Here's an interesting article you might like to read and comment on from HarlanDaily.com, the local Harlan, KY newspaper:
Taking up pipe smoking, again, by Ike Adams.
Taking up pipe smoking, again, by Ike Adams.
Interesting Article: "Taking up pipe smoking, again"
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I live in NH and have tried the Turkish Balkan, as my local B&M has some of their blends in bulk. It was good, moderate amount of Latakia. it is fairly inexpensive. There are a few reviews for Abenaki Tobacco at TobaccoReviews.
But where I live, it is quicker to get to L. J. Peretti and Leavitt & Pierce in Boston, and they have some mighty fine tobacco blends; a little pricier, but worth every penny.
But where I live, it is quicker to get to L. J. Peretti and Leavitt & Pierce in Boston, and they have some mighty fine tobacco blends; a little pricier, but worth every penny.
I may try that 5 sample offer they have. I've discovered that those pizza joints you never knew existed tend to have the best pizza. I wonder if it's the same with tobacco stores.
I just had a very unique experience with Abenaki Tobacco ...
After reading this thread, I went to the Abenaki Tobacco website and prepared an order for the Sampler (i.e., five 2-oz samples for $19.95). There is a flat-rate shipping fee of $6.49 added to the bottom line, so total cost for the order was $26.44.
The Abenaki Tobacco website does not accept credit cards. Instead, a phone number is provided so that the online purchaser can call and make arrangements for payment.
I called the phone number that was provided, and reached "Anna" at her residence in New Hampshire. Anna was extremely polite and friendly, and she answered all of my questions (many of which were raised by this very unique online ordering experience).
Here is what I learned from Anna:
1) The Abenaki Tobacco company was originally started by Anna's husband, who passed-away several years ago. Anna has continued to run the business since her husband passed-away.
2) Anna is not a member of the Abenaki Indian community, and neither was her husband. Rather, her husband simply decided to use the Abenaki name for the retail tobacco business that he created.
3) In order to pay for tobacco that is ordered from the Abenaki Tobacco website, a purchaser must call Anna and provide a credit card number over the phone for their first order. Anna takes the credit card information, and saves it. If subsequent orders are placed with Abenaki Tobacco, Anna will use the purchaser's credit card number that she has kept on file.
4) Abenaki Tobacco does not blend their own tobacco. According to Anna, the company purchases their blends from "a wholesaler in Virginia." (I am guessing Sutliff Tobacco in Richmond, Virginia; but I could be wrong.) Abenaki Tobacco changes the wholesaler's names of the various blends before re-selling the blends on the Abenaki tobacco website.
I enjoyed speaking with Anna on the phone. As I noted above, she was very polite and very friendly. I admire her for continuing to manage and operate the family business that her husband created prior to his death.
However, I was not very comfortable with the idea of giving Anna my credit card number so that she could write it down on a piece of paper. I suppose that some of you will assert that this would be no different than giving the credit card number electronically to another online tobacco vendor, such as P&C.com or SmokingPipes.com; and your assertion may be true. Nevertheless, there was something about the situation that just did not feel right to me. Also, it did not seem like a worthwhile process simply to order some of the renamed tobacco blends that Abenaki Tobacco had procured from a tobacco wholesaler in Virginia (Sutliff ??).
So, I opted to cancel the order.
Of course, I thanked Anna for her time; and I also asked her to take no offense at my decision to cancel my order. She was gracious, and she invited me to call her again (with my credit card number) if I changed my mind.
After reading this thread, I went to the Abenaki Tobacco website and prepared an order for the Sampler (i.e., five 2-oz samples for $19.95). There is a flat-rate shipping fee of $6.49 added to the bottom line, so total cost for the order was $26.44.
The Abenaki Tobacco website does not accept credit cards. Instead, a phone number is provided so that the online purchaser can call and make arrangements for payment.
I called the phone number that was provided, and reached "Anna" at her residence in New Hampshire. Anna was extremely polite and friendly, and she answered all of my questions (many of which were raised by this very unique online ordering experience).
Here is what I learned from Anna:
1) The Abenaki Tobacco company was originally started by Anna's husband, who passed-away several years ago. Anna has continued to run the business since her husband passed-away.
2) Anna is not a member of the Abenaki Indian community, and neither was her husband. Rather, her husband simply decided to use the Abenaki name for the retail tobacco business that he created.
3) In order to pay for tobacco that is ordered from the Abenaki Tobacco website, a purchaser must call Anna and provide a credit card number over the phone for their first order. Anna takes the credit card information, and saves it. If subsequent orders are placed with Abenaki Tobacco, Anna will use the purchaser's credit card number that she has kept on file.
4) Abenaki Tobacco does not blend their own tobacco. According to Anna, the company purchases their blends from "a wholesaler in Virginia." (I am guessing Sutliff Tobacco in Richmond, Virginia; but I could be wrong.) Abenaki Tobacco changes the wholesaler's names of the various blends before re-selling the blends on the Abenaki tobacco website.
I enjoyed speaking with Anna on the phone. As I noted above, she was very polite and very friendly. I admire her for continuing to manage and operate the family business that her husband created prior to his death.
However, I was not very comfortable with the idea of giving Anna my credit card number so that she could write it down on a piece of paper. I suppose that some of you will assert that this would be no different than giving the credit card number electronically to another online tobacco vendor, such as P&C.com or SmokingPipes.com; and your assertion may be true. Nevertheless, there was something about the situation that just did not feel right to me. Also, it did not seem like a worthwhile process simply to order some of the renamed tobacco blends that Abenaki Tobacco had procured from a tobacco wholesaler in Virginia (Sutliff ??).
So, I opted to cancel the order.
Of course, I thanked Anna for her time; and I also asked her to take no offense at my decision to cancel my order. She was gracious, and she invited me to call her again (with my credit card number) if I changed my mind.
kairos - the credit-card-over-phone thing is not any different than Pipeworks & Wilke. And it would be a crime to miss out on those blends.
That said, the fact that Abenaki is not blending their own tobacco but simply reselling is not particularly appealing when there are so many great blenders out there.
That said, the fact that Abenaki is not blending their own tobacco but simply reselling is not particularly appealing when there are so many great blenders out there.
Thanks kairos, on second thought the article reads kind of like a commercial for the company. From looking at the website it sounded like they were growing this themselves and doing everything involved with creating special organic kind of custom blends. And in all honesty that's not much cheaper then what's available already, actually pretty much on par. It's kind of strange actually for an online business not to have direct credit card payment on their site.
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