Hey all,
I just thought I would share my first pipe and tobacco that I purchased from the local B&M just over a month ago. While there are several tobacco shops located in Edmonton, I ended up going to the one that seemed most pipe centric, Burlington on Whyte. The staff were quite helpful at getting me set up with the goods to take a try at the world of pipe smoking.
After "getting friendly" with most of the pipes on their $100 and under rack for 15 minutes or so, I found this one. It felt great in the hand, and I really liked the look. It is a Capri Gozzo, made in Italy, briar with a vulcanite stem. Not a whole lot of information available on this pipe manufacturer but from what I can gather it's a decent budget pipe for a beginner.
Next I pulled up a chair at the tobacco bar to check out some tobaccos. They have a nice wall full of tobacco jars, probably close to 100 varieties. I was given about 5 jars of their most popular blends, and ended up with half an ounce of the two that smelled the best.
1) Director's Cut - "A milder version of Executive Blend" (Executive Blend is their house version of 1Q.) Listed in their Cavendish category.
2) Tolkien - "Semi - sweet, earthy & aromatic" Listed in their Burley category
The Director's Cut blend was quite nice, but gave me some nasty tongue bite. I blame this on my inexperience, slowed down for the next bowl and no issues. The Tolkien is very tasty I can't get enough of the deep earthy flavor, I have purchased some every time I have gone back to the shop.
After I chose my tobacco purchases, the salesman helping me took me through a quick lesson on packing, lighting and cleaning of a pipe. Of course, due to legislation we were not able to give my pipe a trial run at their former smoking bar, but was invited to return or call if I had any issues breaking in the new pipe.
Anyways, here she is...
T3I_IMG_3483 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3484 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3479 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3485 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
The only thing that I forgot to inspect on the my pipe was the drilling of the draft hole, it is just a touch higher than the bottom of the bowl. I attempted applying some pipe mud as I read in one of the forums here, but my mud fell out after about half a dozen bowls later.
Just wanted to share my new acquisition with anyone who cares to see more pipe pics!
I just thought I would share my first pipe and tobacco that I purchased from the local B&M just over a month ago. While there are several tobacco shops located in Edmonton, I ended up going to the one that seemed most pipe centric, Burlington on Whyte. The staff were quite helpful at getting me set up with the goods to take a try at the world of pipe smoking.
After "getting friendly" with most of the pipes on their $100 and under rack for 15 minutes or so, I found this one. It felt great in the hand, and I really liked the look. It is a Capri Gozzo, made in Italy, briar with a vulcanite stem. Not a whole lot of information available on this pipe manufacturer but from what I can gather it's a decent budget pipe for a beginner.
Next I pulled up a chair at the tobacco bar to check out some tobaccos. They have a nice wall full of tobacco jars, probably close to 100 varieties. I was given about 5 jars of their most popular blends, and ended up with half an ounce of the two that smelled the best.
1) Director's Cut - "A milder version of Executive Blend" (Executive Blend is their house version of 1Q.) Listed in their Cavendish category.
2) Tolkien - "Semi - sweet, earthy & aromatic" Listed in their Burley category
The Director's Cut blend was quite nice, but gave me some nasty tongue bite. I blame this on my inexperience, slowed down for the next bowl and no issues. The Tolkien is very tasty I can't get enough of the deep earthy flavor, I have purchased some every time I have gone back to the shop.
After I chose my tobacco purchases, the salesman helping me took me through a quick lesson on packing, lighting and cleaning of a pipe. Of course, due to legislation we were not able to give my pipe a trial run at their former smoking bar, but was invited to return or call if I had any issues breaking in the new pipe.
Anyways, here she is...
T3I_IMG_3483 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3484 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3479 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
T3I_IMG_3485 by Tristan Carey, on Flickr
The only thing that I forgot to inspect on the my pipe was the drilling of the draft hole, it is just a touch higher than the bottom of the bowl. I attempted applying some pipe mud as I read in one of the forums here, but my mud fell out after about half a dozen bowls later.
Just wanted to share my new acquisition with anyone who cares to see more pipe pics!
