Luciano Pipes - A Brief History and Review

By Bob Tate

Luciano (pronounced: Lu-chee-ah-no) pipes are made in Italy and are the creation of Luca Di Piazza, owner of NeatPipes. Luca wanted to create a high quality line of pipes that would be affordable to all pipe smokers. In the beginning months of 2007, he set to work making the first pipes that would carry the Luciano name. He wanted to make sure that every pipe in the Luciano line had all of the correct engineering that makes a pipe a good smoker, but he wanted to be able to produce them in a way that keeps the cost of the pipes low and affordable. The way that he achieved this was by having each pipe Hand Finished instead of Hand Made.
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Interview with Greg Pease of G.L. Pease Tobacco - Part 2

By Bob Tate

In Part 1 of our interview, Greg talked a little bit about how he got started blending tobacco, how he goes about developing new blends, a new blend that will be released soon, and many other things.

Here is Part 2 and the conclusion of our interview with Greg Pease.

PM: What are some of the changes that you have seen in the pipe and pipe tobacco industry over the years?

GLP: I’ve been smoking a pipe for about 30 years, now. Some blends and blending houses have changed dramatically. Companies have merged, or outsourced their brands to others, sometimes with less than optimal results. There’s been a drastic decline in pipe tobacco consumption over the years, and it just hasn’t been cost effective for a lot of the old blenders to keep their doors open. And, far too many retail tobacconists have shuttered. The days of walking into a great brick and mortar shop in any major city, talking pipes and tobaccos with knowledgeable staff seem to be behind us. There are still some fantastic shops, but they are fewer and farther between.
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