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With Pipe and Pen Blog » Aromatic Blend
Dedicating Tobacco Pipes to Pipe Tobacco Blends
July 22nd, 2010
By Bob Tate
To dedicate or not to dedicate? That is a question that is asked frequently by pipe smokers. Before I give my answer to this question, I would like to explain a few things. There are some advantages to dedicating pipes to certain tobaccos and there can be some disadvantages as well. The reason why piper smokers wonder about this is; ghosting can and does occur while smoking pipes. A lot of piper smokers wonder if the ghosting will affect the next blend that they smoke in the same pipe. Dedicating pipes to specific tobaccos mainly apply to briar pipes. Briar pipes have the most tendencies to ghost than other types of pipes. Ghosting is pretty easy to define and understand. It is when the flavor of a blend stays with the pipe after you have smoked it. It can and will affect the flavor and aroma of the next blend that is smoked in that same pipe.
Now a lot of you are going to say, “I must dedicate my pipes because I don’t want any ghosting to happen!”. Ghosting is going to happen to some degree or the other with every blend that you smoke. Since every blend tastes different, no matter how small the difference is, it is going to have some type of an effect on the next blend. Sometimes ghosting can be a good thing, so don’t get carried away just yet. When it comes to pipe smokers and pipe dedication, there are basically three groups; Read the rest of this entry »
Just for Him Shortcut to Mushrooms - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
June 16th, 2010
By Bob Tate
[*Editors Note: I do not know for certain what tobaccos are in this blend and am making a guess based on what I see in the blend.]
The tin aroma of this blend is very nice, but it is a little hard to describe. I am picking up light hints of the Latakia and also some vanilla. It smells sweet and there is a lot going on. The moisture content is a tad on the moist side, but it smokes fine as is. Drying time is not needed, but it wouldn’t hurt either. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light. On the charring light, the aroma was a nice vanilla smell accompanied by something else that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I also picked up the vanilla in the flavor. Along with the vanilla, there was a light smokiness and some earthiness. I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for an interesting smoke.
Read the rest of this entry »
CAO Eileen’s Dream - Pipe Tobacco Review
May 18th, 2010
By Bob Tate
On the tin aroma of this blend I am picking up on Irish Cream. Not the sugary coffee creamer type but a good liquor type of Irish Cream. It is accompanied by a light chocolate aroma. It is weird, but the chocolate aroma smells like white chocolate to me. Those of you who have eaten white chocolate know that there is a difference in the aroma of white chocolate compared to other chocolate. Well, to be technical there is a difference in aroma of all different kinds of chocolate, but this is a tobacco review, not a chocolate review. The moisture content of this blend is perfect for smoking right out of the tin.
Read the rest of this entry »
Interview with Greg Pease of G.L. Pease Tobacco - Part 1
April 15th, 2010
By Bob Tate
Greg Pease is the owner of G.L. Pease, Intl. Greg began blending pipe tobacco over 30 years ago and in 1998 left his regular job of 18 years to pursue tobacco blending full time. In early 2000, G.L. Pease Tobacco was born. G.L. Pease tobaccos have become one of the better known premier pipe tobacco blends today. Greg makes it a habit of using only the best quality tobaccos that are available at any given time in his blends. G.L. Pease tobacco blends are made by hand and in small batches to maintain the integrity of his blends.
He also runs his own website [glpease.com] which is loaded with useful information about pipe tobacco and the G.L. Pease tobacco blends, all of which is written by Greg himself. You can see all of the G.L. Pease tobacco blends with their descriptions at glpease.com and cornellanddiehl.com.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Greg some questions. Here is our interview with Greg Pease of G.L. Pease Tobacco:
PipesMagazine: When you first started blending pipe tobacco blends, was it more of a hobby or did you have plans to make it into a business?
Read the rest of this entry »
Super Value Black & Gold - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
March 31st, 2010
By Bob Tate
The pouch aroma of this blend is of a nice, sweet, old fashioned drug store type of pipe tobacco. The closest that I can come to describing it in terms of actual aromas would be Vanilla, Chocolate, and sweet Coffee all mixed together. The aroma does remind me and my wife of the old drugstore blends that our grandfathers used to smoke and it smells quite good. The moisture content is very moist and it is obviously cased with PG (Propylene Glycol) to keep it moist on the shelf.
[Editors Note: Propylene Glycol (PG) is an additive that is added to some tobaccos to keep them from drying out on the shelf.]
It is quite moist and sticky and experience has taught me that no amount of drying time will really help to dry it out. So I loaded up my pipe with it directly from the pouch and proceeded to the charring light. I was greeted by a nice, sweet, smelling aroma that I can only describe as an old time classic pipe tobacco smell. My wife said that it really reminds her of her grandfather and smells good and comforting. As far as the taste goes, I am picking up on a generic sweet taste. There are no distinguishing flavors in it. I finished lighting the pipe and sat back to see how this blend would perform.
Read the rest of this entry »
CAO Moontrance - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
March 27th, 2010
By Bob Tate
The tin aroma of this blend smells great. I am picking up on the vanilla and bourbon. There is also a very intriguing lightly fruity aroma accompanied by a coconut essence. I really like the complexity of the tin aroma. There is a lot there. The moisture content of this blend is perfect for smoking right out of the tin. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light.
On the charring light I was greeted by the aroma of vanilla and it also smelled like some kind of pastry. The flavors that I detect are predominately vanilla and there is also a light fruity flavor to it as well. I finished lighting the pipe and sat back seeing where this blend would go. Read the rest of this entry »
Interview with Tim Ozgener, President of CAO International
February 18th, 2010
By Bob Tate
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Peterson Merry Xmas 2009 and a Happy New Year - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
December 23rd, 2009
By Bob Tate
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In the tin aroma of this blend I am picking up on vanilla, bourbon, a very slight twang to the nose, and a smell that reminds me a lot of cherry cordials. I know that there is no cherry flavor or anything cherry in this blend, I am just telling you what it smells like to me. The vanilla was the predominate aroma. I picked up no scent of baked apples at all. The tin aroma is very Christmassy and reminds me of the Holiday Season. I like it a lot! The moisture content is a little on the moist side and some drying time would help out quite a bit. Read the rest of this entry »
McClelland Holiday Spirit 2008 - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
December 20th, 2009
By Bob Tate
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The tin aroma of this blend smells really good and reminds me of some of the smells that are encountered during Holiday baking. Dark rum is the predominate aroma and there is a hint of dark chocolate and I also picked up on a slight hint of coffee. The moisture content is a little on the moist side and some drying time wouldn’t hurt. I smoked it right from the tin with no drying time and it smoked well with no problems. The cut on this blend is pretty chunky with some large pieces of leaf. Read the rest of this entry »
Dan Tobacco Milonga - Pipe Tobacco Reviews
November 18th, 2009
By Bob Tate
The tin aroma of this blend is a heavy caramel and vanilla aroma, caramel being a little more prominent than the vanilla. It smells almost like a caramel-vanilla flavored cup of coffee. The moisture was good for smoking right away, but a little drying time might not hurt. The tobacco is more of a ready rubbed and a little chunky. I didn’t rub it out any, I left it the way it was, loaded my pipe, and proceeded to the charring light.
On the charring light I was greeted by a lovely vanilla aroma with a hint of caramel to it. The vanilla also was more prominent in the taste as well. This surprised me a little as the caramel was more noticeable in the tin aroma. I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for the smoke. Read the rest of this entry »