is there an approach that works well with this type of home blending? Yes, but it doesn’t work without being able to break down the flavors of the blend and knowledge of what different tobaccos bring to the table. It’s not necessary to be able to pinpoint specific flavor elements (like marshmallow or leather), but determining that a blend needs to be sweeter, spicier, smokier, etc. is mandatory. From there, it becomes a matter of being able to identify another blend that has the element that’s needed. The last step is finding the proper proportions to achieve the desired result.

Sometimes, the blend you’re trying is so close to ideal that it will only require a small modification to get where you want to go. So understanding the fundamental qualities of different tobaccos is helpful. Here’s a brief rundown- Virginias tend to be sweet, with the lighter color indicating more sweetness due to higher sugar content. Red Virginias tend to have a more "bready" or toasty flavor. White Burley has a walnut-like flavor, while dark Burleys are earthy and a bit spicy. Orientals can have flavors that range from musty to buttery to floral. Latakia or dark-fired Kentucky add a smokiness, but care should be used with the Kentucky as it has a significant amount of Vitamin N. Cavendishes tend to have a sweetness, and most are flavored in some way, with unflavored black Cavendish having a distinct brown sugar aroma and flavor. Perique will add a stewed fruit and pepper note along with a decent nicotine hit.

The condimental tobaccos (the stronger flavored ones like Latakia, Perique and dark-fired Kentucky) should always be used conservatively, at first, as it’s difficult at best to cover it up when too much is used. Increase amounts gradually until the desired result is achieved. The lighter flavored tobaccos can be used a bit more liberally, as the influence is not as strong.

So, after all of your years of searching, you’ve found a blend that’s pretty close to what you’ve been looking for, and you start experimenting until you find just the right additive in just the right proportion, and you’ve finally landed upon your happy place. The next step is to make up a batch and enjoy. Your life is finally complete, and you’ll spend the rest of your life bathed in warm sunshine in a beautiful garden…right?

Not so fast, because, as with most things in life, there are no guarantees. For example, your tastes can change. Recently I spoke with a gentleman who had a pretty bad motorcycle accident and during his recovery he discovered that there were foods that he liked that he no longer cared for and he began to enjoy others that he previously disliked. This will happen to almost everyone, but in a much less drastic manner. I mean, after all, it gets a little boring to eat pepperoni pizza for breakfast everyday.

Additionally, blends will change (hopefully, modestly) from year to year, which, of course, will also change your blend. But, in this case, a minor adjustment should solve the problem.

If you decide to give this a try, I wish you the best and really hope that you finally come up with something that makes every day a bit nicer for you. If you don’t, there are a number of blenders out there who are always coming up with new tobaccos, one of which might be your new favorite. Anyway, the enjoyment’s not always at the destination, it’s often the journey.