Share Your Exceptional Smoking Experiences

Several weeks ago I had a bowl of McClelland Blackwoods Flake. Don't know what about the stars was aligning, but that was the first time my taste buds positively exploded over a naturally sweet tobacco. My mouth watered, and it felt like sugar was coating my lips.
Haven't had that since.

As I've mentioned before, I like to mix tobaccos (not exactly blend them, no aging or putting

the tobacco under pressure here). Recently I mixed McClelland's Red Virginia Cake and Lanes

Burley without Bite in equal parts, with about half that amount of Altadis Black Cavendish, and

a generous pinch of CD Izmir Turkish in a ceramic bowl and left it to dry overnight. The result

is an elegantly mild but richly flavorful "blend." I made enough for three or four bowls full, and

when I was done, I made up another slightly larger quantity. It seems to keep alright for several

days. What surprises me is how much less bite this has than even some of my favorite blends,

and how complex and flavorful it is. And the best part is, you don't have to follow my recipe

exactly; you can use what your have on hand that is somewhat similar, and adjust the proportions

to suit yourself. A little Perique or Lat might be substituted for the Turkish, etc. etc. The key

seems to be bulk tobacco. If you used anything that has much dressing or aromatics, I think

they might not sit down so well together. Try it. Oooh-la-la.

I finally converted my third car garage into my smoking cave (I'll post pics later). This morning I fired up a bowl of Dan Tobacco Blue Note that I graciously got from mrjerke (thank you kind sir). Loaded it in my restored Olive Wood Fero.

I sat down on my leather chair and had a cup of coffee with my smoke. The family came into the cave to visit. It was just a relaxing feeling. All is well...

My most memorable experience--and the point where I was really bitten by the pipe bug--was a little over about two months ago when I was visiting a friend in Nevada, two hours out from Las Vegas. I was bordered at my friend's guest house, where I was able to enjoy some privacy. I'm a night owl, and sat on the porch of the guesthouse with some Captain Black Gold (I was new at pipe smoking and didn't know anything about truly quality tobaccos) with a Brebbia Dublin and meditated on the vast starscape, unhindered by light pollution in the middle of the desert. I smoked for hours watching the amazing vista of stars while smoking the Brebbia. A wonderful, transcendental experience. Now back in suburbia a couple of miles out from Detroit where light pollution makes the stars invisible, I often reflect on those evenings back in Nevada. Unforgettable.

There have been so many but the first one that comes to mind occurred in May. I was at Syracuse University for my daughter’s graduation (bio-chem major – my 401K heh). I had filled my little “Kaddy” with SJF to fit in my pocket for the ceremony. Once I cleared the Nazi no smoking area and hit the parking lot I sat on the hood of the car, looking back at the University and puffed away (nasty looks of course), my mind just whirling with the thoughts of the journey with my daughter from the beginning as a baby. Yes of course there was dust blowing in my eyes, and for a few moments felt a bit selfish on what a great job I did…
Craig