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  1. brendhain

    Castello & Dunhill

    I am not sure what kind of frazing to be expecting at Dunhill’s factory. They don’t use a copying jig and frazer. They have been using lathes for over 100-years. In the 1970s they started purchasing flawless stummels from French factories to supplement their own production, not to replace it. I...
  2. brendhain

    Pipe Tobacco Availability Questions

    I am 99% certain that Aparitiff is not included in the Peterson line. I may have some Dunhill tins if you want to trade. Let me know so I can check my cellar. I have never seen C&D available in the UK, but I can get it in Sweden. The only importer, a pipe shop, is in the same city as where I...
  3. brendhain

    Stonehaven, Blackwoods, RDF, Dark Star and...

    I have been a smoker of heavy English blends (BS Original and 759, NightCap, MM965) and now I have made a radical shift over to what I am guessing would be described as dark stoved, Virginia (some with Burley) not heavily aromatic flakes. The 4 mentioned in the title can reasonably be grouped...
  4. brendhain

    McClelland Still There - For The U.K. Guys Only!

    Here in Sweden we pay $25-30 for the average tin. The U.K. Is about $20. It is funny when Americans complain about retailers wanting $20 a tin for Penzance. (I am an American who lives part of the year in Sweden)
  5. brendhain

    Oil Cured Italian Pipes

    I just re-read the 1918 patent for Shell finish. It is clearly a combination of oil cure plus blasting. "Although the sand blast has been used previously for the treatment of the surface of wood, to accentuate the grain, I have found in practice that this treatment in itself does not give...
  6. brendhain

    Oil Cured Italian Pipes

    Oil curing, as I wrote earlier, was kinda standard and nothing to brag about in 1920. Sasieni also has an oil curing patent for getting the oil out of the stummel. This was not pegs on a wall, but rather it was a sort of metal dome with an open flame inside. It had hangers all over it to hold...
  7. brendhain

    Oil Cured Italian Pipes

    I don't agree with your proposal that the smooths were not oil-cured. There is documentation of the process and the labor intensity of periodically wiping the warm stummels. They had the patent numbers for the oil curing on them. That said, it would have saved a great deal of labor had they...
  8. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    thanks for the recommendation. I will try it
  9. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    That wasn't the article that I was meaning. If I find the other one then I'll put up the link here.
  10. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    With all of your praise, I will have to look back to the Pease blends and give them a second try. The blends that I miss the most are Elephant and Castle's Stout and the original UK produced Ashton Celebration Sovereign. The McClelland version of the latter is tasty but nothing like the...
  11. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    There is a good thread, burried someone on this forum, about the full origin story, with Penzance. The brief of it is, and please help or forgive any errors, that it is based upon a Germain interpretation of the Original Sobranie White then the US permitted additives and preservatives are added...
  12. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    I find Penzance to need 5-6 years before it is "all it is supposed to be". Balkan Sobranie Original-White Tins was the daily smoke that I was accustomed to until they stopped producing it. The new stuff does not match the original, enough. Well-aged Penzance brings me into the realm. I...
  13. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    The question is more of how he sees the connection, not about his particular palate. Meaning, I am curious as to what in particular in the article validated his experience, which is based upon his palate.
  14. brendhain

    Kind of De-Hyped the Hype

    I am curious as to why you see the story as shedding light as to your view that Pease's are superior. What about the story do you see as supporting your opinion? Plus, do you have specific Pease blends in mind?
  15. brendhain

    Oil Cured Italian Pipes

    Usually a mixture of rapeseed (canola?) oil and linseed oil. The real benefit comes from a very easy break-in period with no burnt briar taste. Instead, you get a creamy nutty flavor. Originally, Dunhill and Sasseini etc did oil curing to get all of the sap out of the burls. Then, the mills...