By Bob Tate

The tin aroma of this blend is a nice sweet and tangy straight forward tobacco smell. It smells pretty good. The moisture content is perfect for smoking right away. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light. Upon the charring light, I am greeted by a straight forward tobacco taste and aroma accompanied by a slight sweetness. There is also a sort of a sharpness to it has well. I detect the sharpness on my palate, but it is not a bite. That may be the Kentucky tobacco. I finished lighting the pipe to see where this blend would go.

At the start, I taste a nice naturally sweet tobacco taste. There is a bit of fullness to the smoke that I would attribute to the Kentucky. The sharpness is still there, but it moved more to the background. There is some smokiness to it as well, but not a Latakia smokiness. It’s more of a natural straight type of smokiness. The sweetness is very light and subtle and seems to be detected more on the finish than the actual smoke.

Around the 3/4 point, I started to detect a strong presence of plum and spice. The strength also seemed to pick up a little bit at this point. Around the half bowl point, the plum and spice retreated to the background a bit, but the strength remained. Around the last 1/4 of the bowl, the plum and spice started coming back into the forefront and the taste remained that way until the end.

This is a full bodied, straight forward tobacco tasting smoke. The Kentucky is definitely the focal point of this blend and dominates it. There seems to be just enough Perique to add some plum and spice to it and the Virginias are there to add just a slight amount of sweetness to break it up a bit and bring some harmony to the blend. This is definitely a blend to smoke later in the day and make sure that you have a bite to eat before smoking it. I would almost put it in the same category as Peterson Irish Flake as far as the strength goes.

This is a strange blend for me. I do like it and it has all of the attributes that I normally love in a blend, but I don’t know how often that I would smoke it. It is made of high quality tobaccos and smokes slow, cool, dry, and doesn’t bite. It is a very good blend, but it isn’t setting off any bells and whistles for me. I don’t know if it is the pipe that I chose to smoke it in, if I smoked it too early in the day, or because I didn’t eat before I smoked it. It is a blend that I will keep on hand, even though it wouldn’t be an everyday smoke for me. I will continue to re-visit it in different pipes and at different times and circumstances.

I image that this would be a great smoke after a hearty meal. If you like straight forward tobacco blends that pack a punch, I definitely suggest that you give Cumberland a try.
I Recommend it.

Brand: G.L. Pease
Blend: Cumberland
Tin Description: Robust and possessing a subdued sweetness, Cumberland is a delightfully orchestrated suite of American tobaccos. Featuring a rare and exquisite mahogany Kentucky aged in bales for 20 years. Red and matured Virginias establish a theme; the Kentucky and a pianissimo of Perique create the variations. Pure natural tobacco flavors are harmonized by delicate arpeggios and underscored by deep resonant tones. The coda is lovely and lingering — a perfect finish to a rich performance. Best savored slowly.
Country: US
Cut: Coarse Cut
Tobaccos: Kentucky, Virginia, Perique
Packaging: Tin
Strength: Full
Taste: Tobacco, Plum, Spice, Slightly Sweet
Room Note: Pleasant to Tolerable

G.L. Pease Cumberland - Click Here to Order Now!

By Bob Tate

The pouch aroma of this blend is a nice tobacco scent with a sweet, tangy, spicy aroma with a hint of plums. The tanginess is a little more predominate than the others and causes my mouth to water. I love it! The moisture content is perfect for smoking right away. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light.

On the charring light, I was greeted by a nice tobacco aroma and taste. There was a nice amount of natural sweetness with a slight tang to it from the Virginias. It tasted very nice. I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for a nice relaxing smoke.

Right from the start this blend tasted great. It is a straight forward tobacco taste that is accompanied by the Virginia characteristics. It is naturally sweet with a hint of tanginess to it. The Virginias are the star right now with their sweet and tangy taste while the Perique attributes are far in the background. You can tell that the Perique is in there, but not too many of the normal Perique characteristics have shown up yet. This doesn’t bother me because I am used to the Perique slowly working its way into the mix somewhere between the 3/4 and mid-bowl point in most VA/Per blends. So far this is a very tasty blend and I am loving it!

Around the 3/4 point, the Perique started working its way towards the front. By the mid-bowl point, the Perique was becoming the star of the show with its pepper/spice flavor while the Virginias played back up with their sweetness. The pepper/spice taste started standing out over the sweetness. The pepper/spice from the Perique kept building as the bowl progressed towards the end. As those flavors progressed, the sweetness from the Virginias kept fading. One of the things that I love about VA/Per blends is the way that they switch from one extreme to the other. Most start off on the sweet side and switch over to a pepper/spice towards the end. Louisiana Red does a great job of this.

This is an excellent VA/per blend. I really love it and it has quickly become one of my Top 5 Favorites. It smokes slow, cool, dry, and doesn’t bite. It has a great contrast in taste by going from sweet to savory and it doesn’t get boring. It is balanced out very well. I really enjoy this blend and if you like VA/Per blends, I think that you will enjoy it as well. I Highly Recommend it!

Brand: Hearth & Home
Blend: Louisiana Red
Tin Description: A great sweet and spicy blend containing two different Red Virginias and a good amount of outstanding St. James Perique. The rich, round sweetness of the Virginias are complimented by the plum and pepper hints of the cool-burning Perique. An overwhelming favorite of our local pipe club members.
Country: US
Cut: Ribbon
Tobaccos: Virginia, Perique
Packaging: Bulk
Strength: Medium
Taste: Tobacco, Sweet, Tangy, Peppery
Room Note: Pleasant

Hearth & Home Louisiana Red - Click Here to Order Now!

When it comes to lighting your pipe, there are always discussions about what is the best thing to use. There is the famous debate about lighters VS matches. Because whether to use lighter or matches is mostly a personal preference, I am not going to talk about that here. In this article I am going to talk only about lighters. Hopefully it gives those who are looking for a lighter a little more insight on which lighter to choose.

There is always a lot of talk about pipe lighters in pipe smoking. Which lighters are the best, which ones are the worst, which ones are inexpensive, etc. I am going to give a short review on my experiences with the lighters that I own. I will not talk about or review any lighters that I do not nor have not owned before. The reviews will mainly consist of Pros and Cons to each lighter that I have had experience with. I will be listing the lighters in order from least expensive to most expensive. On to the reviews!

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Bic Disposable Lighter

This is a pretty good and reliable lighter. It is not very attractive, but it is very inexpensive and can be purchased almost anywhere for around $1.00 or $2.00.
Pros / 5 - Cons / 7

Pros:
•Very inexpensive
•Lights on the first or second strike
•Easily obtainable
•No big deal if you lose it
•Butane fuel (Some people believe butane is the best lighter fuel, no tainting of tobacco taste)

Cons:
•Does not have an angled/directed flame (Takes some practice to use without burning yourself or the rim of your pipe)
•Butane fuel (Butane fuel is susceptible to extreme temperatures)
•Made of plastic (could explode in high heat such as left in a car in summer)
•Non-refillable
•Not wind resistant
•Non-adjustable flame (a lot of disposable lighters these days are made this way)
•Disposable

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Zippo Lighter

This is a very good and reliable lighter that comes with a Lifetime Warranty. It is moderately priced, $15.00 to $30.00 depending on the style chosen. They have a wide variety of cases and are very attractive. You don’t have to have a standard pipe lighter case, you can buy a lighter that you like and get a pipe insert for it. The lighters can be purchased at most retail tobacconist shops and other select locations. The pipe inserts can be obtained from Zippo.
Pros / 12 – Cons / 4

Pros:
•Moderately priced
•Lights on first or second strike
•Angled/Directed flame when using the Pipe insert
•Wind resistant
•Interchangeable cases
•Adjustable flame (depends on how much of the wick you have pulled out)
•Easily adjustable flame
•Refillable
•Liquid Fuel (not susceptible to extreme temperatures)
•Flint and wheel ignition (most reliable and durable ignition system)
•Flame stays lit until lid is closed
•Lifetime Warranty

Cons:
•Liquid fuel (some people say that it taints the taste of the tobacco, I have never experienced this)
•Fuel evaporates from lighter
•Flint and wheel ignition (need to replace the flint when it is gone, old or bad flint may hinder lighting process)
•Non-angled/directed flame when not using the pipe insert
•Flame stays lit until lid is closed

————————-

Xikar Resource

This is a pretty good lighter that comes with a Lifetime Warranty. It comes in 4 styles and is pretty attractive. It is priced in the medium range at about $50.00. I have only owned this lighter for about 3 months and it seems to be pretty reliable so far. This lighter can be purchased at quite a few retail tobacconist shops.
Pros / 9 – Cons / 5

Pros:
•Medium price
•Lights on first or second strike
•Angled/directed flame
•Built in pipe tools (pipe knife, poker, and tamper)
•Adjustable Flame
•Refillable
•Butane fuel (Some people believe butane is the best lighter fuel, no tainting of tobacco taste)
•Electro-Quartz Ignition (No flint to replace)
•Lifetime Warranty

Cons:
•Built in pipe tools are not very good (too small and not very useful)
•Flame adjustment is difficult to use
•Butane fuel (Butane fuel is susceptible to extreme temperatures)
•Not wind resistant
•Electro-Quartz Ignition (can be knocked out of adjustment, has a high chance of breakdown, limited lifespan)

————————-

Colibri Pipe Lighter

This lighter is just OK in my opinion. It looks really nice and has a couple of nice features, but the price, functionality, and reliability is lacking. The price on this lighter was in the high range. I paid $70.00 for this lighter at a B&M about 4 years ago. I have mixed feelings about this Colibri lighter. I love the way that it looks and the design. I hate the inconsistencies about the lighting function. If the lighter worked properly all of the time and lit on the first or second strike, I would say that it was worth the money. But since it is very temperamental, I say that it is not worth anywhere near $70.00.

I can not find any information on it now. Colibri did have a Lifetime Warranty, but I am not sure what the deal is with them now. Colibri went out of business a year or so ago, but they are back in business now. I assume the lifetime warranty still stands.
Pros / 7 – Cons / 5

Pros:
•Angled/Directed flame
•Adjustable flame
•Flame adjustment is very easy to use
•Refillable
•Butane fuel (Some people believe butane is the best lighter fuel, no tainting of tobacco taste)
•Flint and wheel ignition (most reliable and durable ignition system)
•Very slim body, not bulky at all

Con:
•High price
•Average strikes before it lights is anywhere from 1 to 15 (very temperamental)
•Not wind resistant at all
•Butane fuel (Butane fuel is susceptible to extreme temperatures)
•Flint and wheel ignition (need to replace the flint when it is gone, old or bad flint may hinder lighting process)

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This wraps up the lighters that I use to light my pipes on a regular basis. I hope that this information and my opinions will help some of you when choosing a lighter to buy. Like I said earlier, these are not all pipe lighters available; they are just the ones that I own and know about.

Whether you use matches, a lighter, or you rub two sticks together to get your pipe lit; light up your pipe and Happy Puffin’!

We’ve been intrigued with rumors circulating around the pipe community that CAO might become the new distributor of Dunhill pipe tobaccos in the USA. There have been comments that CAO would increase its presence in the pipe tobacco business in 2010, rumors of new tobaccos, possibly bringing back the old CAO tobaccos, CAO meerschaum pipes and possible Dunhill distribution.

We had a great conversation with Tim Ozenger, President of CAO International (he’s a very friendly and accommodating chap). We talked about the aforementioned rumors and a few other things. Find out which rumors are true and which are not. So without further ado, here is our conversation with Tim:

PipesMagazine (PM): Tim, at the beginning of 2009, there were a lot of rumors that CAO was getting out of the tobacco pipe industry. Is it true that CAO made the decision to no longer be involved in the pipe industry or was it more related to Scandinavian Tobacco Group merging with CAO and there being a switch from Dan Tobacco to Scandinavian Tobacco Group?

Tim Ozgener: Well, Scandinavian Tobacco Group acquired CAO and in the acquisition they stated that they were in the cigar business and were not interested in pipes, although they are the largest producer of pipe tobacco in the world. So pipe smoking is still of interest to them, but they wanted us to focus more on cigars and pipe tobacco in the future instead of pipes. My father retired from the business, but still has some pretty tight relationships with some of the more important carvers in Turkey and he continues to purchase pipes from these carvers in Turkey. It was just made clear that that was not a part of CAO and more of, a kind of, personal decision. So my father has continued to receive pipes from these carvers.

PM: Towards the end of 2009, CAO introduced 4 new pipe tobacco blends based off of the Flavors by CAO line of cigars; Cherry Bomb, Moontrance,  Eileen’s Dream, and Bella Vanilla. What prompted CAO to start producing pipe tobacco again and how successful have those new blends been?

Tim: As I’ve said, our parent company, Scandinavian Tobacco Group, is the largest producer of pipe tobacco in the world. So it was just natural given their resources that we should try and come up with our own pipe tobaccos and also given the success of our Flavors by CAO line. Those cigars were actually based on, initially, pipe tobacco flavorings and blends. Then they were converted into cigar flavorings as well, but we wanted to make them so that they were the Godiva of flavored cigars so you could taste the tobacco, but also have the subtle essence of the flavoring and certainly when you put it in your mouth you had some flavoring. So it was only natural to try and re-introduce those flavorings as pipe tobacco since that was kind of the genesis of the actual flavorings that we’ve used for our cigar line. That’s why we decided to do it and get back into it. We just introduced it and the quality of the tobaccos is excellent and we’re very pleased with it.

PM: So CAO is going to try and get back into the pipe industry?

Tim: Well, certainly pipe tobacco. It’s something that we’re interested in pursuing and hopefully these new aromatic pipe tobaccos, people will enjoy the quality of them. No matter what it is that we’re going to want to get into, we want to make it of a high quality standard. That’s how we built our business; just trying to improve the smoking pleasure for people because we find smoking to be a great way of de-stressing and relaxing and it’s kind of a your time to unwind. So that’s what we want to do. We want to provide products that maximize smoking pleasure and hopefully these pipe tobaccos will do so for those who are fans of aromatic pipe tobaccos.

PM: A lot of pipe smokers loved some of the old blends and based on the previous success of some of those blends such as Midnight Ride, Old Ironsides, & Patriot Flake, is CAO planning on bringing some of them back or does Dan Tobacco own the blending rights?

Tim: We worked with Dan Tobacco on there, we have a very good relationship with Dan Tobacco and they make very good blends there. But it’s certainly something that if we receive a lot of feedback or e-mail about, which our e-mail is CAO@caointernational.com, that we would welcome feedback if people would like to see us re-introduce those blends. If we hear enough requests about it, then we like to listen to our consumers.

PM: That’s great to hear. I know a lot of pipe smokers really like those three blends. So maybe once they read this interview, they’ll start sending some e-mails to you.

Tim: Which were the ones again that you’re hearing a lot about?

PM: Midnight Ride, Old Ironsides, and Patriot Flake.

Tim: OK, I’ve written them down now. So if they don’t move, you’re to blame Bob. [Laughter from both of us]

PM: Well, I would hold off until people start sending e-mails to you [more laughter]. I know that they miss them, especially the Old Ironsides. That’s the one that I hear a lot about. That was your most Latakia heavy blend.

Tim: That’s right, it was. It was pressed to.

PM: That brings me to this. For about the last 6 months or so, there have been a lot of rumors flying around the pipe industry that CAO will be the new US distributor for Dunhill pipe tobacco. Can you confirm or deny these rumors?

Tim: We had been hoping that that would be the case and we would have liked to have distributed those pipe tobaccos, but unfortunately it’s not up to us. It’s been something that has been BAT [British American Tobacco]; sort of, the ball is in their court. As of right now, we don’t have the green light to go ahead and distribute those pipe tobaccos. So as of now, all I can say is; that we would’ve liked to, we thought we were going to be able to, but we haven’t received the go ahead to do it from BAT. So I’m not sure where it’s at right now.

PM: Are negotiations still open with them for that?

Tim: Again, I’m not really sure where it’s at. The ball is in their court and we just haven’t received the approval to go ahead and start distributing.

PM: Is CAO planning on making a bigger presence in their line of pipes or are you just sticking to tobacco?

Tim: I think right now CAO would just be in the position of sticking to pipe tobacco.

PM: I’ve noticed that there are still quite a few CAO Meerschaum pipes floating around. Is that just old stock that you are moving through?

Tim: I mean certainly if people are still interested in Meerschaums and acquiring CAO Meerschaums, we still have them. And as I mentioned before, my father still has been receiving some pipes, primarily from Ismet Bekler, who is considered to be the star of Meerschaum carving. So if there was ever some demand for it, certainly the consumer can go to the retailer and ask them for it and the retailer can call us at CAO and we can help them in procuring Meerschaum.

PM: That’s great. What are some of the plans that CAO has for being more involved and re-establishing themselves in the pipe tobacco industry?

Tim: I think primarily, as we discussed, we would be looking more along the lines of how to grow the pipe tobacco portfolio; which is why I still encourage people to send their feedback and their request of what they would like to see in pipe tobacco, what they think is kind of a gaffe that’s missing out there. You know, it’s one of these things that we’ve kind of built our business on, listening and responding to our consumers needs, our retailers’ needs. So we do have that resource of having a wonderful factory to produce pipe tobacco.

But again, the feedback, we like to listen and respond to what our consumers have to say. If consumers e-mail and say we’d like you to release something similar to what you had in Old Ironsides, Midnight Ride, or Patriot Flake or maybe even something different, then we would be welcome to hear that kind of feedback. So I think that that would be a sort of a way that we would look at to try to gain some momentum utilizing a positive resource that we have in the ST (Scandinavian Tobacco Group) manufacturing facility that they have.

PM: Will CAO be releasing any new pipe tobacco blends this year?

Tim: Right now, we don’t have anything in the works. But that’s not to say that we may not release something that is for the trade show [Editor's Note: the trade show is IPCPR in New Orleans in August]. But as of right now, we don’t really have anything on the plate. Although, I remember going around and seeing a lot of people smoking the Old Ironsides and liking that, so perhaps that might be something that we might look at re-introducing at the show. Certainly when you have an interview like this or when you, hopefully, hear peoples feedback looking for certain items, then it adds more fuel to the fire to try and introduce things that may fill a niche in the market.

PM: Since your talking about the trade show, will CAO be having more of a presence at pipe and pipe tobacco shows this year?

Tim: I don’t think that our portfolio is wide enough for us to have a presence at the pipes and pipe tobacco shows for the time being. So I think that, generally we have some retailers that come over there and offer our pipe tobaccos at such shows. But maybe in the future.

PM: What is your take on the FDA taking over tobacco and the new bans on flavored tobacco products?

Tim: Well you know that part of it can be a slippery slope. I don’t think that it’s good news for us in general. And certainly if we look and see what has happened in other countries, then there might be some more specific oversight and test that go with that and I think that things can change rather quickly if they increase taxes in Roll Your Own (RYO), then RYO product could be introduced under then guise of pipe tobacco.

PM: You know that that has already happened?

Tim: Yeah.

PM: And you’ve heard about the H.R. 4439 Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010 to raise the tax on pipe tobacco by 775% to be taxed the same as RYO tobacco?

Tim: Yeah, that was what was bound to happen once they found out that this kind of adjustment was made.

PM: I’m not sure if you are aware or not, but we have created a petition opposing H.R. 4439. By signing the petition, it will automatically find your representatives and send them an e-mail and after you sign it, at the end you can also have written letters sent as well for just $3.00.

Tim: OK, I’ll have to do that then.

PM: Let all of your employees and friends know about it as well. Right now the bill is held up in committee. But if this goes through, cigars are going to be next and it’s going to be a never ending thing unless we smokers and tobacco users start standing up and letting the government know that we’ve had enough of these unfair and ridiculous taxes.

Tim: Yeah. Look, if you were to go to a liquor store or anything and you are under the age of 21, you would have to show your ID before you bought a flavored vodka. I don’t understand why it can’t be the same way here. If you are going to buy a flavored cigar or pipe tobacco, why can’t you just show your ID to prove that you are of age so that you can make your own decision to buy flavored or non-flavored tobacco?

PM: Yes. That is the most logical solution to the problem.

Tim: Yeah. I don’t see why we can’t. There are probably a lot more people dying of alcohol related accidents.

PM: Yes, I agree. What is CAO doing to combat all of the newest anti-tobacco legislation?

Tim: We’re members of the CAA (Cigar Association of America), we also contribute to the IPCPR (International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association). We’re board members of the IPCPR as associates, which means distributors and manufacturers. I just came back last week from a meeting with the IPCPR board discussing legislation for 80% of the time. That is something that we’re very active in any way that we can in any sort of segment of the business. In fact, we have seats on the board of the CAA as well. We’re major contributors to these organizations. So we’re involved; I mean any sort of organization that also starts that are state led organizations, we are also very active and involved too. New York just started a state group (New York Tobacconist Association - NYTA) that we’re going to contribute to. So we’re very active. We’re very active within our state. We have great relationships with our politicians, whether they’re in the US Senate, State Senate, or US House or State House and those that are running for Governorship of our state. So we like to take a very active roll in the politics and how we can help with any sort of legislation that may be passing that could be negative for our industry.

PM: That’s really great to hear. Tim, thank you very much for your time and it was a pleasure talking with you.

Tim implied that if CAO received enough requests, they may bring back some of the old favorites in their tobacco line. So as they used to say in the old TV days, “keep those cards and letters coming!”

E-mail CAO with your feedback and suggestions at CAO@caointernational.com

*Editors Note: The e-mail address that we previously had listed (CAO@caocigars.com) was incorrect. It must have been the old e-mail and is no longer active. The link has been updated to a working e-mail address which is CAO@caointernational.com. We apologize for the mistake.

By Bob Tate

This is the conclusion to our Russ Ouellette (Blendtobac) interview. So far in our interview with Russ Ouellette, we have talked about how he got started blending pipe tobacco blends, Perique tobacco, some of the challenges that he faces obtaining certain tobacco components, how he created Larry’s Blend, and many other things. Here, we are picking up the interview where we left off in Part 2:

PipesMagazine (PM): We have heard from quite a few people in the industry and have seen for ourselves that a lot of younger people are starting to get into pipes. Have you noticed this as well and have you seen a resurgence in pipes and pipe smoking?

Russ: Yeah, we’ve had a number of guys under 30 [years of age] who have stopped in to visit or join our pipe club and we’re seeing more and more of it. Some of it is kind of a trendy thing; a group of local college students, or whatever, will decide that they want to get together and smoke pipes. And because, I think, we do a very good job at our retail store of helping the new pipe smoker get started and give them the information that they need to stay with it, they tend to gravitate towards our store and they start hanging out on a regular basis because we have a lounge.

They like to get together and they’ll sit there around the card table and smoke their pipes. Our customers are such a great bunch of people that the older lawyers, doctors, and business people don’t look down their nose at these 24 year old kids sitting there smoking pipes. It’s a very comfortable environment and we’re doing what we can for the people who’ve made the decision that they want to smoke a pipe and we’re going to make it as enjoyable as possible for them. 

Habana Premium Cigar Shop	Pipes on Display

PM: That’s great to hear. Now I have something that is a little bit more on a serious note.
With the recent flavored tobacco ban placed in New York City and the more recent rumors that they are trying to expand the ban to a state wide level, as well as all of the new smoking bans and anti-tobacco legislation being introduced and implemented, there has to be quite a bit of concern in the store.

Russ: Sure. There’s always going to be when any part of the population is targeting you. You know the old line, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that they’re not out to get you’. There’s definitely a lot of concern. But my particular feeling on it is; if you take a look at the general climate of popular opinion out there, the needle is starting to flicker a little bit back in the other direction.

PM: Yes. We’ve noticed that as well. On our site, we try to keep up on as much tobacco legislation as we can. On our petition that we started opposing the H.R. 4439 bill (Stop the Pipe Tobacco Tax), we’ve seen in some of the comments on it that even some non-smokers have signed and are saying “Enough is enough with the taxes” and that people do have the right to smoke if it is a legal substance. I have seen the pendulum starting to move, ever so slightly, back towards a more common sense way of thinking.

Russ: Yeah, and by the way kudos on your efforts. The last time I checked you had over 10,000?

PM: So far we’ve had about 5,000 people sign it and have sent out about 11,000 letters. Hopefully we will have more people continue to sign it and send letters to their representatives.

Russ: My compliments on your efforts. People are starting to look at it and shake their heads and go, “What are we doing here? We’re pinpointing certain groups of people and we’re attacking”. They’re looking at, to me, the most ridiculous and draconian thing which is a blanket smoking ban. If I like the food at a restaurant and they say no smoking, I’m still going to go there to eat. I’m not going to drop to my knees ‘jonesing’ for a pipe or cigar in the time that it take me to go and have a meal and a couple of drinks with friends. If I like the food, I’ll go to the place if they say no smoking. Would I enjoy it more if I could sit down after the meal and load my pipe up and light it while sitting at the table? Sure, but it’s not vital to me to be able to.

The problem I have is; why is the government telling an individual business owner that they can’t allow that? Yes, it’s for the employees etc, etc, etc.; but what about the guy who is the sole proprietor of a bar and restaurant? He’s the only guy working there, he makes the sandwiches and he pours the drinks. He’s the only one and he’s OK with it.

PM: We agree. The government should not interject themselves and tell a private establishment what they should and should not be able to do. That’s not how it works in a democratic, free society.

Russ: Absolutely! As far as employees go; if somebody comes in to interview at my restaurant and I’m going to allow smoking, one of the first things I’m going to ask them is “Do you have a problem with tobacco smoke?” If they say, “Yes I do” then I would have to say at that point, “Well, our establishment allows smoking. I’m sorry, but if we happen to go in a different direction, I’ll keep your application on file and give you a call”. But business owners aren’t given that option.

PM: That’s the way that it should be. I don’t believe a lot of the second hand smoke propaganda, but every job has a risk to it. If you’re an auto mechanic, you have the risk of a car falling off of the lift and crushing you or whatever and if you’re working in a smoking environment, there is a risk that you may, and I want to emphasize the word may, be affected by that. So that’s your choice whether you want to work in that type of environment or find a different avenue to work in.

Russ: Yeah. What makes more sense? If you have 100 customers in a building who have all agreed that smoking doesn’t bother them and they want to go to that establishment so they can have a meal, have a drink, and enjoy a smoke with friends. You have all of these people who are in accord and then you wind up hiring one person and you have to tell these 100 people that “I’m sorry, but we can’t allow you to enjoy what you normally have in this establishment because we now have one employee that can’t stand tobacco smoke so nobody can smoke”.

PM: It’s funny how the minority rules on a situation like that, but us as smokers being a minority have no say and we just keep getting trampled on.

Russ: Yes. It’s so ridiculously over the top. You know, our government for the last 30 to 40 years, it seems like the motto is ‘If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing’.

PM: Yup. OK, back to things a little more enjoyable to think about.
Do you plan on attending any pipe shows this year and if so, which ones will they be?

Russ: Right now, I believe we’re on for Chicago [Pipe Show]. It’s going to depend on a couple of things as to whether we’ll be at Columbus [Pipe Show] or Richmond [Pipe Show]. I’m hoping that we can do more of the shows. Since my position has kind of changed a bit, I used to be more heavily involved on the retail floor, but now I’m being transitioned more to this informational type position; and as such, if I were to attend more of the shows, it would probably be less disruptive to the flow of business than it would have been in the past. We also have to take a look at the economic climate and we’ll take it from there. I would love to go to about a half dozen of the shows every year, but it’s got to make economic sense to do so.

HPCS Pipe Tobacco Bar	HPCS Pipe Tobacco Weigh Station

PM: What are some of your favorite things about going to pipe shows?

Russ: Getting to see old friends, re-new acquaintances, and meeting new people because the people as a whole in the pipe smoking world are just great, very easy going people. We can have long conversations and they can get rather intense or we can sit there and not say a word for a half of an hour and think that we’ve had a great night. I really do enjoy it. The thing that’s hardest for me at the shows is when people come up and they’re just so complimentary. I just stand there and I actually get embarrassed because people will come up and they’ll say something about one of the tobaccos and they’ll get a little over the top about it and I can actually feel myself blushing. Certainly I appreciate the fact that they feel that way, but I don’t have a big ego about this stuff.

I had spoken to somebody about a year and a half ago in an interview and they asked me; “When that happens, how do you not let it get to your head?” I said that it’s real simple. At the end of the day, I have tobacco all over my work bench and I’ll sweep it into a bag and get rid of it. Somewhere in this world, somebody will take that bag, load up a bowl and claim it the best tobacco that they’ve ever smoked. So if somebody can, by accident, find a tobacco just from odds and ends that they think is incredible, then really how much should you take it to heart that a particular blend is phenomenal? Because it’s just an educated action is all it is.

PM: That’s a very down to earth way of thinking about it.

Russ: Well, it is what it is. It’s very straight forward to me. The only difference between being successful at this and being unsuccessful is a matter of guessing better. Obviously if you have knowledge, it gives you a basis to start with so you’re less prone to making the horrible mistake. But the bottom line is; there’s a lot of luck in it too. You may have put this particular blend together with the proportions that you’ve chosen six months earlier and nobody would really care for it because maybe the base tobacco you were using for the tobacco six months ago wasn’t the same as it is today. That’s the reason why it’s hard to get too egotistical about it because a lot of the factors are out of your own hands.

PM: Is there anything else that you would like to say to our readers?

Russ: The only thing that I would like to say is that I really enjoy the pipe smoking community and I love going to the shows. If any of the readers are going to be attending the Chicago Pipe Show, please find a few minutes to swing by and say hi. I love talking to people and I’ll have some new stuff at the show. We’re planning on doing a really strong increase this year and hopefully that will include some more new products down the road. So if you’re in Chicago, stop by and see us.

PM: Russ, thank you for your time. It was a pleasure talking with you and I hope to see you at the Chicago Pipe Show.

Click Here to read Part 1 of the Russ Ouellette Interview

Click here to read Part 2 of the Russ Oullette Interview

Note: Portrait is a house blend that is sold by Davidus. Davidus is a tobacconist chain that is located in Maryland. I try not to do reviews of tobacco blends that are not available to everyone, but Davidus.com does have an online store where you can purchase Portrait. There is not much information on this blend, so I am somewhat taking an educated guess on the tobacco contents and I am listing what it looks and tastes like to me*. This blend is only available in tins. From the look of the tin and the tobacco, I am guessing that this blend is made by McClelland Tobacco exclusively for Castro Brothers (Davidus). - Bob

The tin aroma of this blend is of a heavy, smoky Latakia with a hint of sweetness and spice. I also am picking up on a very slight hint of plums far in the background. The moisture content upon opening is a little on the moist side and some drying time would not hurt. I let this blend dry out for a bit before smoking it. I loaded my pipe using the two step method and proceeded to the charring light.

On the charring light I was greeted by the nice, smoky scent and taste of the Latakia. It was a lot less smoky in aroma and taste than I was expecting based off of the tin aroma. There is a very nice, light citrusy taste accompanied by a light sweetness in the background. From the tin aroma I would have guessed this as a heavy English blend, but from the charring light I would call it a light to medium English. I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for the smoke.

At the beginning, I am picking up on the light smokiness of the Latakia and also a hint of, what I can only describe as, black coffee without the bitterness. I am also picking up on some slight sweetness and some citrus notes. This may sound like a strange combination, but it works well together and is very tasty and enjoyable. The black coffee and citrus never really seem to be there at the same time, but interchange with each other. Sometimes I’ll taste the coffee and other times it will be some citrus. So far this blend seems to be pretty complex and I have just lit it!

Around the 3/4 point the sweetness stepped up a little more towards the front and stuck around for awhile. The sweetness seemed to enhance the citrus notes a bit. At around the same time, the coffee taste faded into the background quite a bit. It turned into more of an aftertaste, but it was still noticeable. Around the half bowl point, the sweetness faded some and the smokiness became a little more pronounced. There was a light spicy-sweetness that accompanied the smokiness. This final change in taste stayed until the end of the bowl with the exception that the spiciness built up a little more as the end got nearer.

Portrait is a pretty complex and interesting blend. I really like it a lot. There are quite a few different changes in the flavors that keep the smoke interesting and tasty. It burned slow, cool, dry, and never even thought about biting. I would classify this as a light to medium English blend. If you enjoy the really heavy Latakia-bomb type English blends, then you will probably find this blend lacking some. But if you enjoy a light or medium style English blend, I think that you will really enjoy Portrait.
I Highly Recommend it!

Brand: Castro Brothers (Davidus)
Blend: Portrait
Tin Description: (Front) A fine, aged pipe tobacco – a superb Latakia mixture, smooth and cool-smoking, with just a hint of premium Louisiana Perique.
(Back) Cool smoking, naturally fragrant with smoky Latakia and pungent Perique, this fine English-style blend is a masterpiece of the blender’s art.
Country: US
Cut: Coarse Cut
Tobaccos: Latakia, Perique, Virginia, Oriental*
Packaging: Tin
Strength: Mild-Medium
Taste: Smoky, Citrus, Black Coffee, Sweetness, Spicy
Room Note: Tolerable

In part 1 of our interview with Russ Ouellette (Blendtobac), we talked about some of the things he has done before he got heavily involved in the tobacco industry. We also talked about how he got started blending pipe tobacco blends, how he maintains the consistency of his blends, some of the problems that he has acquiring certain tobacco components, and a few other things. Here, we pick up the interview where we left off in Part 1:

PipesMagazine (PM): What are some of the major changes that you have seen in the pipe industry over the years that you have been involved?

Russ: Certainly from the pipe end of things, some of the old brands are not quite what they used to be, but there are still a lot of wonderful pipes out there. I think one of the best things to happen is that we’re seeing more individual carvers around the world. There weren’t that many individual artisans in the US in the 70’s even though the market was pretty strong. It was mostly mass manufactured, even though a lot of those brands produced wonderful quality pipes. But now we’re seeing a lot more one-of-a-kind freehand pipes by very, very talented carvers.

In terms of tobaccos though, it’s radically in the other direction where the European cigarette companies have snapped up a lot of the Oriental tobaccos that used to be available for pipe blends and some of those tobaccos that I mentioned to you before just aren’t available. Mike McNeil [McClelland Tobacco] was able to acquire a number of different Orientals because he has a friend in the cigarette business. Unfortunately, I don’t have a contact like that; that would allow me that kind of access. And a lot of the old blends have disappeared; the current versions aren’t the same as what they used to be. The one thing that I think a lot of people don’t understand is the subtle complexities of the tobacco leaf, and they shouldn’t have to. Unless you’re dealing with it, you won’t recognize it unless you’re doing it all the time. One of the problems that I have seen in recent years is that a blend will become unavailable and I’ll get phone call after phone call, you know “Can you reproduce it?” Some people say that they can and they make an attempt, and sometimes they do a great job of it.

When people tell me that they would like me to do that, I generally tell them that I can’t and the reason is pretty straight forward. There are so many variables that it’s virtually impossible even if they handed you the same exact tobacco from the same batch to make up a blend. All you have to do is change one step in the process and the tobacco changes. Even with a recipe, even with the components given to you, the chances of you being able to reproduce a blend exactly are nil. I’ve talked to Greg Pease about it and he agrees. So when people ask me about something like that, I tell them that I can try to come up with something that will capture the flavor profile or the spirit of that particular blend, but it’s not going to be that blend. And as long as people are comfortable with that, sure, I’ve done a number of custom blends. Some of them wind up in the product line; Sunjammer is my tribute to 965, Daybreak is my take on Early Morning Pipe. Ambassadors Blend, which is a new one, isn’t trying to recreate Standard Mixture or London Mixture, but is a tobacco that I think that someone who enjoyed those blends would enjoy.

PM: Since you are talking about some of your newer, for lack of a better term, reproduction type blends; I’ve noticed that there are 3 new blends in the Hearth & Home Series that you have recently came out with. Two of which you’ve already mentioned; Ambassadors Blend, Daybreak, and Classic Burley Kake. Are there any new blends in the works that might be released in 2010?

Russ: Yes. Very, very shortly we’ll have on the site a blend called Stogie. It’s going to be a Burley based mixture using a fair amount of dark fired Kentucky. It will also have some Cigar leaf in it, but it will contain Perique and some Green River Black Cavendish, unsweetened. It’s going to be a blend that will satisfy a cigar smoker because we’ve gotten a number of people in the past year or so since the S-CHIP tax who have said “Cigars are getting too expensive and I’m thinking of switching to a pipe”. Although I think that eventually they’ll settle in on Aromatic, English, or Virginia blends, this would be a great way to transition them into a pipe by giving them a more familiar flavor; and then let them develop their own palate as they go along. The one thing that I will say about it is; it definitely will give you a bit of a kick in the back teeth. The nicotine content of the blend is fairly high.

PM: That sounds like a pretty interesting blend. I smoke quite a few cigars and even though I love my pipes, I do like the taste of a good cigar every now and then. That sounds like a blend that I’ll have to try.

Russ: Yeah. I think a lot of people who occasionally smoke a cigar will still try it and enjoy it as a change of pace smoke. And then there will be another one coming out called Steamroller. It’s another blend that is leaning more on Burley, but this one is going to contain some Latakia and other components and this one is also going to have a bit of a nicotine kick to it as well.

You know it’s funny. We’ve got over 30 blends and I thought we had touched on pretty much the entire gambit of what people are looking for in pipe tobacco. Then I started getting a number of requests of, “Make something with a little more nicotine”. Well you know there are certain tobaccos that you know are going to have more nicotine; the dark fired Burleys, some of the Black Cavendish’s depending on what the base tobacco is, Perique certainly has a slightly higher nicotine level. So trying to put together a blend that is going to give people that wallop that they want, but will also work on the level of the flavors blending properly is kind of tricky. Because generally tobaccos that are high in nicotine have a tendency to be very prominently flavored as well and trying to play with percentages and make everything work together with some of those tobaccos is not easy.

PM: I think that it might have to do with so many people lately trying to make the switch from cigarettes to pipes.

Russ: I’m sure that’s true.

PM: I think that where they probably want the higher nicotine kick to come in is because you don’t get as much of the nicotine absorption through the glands in your mouth as you do from inhaling the smoke.

Russ: Oh, absolutely true and that’s why brands like Five Brothers have jumped. That is a tobacco that’s been around for a long time, but it kind of sat in the background and then in the past few years we’ve seen that particular blend really take off. I’m sure that to a great degree it is former cigarette smokers that are looking for the higher kick. But you know, your kind of walking a tight rope because this will give them what they want in that regard, but if it doesn’t taste good, how long are they going to want to stick with it.

PM: I also smoke cigarettes and I love tobacco in general. Each form of tobacco fits into its own category. When I smoke pipes, I don’t expect to get the nicotine hit that comes from cigarettes. I smoke my pipes for relaxation and the great taste. I have cut back on cigarettes and I think what other cigarette smokers who are picking up the pipe are going to do is; once they start weaning themselves off of the larger doses of nicotine that comes from cigarettes, they are going to start experiencing the finer points of pipe smoking and stick with it.

Russ: Yeah. It’s funny that every form of tobacco use has its own unique set of processes and everything else and it’s all coming out of one basic plant. It’s amazing, the variety. On kind of a side note; a number of years back one of the cigarette companies thought that it would be a heck of a lot cheaper if we were to grow Turkish and Oriental tobaccos in the US. So they got seeds from a lot of the varietals, brought it back to the US and planted it and what they wound up with was Burley. It was indistinguishable from some of the other Burley plants, but because of the climatic and soil conditions over there, that seed produced a tobacco that was very different. It was very fragrant, more aromatic, and fuller flavored. But when it was brought over here, it turned out to be a high oil, low sugar, pretty straight forward Burley type tobacco. The variety and the things you can do with tobacco are pretty amazing.

Ten to Midnight

PM: On average, how long does it take you to create a new blend?

Russ: That’s an interesting question. Anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 years and I’m being completely honest. When I came up with Larry’s Blend it was because I had created the first six blends in the line and brought them to our pipe club for the guys to try. We have one gentleman who is a retired lawyer, Larry Loerzel, and he is a real Latakia-phile. I tell people that Larry has a Hookah on his night stand loaded with Latakia and he just puts the hose in his mouth at night so he doesn’t have to go the whole night without Latakia. He really does love it and he tried the Ten to Midnight which is a pressed Balkan and it’s medium-full, but it has brighter Macedonian style Orientals in it so it’s got a very clean bright flavor.
He tried it and said “It’s good tobacco but…”
I said “Well, what’s the but?”
he said “I like that darker, warmer flavor like the old Dunhill’s used to have.”
Well I knew that the primary reason why it didn’t suit his profile was because of the Orientals. So, all I did was; I got up, stepped out of the room and went to my blending area. I took the Ten to Midnight formula and took the bright Virginias and made them red and I took the Macedonian Orientals and swamped it for Smyrna and I increased the Latakia a bit and went from a long cut to a granulated cut Latakia to get more of the Latakia flavor out. I walked back in with the baggie and I handed it to him and said “Tell me what you think”. He loaded up a pipe, lit it, sat there, looked up at me, smiled, nodded his head and said “You got it”. And that was Larry’s Blend. Larry’s Blend took me 15 minutes to create and that’s our most popular English or Balkan.

Classic Burley Kake took 2 years because I had made myself a promise that I wasn’t going to release another Aromatic unless I could get it to taste the way it smells.

PM: That seems to happen with a lot of Aromatics. The tin aroma will be amazing and make you just want to eat the tin of tobacco, but as soon as you light it, there’s no flavor exchange to the smoke at all.

Russ: Yeah, and that’s because the machinery that they use accelerates the process quite a bit, but the flavoring doesn’t get into the leaf really. It still winds up being, more or less, on the surface of the leaf so it comes through in the aroma, but it doesn’t come through in the flavor.  I tried 32 different batches over a two year period and I was just about ready to forget the idea of coming out with anymore Aromatics. I got kind of close with one batch and I thought to myself, “What have I got to do to get the flavor in the tobacco so that you can taste it when you’re smoking it?” Then it occurred to me to try heating it up and pressing it to see if the heat opening up the pores of the tobacco, the pressure pushing it into the leaf, maybe it would work. I went ahead and did it, came up with the samples, and we had people who don’t like Aromatics try it and go “Wow, this is good!”

Classic Burley Kake

PM: An Aromatic, when done properly, can be one of the finest pipe smoking experiences ever.

Russ: Yup. Frankly, other than the Classic Burley Kake there’s only one Aromatic that I tend to smoke with any frequency at all and that’s Cornell & Diehl’s Autumn Evening.

PM: That’s a really good one. They really captured the essence in that blend.

Russ: And for the same reason that I enjoy the Burley Kake, you can taste the maple while you smoke the Autumn Evening and that’s what I’m looking for. If I’m opening a tin and it smells like maple, I want it to taste like maple.

PM: Exactly.

Russ: That’s why I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of Aromatics out of us because that’s going to be something that I need to see if I’m going to come up with one. But there are a lot of different options too so, who know? Maybe I will do some more going forward, but right now I’m not planning on doing anymore Aromatics.

PM: We have heard from quite a few people in the industry and have seen for ourselves that a lot of younger people are starting to get into pipes. Have you noticed this as well and have you seen a resurgence in pipes and pipe smoking?

See Russ’ answer to this question, what pipe shows he may be attending, and many others in Part 3 (the conclusion) of our interview with Russ Ouellette!

Click Here to read Part 1 of our interview with Russ Ouellette

Click Here to read Part 3 of our interview with Russ Ouellette

Russ Ouellette (Blendtobac) is the Retail Sales Manager and Master blender for Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe (HPCS), also known as Pipesandcigars.com, in Albany, New York. Russ has been involved in the tobacco industry for over 30 years. He is regarded as one of the best blenders in the country and has created over 100 different pipe tobacco blends over the years, many of which are still being sold today. Russ is probably best known for the Hearth & Home Series of pipe tobacco blends that he has created for HPCS (pipesandcigars.com). I had the opportunity to talk with Russ at length about pipe tobacco and a few other things. Here is Part 1 of our interview with Russ Ouellette:

PipesMagazine (PM): Russ, you have been involved in the tobacco business on and off for over 30 years, what else have you done besides blending pipe tobacco?

Russ Ouellette: I’ve traveled a winding path. Besides that, I spent a number of years in the automotive business, I’ve done sign painting, I supervised 15 bowling pro shops and trained ball drillers, and was in the computer sales area for awhile. Also piano and organ sales, so I’ve done quite a few different things.

PM: That’s a pretty extensive background.

Russ: Yeah, it’s rather eclectic.

PM: How long have you been actually blending pipe tobacco blends?

Russ: Well, I’ve done it for about 30 years. I started doing it when I first worked, during college and after graduation, at a chain store. Then when I left the business, I still did it because I had old customers and friends who used to like some of the things that I made and they would ask me to make them for them. So I continued to do it right on through, but the heavy lifting has been in the last 5 years.

PM: What got you started in blending? Was it just your love for the tobacco leaf?

Russ: Yeah, and when I started in the 70’s, if you had a shop it was probably going to do about 70% pipe and pipe tobacco business and the rest of it was going to be cigars and cigarettes. So, you really needed to know something about blending. People were always coming in and taking something from one of the jars and going “That’s too sweet, it’s not spicy enough” or whatever, so you had to learn to tweak the blends. And from there it went to; well, if I can tweak them, I can make my own. So I started developing a few and putting them out on the counter, they were pretty successful and it became a regular part of my routine and they continued to sell those blends after I left that company.

Then when I came to work for Scott [Bendett], the business had flip flopped completely where 80% of the business was cigars and it almost seems like the majority of retailers had forgotten the pipe smoker. So, when I came on board with Scott, it was his thought that I should help build that end of the business back up and one of the ways that I could do that is by giving him unique blends that couldn’t be bought anywhere else. We tried it and it was successful right from the beginning. So we continue to do it and we continue to try and grow that end of the business.

PM: As far as each of the individual batches that you make; do you make all of the batches yourself or do have others help you in keeping the blends fully stocked?

Russ: I would say probably 98% of it is myself. On occasion, if I’m at the Chicago Show or something like that and they need something, they’ve run out; I do have somebody here who I’ve been working with who can put together a batch and knows what I’m looking for, so I’m not concerned about the consistency. But everybody in this company has plenty of responsibilities, so for right now it’s just me. As things go forward, if we continue to expand and grow, I’m going to have to bring somebody in on a more regular basis to help me with it.

PM: I can imagine that it would get quite overwhelming trying to keep up with the demand.

Russ: Yeah. Last year the Hearth & Home tobaccos, we sold over 3,000 pounds.

PM: Wow, that’s impressive!

Russ: And over 500 pounds of that alone was Anniversary Kake.

PM: Are you also the blender for the HPCS (Habana Premium Cigar Shop) Adirondack Series and the Scotty’s Bulk Blends?

Russ: I’ll put those together, but I’m not the one who came up with the blends. Because those are mixtures of, for the most part, aromatics or blends that were given to us by previous employees or customers. They existed before I ever came on board. But Trout Stream and Butternut Burley are extremely popular; those tobaccos have done well for quite some time.

PM: What is your favorite type of tobacco to blend with or do you even have a favorite?

Russ: It really depends on my frame of mind at the time. Sometimes it has to a lot to do with the time of year. This time of year in Albany, New York it’s cold. So during the winter, my tendencies and my smoking habits tend to go more towards English and Balkan blends. During the warmer weather, I’ll start getting a little bit more into the Virginia and Virginia/Perique blends and Burley blends will pop in and out of my head at different times. I don’t have a particular favorite, but there are some tobaccos that are chameleons and I like them for that reason.

Perique to me is probably the biggest chameleon. You use it in one blend and it makes the blend sweet. You use it in another blend and it makes it spicy. Combine it with other things and it takes on a completely different flavor profile. It’s really an interesting tobacco to work with because sometimes you think you have an idea of what the end product is going to be like and you put it together and try it and it’s completely different than what you thought. So I enjoy working with Perique. I do love Latakia there’s just something about the aroma of Latakia that it makes me feel at home.

Latakia Tobacco

PM: Latakia is pretty nice. While we’re on the subject of Perique, I’ve noticed that almost half of the blends in the Hearth & Home Series contain Perique. In our article, The Mystique of Perique, we had an interview with Mark Ryan, the owner of L.A. Poche Perique Tobacco, and he was talking about the two different kinds of Perique; Acadian and St. James. What type do you prefer to use and why?

Russ: It depends on the blend. Some blends we use St. James, some blends we use the Acadian Perique. It’s going to depend on the tobacco. If I’m using a base tobacco that’s got a rather intense flavor to it, then I’m going to have to use the St. James Perique to stand up to it. If I’m using the lighter base tobaccos like a Carolina, white Burley, or a yellow Virginia then I’ll probably use Acadian Perique because I don’t want the Perique to overwhelm the blend. Sometimes I’ll make a batch with one and then I’ll make another batch with the other and after trying them, determine that what I originally thought didn’t work as well. With Perique, it really is a matter of experimentation because you really can not tell for sure until you’re smoking it what the end result is going to taste like.

Perique Tobacco

PM: With the exception of Syrian Latakia, have you ever had a problem acquiring a certain tobacco component?

Russ: Oh, absolutely. Most of the Orientals. When I first started doing this, there was a company in New York City called Tobacco Center. I could call them up and they probably had 15 to 20 different varietals available in one pound bags. So, I could call them up and tell them I wanted a pound of Yenidje, a pound of Xanthia, a pound of Bashi Bagli and the next day or the day after, I would have my tobacco to work with. Today, I can only get mixtures of Oriental tobaccos or a very few straight Oriental mixers. I have been trying to find a source, but I haven’t had a lot of success doing that. From time to time I get my hands on some small batches, and when I do then I can do something special with it. For International Pipe Smoking Day this year, I put together a blend. Unfortunately, I had to keep the batch so small because of the availability of the other tobaccos that it’s not going to be available to the general public. It’s going to be for people who are on our mailing list basically. It’s got some Yenidje and some Basma in it, which, now I’m kind of wiping away a tear because the last of the Yenidje is gone.

PM: Wow, I didn’t know it was all gone, but it does sound like it will be a tasty blend.

Russ: It’s an interesting one; it’s a very complex blend, medium to medium-full English. But there are five different Orientals in it so it’s a unique blend. I just wish that I could reproduce it. But unless somebody comes up with an easy source for me to buy those other tobaccos, it’s not going to happen. There’s a company that I can buy some Oriental tobacco from, but first off I have to buy it uncut and I don’t have the equipment for cutting tobacco. On top of that, on initial contact, they wanted an order of a metric ton.

PM: Oh, Wow!

Russ: Yeah. We’re not that big of an operation. I did 3,000 pounds last year of Hearth & Home and I’ve been at the Altadis plant when they were making one batch of Mixture 79 and that was around 2,000 pounds. So you know, we don’t do that kind of volume where I can say “Yeah, I’ll take a metric ton of Bashi Bagli or Samsun, or whatever” I mean I can’t do it.

PM: No, that’s a lot of tobacco.

Russ: Yeah.

PM: With the different variables with weather and tobacco from year to year, how do you maintain the consistency of your blends?

Russ: Well, I don’t think I’m really telling the secret. I do something similar to the way Macanudo does their cigars. What they do is; they take tobacco from different years and age them together.

PM: To get a more consistent blend from year to year?

Russ: Yeah. What I’ll do is; when I get an order of tobacco in and I check it against what I currently have on the shelf, if there is a difference between them then what I will do is start mixing them together and gradually increasing the amount of the new and decreasing the amount of the old. So you get a little bit more of a cross section. Thankfully because most of the tobaccos are not fermented; even with climatic conditions being different, the soil conditions being different, the difference generally doesn’t seem to be as radical as it is when you’re growing cigar leaf. There fermentation can make a huge difference. You know, they let this batch get up to a little higher temperature and the flavor profile changes. Because most of the pipe tobaccos are cut, dried, processed, and cased to some degree or another, there seems to be a little less inconsistency with pipe tobacco. But you still have to. I’ve gotten back to back batches of tobacco and noticed a significant difference in aroma, flavor, and appearance. So, you do definitely kind of have to do that.

PM: What are some of the major changes that you have seen in the pipe industry over the years that you have been involved?

See Russ’ answer to this question, if he is working on any new blends, and many more in Part 2 of our interview with Russ Ouellette!

Click Here to read Part 2 of our interview with Russ Ouellette

Click Here to read Part 3 of our interview with Russ Ouellette

Note: I would like to say that I have seen two descriptions on this blend. I have a copy of the old description from 2005 that says that this blend contains cigar leaf. The current description does not say this. I do see pieces of tobacco in this blend that look like cigar leaf, so I assume that it is still used in this blend and have included it in the ‘Tobaccos’ part of the information break down.

The pouch aroma of this blend is sweet, slightly spicy, tangy, and with a hint of, what I would call, plum. I love the way that this blend smells. I love when a Virginia or a Virginia/Perique blend has that tanginess that tingles my nose and makes my mouth water when I smell it. The moisture content of this blend is perfect for smoking immediately with no drying time needed.

I loaded up my pipe using the two step method and proceeded to the charring light. The charring light presented a nice tobacco taste with light hints of sweetness and spice. I also picked up on a little pepper in my nose. I can already tell that this is a very good blend and I settled in for a nice relaxing smoke.

Right from the start, I knew I was going to love this blend. The taste is pretty complex. Along with a very nice tobacco taste, it is sweet, spicy, with hints of pepper. None of them over power the others. Sometimes each one stands farther in the front and is more noticeable than the others and sometimes they mingle together to form a very nice harmony. On the finish, I taste a slightly tart pluminess. I have read and smoked quite a few different blends where they say that there are hints of plum, but this is one of the few blends where I actually detect it.

I haven’t really detected any cigar taste, but this blend does have a little bit more, for lack of a better word, smokiness to it than other Va/Per blends that I have smoked. It’s not a Latakia type smokiness, just a general heavier smokiness. Around the half bowl point, the pepper does get a little more pronounced, but it never got overpowering. The sweetness also faded quite a bit, but never left. At this point it became a little more spicy, peppery, and sweet instead of vise-versa, like it started. At about the same time, the finish changed as well. The slightly tart plum taste switched to a sweet and spicy taste with a hint of pepper to it. It stayed this way throughout the remainder of the smoke.

Virginia Spice has an amazing and complex flavor profile that never got boring. It burned cool, dry, and burnt very well. It was easy to load, light, and keep lit. It had zero bite to it. I couldn’t get this blend to bite me at all and I tried to get it to bite. I love this blend! It is going to become a staple in my cellar. In fact as soon as I am done writing this review, I am ordering a pound of it. If you like Va/Per blends, I think it is safe to say that you will love Virginia Spice. I do!
I Highly Recommend it!

Brand: Hearth & Home (pipesandcigars.com)
Blend: Virginia Spice
Description: For the pipe smoker who really enjoys the clean, sweet spiciness of a mixture of matured Virginias, but who wants something a little different. The difference comes from the use of cool-smoking Perique for a bit of plum and pepper.
Country: US
Cut: Coarse Cut
Tobaccos: Virginia, Perique, Cigar Leaf
Packaging: Bulk
Strength: Medium
Taste: Sweet, Spicy, Slight Pepper, Tobacco
Room Note: Pleasant

Hearth & Home Virginia Spice  - Click Here to Order Now!

Hold onto your pipes people, here it is.
On January 13, 2010, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and co-sponsor Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) introduced bill H.R. 4439 to congress to raise the federal pipe tobacco tax from $2.8311US per pound to $24.78US per pound and “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the same rate of tax on pipe tobacco as is imposed on roll-your-own tobacco.”

At the time of this article, this has not been reported by any news agency. This seems to be the way that all anti-tobacco legislation has been happening as of late. “Do not report on it until is has already passed” and I am sick of them sneaking their laws in and not letting the public know until after it is passed.

If this bill passes, the average increase to your favorite blends will be about:
$2.43US per 50gr
$2.74US per 2oz
$4.86US per 100gr
$10.98US per 8oz
$21.95US per 16oz
$24.15US per 500gr
These prices would be added onto the price you are currently paying for those amounts of pipe tobacco. So with the average price of 100gr tin McClelland Frog Morton being about $13.20US, the new price would be $18.06US! That is outrageous!
 

The following is the exact wording of Bill H.R. 4439:

111TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION
H. R. 4439
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose the same rate
of tax on pipe tobacco as is imposed on roll-your-own tobacco.

________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 13, 2010
Mr. COHEN (for himself and Mr. DOGGETT) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

________________________________________

A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose
the same rate of tax on pipe tobacco as is imposed
on roll-your-own tobacco.

1     Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
4    This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tobacco Tax Parity
5 Act of 2010’’.
6 SEC. 2. PIPE TOBACCO AND ROLL-YOUR-OWN TOBACCO
7                     RATE PARITY.
8    (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 5701 of
9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking
10 ‘‘$2.8311 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘$24.78’’.

                                  2
1    (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
2 this section shall apply to articles removed (as defined in
3 section 5702(j) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986)
4 after the date of the enactment of this Act.
 

I am so angry right now that steam is coming out of my ears! I am very angry at the Government, the Politicians, our so called Representatives, junk science, and tobacco users. Yes, I said tobacco users; especially pipe and cigar smokers! But more on that in a moment; first will be my thoughts on the government and taxes.

I am very sick and tired of the financial raping and pillaging of the government through taxes that are unfairly placed on a certain group of individuals, namely tobacco users. These extraordinarily high tobacco taxes being levied are preposterous, out of hand, and simply unfair. I am also angry about the second class citizenship that people who enjoy tobacco have been labeled with. What happened to ‘all men are created equally’?

I am very angry at the way that our government is handling the current economical situation and unemployment rate. Instead of figuring out a way to create more jobs, they are more worried about their anti-tobacco agenda and actually removing jobs from the work force. When SCHIP was implemented, there were quite a few retail tobacconist stores that were forced to close creating more people without jobs. The raise in taxes devastated the Roll-Your-Own tobacco industry. Now with this new tax on pipe tobacco, they are going to devastate the pipe tobacco industry causing more jobs to be lost and more small businesses to close. Add in all of the smoking bans and you have even more lost revenue to other businesses such as bars and restaurants.

Don’t get me wrong, I agree that non-smokers should have a right to go and enjoy themselves at a smoke free environment. But the government should let the choice of whether to allow smoking or not be left up to the business owners and not be forced on them by the government. They force smokers outside in all kinds of weather and then want to start banning smoking outside as well. Enough is enough!

I am very angry, sick, and tired of tobacco users not standing up for themselves and allowing all of this to happen! I am even angrier at cigar and pipe smokers because they are the ones who began dividing smokers into different sects by thinking that the way that they choose to enjoy tobacco products make them a little better and different than cigarette smokers. How separate do pipers feel from RYO smokers now? I don’t give a crap if smoking cigarettes are unhealthier than smoking a pipe. It is about allowing people to make their own decisions. Pipers might think that smoking a pipe is fine and doesn’t have many negative affects, but I guarantee you that the anti’s don’t care. They want all tobacco gone.

The first thing that a lot of pipers are going to say is; “I knew that the RYO cigarette manufactures and smokers would ruin it for pipe smokers”. This is utter hog wash and, quite frankly, BS! The extraordinarily high taxes should have never been put on RYO tobacco in the first place. Do you really blame the RYO companies for trying to stay in business and not have to close down? A lot of pipe smokers seem to forget that TOBACCO IS TOBACCO. The same tobacco that is in RYO is the same tobacco used for pipe tobacco. There is still Virginia, Burley, Oriental, etc. in RYO tobacco; it is just processed a little differently. I agree that manufactured cigarettes have a lot of additives in them, but almost all RYO tobacco have none. It is just tobacco. What gives pipe and cigar smokers the right to think that they can smoke tobacco for cheaper than other people? If you want to get technical, all tobacco should be taxed the same and I guess the government is trying to do that.

I am angry that for so many years pipe smokers have been trying to hide in the shadows and stay hidden from the anti-tobacco fight. I have actually read people post that on forums. They would say; “Pipers are such a small group, I’m sure they won’t come after us”. That strategy didn’t work too well, did it? They still came after pipe tobacco and will continue to do so. Systematic attacks on tobacco, one step at a time and cigars will be next. I know that the Cigar Rights of America (CRA) is trying to fight the good fight, but they need to start including other forms of tobacco. WE NEED TO STOP SEPARATING OURSELVES! Manufactured cigarettes, RYO tobacco, and with this new tax, pipe tobacco have been conquered. That will only leave cigars. We are steadily losing ground and are definitely losing the war with the selfish, think about myself, attitudes. Cigarette and RYO tobacco users don’t care now. Why should they? They are probably happy now that pipe smokers are feeling their pain.

Stop crying, whining, and complaining on online forums and message boards and complain to the people that matter; the government! Stop using the excuse that they won’t listen. If enough people complain, they will have to listen. Even if they don’t, at least you went down swinging!
Stop talking about what you are going to do when tobacco prohibition happens and try to STOP it from happening!
Stop separating yourself from other tobacco users and stand up for all tobacco users and unite in this fight!
We have to put our collective voices together and fight against this forceful removal of making our own choices and being told what to do!
If we don’t fight for ourselves, how can we expect other people to fight for us?

I fear that it might be too late to do anything about it because the anti’s have such a strong foothold and head start, but I am still going to fight until the end! We as tobacco users need to make 2010 the year that we stand up against all of the injustices that have been done to us and start taking our rights back! Join the CRA and once you have joined, lobby them to start including other forms of tobacco. We need a unified organization like the NRA (National Rifle Association). They don’t just stand up for the rights of rifle owners; they stand up for the rights of ALL firearm owners. They are unified in their efforts to protect the rights of all firearm owners not just a portion of them. We need to do the same!

In conclusion, I would like to direct you to one of my previous articles; Divided We Fall – The Self Segregation of Smokers. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest that you do. We need to unite and fight, not divide and segregate!

In this spot, I would normally put ‘Happy Puffing!’ But in this case I am putting:
FIGHT FOR YOUR FREEDOMS!