The 2012 Chicago Pipe Show Report
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Kevin Godbee - May 11, 2012
- 13 min read
Ethan Brandt
How to describe the Chicago Pipe Show? A lot of different words come to mind: pipes, of course, but great times with friends, some that you never even knew before you arrived, wonderful conversation, and one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I was warned by Brad Pohlmann before I even attended the show that it would be Sunday night before I knew it. He was right, but after looking forward to the show for months, I enjoyed every moment of it and formed some memories that I know will last a lifetime, not to mention acquiring some really gorgeous "memorabilia".
Officially, the show is known as The 2012 Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show, but if everyone said that every time their talked about it, it would be too much of a mouthful, so it is lovingly known as the "Chicago Pipe Show". This year, just as in past years, it was held at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL, a little less than an hour from Chicago proper. The show itself took place on Saturday, May 5th, and Sunday, May 6th; there were however, plenty of fantastic events going on for a lot of the week beforehand!
Before getting into the show itself, I have to give credit for their choice of locale. The Pheasant Run Resort is a great place to stay and an even better choice for a pipe show. Not only is the resort itself beautiful, equipped with both an indoor and outdoor pool, a golf course, and a fully-functioning spa, but the accommodations that they made to support us pipe smokers were really outstanding. I’m really glad that such a fantastic show has the support of the community that benefits from it.
I arrived at the resort late Thursday night, which, despite the fact that the show did not officially start until two days later, made me one of the late ones. As soon as we arrived—my girlfriend, Lauren, was kind enough to come to the show with me—we checked in, dropped our things off in our beautiful room, and set out to discover where the smoking tent was. I had been getting phone calls for the last hour from Dustin Babitzke, Nick Miller, and Adam Davidson wondering what was taking me so long, so I knew I shouldn’t delay.
By the time I got there, it was after eleven in the evening and I expected the place to be deserted: O, ye of little faith! At my estimate, I would say there were still over sixty people in the tent, some smoking cigars, most smoking pipes, but everyone was smiling. That night I was able to meet people whose work I had long admired, like Michail Revyagin, Alex Florov, Adam Remington, Steve Morrisette, and Brad Pohlmann.
As soon as I sat down next to Dustin B., I was hauled up from the table by Adam Davidson, literally by my ponytail, as he took me around the tent introducing me to more people and showing me a plethora of beautiful pipes, contained in metal cases, which made me feel like I should be delivering the pipes to some country’s ambassador through the cover of darkness. I ended up spending the rest of Thursday evening in the smoking tent with Lauren, Nick Miller, Steve Morrisette, Adam Remington, and John Crosby, and a number of others, sharing laughs, drinks, and pipes.
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Friday morning is the unofficial start of the Chicago Pipe Show. From 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM that day is what was previously known as the "Pre-Show", but is now called the Smoke and Swap. Let me tell you, there was a lot of both going on in the smoking tent that morning!
The way the Smoke and Swap worked this year was that anyone, even if you were not an official vendor, could sign up for use of a half-table to show your wares, make and receive offers, and trade. From what I saw, there was a lot of buying going on during the Smoke and Swap, as there had been the previous evening. By the time I got down to the tent, which was just half-an-hour after all the fun had started, Steve Liskey already had two pipes with a SOLD sign below them. "People saw the bamboo and just went crazy," he told me. After seeing the bamboo myself, I can’t say that I blame them.
Adam Remington’s table was right next to Steve’s, with Bruce Weaver’s right next to Adam’s. With the three of these incredibly talented and fun guys in such close proximity, it was difficult to drag myself anywhere else in the tent. I did, though, and I saw a lot of great pipes for sale and met a lot of class acts. One group of people that I ran into was the Order of Collegiate Pipe Smokers, a group of younger guys all with matching t-shirts and a common interest in pipes. It did my heart proud.
Also that evening, the Chicago Pipe Show had a first ever occurrence: a wedding. The beautiful wedding ceremony brought together Seattle Pipe Club member Tom Wolfe and his lovely bride, Lennea. I know everyone at the show and everyone reading this now wishes them both continued happiness (and many more pipe shows)!
After getting cleaned up that evening, it was time to head down to the Welcome Buffet Dinner, a seven-course dinner topped off with a complementary tin of Sutliff Private Stock. There were a couple brief welcome speeches, shortly after which our table was joined by five gentlemen from Sweden, including Martin Vollmer and Anders Nilsson.
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After dinner and some bottles of a nice red wine, we headed over to the smoking tent to listen to a talk given by none-other than Kevin Godbee, the man behind this very magazine. Jokingly, but very accurately, he said that he initially thought about titling his speech, "Ask not what the pipe hobby can do for you, ask what you can do for the pipe hobby". Kevin discussed, in-depth, the state of the pipe hobby today, including the resurgence of the younger pipe smoker, and the legislative challenges that it faces with RYO cigarette tobacco, the FDA and flavoring issues. Mr. Godbee also discussed what we as pipe smokers can do to help our beloved hobby flourish and survive for generations to come.
After testing out the blends for this year’s John Cotton Throwdown, of which there is separate coverage, and having a deep discussion with Martin Vollmer over gin and tonic, it was around one in the morning and time to get some rest for what I expected would be a very full day.
I was right.
There was so much going on at the show that it is difficult to convey through just words and pictures. The energy that took place in the Mega Center was palpable; the sounds of excitement were everywhere. Even making it down into the Mega Center early, as I was helping Dustin set up his incredible collection of blowfish pipes, it was still difficult to get everywhere and see everything. As Kevin has specifically instructed me to be brief, no easy task for me, especially when describing such a mind-bogglingly incredible event, I will do my best to describe a select few exhibitors present at the 2012 Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show.
Educational Displays
Right when you walk through the door of the Mega Center, you are greeted by four glass cases filled with pipes. Above each one is a sign reading, "Education Display", followed by the name of the collector responsible for amassing such an amazing agglomeration.
Two of the cases were devoted to Bobby Eichorn’s collection of Charatan pipes, which contained a variety that was a true pleasure to behold. Sadly, I was unable to speak to him, as he was constantly surrounded by such a flock of admirers that Gene Simmons would have been envious.
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On the other side of the aisle were two collections: the first was entirely devoted to the bulldog and rhodesian shapes. When I spoke to Paige Simms, the gentleman who had spent so much time collecting one of my favorite shapes, he pulled out one of the pipes and said, "This is the one that started it all." It was a perfect Dunhill that had clearly been loved and appreciated for many years. "It really doesn’t get much better," he said.
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The last collection was Dustin Babitzke’s aquarium of blowfish. While helping set up this display, I was able to see exactly what it takes to pull together a collection like his and like those belong to the other men: the variety of shape and size, the intricate details captured perfectly by different pipes, the way one pipe would complement another. It was truly a treat to see these collections up close.
Cornell & Diehl New Blend – Crooked Lane
At this year’s show, Cornell and Diehl officially introduced Crooked Lane to the world, a tobacco that sung beautifully in my Rubens Rhodesian and did everything a good English should do. According to the tin, "Cornell and Diehl harkens back to Old London with Crooked Lane, a rich and full English blend of Virginias, Latakia, a dose of Oriental and a whisper of Perique. We like to think something similar was a favorite of the artisans who for centuries have made Crooked Lane a world-wide destination for their fishing gear and bird cages. Fill your bowl and join us for a stroll!" A walk down a London market place with this in my pipe sounds like heaven.
Also officially introduced at the show, though some of you might have gotten your mitts on it beforehand, was G.L. Pease’s Sextant. You can read the pre-release teaser for Sextant here, but Mr. Pease himself describes the new blend as something that "defies categorization somewhat. While it has many similarities to a conventional, traditional mixture, the infusion of dark rum, and the addition of fire-cured Kentucky, especially when combined with the pressing and fermentation that occurs as a result, give it a unique sweetness and aroma." [Source:http://glpease.com/Tobacco/OldLondon/ – follow the link for more info.]
Neat Pipes
Hailing all the way from Rozzano, a municipality in the Province of Milan in the Italian region of Lombardy, is Neat Pipes, the brain-child of Luca Di Piazza. Along with displaying a phenomenal collection of pipes, from carvers all around the world, the table also featured Luciano Pipes, another creation of Luca’s. The display was lovely and it was really a pleasure to see so many people dedicated to the pipe from around the world in one place at one time.
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Lee Von Erck – Von Erck Pipes
I also got the chance to talk with Lee while at the Chicago Pipe Show, though it took me a little hunting to find him; he always seemed to be off somewhere, shaking hands and sharing a laugh.
Being a pipe smoker himself for over fifty years, Lee knows exactly what a pipe smoker is looking for in a pipe and aims to deliver every time. He told me that he now makes around a hundred pipes a year, mostly because his oil curing and blasting process are both extremely time consuming. "It takes a long time," Lee said, "I could do a lot more pipes if I used a simpler blasting technique. But just look at it." Lee gestures towards one of the few remaining pipes on his table. "It’s worth it."
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I couldn’t help but agree with him. Lee also told me that he is now closely working with Tsuge pipes on a collaborative project, for which he provides his oil curing and shaping expertise. Of the over a dozen pipes he brought with him to the show, all but a couple were gone by Sunday morning. Lee told me that he had even sold one pipe that had not been finished yet.
SmokingPipes.com
A presence very difficult to miss at almost any pipe show is the SmokingPipes.com table. This year, as in years past, they came out with a sizeable staff that was both knowledgeable and helpful. staff, including Tony Saintiague who came back just to help with the show and share his passion. [Editor’s note: Tony is "Vice Chairman, VP Emeritus" at SPC. He left daily operations to pursue his studies"]. Master Pipe carver Hiroyuki Tokutomi was at the table, as well, along with fellow master Kei-ichi Gotoh. Through the help of a translator, I was able speak with both of these men and, with Tokutomi’s assistance, found a pipe of his the perfect size for Lauren to enjoy: a beautiful, black, sandblasted pipe with a bamboo stem that weighs about as much as a feather.
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PipesAndCigars.com
PipesAndCigars was represented by the owner of the company, Scott Bendett, E-Commerce Manager, Bob Gates and other staff. Russ Ouellette was unable to attend the show due to illness, but a huge free sampling of his plethora of delicious Hearth & Home tobacco blends were available for smoking. They told me that the new Cerberus blend (that came out for International Pipe Smoking Day) was so popular that it sold out, but will soon be back in stock. The new New York Pipe Club Tobacco Blends were also being sampled, and a very impressive brand new print catalog was being handed out.
Maxim Engel – Pipes2Smoke.com
With a name like Pipes2Smoke, it’s pretty easy to figure what Maxim Engel is selling, but when I saw the pipes he brought with them, all I could do was stare. Clearly noticing my drool, Maxim approached me with a smile and took the time out of his clearly busy routine to talk pipes and ask me which ones I liked in particular. It was honestly hard for me to pick one and luckily I didn’t have to, as I would have just politely asked to be able to take them all home with me for a little test.
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Mac Baren Tobacco Co.
Following in their recent tradition of releasing a new blend at the Chicago Pipe Show, Mac Baren Tobacco introduced HH Old Dark Fired. Much like everything this company releases, Old Dark Fired has been highly anticipated and will surely be just as appreciated. After snagging one of the first tins of this new blend, I got a chance to look at the back label: A bold flake of dark-fired burleys in a well balanced unity with Flue-cured Virginias. This flake is Hot Pressed, meaning that during the pressing, heat is added by steam to the tobaccos which causes the tobacco to intensify the marrying process giving us a bolder tobacco. The robust, earthly flavour of the dark-fired burleys shines through in the taste, and you will experience a deeply satisfying smoke indeed.
One of the most fascinating parts about this tobacco that will be sure to confuse a lot of American pipe smokers is that, despite the fact that HH Old Dark Fired contains zero Latakia, Mac Baren still considers it an English because of the method used in its production, specifically the steam press. According to Per Jensen, Mac Baren Product Manager, the steam press makes it so that the "tobaccos marry faster and in a completely different way than what we normally produce. In short, they alter the taste. This blend is a heavy/strong tobacco with a lot of vitamin N."
The 2012 Chicago Show was a stupendous, exhilarating, and unbelievably fun time. Leaving was a downer, but I am already looking forward to the next pipe show and next year in Chicago.
Photos by Ethan Brandt and Kevin Godbee
Ethan Brandt is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in Religious Studies and English with a Pre-Law focus. He picked up his first pipe his Freshman year in college and never looked back. Recently, he has start up a pipe-focused blog called Pipe School. |
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 635. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with James Ravenwood. James is the boutique tobacco blender of Ravenwood Blends. His blending started out as a fun hobby, and he now has professionally packaged commercially available products with some great tin art. Part of his interest in pipe smoking goes back to fond memories of a retired Navy Veteran that lived on his street while he was growing up that would sit in his driveway smoking a pipe all day. Later, in 2011 he began smoking pipes and soon after started experimenting with mixing different tobaccos. His other hobby, that he has been doing for 30 years, is photography. He takes wonderful photos of outdoor spaces, and still life pictures of pipes and tobacco. You can see them on his Instagram @thebriarfellowship. At the top of the show we’ll have an Ask the Pipemaker segment with renowned pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
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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. While it rates as a solid, fairly mild smoke, particularly to lovers of the genre, it does not surprise with any exceptional flavors. To be fair, all the boxes have been checked for the blend to benefit from some real aging, and it would be worth checking in on this after a couple of years sealed away. I’ve set half my tin aside to sample again in a month or two, in case I’m merely suffering from the lingering effects of parosmia, and will amend this review in that case. Maple Shadows II, on the other hand, made up for the weeks of sniffling and sneezing I’d endured. Offered in a full 8 ounce tin with delightfully spooky Halloween art, it’s (hopefully) enough to last through the season. Somehow I had missed this last year, so it’s a real pleasure to get some in my candy bucket this year. As the chilling winds of autumn draw eerie prattle from contorted, deciduous limbs, we find ourselves possessed by the spirit of the season. Bewitched by a dissonant charm, we’ve created Maple Shadows. In a season that is defined by the unlikely harmony of treats and frights, we’ve joined the enchanting sweetness of maple with the earthy spice of Dark Fired Kentucky for a smoking experience that captures the senses with an otherworldly fusion of flavor. This may be the best aromatic blend Sutliff’s ever made—and they make a ton of them. First off, it’s not overbearing in the least—quite the opposite, it is also one of the more restrained aromatics they’ve ever made, with a clear but very light topping that melds oh-so-well with their choice Kentucky added to the mix. Opening the tin, the sweet maple is up front and center, but so too is the must of fallen leaves, bready pie crusts, and a crackling fire in the hearth—a perfect invocation of Herbstdüfte in a can. Packing best in an open and capacious bowl, the flavoring is subtle, and recedes to the background while puffing. With a sweet coffee or tea to accompany, the aftertaste of the maple is reinvigorated on the palate […]
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Excellent summary of some definite highlights at the meeting. The Chicago Pipe Show is a different experience for everyone. Even though I had 3 hour delay at the airport and didn’t get home til 3 a.m. and then up to the Monday workday at 6 the weekend was outstanding. I have been to a lot of professional association meetings and have been on organizing committees and have volunteered. This is one terrific meeting. Kudos to the Cpcc and all those who make it happen.
You for got one of the Educational Displays! The collection of GBD Uniques displayed by Larry Voorhees !! It was probably the most “educational” of all of the displays inculding background on GBD and the carver “Horry Jameson”
A friend insisted that I attend the show last year, and this will be an annual event for me for the rest of my life.
The new MacBaren offering IS English! Not to be missed. I picked up four tins, which is just a start I’m sure.
I enjoy looking at all the pipe offerings, but it is the tobacco that blows me away. Everybody is there. My find this year – LJ Peretti’s Midnight. Amazing stuff and impossible to categorize. And I snagged a bunch of samples from Habana Smoke Shop (Russ Oulette). I just finished my first bowl of Manor Heights, which is what all aromatics should be. A big thank you to all the tobacconists who come in – I’m in a town without a pipe shop, so I greatly appreciate it!
Super event, and as I heard many times before going, not to be missed!
I’m so jealous of you. Thank you for the article. I really need to get my butt to this show next year if possible. It just seems like Disney World for pipe smokers!
An excellent article summing up what sounds like a fantastic time.
Simon
Thanks for all of the comments, gents. I was an incredible adventure and I am already excited about the next show.
Pipedude1: Thank you for pointing that out. One of the problems with shows like this is that there is so much everywhere you look that you are bound to forget something. Thank you for catching that and belated congratulations to Larry Voorhees!
Cheers,
Ethan
Great coverage and excellent photos, Thanks!
That was a great read Ethan! I’m already excited for the 2013 show!
Man, did I ever have a great time at that show. I never got done any of the things I wanted to get done on paper– you just get so lost in it all! Thanks for recapturing that wonderful weekend for us all.