Today's Last Post - had an unusually long time of leisure today, and am going to do the post I was planning for late tonight, but time constraints are looming so I'm going to do a threefur or maybe fourfur and get back to pressing things that have got to get done. Might return about midnight but might not. Depends.
Current "Smoke": sticking with my plan outlined in an earlier post, and stuffed my cheek full of
Sir Walter Raleigh. Recall certain posts on this and other threads where rabid fans of this wonderful tobacco are saying that it has changed, and not for the better.
I'll have to concur. It's still excellent in taste, but not quite as rich or sweet as the "Old SWR." I did, when I lived in the lower mainland, have a garden which I approached with my usual anality (precision?? lol). I had noted that when growing the same crops the following year, the taste from frozen packages was somewhat different. Weather, new seeds (I used the same brand from year to year), manure or compost, or whatever . . . . did these change the taste? Or had my tastebuds changed from a change in internal ph, lead me to sense a difference. I cannot say for sure. Like it or not, Gord, you are not a machine. I just say this for your consideration with as much lack of bias and humility as I possess. Which isn't probably much.
I also repost the same picture, hopefully somewhat lighter and brighter than the old one - revamped the old settings a bit and hopefully it's better. Comments on the pipes now that I've had a few hours to examine them, in
Skippable Drivel below said picture.
I'll "break" in the pipes with a few bowls of Smokers' Pride Whiskey, then go ahead and smoke them with the pre-designated fodder I've planned for them.The Ropp is as all Ropp's are. Well made and I expect the same quality smoke from this beautiful pipe.. A diametrically opposed game plan for this pipe as has already happened to the wonderful Li'l Pete, which is going to have Lat - based Oriental/Balkan blends, such as Magnum Opus, Nightcap, Bengal Slices, Brigham's English Mix, and so forth stuffed into them, all tried and smoke just great. Done deal.
The new Ropp will have NON LAT Balkan and Orientals and aro-codgers like Borkum Riff Dark, TobaccoBarn's Cimmeron and Anniversary, Sunday Picnic and Steamworks, Savinelli's 140th Anniversary, as it's fodder, and I'm expecting the excellence in this pipe that I've experienced in all of the French companies products.
The quality of the Ropp is excellent as always, and the Brog, about what I expected. Poland is not a rich country, and while Brog produces some connosieur pipes, this one was only $30 bucks and has a few "iffy" spots that may eventually become evident. It's a common blokes tool and not, being scheduled as a travel pipe, going to be treated with kid gloves. It is what it is.
With respect to the tobacco leaves pictured, as they turn yellow as they dry, I'll roll them up in their semi-dried state, put them on a cutting board and my Sabatier 10" chefs' knife, and cut the rolled up roulade into ribbons, and then finish the drying process. Don't know if it'll work but I'm still making mudpies rather than consulting vids and articles, from scratch, as it were.
To be continued . . . . but not tonight.
Gratefully, they sighed, eh? Back to work now and have a great rest of your day!
