Ahh, Spring has sprung! Cherry blossoms are sprouting into bloom, the weather is giving some of us a bit of relief (looking at you, allergies). But there is also the other side—the, […]
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This might strike some of you as weird, but I think I’m in a time warp. On a recent trip to South Carolina, I looked for the old-time bricks-and-mortar pipes […]
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Yes, some things are just too hard. Take, for example, trying not to bust the budget on a new, long-sought pipe from one of the master creators. I faced this […]
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Make no mistake, this was a fairly good year. So many pipes and so little time. Which forced Pundit to deal with an unruly herd of pipes. The past, always […]
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Ok, so it’s that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the […]
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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 […]
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Now that the gritty tooth of summer is loosening its grip a bit, the feel of fall is faintly signaling its changes just around the corner. Warm days and cool […]
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This is the time of year I like to refer to as the “in-betweens.” It’s not fall, and summer is taking an occasional breather. Just like some of us who […]
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This is going to be one of those friendly chats between friends. That’s you and me, pipe smokers of the realm. As I have mentioned before in praising pipe puffers: […]
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Ok, the old Pundit is gonna say this only once. Well, maybe twice: It’s beach time! Some of my happiest pipe-smoking memories were created on the back deck of an […]
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Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 665. Our featured interview tonight is with Jody Davis. Jody is a renowned pipe artisan, and the lead guitar player for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band, The Newsboys. His pipes are extremely high quality with Danish style designs, and they are not easy to come by. Jody will take on two “Ask the Pipemaker” questions from listeners as well as chat a bit with Brian. At the top of the show in our Pipe Parts segment, we will have a Pipe Smoker Gift Giving Guide for Father’s Day this weekend.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 664. Our featured guest tonight is Dan Butler of D. Butler Pipes. Dan is a part time pipe maker producing beautiful artisan pipes. He found his way to pipes after university didn’t work out, then working the night shift in a mental hospital put so much stress on him that he need to find relief. First, it was relaxing with a cigar, but when he found his way to pipes, he became much more intrigued. He started off slow as he was paying off student debt, but when that was cleared, he dove in. At the top of the show in the Pipe Parts segment, Brian will have his first installment in searching for replacement tobaccos for some of the Mac Baren and Sutliff discontinued items. He will have a review of Cornell & Diehl’s Virginia Gentleman, and tell you why it is a good replacement for Mac Baren’s Virginia No. 1.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 663. Our featured guest tonight is Austin Bourdo of Pathfinder Pipes. He is an Army Veteran having the highly specialized role of Pathfinder. (Find out what that is on the show. It’s super badass cool.) Austin is a father and husband living in his native Wisconsin. He does social work full time and makes pipes part time. It all started when he found his grandfather’s pipes, started smoking, and he already had a lathe for bowl turning, so making pipes was a natural progression. At the top of the show in the Pipe Parts segment, we will continue the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with two estate Comoy’s pipes that have a great background story.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 662. 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 their experiences and Jon David’s purchases at the Chicago pipe show. There is also news on the Country Squire’s bulk tobacco / custom blends program that was impacted by the closure of Sutliff Tobacco Co. In our opening Pipe Parts segment we will get caught up on a mailbag backlog with four great questions from listeners.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 661. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Fernando Keops. Fernando is a renowned sleight-of-hand magician, particularly known for his work with cards and gambling effects. He is celebrated for his performances that blend magic, sleight of hand, and a poetic style. He is of course, also a pipe smoker and he attended the Las Vegas International Pipe Show in 2024. Already a full time magician, he started smoking a pipe when he was 22-years old. Another magician that he was working with that was a pipe smoker, and 82-years old at the time, bought him his first pipe. At the top of the show in our Pipe Parts segment, Brian will have a tobacco review of Cornell & Diehl’s Opening Night.
Bigger. Better. More Pipe. This year’s Chicago Pipe Show was a larger event with an expanded smoking tent and the addition of the special events section at the back of it, and the show boasted way more attendees than previous years. While we didn’t have the most interesting man of the year at the show this year, there was an actor sighting at our hotel of Brian O’Halloran (better known as Dante from Clerks). It is unknown if he came into the show itself or was just there at the hotel, and sadly, I didn’t find any pictures of him there, just the rumors. Stay tuned on that one. Tim Garrity (Chicago Pipe Club President) shared with me some numbers this year; there were over 950ish in attendance. For those of you playing the home game, they reported to me that in 2024, a little over 400 attended (after checking with Tim this was just the attendees not including vendors it was around 800 with everyone). That’s more than double for 2025. “We had an increase in carvers and tobacianna makers. A large international presence with vendors coming from China, Brazil, Italy, France, Denmark, the UK, Austria, Germany, Turkey, Cuba, Cyprus, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, and a few others as well…. I really want to highlight two pieces that stick out to me. As mentioned before, the international showing. Our guests came from all around the world. While it rained outdoors, only friendship and fellowship reigned in our tent. Our community continues to bring me joy, for in divisive times, we are coming together. Pipes over politics, personalities, and persuasions,” said Tim. The line to enter stretched almost outside this year. Below are a handful of pictures to give you a general idea. Upon first entry into the ballroom, vendors and carvers were stacked in with more tables than in the past couple of years, as Tim discussed. To the newcomer, this can be a bit overwhelming because there are so many pipes, but do yourself a favor and do the “Brian Levine” advice and walk the whole floor looking before coming back to settle on some pipes. New Tobaccos Coming out from C&D and Per Georg Jensen I ran into Per Jensen this year at breakfast and ended up heading out to the smoking tent with him before the show opened, and we sampled several blends that he’s working on in collaboration with Jeremy Reeves (newly minted Doctor of Pipes) at C&D. Per: In a collaboration with C&D. One week ago I was playing ping-pong with Jeremy at the C&D factory. Two tobacco-interested people who came into talks and discussions and decided to collaborate. So I’m coming out with four blends under the name Legacy Collection, where I honor my father and his job. The first four will be with sailor motifs because he was onboard the royal yacht Dannebrog. Per: Every summer, the King and Queen travel around Denmark visiting the different cities. This was a tradition that goes back to the Vikings because at that time they didn’t have any facebook or Instagram so a lot of people didn’t know how the king looked. So they had to travel around to all the cities to show his face. He didn’t have a castle. This tradition is taken over by the present kings as well. Per: The crew onboard the yacht are selected from the regular navy, and conscripts are hand-picked and sent onboard the royal ship to work for the summer. Officers were always assigned to the ship, but every summer a different crew. The ship he started on was the paddle boat steamer, and then in 1932, a new ship was built, and that is the same ship we use today, almost a hundred years old. When are we going to see these blends come out? Per: If everything goes as we would like, it will be the beginning of July. I’ve got two blends ready, and I’m smoking the new ones now. They are: 100% Virginia (Red and Bright) Virginia Dark Fired Kentucky Burley Dominant Blend One more Virginia blend. (Red and Bright) For all of them, they are going to be so natural, that means a little bit casing, no top note (with the exception of the burley). The goal, Per says, is to have balance in the flavors and no tongue bite. Kings Watch is a 50/50 blend of red and bright virginias. Interesting note: Per said, each tobacco company calls variations of Virginia something different. MacBaren, for instance, would call it bright Virginia because it had a higher sugar content. The red Virginia has all the flavor, so the more red, the more intense the taste. When sampling this, the flavor profiles are citrus fruit, mellow cream, and a slight floral note. Tasting the Burley heavy blend, which is ready to go as well, is smooth, nutty, and cocoa-flavored. With that nougat taste, I’m reminded of a Toblerone candy bar, but don’t go assuming it’s full-on aromatic. It’s subtle. Another commented that it was like a truffle. The Burley forward blend does have a hint of Virginia in it as well, but just a hint. The Dark-Fired Kentucky and Virginia blend has that expected BBQ smell/note. The room note is more mellow. Per says they are still tweaking the two other blends, and they don’t have names for them yet, other than being under the Legacy Collection banner. Stay tuned! Battle of the Briar This year’s Battle of the Briar featured Ping Zhan, Silver Gray, and Nathan Davis as the carver competitors. Once again, our Master of Ceremonies was Steve “Pipestud” Fallon, with Jeff Gracik providing the play-by-play. Missouri Meerschaum was a sponsor this year and also did a live stream of the event; you can go back and watch here. I’ll expand a bit on that video with things you didn’t know, with a couple of comments from the carvers and Judges, so strap in. I chatted with Jeff […]
