Semois Plugs?

[der1trunkene1im1fruehling]

I bought some semois from Smoking Pipes recently and happened to go to the website listed on the packet today. If you look at one of the pipe tobacco PDFs at the link you'll see "semois plugs" sold in boxes of 20. How are these smoked? Are they cut up and rubbed out like plugs you'd get from SG or GH&C? In the picture you'll notice one stuffed into the top of a rather large cob pipe. It's all rather strange. I wonder if this (semois) was the type of tobacco that Georges Simenon and his detective, Jules Maigret, smoked? http://www.tabac-semois.com/produits-cigares.html

 

[Sjmiller CPG]

Back when I was smoking cigars, it would irritate me that I had to throw away the last inches of an expensive cigar because the end was getting to close for comfort. One day, I bought a MM freehand cob and when the cigar got to that point, I would just drop what was left into the pipe, coal end up, and happily puff away until it was gone. Point to my story is perhaps these plugs work in the same way.

 

[oakbear]

The plugs are called bouchons, and yes that is pretty much how they are smoked.

 

[der1trunkene1im1fruehling]

You know, that reminds me now of an illustration I once saw in a book on the life of some 19th C. artist. I can't remember now who it was, but it showed a picture of the artist on a tandem bike and he had a cigar holder in the shape of a pipe (probably a meerschaum cigar holder) and cigar sticking straight up in it.

 

[mso489]

Bouchons, a new one for my tobacco pipe vocabulary. I love the loose Semois, and I'd try these if they were available. However, I am so infatuated with the loose version, they might not measure up. For me, this is single-leaf tobacco with the subtlety and complexity of a fine English blend.

 

[der1trunkene1im1fruehling]

It is good stuff and the first time I've had it. Is there some relationship between semois and caporal (the tobacco that was in the Gauliosis and Gitanes cigarettes)? From what I remember of caporal, and I had it in both pipe and cigarette forms years ago, there seems to be a kind of earthiness and aromatic cigar like quality common to both.

 

[misterlowercase]

You know, that reminds me now of an illustration I once saw in a book on the life of some 19th C. artist. I can't remember now who it was, but it showed a picture of the artist on a tandem bike and he had a cigar holder in the shape of a pipe (probably a meerschaum cigar holder) and cigar sticking straight up in it.

There's a couple of similar illustrations in this thread...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/restoration-questions-re-odd-bbb-pipe-pics
::

 

[der1trunkene1im1fruehling]

Thanks for that link. That's exactly what I was thinking of. Pretty cool.