Last night, whilst pondering which pipe and baccy to fetch after work, I remembered an old favorite which hadn't been visited in a while. I dug into the cellar and produced a jar from the days of yore. An exemplary specimen of any burley lover's dreams: the infamous Edgeworth Sliced. There were only a couple fitting counterparts to this journey on which I was about to embark. It was between one of my two favorite burley pipes - both vehicles of frequent rapture - and after just a brief moment of consideration I reached for a trusted Fikri Baki meer with bamboo stem.
The path now clear and resolute, I proceeded to crack the trusty seal of the jar and take in the aroma of nostalgia. Testing the moisture and finding it up to par, the folding, rubbing and stuffing commenced. Once the flame graced the surface to ember I was caught up. Taken away. Lost in wanton puffs and retrohales. Upon my return, after 40 or so gratifying minutes, I couldn't help but recount the handful of other times a smoke had been so profound.
One of those was after acquiring a large portion of an old friend's stash of McClelland 5100 (red VA). My brother had recently carved me a pipe with a personal touch, being that it was early in my pipe smoking years and I had been busy with my cobs, he made a custom poker and embellished it with a cob-like pattern on the bowl.
Both humored and intrigued, I sat on my back porch one evening - after properly running some burley through it to build a little security cake in the new bowl - opened that jar of 5100 and put the new addition to the test. The tobacco was so dark in color and deep with flavor from it's lenthy years spent behind glass. This may have been the first time I was struck with awe at what a little piping can do in a man's life. Indeed, I've never smoked a finer bowl.
Another ocassion, some time later, was with another McClelland. This time it was blend "2015," a beloved VAper, in a beloved Viprati freehand.
I was waiting on the arrival of some friends at a local smoking lounge when sudden rapture struck. Needless to say, the company of that leaf in that particular bowl that night well rivalled the later company of my compatriots!
Just thought I'd share a few tales of pipepiphany and delight with an appropriately enlightened crowd. It'd be a pleasure to hear of yours as well, if any would be so inclined to detail such personal moments of mesmerizing extasy with the rest of us.
The path now clear and resolute, I proceeded to crack the trusty seal of the jar and take in the aroma of nostalgia. Testing the moisture and finding it up to par, the folding, rubbing and stuffing commenced. Once the flame graced the surface to ember I was caught up. Taken away. Lost in wanton puffs and retrohales. Upon my return, after 40 or so gratifying minutes, I couldn't help but recount the handful of other times a smoke had been so profound.One of those was after acquiring a large portion of an old friend's stash of McClelland 5100 (red VA). My brother had recently carved me a pipe with a personal touch, being that it was early in my pipe smoking years and I had been busy with my cobs, he made a custom poker and embellished it with a cob-like pattern on the bowl.
Both humored and intrigued, I sat on my back porch one evening - after properly running some burley through it to build a little security cake in the new bowl - opened that jar of 5100 and put the new addition to the test. The tobacco was so dark in color and deep with flavor from it's lenthy years spent behind glass. This may have been the first time I was struck with awe at what a little piping can do in a man's life. Indeed, I've never smoked a finer bowl. Another ocassion, some time later, was with another McClelland. This time it was blend "2015," a beloved VAper, in a beloved Viprati freehand.
I was waiting on the arrival of some friends at a local smoking lounge when sudden rapture struck. Needless to say, the company of that leaf in that particular bowl that night well rivalled the later company of my compatriots!Just thought I'd share a few tales of pipepiphany and delight with an appropriately enlightened crowd. It'd be a pleasure to hear of yours as well, if any would be so inclined to detail such personal moments of mesmerizing extasy with the rest of us.
