Chicago Pipe Show 2023 Round Up
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James Foster - May 4, 2023
- 12 min read
Would you believe that this year was my first year to ever attend a Chicago Pipe Show? It was. Most of the time, the Chicago show overlapped other conferences that I had to attend for my day job so I couldn’t fly out and buy pipes. So year after year, I gawked at pictures and wished I could be there. This year though, I managed to make it out, which was a good thing, as you’ll see later.
This was the second year at the show’s new location, the Lincolnshire Marriot Resort, and as far as attendance went, it seemed like a success as there were many more people there this year than last. The trip from the airport (O’Hare) is about a 20-minute taxi or Uber ride down the road. Like previous shows, this show featured a climate-controlled smoking tent and not one, but two show floor rooms with tables galore.
Many of you have been to the show year after year, so you’re used to these show summation articles written by me and my fellow compadres. So this year, I’ll focus on the new and interesting, and a slight slant on it since it was my first year attending. And this year was a doozy as we had the first ever “Reality TV Style” Battle of the Briar, which was the brainchild of Jeff Gracik (J Alan Pipes) .
“The whole thing was Jeff’s brainchild. When he first pitched it to me I thought he was crazy. Turns out I was the one who was crazy!” – Steve Fallon
I circled with Jeff and asked him how he conceptualized this new program:
Jeff Gracik:
I’m sure many pipe makers have had a similar idea—essentially the Iron Chef or Forged in Fire but with pipe making. The problem is the equipment required to make it happen. Last year, I revamped and led the show’s pipe-making seminar. The show committee was receptive to the changes I wanted to make, and the reviews afterward were positive. It dawned on me that we had all the needed equipment, and I felt like I had a little extra confidence to propose the idea to the show committee after the seminar went so well. After pitching it and receiving very positive feedback, I worked with Tim Garrity (the president of the CPCC) and Allan Boyd (head of pipe-making events) to make it happen.
Everything fell into place as more people volunteered to support the event, with Steve Fallon generously offering to sponsor and co-host the Battle, Hasan Abid heading up the IT side, making sure that we could be heard and seen outside the room, Jeffthechef live-streaming the event on YouTube, and Adam and Nick from the GetPiped podcast filming everything for a documentary to be published in the future. It was a group effort that wouldn’t have been as successful without everyone pitching in to get us across the finish line.
Each of the pipe makers brought their A-games to the event and, despite the “pressure-cooker feel” imposed by the 60-minute time limit, made really, really good pipes. Everyone watching, whether in person or by video in the smoking tent, was on the edges of their seats as the clock ticked down and Scottie rushed to get her pipe turned in with one second to spare! It was a blast! I’m so proud of everyone involved for what we created together, and I am looking forward to doing it again next year.
Next, I chatted with the contestants Scottie Piersel, Jared Coles, and Tommaso “Tommi” Ascorti, asking them two questions – what was the most interesting or fun thing, and what was the most challenging thing about doing this contest?
For the most fun, I’m a competition junkie and grew up playing sports; I love to compete. It does not matter what it is; I will throw down with anybody. I don’t care if I’m playing basketball with Lebron James and winning the game. Like that’s just my confidence. So competing against the guys was really fun, but being able to like glance over and see where they were at and where I was at, not free for not doing any freehand shaping. Because I really don’t; everything is drill first. You know, and I’m just basically shaping the bottom of the bowl. Everything else is done on the lathe to be able to keep up with those guys. That was nice to know that I have that ability.
The funniest thing was making a pipe in a Marriott Hotel. So, of course, it was funny and crazy and very nice. And I enjoy all the process, you know, staying in front of people. And I knew, I knew that there was a big screen in the tent so all the people outside could see all the situation and I think the feelings for the other people was nice.
The challenging part was working without my tools outside of my company. What I feel that I’m sorry, but my English is not so perfect. So I don’t know other words in English, but to use a blocks of Briar drilled by somebody else… for me, it’s really important that I decide the shape, look at the briar and the grain, and I make the design, and then I drill and follow my lines. So using a block of briar with drilling by somebody else was a bit difficult for me.
But the hardest thing was, of course, the tools, the tools, and the sandpaper. I work in another way, you know, the lathe, but of course, we knew that before and I’m not so happy about the pipe I made because I want to do better and the case of my brand. I spent a lot of time on the details. So the sandpaper inside the bowl and the drill the mouthpiece and this and that so this is difficult for Pipe Maker. The time was not so long. I think that with my tools, one hour was more than enough, but in another place in another place and with other tools, one hour it’s very hard to make.
The results from The Battle of the Briar were:
1st Tommi Ascorti
2nd Jared Coles
3rd Scottie Piersel
The Joy of Aged Tobacco
UPCA National Slow Smoking Championship
The blend: The Country Squire designed a Virginia Burley mixture that offers a naturally sweet smoke with tasting notes that are bready, oaky, citrusy, vinegary, vegetal, and savory.
Components: Red Virginia, Burley, and Stoved Virginia
Doctor of Pipes and Master of Pipes
Every Chicago Pipe Show, there are two awards given out for Doctor of Pipes and for Master of Pipes, awarded to those in the industry and hobby that exemplify the spirit of the pipe community. The fellows over at Smokingpipes.com did a great write-up about the program:
Tom Eltang (not in attendance)
Scott ThileMaster of Pipes
Nate King
James Foster
Interesting Tid-Bits
Sutliff has a series of new blends coming out in 2023-2024 paired with challenge coins and an adventure. They had samples available at the show, and like many of their pressed tobacco, it was awesome. Pipe Force series is a series of tobacco that celebrates pipe smoking by showing innovation isn’t just a thing of the past, there are still “frontiers” to explore. The first batch will be available on July 7th 2023, with Episode I “Maj O’Mera” a latakia-forward English mixture with fire-cured leaf harmonized with stoved rustica. Katerini, the sole Oriental component, offers herb and spice notes bringing complexity and nuance to the flavor profile.
Written by James Foster
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Congratulations James on your new title. Or, should I say Dr. Jim?
Love the show pictures as well!