The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 155
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- The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 155
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Kevin Godbee
- Sep 1, 2015
- 1 min read
Kevin GodbeeThank you for joining us for The Pipes Magazine Radio Show—the only radio talk show for pipe smokers and collectors. We broadcast weekly, every Tuesday at 8 pm eastern USA time and are available on nearly all podcast sites and apps. Listen on your computer, tablet, phone and even in the car! Our Featured Interview tonight is with Perique farmer from St. James Parish, Louisiana, Brandon Gravois. Brandon also farms sugar, soybeans and is a cattle producer. He was one of the four Louisiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award finalists in 2013. In "Pipe Parts", Brian will talk recap the Columbus pipe show. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Sutliff-Tobacco.com, CupOJoes.com, SmokingPipes.com, Missouri Meerschaum, 4noggins.com, Cornell & Diehl, and Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos, and MarketingPipes.com. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can download the show in iTunes and other podcast sites and apps after the initial broadcast is complete here.
Brandon Gravois, Perique Farmer in St. James Parish
Brandon was one of the four Louisiana Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award finalists in 2013. Check out this really cool video of him on the farm talking about Perique.
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At last, maybe, summer’s hot breath is fading into fall’s blessed currents that chill the morning air and put a lively step in the morning walk. Fall mornings are ready-made for a pipe and a walk. Especially if you have a dog tagging along, or leading the way. Of course, the Pundit is the proud owner of a beautiful Golden Retriever. Best dog on the planet hands down. There might be an argument or two on that little brag, but in the Pundit’s world, nothing quite matches the Golden. The fact that she is European in heritage (all Scottish from paws to ears) is another plus. Give that a moment to sink in. I’m thinking pipes and tobacco with that marvelous European heritage as well. Ok. Dog school is adjourned. On to fall and pipes and tobacco. When the crispness of autumn arrives, Pundit usually goes to one of the older pipes in the herd, one that has been through the toils and tremors of life. And offered comfort, resolve, and relaxation all of what a day presents, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some of my best companions on cool mornings are a couple of Ashtons and Petersons, and just maybe a special meerschaum that has logged many a mile with me. Or, one of Ian Walker’s Northern Briars English pipes, especially his Countryman, a Charatan shape. You can find Ian on his web page. I first encountered this master craftsman at a pipe show, which one escapes me now. It was either the big Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show extravaganza or in Richmond, Va., at the Conclave Of Richmond Pipe Smokers. A “Southron” adventure. Ahem and harumph! I was intrigued by Ian’s pipe-making history and the superbly made pipes. His grandfather, George Walker, began Northern Briars in 1958 but had been creating pipes since 1922. Ian began in his grandfather’s shop and worked up from sweeping the place clean to working with silver to repairing. He later went on his own with Northern Briars, absorbed in an extraordinary pipe-making atelier. And just to add to this unique artisan’s history, a note from his web page points out that: “Ian lives with his wife, Catriona, on a traditional style narrow beam canal boat in the heart of England. His workshop on the 70-foot boat is inspired by the lifestyle of the working boats of Britain’s industrial heritage. With over 2000 miles of rural waterways to meander through, Ian has combined all the essentials of home and work into a practical, mobile reality.” The Pundit owns several of Ian’s wonders. And the tobacco? That would have to be a Virginia blend or a really good Virginia with Perique. And some English to lighten and brighten up the day a bit. Some burly, mayhaps, or a little velvety Kentucky burly aromatic, Scandinavian Group-Lane Blended sweetheart of a tobacco. Just right for a pipe, coat, dog and morning walk. I also especially enjoy one of William Faulkner’s favorite pipe blends, My Mixture 965, now blended by Peterson. Smoking “My Mixture” reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Huzzah! An old and now departed friend once showed me his special mixture: Half and Half, Bugler, with a dash of Sir Walter Raleigh. It was strong enough to stop a buffalo in full stampede mode. His pipes looked as if they had endured trench warfare. And perhaps they had. That friend, who will go unnamed here, was an author and erstwhile political publicist. He, too, had been through many a battle, political and otherwise. I never saw him without a lit pipe. I took a clue from him—leave tobacco blending to the experts. That was after I tried his blend. Let’s just leave the rest to your imagination. And that is one good reason I purchase tried and true brands by the masters. You know who they are. My attempts at blending resulted in something on the order of blah and bah, humbug. So, some of my choices for brisk fall mornings or the evening chill are Capstan Blue Flake, now under the Mac Baren tobacco blending umbrella, Plum Pudding (Seattle Pipe Club), Escudo under the A&C Petersen flag, and Orlik Golden Sliced by Orlik. And many a C&D Tobacco from its master blender Jeremy Reeves, a true chef of tobacco blends. These are just a few of Pundit favorites (see photo for more Pundit favs). Don’t get me started running down the list I enjoy on snappy fall days. It would take us a while, like sitting around listening to ancients smoking and solving the world’s problems, warming achy bones at a pot-bellied stove in a country grocery store. Just sayin’! And now a couple of literature’s finest authors and pipe smokers of the past: Evelyn Waugh, English novelist, and author/journalist was born Oct. 28, 1903, and died April 10, 1966. And P.G. Wodehouse, also an English author, was born Oct. 15, and died Feb. 14, 1975. For just a superb piece on P.G. Wodehouse, his literary legacy, and his love of his pipes and tobacco, be sure to check out Chuck Stanion’s Pipe Line at SmokingPipes.com, Aug. 20, 2021. Outstanding writing about one of English literature’s greatest storytellers by Chuck Stanion, one of pipes and tobaccos finest writers. A parting thought: Here’s to a spectacular fall in all its beauty with a fine pipe in hand.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 576. Our featured interview tonight is with pipe maker Jesse Kulp. Jesse makes the Oliphant brand of pipes. He’s been a pipe smoker since he turned 18 in 2001. He started carving pipes in 2014 and started restoring estate pipes in 2016. He resides in the state of Wisconsin. When he is not making pipes, or smoking pipes, he is smoking meat. At the top of the show we will have a Pipe Smoking 101 segment where Brian will review the pipe tamper.
Recently, on the Pipes Magazine Forums, a user asked an open question about the Rattray’s Grand Lighter. I had not used or spent much time looking into those, so I thought it would be a good time to pick one up and do a review of it. When I do my lighter reviews, I generally like to do some deep digging and get in touch with the manufacturers such as IM Corona (Old Boy) or Tsutobo (Peterson, Kiribi), but in this case, there is scarce information available. Rattrays is distributed in the US by Sutliff, and you’ll find their lighters on SmokingPipes.com and other great retailers. I pinged Jeremy over at Sutliff to help me get in touch with the folks at Rattrays/Kopp and he got me connected to Oliver Kopp who was able to answer a few of my more detailed questions. The lighter that I chose to review is the Rattray’s Grand “Squares” lighter, which features a square line design on a highly polished stainless steel lighter. The Grand lighter was introduced about three years ago, and the Bel lighter was released about five years ago for context. It features a 45-degree soft flame, which helps (but not completely) keep build-up off the striker wheel – a problem that seems to plague my other lighters. These lighters fall square in the same competitive market of the Old Boy and the Kiribi, with a retail price of around $105 to $120. Some of their other lighters, like the Bel, retail for slightly less, around $82. Unboxing, you can see a few provided flints, which, upon inspection, are very similar to zippo flints if you’re looking for future replacements. The box contains instructions and warranty information and has silver foil inlaid text and decoration. Rattray’s states that their lighters are designed by them in Germany. But until I received it, I had no idea where it was actually made—China. That said, Oliver tells me that the Bel lighter is the same lighter used for Pierre Cardin and that the manufacturer they chose to go with also manufactures the Dupont Jet lighters. On the bottom of the lighter is a flip-up cover with Rattray’s name etched into it, which protects the refill valve and adjustment screws. The cover, though, you can see by the pictures, is less finished and does not quite feel as quality as one would expect for a $100+ lighter. But I do appreciate the cover. Zooming in, you can see the butane nozzle is angled out to the left from the spark wheel. The top flint section slides back on a spring load, but I warn you the tiny mechanism on the side is a bit of a pain to release the catch holding it back. But this feature is unique in that you can visually always see how much of the flint is left for when you have to replace it. That’s right, there’s no need to unscrew something; just slide the bar back, it locks into place, and then drop the new flint in. You need to put your fingernail between the thumbslide and the tiny metal catch, and the thumbslide will slide back into place. If you don’t do this, the top will not close. You can also see in this picture where the flame hits the metal area, which can be wiped away, but it’s due to the shorter nozzle. The lighter features a long “ignition” wheel, which is great for guys with big thumbs. It rotates quite easily and sparks well. I find that the lighter is taller than many other lighters and a bit slimmer at 2.76 in. / 70.21 mm in height and 0.39 in. / 10.07 mm in width. It weighs about 2.6 oz or 73ish grams. On the front-facing side it has the Rattray’s logo on the bottom right corner. It produces a nice soft flame that works like a champ to light your favorite tobacco. The internal tank is a plastic tank, but this is very common in many new lighters manufactured today. Before Rattrays introduces a new lighter, they actually send it (the prototype) to the repair shop that they use for all warranty services to review the lighter and make sure that it’s of high quality. Oliver tells me the return/repair rate for all of their lighters is low, and that is also because they concentrate on flint-style lighters as they are considerably more reliable than the electro-jet flames. The official repair center for these lighters is located here. Vintage Styling Now let’s talk about inspiration because the first thing one of my pipe club members said when I showed him the lighter was, “Wow, that looks like a Dupont.” As mentioned earlier, it’s the same manufacturer that makes one of the lines for Dupont as well as Pierre Cardin, so you can assume some shared styling. Borrowing ideas for lighters is nothing new; the “Old Boy” was originally a Dunhill lighter style. But when thinking about styling, we also look at the name – Dupont has a lighter named “Le Grand.” The Le Grand features both a soft flame and a torch flame for use with pipes and cigars. Now, price-wise, an ST Dupont lighter will set you back $1,500 and is geared squarely toward the luxury gentlemen’s market. That said, S.T. Dupont lighters have been around since the 1940s and are as much of a jewelry piece as it is lighter. When flipping the cap of most of the Dupont lighters, you get this resonating “ping” sound that is synonymous with them, and unfortunately, the Rattray’s Grand does not emit that type of sound. Kirby Allison did a great review of many of the ST Dupont lighters here, and its quite possible you will see a review from me at some point covering the best Dupont lighters for pipes and including some buying tips on the used and new market. In Summary There are some pros and cons to […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 575. We have a special show tonight to celebrate the start of our 12th year. In lieu of an interview, Brian will be joined by another popular pipe podcast host – Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and he is the former co-host of the now discontinued podcast, Country Squire Radio. Country Squire Radio ran for 10-years and is still one of the most popular pipe-niche podcasts. Having these two pipe and tobacco brainiacs bouncing off of each other for over 45-minutes will be a blast. We will be preempting our usual first segment to start right off with JD. We will have the usual music, mailbag and rant at the end of the show.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 574! Our featured interview tonight is with Michael DiCuccio. Michael is the President of TinBids.com, “The Pipe Collector’s Auction Site” where you can buy and sell vintage and rare tobacco tins, tobaccos, pipes and accessories. He has been collecting for over 30-years, and has a personal pipe collection of over 1,100 pipes. Michael also has his own IT company and is a self-proclaimed “computer geek”. At the top of the show we’ll get caught up on a backlog of emails and messages from our listeners with some great questions and comments. We will still have our regular mailbag segment at the end of the show as well.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 573! Our featured interview tonight is with J.B. “Brandon” Frady. Brandon is a new pipe maker making the Ash Cooper line of pipes which just launched earlier this year. His pipes are freehand and artistic shapes and designs. He is also a freelance writer for any type of project, but has been published for music reviews, concert reviews, and a single anomalous video game review, and other writings in a couple dozen professional publications. His full time job is with State Farm Insurance. 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.
Hi Brian,
Nice seeing you in Columbus. It was another good show. Kudos to Jeff, Ed and all of the volunteers. I think some of the tobacco vendors underestimated the potential sales at the show and did not bring sufficient merchandise.
Brandon Gravois is a new face to me. I had an uncle that raised some tobacco on his farm in Kentucky sort of for additional cash. Using it as a crop within their sugar cane rotation is a good way to move from a single crop farm. I didn’t realize how risky a crop it was to the farmers. I was fortunate to get one of the perique cigars from Mark Ryan at Columbus and it amazed me on how good it was as you know, I do not normally smoke a pipe tobacco containing perique. I guess I may have to change my ways.
Music – SRV, what more can one say or need to?
Rant – FedEx no longer shipping tobacco, oh well, don’t need them.
Great Show Brian, may be one of your top interviews.
Hi Mr. Brian!
Wow! That was a fabulous conversation with Brandon. What a gracious, hard-working, vital and interesting person he is. When one thinks of the quintessential American farmer, Brandon could be the poster model. Not only does he work his ass off, he is tied to Tradition, yet willing to be innovative, to make his crop better.
Bravo Brandon; Bravo Brian.
SRV… John said it.
Why anyone in the tobacco industry, from the major companies, the distributors, the internet suppliers, to the smallest B&M, or, for that matter, our Brothers and Sisters in the tobacco community, would ever again use FedEx, for any shipping is beyond comprehension. FedEx is dead to me.
Once again, Mr. Brian, a great show.
Dino
Fantastic show. I couldn’t be happier to see the future of Perique in such capable hands.
Hopefully you guys don’t spoil him too much.
The Columbus show is the cat’s meow. Tons of vendors and lots of pipe smokers within a 2-3 hour drive. They came up with the Friday night thing for the first time last year and it just took off. Jeff & Eddie and the others do a great job. Now I just need to get someone to sell me a tin of Elf-Weed to complete my collection. It is hard to imagine a good Turkish restaurant in Columbus, OH, but there had to be one somewhere.
Just loved the interview with Brandon. His history of his family was very interesting. There is a lot of risk in farming and tobacco farming in particular. Never met a farmer who didn’t bemoan his lot in life and how tough it is to make a living farming. And yet they keep doing it. Crop farming is hard work and from early spring to late fall you are pretty much tied to the land. When he got to talking about the food he likes and the different fish that he can get in rivers and bayous makes me want to go read one of James Lee Burke’s books involving the Bayou Teche. Brandon has a touch of Old World courtliness about him.
I thought Acadian Perique was code for tobacco that has been through the Perique process but not grown in St. James Parish.
Yep, I’m done with FedEx.
Always a great show. Really fascinating to hear a bit about how Perique is produced- I had no idea it was so labor intensive. And darn it if Brandon didn’t sound just how I think a southern tobacco farm should, Mr. Brian.
I believe I inspired a shipping related rant just a few episodes ago related to this, and I won’t be supporting FedEx.
Great call on the SRV. You can play that style any time you want. Can’t wait until the day when my vacation, children, money, and moon cycles align to allow me to visit a pipe show- it sounds like an amazing time.
Another good show Brian, you always seem to find such interesting people to chat with. I am slightly envious! I’ll second your comments on going to a Pipe Show, I was a bit nervous before heading to Chicago this year but it was well worth the journey and I’m already looking forward to next year.
Brandon really does sound like a southern farmer (no offence intended) it’s great to hear about people who carry on traditions like that especially when they contribute so much to our hobby.
With regards to your comments in the Mailbag, I’ve never perceived anyone’s comments on the show to be particularly anti Aromatic, although my own tastes have changed away from them recently. Subliminal messages maybe?
Rant, I don’t have a lot of dealings with FedEx here. I know Royal Mail don’t let you post tobacco here but there are ways around that if sufficiently motivated.
Interesting to hear Brandon and the history of his family’s farming and tobacco growing.
As for the music selection, SRV left us to soon and as you know it’s been 25 years since his passing. Still a sad point in my life and many.
As for the aro topic, smoke what you like. Like what you smoke.
As for FedEx’s decision on tobacco products…I too say “F” ’em.
Hey Brian, I love the show; the interview with Brandon was outstanding. Columbus was my first pipe show and I had a blast (and really enjoyed meeting you as well). My wife also enjoyed the show so much that she is talking about us going to the Chicago show next year – how could one ask for a better wife? Anyway great show as always.