@craig61a Nice pipe; I like the banding on the stem!3 year old Lewis Pipe & Tobacco “North Shore” blend in a Penn Valley Gouda Clay.
A VaBur blend, there are baking spice flavors , notes of maple, molasses, subtle floral, and Latakia smokiness. There is a bright Virginia honey sweet flavor and nuttiness from the Burley. The strength is above medium, but not overpowering. Burns well with a few relights.
The baking spice flavors are minimal, well balanced, and do not sublimate the tobacco flavors much. I guess I would compare this to WCC’s Elf Dandruff, although the flavors aren’t as pronounced nor quite the same as Elf Dandruff.
All in all this is a good Fall blend. As for the name, “North Shore” evokes the smell of pine trees and autumn leaves and lake water to me… but if I was up on the North shore, this would certainly be a blend I would be enjoying.
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Thank you Kiko, for your beautiful words of encouragement. God bless you. I am selfish talking like this, about my worries, when we all have problems. Sometimes you feel disappointed by so many things. I agree with your thoughts, my friend Kiko, I just need a little tobacco, and a glass of whiskey, and then I am with God.John,
Blessings on your weekend. Life is full of worries. My pipe is often symbolic of rest for me -- it is the conscious decision to stop and rest and reflect. That may be the first point of blessing.
And Spark Plug is one of my favorites too.
Here you go.Have a clay for me
@Chaukisch I'd have smoked the Clan and Scottish Blend in my clay pipes if it wasn't for StoptoberHere you go.
OT:
33% Clan, 33% MacBaren Scottish Blend, 33% fresh Virginia twists, left for a few minutes and rubbed.
1% hot air. I'm also having the last of my brandy (in a preheated tumbler) while watching the good old Popeye cartoons.
View attachment 172291
Even an apprentice blender has got to blend and he seems to like his own blend most.
I always try my best to observe objectively and I really don't like to toot my own pipe but I don't appreciate lying either.
This just blasted the smoke meter into the orbit. It gave it a sharp edge and also rounded it.
I liked Clan since the beginning and I'm starting to open up to the soft MacBaren but I was rather disappointed with both. Much too shallow, no real depths.
I think that almost a year of smoking nothing but raw tobacco leaves has given me a very good contrast to the commercially available blends, at least some of the ~10€ ones.
And it seems the fact is that, at any time, I or anyone else could come up with something much better and more satisfying. I can encourage everyone to get into blending. Even just a little bit.
The two pouches cost me about 17 bucks. for 17 bucks I can easily get two 17oz bags with a wide range of different leaves to choose from. And from those leaves you can make pipe tobacco, cigarette tobacco, snuff, chew or just hang the nice leaves in your room for a nice gentle room note and decoration.
Sorry to ramble on but I gotta say it. Throw this cheap commercial mass produced crap into the ditch!
Buy good fermented leaves, process and produce your own smoke. Put in the love that it needs.
Spend the big bucks on something really special, Black Diamond or whatever is considered special.
Maybe I just fell too much in love with the whole work but it is a really nice work. Gets you all that much closer to the matter, too. It opens up many new facettes that just invite you to try and let them shine.
Conclusion for the lazy readers:
View attachment 172300
They look interesting, just ordered some and the Fireside Chat looked really interesting as well so why not! Thanks!A quarter of the way through this bowl of year 2014 Wessex Campaign Dark Flake in a smooth dark brown medium bend year 1924 Dunhill 136A double patent apple with a tapered black vulcanite stem. I posted the two KBV reviews I was working on at TR.
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@Chaukisch Do you think the Clay King could smoke a large cigar in one big drag like Popeye and Bluto???Here you go.
OT:
33% Clan, 33% MacBaren Scottish Blend, 33% fresh Virginia twists, left for a few minutes and rubbed.
1% hot air. I'm also having the last of my brandy (in a preheated tumbler) while watching the good old Popeye cartoons.
View attachment 172291
Even an apprentice blender has got to blend and he seems to like his own blend most.
I always try my best to observe objectively and I really don't like to toot my own pipe but I don't appreciate lying either.
This just blasted the smoke meter into the orbit. It gave it a sharp edge and also rounded it.
I liked Clan since the beginning and I'm starting to open up to the soft MacBaren but I was rather disappointed with both. Much too shallow, no real depths.
I think that almost a year of smoking nothing but raw tobacco leaves has given me a very good contrast to the commercially available blends, at least some of the ~10€ ones.
And it seems the fact is that, at any time, I or anyone else could come up with something much better and more satisfying. I can encourage everyone to get into blending. Even just a little bit.
The two pouches cost me about 17 bucks. for 17 bucks I can easily get two 17oz bags with a wide range of different leaves to choose from. And from those leaves you can make pipe tobacco, cigarette tobacco, snuff, chew or just hang the nice leaves in your room for a nice gentle room note and decoration.
Sorry to ramble on but I gotta say it. Throw this cheap commercial mass produced crap into the ditch!
Buy good fermented leaves, process and produce your own smoke. Put in the love that it needs.
Spend the big bucks on something really special, Black Diamond or whatever is considered special.
Maybe I just fell too much in love with the whole work but it is a really nice work. Gets you all that much closer to the matter, too. It opens up many new facettes that just invite you to try and let them shine.
Conclusion for the lazy readers:
View attachment 172300