Ask G. L. Pease (Volume 38)
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Kevin Godbee - Jul 1, 2014
- 9 min read
G. L. Pease
I’m back from Kansas, and trying to recover from the fun. Pipe shows are great things, but they can be exhausting. Thursday night, after the pipe club meeting, I returned with a friend to his place to learn how to roll cigars. Scratch that. I rolled a few things that to the casual onlooker would have been perceived as alien life forms (who knew a cigar could have appendages?) or sections of branches from gnarled trees littering the ground after a forest fire. One actually did look vaguely like a cigar, if not observed too closely, but one that had been used as a chew toy by a pit bull on meth. I learned a bit about different cigar tobaccos, got to taste a lot of different leaf in its pure state, but the most important lesson was probably that I have no real future as a torceador. I’ll stick to pipe mixtures.
The show was fantastic. It’s a small show, but there’s always plenty to see, great people to meet, fun conversations to have, and that’s the problem. Four AM comes far too quickly, and sleep is scarce. By Sunday night, my eyes were glazed, my mind racing, and though my plane touched down Tuesday night, my brain is still in the clouds, and a little of my heart is still in Kansas. Thanks to the KC club for putting on a great show, for being so welcoming to all the out-of-towners, and for making this one of the most fun weekends I’ve had in a long time. If only they could do something about the weather.
So, Toto, now that we’re not in Kansas anymore, let’s see what the mailbag has to offer.
Mark asks: First of all, thank you. You blend some of my favorite tobaccos. I love your enthusiasm and obvious passion for pipes and tobacco.
There’s been a lot of excited chatter lately about Semois since The Pipe Guys started bringing in Vincent Manil’s La Brumeuse. I know you’re familiar with it because I saw your comments on the NY Times article.
I’ve tried it. It’s certainly unique. Doesn’t ring all of my bells, for sure, but it does ring enough of them to be interesting and enjoyable.
My questions: Is Semois a variety that you’d consider using in future GLP blends? What other tobaccos could you see possibly pairing it with? What qualities would you look for Semois to bring to a blend? Or is this a tobacco best enjoyed alone, on its own terms?
A: A great question. Semois is fascinating stuff. It’s not for everyone, but if it’s singular flavor profile and smoking characteristics are craved, nothing else will quite touch base. I’ve played with it on and off for years, hoping to find some way to incorporate its unique taste into a blend that compliments it, and the results haven’t been what I’d consider exciting. The problem is that most of what makes Semois special is quite subtle, and it can be overwhelmed by even the most minor addition of something else. A little virginia, I thought, might bring out the sweetness and those interesting floral notes, but even the most delicate brights tread all over the Belgian beauty, resulting in something more akin to Coors than to Chimay. Stronger flavors, like latakia and perique tend to clash with it, and even orientals compete more than they enhance.
Another difficulty is that the Semois tends to be best when smoked quite dry, while most typical pipe tobaccos deliver more with a little moisture; when the water content is a little to one side or the other of the Goldilocks point, the mixtures tends to suffer. As I said, it’s fascinating stuff, and more than a little strange.
I have a couple of small pipes dedicated to the Semois, and enjoy it occasionally, and I still play, once in a while, with ways to incorporate it into something harmoniously, but so far, it’s not really gone well. I’ll keep playing, though, and one day, the Aha! moment may strike. In the meanwhile, give a smaller pipe a try, or a meerschaum, which to me is a sort of heavenly match for the stuff. And, stay tuned. You never know what will happen tomorrow.
In a couple of related questions, Monty writes: Greg, as a well respected blender and artisan of all things tobaciccana, have you received any reliable information on how the civil war in Syria to date has and might effect the supply of Syrian Latakia for the pipe tobacco market?
And Matt asks: Much has been written about the demise of Syrian Latakia, including political turmoil, and the heavy strain it put on natural resources there. These and other factors resulted in the subsequent government ban put on growers and curers in Syria.
My question has to do with Cyprian Latakia. Cyprus is a small Middle Eastern island. Do you foresee the possibility that Cyprian Latakia could one day become either scarce or unavailable in the near future for similar reasons? Are we taking this noble leaf for granted which is such a key player in countless pipe blends? And if supplies (God forbid) dried up, which tobaccos could possibly fill that gap for Balkan and English blends?
A: The Syrian question is easy, though the answer is unfortunate. Syria has not produced any latakia for well over a decade, and what is currently in the world’s stores is all there is, and all there will be. The vintage leaf we lost in 2004 was the finest I’d ever tasted, and I know of only two blending houses who have any of that left. When it’s gone, it’s gone. There is some other leaf labeled as Syrian, but I remain skeptical. (I think I once remarked that the latakia someone had sent me was no more Syrian than I am. I get the impression that waving a leaf of the stuff over every batch gives some people license to claim its inclusion in the formula. For my money, the only Syrian blends that I would stake my reputation on as being genuine are coming from McClelland and MacBaren. That’s the real deal, for sure.)
In other words, don’t expect to see Syrian latakia produced again any time soon. They have bigger fish to fry, and getting the country back on its feet after, and if their struggles are resolved is going to take more than planting a few acres of tobacco to satisfy the tiny demand we represent in the market.
On to Matt’s question. Nothing lasts forever, and as the pipe smoking population shrinks, the demands for Cyprian leaf will, too. At some point, it’s likely, unless our number grow sufficiently, that Cyprus will not find the economic forces stimulating enough to continue producing this beautiful product. So, the short answer is, yes, we do take it for granted, and it’s quite likely that within our lifetimes, Cyprian latakia will become another ghost haunting the hallways. Is there anything that could replace it in the mixtures we love? Not really.
But, remember that Cypriot latakia gained its foothold after the Syrian government restricted production of the stuff in or near 1960, and an industry was born. It’s entirely possible that if demand is sufficient and Cyprus does decide to stop producing it, someone else may step up and fill that demand. It’ll probably be more expensive, and a little different, but who knows? It might even be better, and, having another option available is always fun for those of us on this side of the blending bar, to the benefit of the curious and open minded smoker, as well. We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it. In the meanwhile, buying a few tins to set aside for the future probably isn’t a bad thing.
Kostas pens: Last summer I managed to be the proud owner of 3kg of a local tobacco variety from Western Greece. The name of this variety is called "Myrodata" (literally meaning "odoriferous"). Despite its name it’s poor in aroma and nicotine levels but it has a very unique taste that I really enjoy. It belongs to oriental tobaccos. Unfortunately there is a little problem. The cut of the tobacco is for rolling cigarettes and it burns really fast in the pipe.
So, I was wondering is there any kind of tobacco that I could mix it up in order to slow down the burning process (is it possible to achieve that?). My first thinking was something like flake tobacco but I don’t want to eliminate the oriental element. As a latakia and oriental lover myself what kind of tobaccos would you recommend to mix it with? p.s. At this time, I’m embarked to a cargo vessel for 8 months now and I’m really looking forward to go home and open my tins some of them from your beautiful blends.
By the way, I managed to copy your columns before I leave and I should thank you for keeping me good company with your excellent essays.
A: I’m honored that my writing is in good company. Thank you for the kind words.
Since you enjoy the oriental tobaccos, you might try mixing your Myrodata with other orientals in a broader cut. In general, we’re usually fighting the opposite battle, as orientals can tend to be a little hard to keep lit, so the fine cut might help to keep the fires burning. Or, instead of adding a flake, how about trying a younger, un-caked red virginia ribbon that’s not finely cut? And, add a little coarse-cut burley, which can be a little rough tasting on its own, but can help to temper a hot burning mixture. And, since you like latakia, try adding as much as 30% to the mixture, in small increments, to see if you can find that perfect balance between the orientals and the smoky stuff. Alternatively, you might try different moisture contents, or pack it more tightly in smaller bowls. It’ll be a fun adventure if you keep your mind open and take notes on what does and doesn’t work for you. Let us know how it goes.
That’s it for this edition. There are quite a few really interesting things left in the mailbag, but we always love to get more, so keep those cards and letters coming, boys and girls. Now, if only we had a PipesMagazine Secret Decoder Ring we could offer as a prize for submissions… (Are you paying attention, Kevin?) Until next month, happy smoking.
-glp
[Editor’s Note: See the 12th post down, here for the decoder ring info.]
 Since 1999, Gregory L. Pease has been the principal alchemist behind the blends of G.L. Pease Artisanal Tobaccos. He’s been a passionate pipeman since his university days, having cut his pipe teeth at the now extinct Drucquer & Sons Tobacconist in Berkeley, California. Greg is also author of The Briar & Leaf Chronicles, a photographer, recovering computer scientist, sometimes chef, and creator of The Epicure’s Asylum. See our interview with G. L. Pease here. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Soon now, supposedly, our neighborhoods will shift from grinning pumpkins, skeletons in various assortments, and zombies dashing about to pretty reindeer, angels, and flashing lights illuminating homes with sparkling stars and laughing, scurrying Santas. But, lest we forget, there is the turkey season, fancy pie aromas wafting from kitchens, and a national pardon of a big Tom Turkey. Remember, now, that only one of these holiday personalities is a pipe smoker. And that is the hefty, bearded fellow in a bright red suit sitting in a sleigh with a herd of deer hitched up and ready to streak across the globe, bringing tidings of joy and many presents. Ok, the scene is set for the next couple of months, right? So, before we get too far off the beaten path, let’s just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. That’s better, isn’t it? What’s got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. 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Or perhaps it is that sense of satisfaction knowing and appreciating you made it to another day. With the world in a kind of rinse-and-repeat history, reminiscent of a Shakespearean play, it is perhaps a good moment to remember some of Pipedom’s philosophers whose cogent thoughts brought light to clear a path in the mists of confusion and confounding opinions. Ok. No gloom and doom. Just some down-home thoughts. Think of times in the past when history was running off the rails. It took our pipe-smoking thinkers (the mind workers of the world) to speak of better pathways to more light. Think for a moment, with a pipe in hand, these wizards of the world and word: Albert Einstein, J. R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edwin Hubble, Bertrand Russell, C. S. Lewis, and Jean-Paul Sartre. All learned and enlightened. They offered wisdom instead of storms of meaningless roads to nowhere. All while smoking their pipes! 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A fact is not a truth until you love it—Shelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. That’s one effective way to deal with workday conflicts and confusion. A calm and objective judgment in our everyday human affairs, as the quantum man said.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. Naturally a Virginia-Perique, it is enhanced with a traditional core of black Cavendish. In the tin it holds much promise, with a lightly bready and very woody, if ever-so-slightly sour, aroma. After some time acclimating to air, the bouquet softens further and offers hints of the burley with some chocolaty notes wafting through the more dominant dry grassy aspect. The tin art is of a coin-style bas-relief bust, presumably of a founding Sutliff brother, à la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blend’s description: Reflecting on Sutliffs 175 years of tobacco excellence, we came across a brand that embodies true value, SILVER QUARTER. This name pays homage to Sutliffs roots, the legacy of two brothers who popularized pipe smoking in the burgeoning mining society of San Francisco. We celebrate this heritage with a coin cut composed of the finest African Virginias, complemented by a core of Perique and Black Cavendish. The tin notes are, forgive the pun, on the nose for a good VaPer blend: mild tart sweetness peeking out from behind dried hay and slight chocolate undertones, with a lightly tannic finish of weathered oak. It is always a joy to prepare a coin cut, my preference being to put a few in my palm and vigorously warm my hands together to fully break them apart. These well-formed discs pack and light easily, and smoke with little prodding to the end of the bowl. For technical points it scores well—it smokes light, and it’s easy to tend the ember. While it gets sharp after a few quick bowls, pacing should be heeded to easily smoke down to the heel without inviting bite. Of the flavor, though, I am left a bit wanting. There are tart and high notes aplenty, but very little of the lemony citrus I would anticipate, as well as scant midtones; they tend more toward the red wine-vinegary and sour. The flavors are muted, also, lacking the sweetness and piquancy of other marques—the small measure of Perique tickles the nose now and again with peppery hints, and there is a smidge of a deeper sweetness to be found in the Cavendish from puff to puff, but overall it lacks some dynamism. The Virginias, to my palate, come off a bit on the dry side, and here they dominate the blend. The aftertaste and mouthfeel are neutral, again evincing more of the dry, woody, tartly tannic end of the spectrum. The blend has plenty of polish, but not enough depth or richness (*yet) to make it a standout. Here, comparisons are inevitable: Luxury Bullseye Flake has more sweetness, both from its Virginia as well as its Cavendish, and a better finish; Davidoff is similar but with a pronounced umami that is absent here; as for Escudo, I haven’t had any fresh tins lately so it would be unfair to compare. 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With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 632. Our featured guest on tonight’s show is the host of the Pipe & Tamper Podcast, Mike Murphy. Brian and Mike will have an extended chat revolving around the days before, during and after the Las Vegas International Pipe Show. We will hear about their travels to the show and the anxiety of Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida at the same time while running a show and not knowing if your house is going to be there when you get home. In the end, the show went great and our homes survived, although many others in Florida were not so lucky. We’ll have clips from the show, and shoutouts to other podcasts and vlogs that were broadcasting from the pipe show.
Vegas Baby The show started out strong on the 14th floor hospitality suites hosted by the Vegas Pipe Show and Smoking Pipes as well as room hopping to carvers, estate sellers, and vendors to pre-game for the festivities. If you’re interested in what that looks like I’ll refer you to last years pipe show round up. I circled with Brian Levine to get the totals in comparison to last year: This year’s show numbers: 108 Exhibitor tables, 445 attendees, 3,250 Raffle Tickets, 100ish dinners, 172 Rooms in the Hotel. Last year, by comparison, 107 exhibitor tables, 425 attendees, 2,200 raffle tickets, 104 dinners, and 175 rooms on Friday and Saturday nights. We were at capacity, basically, when it came to vendor tables and the dinner, so there is no physical room for growth at this point except for attendees. That said, we filled that smoking lounge to the brim. New Carvers Spotlight Garret Woo (Pipes by Woo) How long have you been carving? Garret: I’ve been carving since 2021, and I’m guessing your next question is probably how’d you get started carving? James: Yes. Garret: In 2021 I took a break from my full time job – that included machining and assembly work and I thought maybe it was time I made something that I would like and I started looking at youtube and Instagram and putting together my shop. I did struggle on the stems to start and there was a lot of failure at the beginning. James: How many pipes have you made so far? Garret: I number my pipes, so I just finished up 186. James: What is your favorite shape you’ve been making? Garret: I really dig Canadians and pipes with longer shanks and lovat Canadian blends. I like to play with different shapes of stems on the longer shanked pipes. The billiard would be my go-to shape but I want to learn more techniques on freehanded shapes. I like to put brass and copper adornments on my pipes with my machining background it helps. James: What is the craziest thing you’ve seen at this show? Garret: The first thing that comes to mind is the table over there with C-Pipes with the shapes and the size and petiteness and the intricate details they did. You can check out what Garret is working on by going to his Instagram. Stefan Cashwell James: how long have you been carving? Stefan: about 3 years. James: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at the show? Stefan: The Adam Davidson pipe with the clear shape and the bamboo—I don’t know if it’s 3D printed or what, but it’s amazing. James: What’s your favorite shape to do? Stefan: That’s a tough question. I think they’re all the same shape, but what’s fascinating is that Dublin, volcano, and blowfish are all the same depending on how you turn them. Playing with that, with all its variations, is a lot of fun. My favorite accent to use is also horn; it’s finicky, but it’s a great accent on pipes. You can check out Stefan’s work on his Instagram. Science: Meet Pipes I chatted with Chris from the San Diego Pipe Club; he started off doing stem replacements for estate pipes but also improved the airflow. James: How are you doing 3d printing? What is the thought process? Chris: It’s a 3D-printed pipe with a briar insert. The design is a calabash meets a Peterson system meets a metal Falcon/Kirsten radiator style. It is a bottom draft smoking bowl like a radiator like those metal pipes. The inside chamber is a calabash. The stummel and accent rings in the stems are all 3d printed. The insert is briar, olive wood, or I have the potential to use meerschaum as well. This idea came about through the San Diego Pipe Club, wanting to see if we could 3D print a pipe and being curious about the technology; I have a printer and design ability, so here we are. James: What’s the type of plastic you’re using? Chris: It’s all PLA plastic, a renewable potato starch plastic that is food-safe. The stummels are printed with a plastic that has wood in it 40% wood fiber, bamboo, rosewood, ebony, redwood, and walnut are the woods I’m printing. For the accent rings I just got a new material that I’m printing that has 40% copper, so its real metal that you can sand, and polish the same as wood filament. The stems are 3d printed as well. The concept is renewable and cheap from a production standpoint, with the ability to make a very high quality smoking pipe based on the experience. By combining the calabash system pipe and bottom draft hole and using 3d simulations to see airflow, I can see where I’m having eddies and ripples in my current, and see where my moisture and all the particles are dropping back out from a vapor to a liquid. Most people who have tried these say the stems are clean, and they don’t even have to run a pipe cleaner afterward because everything collects at the bottom. Chris has also been experimenting with color-changing plastics so you can see the hotspots. Chris said he was able to use this to slow down his cadence, which, of course, could mean you could get a slow-smoke training pipe to teach yourself to perform better. If you’re interested in learning more or want to check one out, you can contact him on Instagram: Copper Beard Pipe Works The Negative Space The show was buzzing about one specific pipe, which had everyone guessing how it was made. I chatted with Adam Davidson briefly about it. James: How did this idea come to fruition? Adam Davidson: Smokingpipes.com had an expo back in August open to all of the makers they carry. The theme was to make a pipe utilizing bamboo. Given that the last time we had the expo I made a smooth Almond with three bamboo shanks, […]
Always a fun read, Mr. Pease. Wouldn’t some Maryland slow down a mixture’s burn? Would that alter the flavor?
Maryland is a great thing to add when you want to improve the burn of a stubborn mixture, but it’s probably not going to be effective at slowing it down. It’s got a similar taste to a good burley, though not as strong. It might be worth a try, but I think it would likely have the opposite effect to what Kostas is after.
Another fine article!