Interview With Master Blender Russ Ouellette - Part 2

By Bob Tate

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl Exhausted Rooster - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

The pouch aroma of this blend is that wonderful tanginess that tickles the nose slightly and makes my mouth water. It also has a slight amount of sweetness and just a touch of spiciness to the aroma. The moisture content is perfect for smoking right away.

This blend is a broken flake. For this review, I did not rub the pieces out. I left the pieces as they were, loaded my pipe, and proceeded to the charring light. On the charring light I am greeted with that lovely taste and aroma of the Virginias. The taste is a slightly tangy, slightly sweet, tobacco taste. I settled in for the smoke with expectations of a good, relaxing smoke from this blend. Read the rest of this entry »

2009 25th Annual C.O.R.P.S/Richmond Pipe Show Coverage - Part 1

By Bob Tate

Let me start by saying that Kevin and I had a great time at the show. We both thank Linwood Hines, Craig Norris, and the rest of the members of the C.O.R.P.S for putting on a great show. In addition to C.O.R.P.S, we would like to thank all of the vendors, exhibitors, and every one who attended the show for making every one else in attendance feel welcome.

We have collected so much information, interviews, photos, videos, etc. that it was hard for us to find a starting point for the coverage of the show. But we finally decided on starting our coverage of the show with a report on some of the new tobaccos that were released by Cornell & Diehl. C&D released three new C&D blends at the show and they also had a new GLPease blend that was released at the show. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

Now that autumn is here and the nights have become quite a bit cooler, I have been having the urge to smoke some of my heavier aromatic blends. I figured what better blend to smoke first than Autumn Evening by Cornell & Diehl.

The tin aroma of this blend is a very strong, sweet, maple syrup aroma. The moisture content is a bit on the wet side and I would recommend some drying time before smoking. I used a two step packing method and proceeded to the charring light. On the charring light I was greeted by a nice maple syrup type aroma and a light maple taste. I was a little worried because the tin aroma was so strong and I thought that the flavor would be as well, but so far the taste is not that strong. I settled in for the smoke. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl #412A Billy Budd - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

The pouch aroma of this blend is a nice smoky, sweet Latakia. The moisture level is perfect for smoking right out of the bag. This blend is a coarse cut and is quite chunky. I left it in its original state and did not rub it out into smaller pieces. I loaded the pipe using a two step method and proceeded to the charring light. Upon the charring light I was greeted by the taste and aroma of a nice smoky, sweet Latakia mixture. I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for the smoke. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl Mississippi Mud - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

I see why they called this blend Mississippi Mud. The blend is almost completely black in color and kind of looks like used coffee grounds when it was in the pouch. The pouch aroma is a nice, sweet and smoky Latakia with a very light hint of pepper/spice from the Perique in the background. The moisture level was a tad on the wet side and some drying time would probably be good for it. I did not dry it and opted to smoke it as it was. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl Manhattan Afternoon - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

This is from a sampler that I purchased from Cornell & Diehl. It is a 1oz sample in a ziplock bag.

The pouch aroma of this blend has that sweet and tangy smell of a good Virginia blend. The moisture level is perfect for smoking right out of the bag. This blend is a flake, so I took a couple of the flakes (Fig. 1) and fully rubbed them out (Fig.2), I did leave some of it a little chunky. Since this flake was a little fluffy when rubbed out, I opted to use a two step packing method instead of gravity filling like I usually do when I rub out flakes. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl #972 Three Friars - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

The pouch aroma of this blend is quite tangy and tickles the nose a little and induces a little mouth watering effect. There is also a very light sweetness to the aroma that sits far in the background. The moisture content of the tobacco is perfect for smoking right away, as most of C&D blend are. The tobacco is what I would call a coarse cut, because it is quite chunky. I left it chunky and did not rub it out at all.

I filled the pipe using a two step packing method. I packed it a little on the loose side and proceeded to the charring light. On the charring light, I picked up a little sweetness in the aroma but none in the taste. The taste was a straight forward tobacco taste. I settled in for the smoke. Read the rest of this entry »

Cornell & Diehl Opening Night - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

This review is from a 1oz sample that I got from Cornell & Diehl.

The pouch aroma of this blend is a very nice Virginia sweet and tangy smell. The moisture level of this is, as with every C&D blend that I have tried, perfect for smoking right away. This blend is a broken flake (Fig. 1), so I lightly rubbed it out leaving it a little chunky (Fig. 2). I loaded the pipe using my two step method and packed it loosely.
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Cornell & Diehl #067 Bayou Morning - Pipe Tobacco Reviews

By Bob Tate

The pouch aroma was of a straight forward tobacco with that Virginia tang and a little bit of sweetness as well. It has a very nice smell. The cut was a little bit chunky, as you can see in Fig.1, so I broke it up and rubbed it out a bit. I used a 2 step packing method and loaded up the bowl. I performed the charring light and got a very nice sweet Virginia taste and aroma. I settled in for the smoke. Read the rest of this entry »