Recent Comments

• On May 12th, 2009 Gaget said:

  Yeah, we set it up and then went to sleep, like our audience. LOL. We did offer a fine tasting rating sheet. Tell me where to attach it, and I will.

  
  Commented on the post The 2009 Chicagoland Int'l Pipe & Tobacciana Show on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.
• On October 25th, 2009 Gaget said:

  Sometimes, it is almost too much to bear to suffer yet another loss of a treasured friend and respected collector. So many pipe smokers I’ve known have lived into their 80s and 90s. Others have been taken from us far too soon, for no reasons related to their enjoyment of tobacco. I suppose I could only be satisfied if everyone lived to a ripe old age of 110!

  Yet I would not trade a moment with the years I’ve enjoyed with my older (and younger) pipe compadres, even if the sadness of inevitable death overtakes us all at some point. Yes, there are times I wish I had become involved in skateboarding rather than pipe smoking, only because I have made and lost so many dear friends over the years as a pipe smoker. But, dude, it wouldn’t have been nearly so much fun.

  John Loring was a loveable grouch, and a consummate collector who left behind a legacy of erudite knowledge about pipes (and Dunhills in particular) that will stay with us in his research, writings, and joy of collecting and puffing. All I can say is that I never took a moment’s conversation with him for granted. I always celebrated his displays of rare and unusual Dunhills. He was a unique character and a respected friend, who I had the pleasure of knowing for 20 plus years.

  I already miss John, but my life is far richer with him having been in it.

  
  Commented on the post John C. Loring - Legend in the Pipe Collecting World Dies on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.
• On January 6th, 2012 Gaget said:

  Very well done, Greg! It might be shocking to readers that a great blend can have 60% Latakia. Aha, but it’s the quality of the Lat.

  
  Commented on the post Balkan Sobriety on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.
• On January 6th, 2012 Gaget said:

  I generally despise Burley, except as a modest blending component. But when it is properly stoved and aged, it is a thing of beaut, such as in Solani aged Burley Flake or the dearly departed Orlik Dark Fired Kentucky flake. That is a different animal.

  
  Commented on the post Burley - The Rodney Dangerfield of Tobacco on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.
• On January 19th, 2012 Gaget said:

  Very nice review, Adam, of this complex and exceptionally interesting tobacco. However, I must really take issue with your characterization that the mixture contained “no hint of the characteristic McClellands ketchup smell.” McClelland produces hundreds of blends, from straight Virginias to Oriental mixtures to aromatics. The ketchup/barbecue sauce/currant/raisin flavor is characteristic only of their heavily stoved, caked and sliced tobaccos such as Dark Star, Christmas Cheer or Blackwoods Flake. This is a direct result of the intense and intentional stoving process used for selected blends, but is by no means “characteristic” of McClelland blends. It is also a completely natural occurance caused by the stoving, aging and caking process, and something that frequently occurs with Virginia tobaccos over the course of many years of tin aging. It is not contrived by the use of flavorings or any artificial processes.

  While many people enjoy the McClelland blends that feature this fruity intensity developed through aging and stoving, it is by no means “characteristic” of McClelland blends that employ Virginia tobaccos.

  
  Commented on the post McClelland Wilderness Pipe Tobacco Review on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.
• On January 20th, 2012 Gaget said:

  As anyone who does some cooking knows, heat and pressure have the ability to transform ingredients from one thing to something completely different. A tough and terrible pork shoulder roast, cooked slowly for hours, can transform into something totally soft and delectible. And think about Perique, which is basic Burley tobacco that under tremendous pressure and with sufficient aging, transforms into a completly different tobacco. Clearly, the same is true with Virginia leaf. It can range from bright flue-cured to something dark and unctuous that is quite different from the original product. My point is, as you noted Kevin, is that the processing makes all the difference. Like a restaurant that might grill steaks at 1,200 degrees for a few minutes and also offer brisket slow-smoked for 16 hours, meat is not simply meat, depending on how it’s cooked. One needs to classify a tobacco “restaurant” on its ability to play with all the variations, but shouldn’t be pigeon-holed for one particular style.

  
  Commented on the post McClelland Wilderness Pipe Tobacco Review on the blog The #1 Source for Pipes and Pipe Tobacco Information.