***What Are You Smoking, December 2020?***

[JimInks]

Now smoking Watch City Double Barrel Christmas 2020 in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl with a silver band and a pearl brown acrylic saddle stem. Working at getting a handle on this complex, tasty, spicy aromatic.

 

[J.GANDY]

Old Joe Krantz, whilst giving the stink eye to the water company crew who turned off the water to the area, without warning.

"I have important business of cleaning jars for tobacco storage, with a shipment slated to be in at noon!"... Water man just stares....
?

 

[JimInks]

Now smoking Ken Byron Ventures Experimental Void Ration bright Va. stoved Plug #1 in a very small slight bent black sandblasted Smokers Forum.UK 2015 POTY Chris Askwith Prince 5 with a tapered black acrylic stem with a flared bit.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Starting the week (ironically I guess) with some GLP's Quiet Nights in this resto S. Bang brandy:

 

[Jwebb90]

Rouxgaroux in a Savinelli.

 

[Paul lec]

Still raining, nice time for some Five Brothers in a Kaywoodie with a cup of Irish Breakfast Tea.

 

[kg.legat0]

All caught up on work for the moment...enjoying some GLP Cairo in an MM Legend. I foresee a BLT in the near future.

 

[JOHN72]

Enjoying now,Standard mixture of Peterson and irish coffee.....................?

 

[The Clay King]

To misquote Monty Python "And now for something a bit different".
There was a time when the enormous choices of today in the area of different pipe shapes, what pipes are made of and bowl sizes was limited to just one shape and one material - clay.

The smaller than usual bowl size and thinner than usual shank and stem of the pipe I posted above - compared to most other briars I've seen of that period - makes me thing of a pipe more suited for a woman but compared to early clay pipes it's a big bowl.

In the time of James I (1566-1625) tobacco was brutally expensive. He's the one that initiated probably the first 'tax for health reasons' and raised tobacco tax 40-fold from 2 to 82 pence per pound, making tobacco more expensive than silver with the result that the bowls were really small compared to even fifty years later.

Below are two examples of excavated clays from that period - one without a maker's initials or trademark (not unusual for that period when less than 10% of pipes were stamped with either) - and the other with a maker's mark:-
1) Circa 1600-1610 - a previous owner in the middle of the 19th cent. has thoughtfully had the clay mounted with a horn stem.
2) Circa 1580-1590 - Incuse W.B (William Batchelor 1580-1620 / 1619-1635) on the underside of the heel.
View attachment 54024

@virkia Did you actually smoke the one with the horn stem?
I wouldn't mind smoking it - it would be just right for English Civil War re-enactment.
I used to have an English Civil War clay pipe which I smoked when I went to see the Sealed Knot and Cavendish's Horses at Bolsover Castle last year - where I found it impossible to light in all the wind - but I've sold it now!
I read it was King James I who wrote A Counterblaste to Tobacco in the 1600s - widely regarded as the first piece of anti smoking literature:

A Counterblaste to Tobacco - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Birddog66]

Ashton’s Rainy Day (it’s pissing down here) in a ‘69 Donegal Rocky bent. Loving it with Lambs Navy rum.

 

[JimInks]

Now smoking Low Country Pipe & Cigar Natural Virginia & Burley in a 2019 straight smooth dark brown Merchant Service “Bing” Special with a nickel band and black vulcanite tapered stem.

 

[UncleRasta]

An MM Country Gentleman containing The Amphora Burley. A fresh supply arrived in the mail before 8AM this morning. The package also contained Amphora Kentucky, Sutliff 507-C Virginia Slices, and Sutliff Elizabethan Match.

 

[J.GANDY]

Father Dempsey, tea with honey and a sunny spot.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Evening smoke of Solani Burley Flake rubbed out in a Castello Old Antiquari med size Long liverpool

 

[JimInks]

Almost half way through this bowl of Watch City Double Barrel Christmas 2020 in a 2003 medium bent Ural meer with a lined and etched egg shaped bowl with a silver band and a pearl brown acrylic saddle stem.

 

[Paul lec]

Nice slow smoke of University Flake in a Balandis pipe,a cup of LaLlave and not much else!

 

[Pit&Pipes]

Breaking in a MM Pot of Gold with some PS LBF.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Just finished some Old Dark Fired RR in this little Royal Crown Windsor sandblasted bulldog. I always forget how great this stuff is, no idea why I don't smoke it WAY more often.

 

[brut666]

Rouxgaroux in a Savinelli.View attachment 54346

Ohh, now that's a pretty pipe

 

[Pit&Pipes]

Moving to trying some OJK in the Pot of Gold. OMG two different type of VA/Per for sure. The burley really changes up the taste.