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Kevin Godbee - Sep 15, 2009
- 5 min read
I remember back when I bought my first pipe … I hunted high and low for one that felt just right and looked good too. I knew that it had to be a genuine briar and for some reason I wanted one that looked just like the pipes my father and grandfather used to smoke.
When I found the one that was right for me I thought that I was set for life. I had the perfect pipe and I was sure that, baring accidents, this was the pipe that I was going to use for the rest of my days. Sure I’d heard of guys who had a collection of pipes and used them all but besides being a collector, why do you need more than one pipe, and how many do you need?
If all my grandfather needed was just one pipe then why should I be any different? Of course, back then just about everyone who smoked a pipe had only one pipe and it may well have been because the huge selection that’s available today wasn’t quite so available back then.
Of course there were plenty of different pipes around back then but maybe tobacco stores just didn’t stock them in the country towns where my folks lived. And then there was the fact that my forebears didn’t see the need for more than one pipe. As far as I can remember both my father and grandfather only ever smoked one blend of pipe tobacco and I don’t remember seeing all those different blends that we have today.
However things are very different now. We have access to an incredible selection of tobacco blends that my forebears would never have imagined and we also have access to far more pipes than they would have dreamed of. But just because we can buy all these pipes is that any reason why we should?
If you’re a very logical disciplined person that needs a reason to justify the purchase of another pipe, there are couple of good strong reasons why you should. You should have at least a small selection of pipes … and who knows, maybe your ‘selection’ will eventually turn into a ‘collection’.
For many people like myself, once you start getting a few pipes you like, it gets easier and easier to acquire more. They are like little friends that you love equally, but then you get some special favorites, and then the special favorites can change when you bump into a gorgeous specimen that just must have.
But let’s get back to the technical reasons why you need more than one pipe.
Taste
As I said before, there is a huge range of tobacco blends that we have access to with a broad range of tastes and special nuances. When you smoke a particular blend of tobacco and you want to get the real taste, you don’t want it to be spoiled by the lingering hints of the previous blend that you smoked in your pipe.
All briar pipes are porous and that means that some of the resins from the tobacco you’re smoking will find their way into the wood and remain there even after you’ve thoroughly cleaned your pipe. Now if you go on smoking the same blend there’s no problem but when you change to a different blend those resins that linger in the bowl of your pipe will come back to haunt you and the resulting taste of those resins and your current tobacco may be nothing like what you were hoping to taste.
To avoid this problem there are some who suggest that you should have a separate pipe for each blend that you smoke. Some people do this, but that may be going a little too far.
While some of us have more pipes than tobacco blends we smoke, or even if it’s vice versa, I think it’s a little too much to try to keep track of which pipe goes with which specific tobacco blend. However, what many people do is reserve certain pipes for certain types of tobacco. Some people just go as far as having some pipes for aromatic blends and other pipes for English style blends. You can go further by divvying up pipes for different types of English blends. For example, some pipes can be for Latakia blends only, since this is a tobacco style with a ‘smokey’ taste, while other pipes can be for a "VA/Per" (Virginia and Perique blend) which will be a little more sweet and tangy, and so on.
Rotating your pipes
These days I’m sure most experts would have been horrified to see my grandfather smoke just one pipe numerous times throughout the day, seven days a week. For him there was no such thing as rotation but these days it seems that it’s advisable to allow a pipe to rest between smokes and some would suggest that you really need to have a separate pipe for each day of the week.
The common wisdom today is that a pipe should not be smoked more than once in a day. Actually, you should let it ‘rest’ for a few days before smoking it again. A pipe gets extremely hot while being smoked. The heat causes the wood to expand. If you keep smoking it without letting it rest, this can cause problems like cracks and burnout – where a hole will burn through the pipe. Resting a pipe also helps the moisture that the briar absorbs to evaporate out. This helps prevent the tars and oils from causing the pipe to have a sour taste.
Some manufacturers offer "7-day pipe sets" with the idea that you will smoke one pipe each day of the week.
In many ways, how many pipes you have in your selection depends on your lifestyle and on how far you want to go to enjoy this pleasurable pastime. It’s also going to depend on how easy it is to convince the love of your life that you really do need to purchase just one more pipe to add to your selection. My trick is that for each new Dunhill or other high-end pipe I acquire, she gets a new piece of jewelry. Another one of my tricks that is less expensive is to just hide some of your pipes.
See if you start to experience what many of us have as we’ve evolved from smokers to also being collectors. There are just so many beautiful pipes and such a large variety of different shapes, sizes and designs. I think I’m going to go look at some pipes right now.
If you want to peruse pipes online, check out these sites:
PipeTobacco.com
MeerschaumStore.com
Tobacco-Barn.com
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonightâs 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, letâs just take a deep breath of fresh autumn air, shall we? Ahh. Thatâs better, isnât it? Whatâs got the Pundit in a snit is not all the Halloween spooks who came a-jostling for candy. Or the wild turkeys gobbling in the backwoods or all the fuss and feathers over the big oneâChristmas. No, it is that we might need to take note of all the little things that mean so much to us. Like a good sunrise (seriously, Pundit has not gone all Pollyanna.) Mayhaps we need to appreciate more of what we have than what we have not. Or something like that. Like, a good pipe in the morning with coffee as the dawn brings us coolish weather now that we have flipped the calendar to autumn. But it also brings beautiful leaves that have become a spectacle of technicolor in the wind. It is the little things. The rereading of an enjoyable book and finding something you did not see or learn in the first go-round. Or a stunning phrase you commit to memory with the re-read, while smoking that favorite pipe. And you notice a superior puff that just seems to be different. Itâs in the air and the seasons of meaningful little things. Itâs aromatic! 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Maybe especially with the help of their pipes in the art of thinking and philosophy. Recall the words of Mr. E=MC2 when he said, âI believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgment in all human affairs.â Amen and amen! Dealing with world-rattling events takes a calm and objective view of things, to the Punditâs way of summing it up. You just donât go messing around with quantum physics without a calm and objective approach, methinks. Or as the extraordinary physicist Robert Oppenheimer said after he and a team in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos Labs developed a way to split atoms into bombs during World War II. âI am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,â said Oppenheimer referring to the development of the first nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. It must be pointed out that Oppenheimer was more of a cigarette smoker than a pipe smoker. Nonetheless, pipes were part of his personality. Now, if you have read some of the great authors of the past and present, their pipes were always nearby. Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle can be a three-pipe problem at times. S. Lewis and Jean-Paul Sartre require time with your pipes to reflect on the existential problems and solutions these authors provide in learned novels and other narratives. Or take Edwin Hubble and Bertrand Russell, philosophers of another world. Pipes are required for reading. The quantum lode of ideas Pundit is attempting to sort out is that our pipes are relaxing and stimulate our thoughts and creativity. Especially in these last months of the year. Many times Pundit has had that light bulb flick on while smoking my beloved pipes. And friends in Pipedom, it ainât easy to turn on the lights in Punditâs rock pit head. Now itâs time for a quote from a Pipe Smoker of the Past. Shelby Foote was born Nov. 17, 1916, in Greenville, Miss., and died June 27, 2005, in Memphis, Tenn. A fact is not a truth until you love itâShelby Foote. A parting thought: It is said that famed Southern author William Faulkner carried a packed pipe in a coat pocket wherever he went. Thatâs 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. Weâll 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 thereâs 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 appearâlattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctionsâso, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing oneâs 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, Ă la The Old Boss On the reverse of the tin we find the blendâs 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 wellâit smokes light, and itâs 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 marquesâthe 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 havenât 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 tonightâs 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 bambooâI 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, […]
completely agree… Ive become a pipe collector. In the starti was only looking for that “holy grail” but soon i started looking at pipes as more than an object, its a piece of art!! It became worse when I found custom pipe makers! đ now I have a pretty big collection….