I haven’t smoked a cigarette in years. I personally do not like them and believe there are better ways for me to enjoy tobacco. The new cigarette packs will not be part of my life. But that’s beside the point.

It isn’t even the intrusion on rights that has me so pissed off. I have sort of grown used to it. This time its just the utter stupidity of the government. The stupidity, arrogance, and bloated power-hungry nature of government bureaucrats.

I don’t like being lied to on my dime. I don’t like to be fed propaganda. Phoney studies and statistics irk me.

For those who haven’t heard, here’s what Nanny Samantha has in mind. On every cigarette pack, the entire top half, there will be a picture such as one of the following:

• Rotten teeth and gums
• Diseased lungs
• A sewn-up corpse of a smoker
• Smoke coming out of someone’s tracheotomy hole

Why do I care?

Why do I care? I’m a pipe smoker. Government does stupid things every day.

The reason I care is because the same people who came up with this hair-brained idea also pull the strings on a lot of other things that effect my everyday life. Do I want the same kind of people who consider this new cigarette pack thing a good idea deciding whether there is a distinction between pipe tobacco and roll-your-own cigarette tobacco?

Beware the myth of hyper competency!

One of the big mistakes so many Americans make is assuming people in government are significantly brighter, more competent, efficient, or otherwise super-powered. Granted, most of these people are probably nice, and they probably got good grades in school, they have been successful, and I’ll even submit that deep down somewhere, they really want to do good. We just disagree on how to accomplish the greater good.

The thing these people in government really excel at and rise head and shoulders above their fellow countrymen is their hunger for power. That, in my ever so humble opinion, is what actually pulls them to the top.

These people are perfectly capable of the most striking feats of stupidity, such as thinking you can get away with stealing classified documents from the national archives by stuffing them in your pants, or thinking you can, as a celebrity, get away with sending creepy pictures of yourself in your underwear to strangers. These are the deciders my friends.

Why this is so stupid

These people actually believe, or think you will believe, that putting those disgusting photos on cigarette packages will save over 200,000 lives a year. Easy as that. This is their claim.

They have been trying to convince you that 400,000 people die every year from smoking. Now they’ll have to cut that number in half or admit their dumbass cigarette pack campaign doesn’t work.

And what about the 433,000 tobacco-caused deaths per year? How do they arrive at that figure? When you die of lung cancer - if you ever smoked or smelled tobacco smoke it was a preventable tobacco related death. Never mind genetics, diet, obesity, stress, environment, bad luck, etc. or whatever causes all the other lung cancer deaths among non-smokers.

This is what a bag of chips might look like in a few years

The fact is, that 433,000 number is entirely bogus. There is no way they could have scientifically arrived at that number. They can not say with any scientific authority that smoking is the number one cause of preventable deaths. But they do.

People typically gobble up and repeat this propaganda because tobacco is “special.” Tobacco is easy to hate for those who don’t enjoy it. An easy target. What they don’t realize is the nanny state will move on to other areas.

Are you ready for pictures of the corpses of obese people on potato chips? How about decapitated victims of drunk driving collisions on beer and wine bottles? Is this the world we want to live in?

I encourage all cigarette smokers to invest in a collection of cigarette cases. There are a ton of them on eBay. Get them now because I predict the market for them will skyrocket the closer we come to seeing these cigarette packs hit the shelves.

Note: That's me a few years ago before I lost 140 pounds.

I want to hear your comments. Will your vote in the next election be influenced by tobacco legislation? What is your opinion of the new warning labels?

...sometimes when smoking, the smoke I am drawing starts to get thinner and the flavor tastes ashy. I imagine that the ember is not igniting more tobacco than the ash on top. I have read other recommendations from people who say they gently stir up the top most layer of the ash and dump it out, leaving the ember and tobacco behind. Is this a standard practice? I try this, but I find I have to do it far too often or it doesn't really remove the ash taste. I keep my pipe pretty clean, so i don't think it is a dirty pipe causing this. Is there something I am doing wrong, am I not tamping properly, etc?

I believe what you are experiencing is a problem that tamping will solve right away. The only hitch is that tamping is something that is easy to do wrong. If you tamp too hard or too often you cause more problems. If you don’t tamp often enough you’ll leave the problem unsolved. Your timing needs to be right too. The time to tamp is right before you notice you need it.

Tampers are one of the most important tools a pipe smoker has, right up there with fire and pipe cleaners. It doesn’t really matter what you use whether its the tip of your finger, a two dollar pipe tool, or a hundred dollar handmade work of art. It just has to be something you can nudge the ember gently against the unburned tobacco. Technique is far more important than the tool.

I can almost guarantee that if someone isn’t tamping right they either are not tamping often enough, tamping too hard, or both. The first thing you want to do to get in the habit of tamping properly is tamp more often. But tamp very very gently. If you have a very light tamper, the weight of the tamper by itself is probably more than enough. The idea is to nudge that ember down against the tobacco without disrupting the structure of the ember. Imagine trapping a housefly against a pillow without harming it - that’s how gentle you need to be.

Practice this while you are still getting full puffs of smoke. If you feel even the slightest crunch of the tobacco you are pushing too hard. As you take a normal, slow and gentle puff, touch the ember with your tamper. Wait another minute or two and do it again. While you are growing used to making tamping part of your smoking cadence better to tamp too often than not enough. Eventually you’ll learn the feel for it and it will become second nature.

If you forget and the smoke gets thin, don’t worry. Do not try to compensate by tamping harder or puffing more. Just give it a slight tamp along with a few puffs. If it doesn’t come right back relight. There really is no penalty for relights outside of slow smoking competitions. Smoke at your own pace and make sure you are enjoying everything you smoke.

Some people like to scrape down the edges of the tobacco chamber. I usually aim for the middle. This part really doesn’t matter. Do what feels best, just don’t disrupt the tobacco.

If the friends who suggested you stir and dump are getting good results doing that, that’s nice for them. I never stir anything and don’t dump until I’m finished with the bowl. The compressed ash from tamping doesn’t seem to hurt anything. The heat from the flame either goes directly through it or around it during relights. If you are tamping properly tamping won’t extinguish a pipe it will help keep the ember going and strengthen the smoke.

Filling a pipe properly is probably the most difficult thing for new pipe smokers to master and mastering that provides the greatest gains in carefree pleasurable pipe smoking. Next in line is tamping. Polishing your tamping technique may lead to some of the greatest improvements in your pipe smoking enjoyment.

Please comment. Has improving your tamping technique improved your pipe smoking?

Tin Description

Fully matured Virginias, Ready Rubbed Burleys, Latakia and a touch of Fire-cured Cavendish is the recipe. We added one of the world's finest 30 year old Scotch whiskies, Glenfarclas. The natural flavors from the tobacco and the delightful taste of the Scotch marry perfectly, so when smoked you experience the mellow taste and subtle smoky note of the tobaccos combined with the overtone of a fine scotch.

This has a very interesting taste at first light. It is a very familiar almost caramel candy-like flavor that I believe forms from the combination of the tobaccos and Scotch whisky, certainly not any aromatic component. Aside from the whisky this is straightforward tobacco. Once the ember is going this unique taste slides behind the expected flavors of the tobacco.

Be careful to take your time lighting this one. This is not a blend you want to burn hot. I have to really watch my smoking cadence with Mac Baren blends else I wind up bitten. With Highland Blend’s inviting but reserved character I can easily get carried away puffing a little too greedily, chasing more of the flavors.

My guess is this blend will appeal more to those who generally steer clear of the heavier Latakia-laden blends. While an English or Balkan lover may like this in his rotation as a change of pace, it bares little resemblance to the typical English blend in character and body.

The taste from the component tobaccos throughout the bowl is very dry, crisp, and almost sharp. While I detect the sweetness from the Virginias I cannot think of this as a sweet blend.

The Latakia is also always present but applied very delicately. Highland Blend is a textbook example of the blender using Latakia as a condiment rather than a component. The way the Latakia coaxes the sweetness of the Virginias out from behind their tang and zest is artful. It plays well with the whisky too.

The Burley and Cavendish has a welcome but fairly nondescript role in the Highland Blend, especially early in the bowl. Maybe the Burley is what brings the crispness to the blend’s character. As the bowl passes the halfway point the Burley begins to stand out more and contributes an increasing amount of body and depth. Very nice.

Mac Baren is a must-try if you are comfortable with the disciplined and observant smoking. For me, the strength of the blend is in the complexities. I cannot fully enjoy it as an all-day smoke. It needs too much attention. Anyone willing to give this tobacco enough attention will be rewarded an incredibly interesting experience.

Video Review of Mac Baren Highland Blend

Tin Description

“A combination of Virginia ribbon, Brown Virginia, Burley, and Perique.”

I noticed a couple things about this blend as I investigated background information on it. For starters, as you can see, C&D no longer mentions any reference to Three Nuns. At one point they may have included some verbiage in the official description with something like “reminiscent of Three Nuns” but they don’t now - at least not on their web site. It does continue to show up on some retailers and tobaccoreviews.com that way.

My advice is to let the Three Friars stand on their own feet. Consider this blend exactly what it is - a combination of Virginias, Burley, and Perique.

Another comparison made rather often is to another C&D blend - Haunted Bookshop. Haunted Bookshop is more of a Burley blend with Virginia and Perique, where Three Friars is a Virginia blend with Burley and Perique. While I don’t doubt that if you like one you may very likely enjoy the other I think its a mistake to categorize them too closely together.

I say all that because I have learned it is important not to bring too much to blend. Too many presumptions lead to unfair expectations which lead to unnecessary disappointment.

There’s a Zen story about a professor who visited a master to learn about Buddhism. The Zen master poured him tea but did not stop pouring when the professor’s cup was full. The tea overflowed and went everywhere.

"The cup is full!" said the professor. "No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," said the master, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

If you want Three Friars or any other pipe tobacco to “show you Zen” come to the blend with an open mind.

Now on to the actual tobacco review...

Like I said, this is a Virginia blend. The Virginias are primarily bright and a litttle grassy, with lemon zest-like flavors. The Brown Virginias pull in a little more sweetness and add body. A modest amount of Burley modulates the sharp edges without adding heaviness but helps bring up the bottom with more structure and body.

Cornell & Diehl can tend to be heavy handed with the Perique. This is not the case with Three Friars. While the pepper is readily apparent they certainly did not overdo it. With a blend like this it would have been easy to obliterate the nuances in the high notes with an overdose of Perique. To my tastes, they got it just right. Perfect.

The tobacco is ribbon cut, mostly loose, and soft and springy to the touch. My tin came at the perfect moisture level. The tin I smoked from for this review was only a few months old. A couple years in the cellar would no-doubt do wonderful things for the blend but don’t hesitate to pop a relatively fresh tin.

C&D Virginias hold a soft spot in my heart because they are very easy on my tongue. Three Friars is no exception. The ribbon cut also burns very nicely and requires no preparation before filling the pipe.

If I were forced to squeeze in one negative thing about the blend I would say that it falls just a little behind in complexity. There are no breathtaking transformations between the first light and the bottom of the bowl but it does deepen as the bowl progresses. And while the blend would not be wasted on absent minded all-day sipping while you work Sudoku puzzles there are those interesting nuances I mentioned earlier you can watch for. As the bowl progresses look for those delicate flavor variations to give way to deeper, sweeter, more melded flavors.

Of course I could turn those cons into pros very easily by pointing out that this is a very comfortable, pain-free, user-friendly, and unpretentious smoke that will fill the bill perfectly if you are looking for an anytime VA/Per that falls on the lighter and brighter side.

If you’ve tried this please let me know what you think of it in the comments.

Tin Description
We have a delightful new light English blend called Epiphany. Epiphany is reminiscent of the original Revelation blend that was said to be the favorite of a certain reknowned thinker named Einstein. Epiphany is another classic Tarler/Runowski blend of Va, Burleys, Latakia and Perique in perfect balance and harmony.

Cornell and Diehl classifies this as an English blend, and while that is perfectly fair, in my mind it falls under another category that I have yet to figure out a good name for. The tobaccos I place in this undefined category are the unpretentious, easy-smoking, all-day blends that won’t appeal to the purists or elitists, aren’t sweet, gooey, or flavored enough to appeal to aromatic lovers, and don’t contain enough of any one of their components call them a “Virginia blend” or a “Burley blend.” They were the “Over the Counter blends” back when all tobacco was sold over the counter. But I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to confuse a blend like Cornell and Diehl Epiphany with today’s OTC blends.

When I enjoy English and Balkan blends I appreciate the way the various flavors artfully dance around and intermingle with one another. Conversely, I love Epiphany for how each of its flavors meld with one another.

A little sweet, a bit smokey, plenty of smooth body, with just a little pepper but no rough edges. The Latakia is always there, so is the Burley and Virginia. Like the description says, perfect balance and harmony.

You’ll find a whisper of perfume - some added fruit flavor. I think its plum. There’s nowhere near enough of this flavoring to even move the blend in the direction of the aromatic category. The fruit flavor is barely there, but I’m glad it is - it works brilliantly alongside the richness of the Burley and Latakia and plays well off the sweetness from the Virginia.

The tobacco arrives loose cut in perfectly sized particles, ribbons, and tidbits in every shade of brown that make filling the bowl easy and keeping it lit worry-free. I consider this among the most well-behaved blends I smoke.

Recently I finished my aged stash of Cornell and Diehl’s Epiphany and started on my fresh supply. For starters, I can’t believe Epiphany has been around that long. I still think of it as one of C&D’s “new pipe tobacco blends.” Time flies.

Comparing the aged to the fresh I can’t really say one is better than the other, but the two years of aging did make a difference. Experiment and see which way you like better.

This is the blend I reach for when I don’t want something different, and pound for pound, its the one I smoke the most of.

Smoked it? Lets hear what you thought about it in the comments.

Currently, two of my favorites are available at smokingpipes.com - Classic Burley Kake and Anniversary Kake. (Wow - just realized I haven't reviewed Anniversary Kake yet! Travesty! Off to the cellar to get some.) If you like Virginia and Perique blends and haven't tried Anniversary Kake you simply have to get some of this.

They are available in 1.5 ounce and 8 ounce tins.

Of course the entire gamut of Hearth and Home blends is on tap back at pipesandcigars.com. If you haven't explored these blends there is something for everyone and Russ is an outstanding blender.

Don't forget there is also two new series in the Hearth and Home lineup. There's the Landmark Series of aromatic and semi-aromatic blends along with the Marquee Series which include some rare components and are aged before release.

Exciting times.

Is it normal when starting to smoke pipe to constantly feel a burping sensation accompanied by a soreness in the chest? I've been a heavy cigarette smoker for 15 years and never had that.

As I always say, I don’t give medical advice, see a professional about that. Even when I just tell you about my personal experience, that should not be considered authoritative in any way.

First off, just because something is normal does not mean it should be welcome. Its normal to feel a burning sensation when you stick your hand in the fire--that doesn’t mean its okay to stick your hand in the fire.

In general, pipe smoking should not be painful or uncomfortable in any way. If it were, I wouldn’t do it. If it is, something is wrong. Let any kind of pain or discomfort be your cue to make changes. Pipe smoking should be enjoyable.

The burping sensation sounds vaguely like a possible reaction to nicotine, but that makes no sense if you have been desensitized to nicotine by cigarette smoking. My best guess about the soreness in your chest is you are inhaling the smoke. That may also explain the burping sensation. I do not know.

Pipe smoke need not be inhaled to enjoy it. I would even go as far as saying it is not intended to be inhaled. A few pipe smokers do inhale or partly inhale, but normally pipe smokers do not inhale, they puff. Save your lungs and enjoy your pipe - don’t inhale.

If I am looking for a pipe that will absorb moisture and help to burn cool do I want a pipe that has thick walls or thin walls?

I do not believe it matters that much. Briar does absorb moisture but not enough that the thickness of the walls will make a difference in how the pipe smokes.

The same is true for heat. Yes, briar does transfer heat but no matter how thick the walls are or how large or long the pipe is, you can still smoke the pipe too hot or wet.

Two things will impact the smoke a lot more in terms of moisture and heat: how you smoke the pipe and the pipe’s engineering.

When I say “engineering” I mean how the pipe is drilled and fitted. The diameter and shape of the chamber, the diameter of the airway and whether it is free from obstructions and interruptions go a long way towards how dry and cool the pipe smokes. There are too many variables to go into here but when the combination is right the pipe won’t smoke hot and won’t develop moisture in the stem like a pipe with internal flaws will.

Smoking cadence, how you fill the tobacco, and other factors surrounding the way you smoke also impact the quality of the smoke. Puff too fast and too hard and the pipe will burn hot even if its the size of a sledge hammer.

I suggest selecting a pipe by a maker you trust and then pick one that appeals to you for the way it looks.
Personally I like pipes with thicker walls but this preference has more to do with how it feels in my hand.

How do you feel about filtered pipes?

Many of the pipes I smoke regularly came fitted for filters but the first thing I did was take them out and discard them. I do not use filters in any of my pipes, I prefer the way the tobacco smoke and draw feels without them. I also insist on being able to run a pipe cleaner through the stem any time I like during the smoke.

How did I determine that I prefer not using a filter? I tried smoking with them and tried smoking without them. That is the best way to find out if you like them yourself.

A lot of pipe smokers swear by them--that’s why so many pipes are made to take them. Like so many other things with this hobby, it really comes down to personal preference.

I subscribed to the updates but I never receive any emails. Is something wrong?

There’s good news and bad news. The good news is I don’t spam your inbox with a lot of emails - you only receive a message from my site when I feel there’s something important or the site is updated.

The bad news is I don’t post that often these days. Hopefully that will change. I have some other projects which you will learn about here at some point that I spend time on. Hopefully the reviews and articles will begin arriving more frequently.

Great questions. I appreciate the opportunity to answer them. I also welcome other points of view. If you have another answer to any of the above questions please post it in the comments below.

Ebay auction with SPT logo

Thanks to a reader I just learned that a seller on Ebay is using the SPT logo on products he or she is selling on Ebay.

I want to make it clear these are not mine, I have sold nothing on Ebay in a long time, and I do not endorse the products. (He's selling someone else's tobacco, using my logo on the tin, and says in his auction the value is in the tin.) I certainly do endorse Hearth and Home tobaccos from pipesandcigars.com, but buy it from pipesandcigars.com.

I do all my own graphics design. This site is kind of "my baby."

Hopefully this is all a misunderstanding of some sort and this seller just doesn't understand copyright and the ethics of using, editing, and selling someone else's creative work.

I contacted the seller asking him to cease using it immediately. For now, just wanted to let you all know that I'm not the one selling tobacco tins on Ebay.

Also - I want to thank the reader who alerted me to this. I appreciate it.

Update:

The logo was removed and the remaining auctions were reported to eBay. After communication with someone from pipesandcigars.com I feel it safe to say they do not endorse this practice of selling their bulk blends repackaged in homemade tins on online auction sites.

I'm pretty certain eBay does not approve either based on their rules surrounding counterfeits, bootlegs, not to mention tobacco sales.

Again, I want to thank David for reporting this to me and all the support I've received here, at tampandpuff.com, and by email.

What I’m talking about:

The practice of renaming bulk tobacco blends does not pass the sniff test

The business practice I will be discussing to and so many shops employ is purchasing bulk tobaccos from a manufacturer, pouring it from the five-pound foil bag into a jar, creating their own name for it, and calling it a house blend.

This is pretty much an industry standard. Many pipe smokers I’ve discussed this with say “that’s just the way it is – its how its always been done.” That’s factual information but not meaningful. I contend this business practice creates problems for pipe smokers. This is why I address it.

Before the internet when everyone was limited to purchasing pipe tobacco from the nearest brick and mortar retail store these renamed bulks weren’t such a problem. “Sassafras Sunset” may have been Lane’s 1Q at Ernie’s Pipe and Cigar shop, but most of Ernie’s customers who loved Sassafras Sunset never knew they were smoking 1Q, rarely if ever went elsewhere to buy their tobacco, so they had no need to question the name.  Under the shallow illusion Ernie’s was the only place on Earth to find Sassafras Sunset so they never looked for it anywhere else anyway.

The landscape has changed. Pipe smokers are far more informed. Blogs, pipe tobacco review sites, and online discussion forums allow pipe smokers worldwide to compare notes and research blends. Better yet there is variety like never before. The business of selling pipes and tobacco has been taken online to provide us with better choices and prices that wouldn’t be imaginable before the early 90’s. We aren’t limited to single sources for our tobacco today.

Renaming these industrial bulk tobaccos does nothing to benefit the consumer and only creates problems. The thing that prompted this post is yet another instance of someone asking me “I used to smoke XYZ House Blend from PDQ Brick and Mortar – do you know where I can get more of a blend like that?” To which I obviously have to reply “No bleepin’ clue because I have no idea what PDQ B&M named their so-called XYZ house blend.”

There are other reasons. Following are among the most obvious ones to me.

It is dishonest and doesn’t respect intellectual property of the blender

The only victims of this “crime” are we the consumers. If the creators of a blend don’t mind giving away their copyright that’s there business. That doesn’t detract from the element of dishonesty. Taking credit for making something you didn’t make is sleazy. When a tobacconist calls one of the Altadis, McClelland’s, or Lane bulks his “house blend” he’s essentially calling it his and taking credit for it. How is that not dishonest? Don’t call it a house blend if you didn’t blend it in your house from component tobaccos.

Prevents purchasing power and limits competition

A prime reason for all these shenanigans on the neighborhood merchant’s part is keeping the customers coming back. Creating that illusion of being the only source of a particular blend ensures return customers. No doubt the fear is that telling you “Sassafras Sunset” is really Lane’s 1Q will tempt you to stop paying your tobacconist $60 a pound and start buying it online for half that.

This is how the practice of renaming these bulk blends removes competition. So long as you think there’s only one place to buy a blend you won’t shop elsewhere.

Our international community of pipe smokers can’t compare notes

One of the best things about being a pipe smoker in the 21^st Century is being able to communicate with other pipe smokers the world over.  More often than not I try a new blend based on someone else’s recommendation on a blog, review site, or forum post. When bulk tobacco is renamed at the shop it eliminates this benefit. Hopefully you’ll be able to bump into another customer who likes it because no one on the forums knows what Sassafras Sunset is.

Here the practice works against the shop owner. Were I to read a post or review of an Altadis blend that piqued my interest I wouldn’t see it at my local shop even if the blend is carried because it has been renamed. Were it accurately labeled I’d buy a couple ounces to try on my next visit.

Won’t be able to find the blend if your source goes out of business

Another intense disadvantage for us occurs if the shop either goes out of business or cuts a blend from their inventory. You can’t get it there any more and you have no idea what it actually is so you are out of luck. This has happened to a number of my readers.

What you can do

Like all consumers we have options. If the practice bothers you like it does me there are some things you can do. Here are some suggestions:

Insist on transparency

Ask your tobacconist what the actual brand name and blend is as he purchased it. You have the right to know what you are buying. If you are told it is a secret or a “house blend” ask if your shop obtains the ingredients and blends them to create the recipe or if the blend was created elsewhere.  You may rub the shopkeeper the wrong way, encounter a deer in the headlights look from a salesperson who actually doesn’t know, or they’ll treat you like an adult and valued customer by providing the information.

Research on the internet and ask for blends by name – this is probably more reliable than the sniff test

If there is a bulk you want to try ask for it at your B&M. While they may not want to tell you that your beloved Sassafras Sunset is really 1Q, when you inform them you want to buy 1Q they’ll likely be happy to tell you they have it on hand and dip into the jar of Sassafras Sunset.

Take your business to a retailer who is up front about what they sell

This is what I do. It has been a very long time since I bought bulk tobacco in person. I order online. Some will say that it is important to keep the B&M shops in business by dealing with them whenever possible. I say that online retailers need my support too and earn it by offering the best prices, variety, and transparency in naming their blends. These are real people with families to support too who likely know as much or more about pipes and tobacco than the local cigar merchant. They won the competition for my business long ago.

Free trade for the consumer too

I am all for free market capitalism. People should be able to do business however they like and I am certainly not calling on the state to intervene and shut down this practice. (Not that they would, they’re too busy taxing the hell out of it and looking for other ways to make life difficult for pipe smokers.) I could never advocate a law that forces shop owners to label a blend with the actual manufacturers name. That arrangement should be left between the company making the tobacco and their customer.

Another major part of competition and the free market is an informed consumer. Make your own decisions. Personally I vote with my wallet against the practice by refusing to buy any tobacco that has been renamed.

I am open to other opinions about this. I’d like to hear from all sides of this issue, especially from retailers who still do this. Please do leave a comment. How does this practice help your customers? (We know how it benefits you.) That’s probably the most important question I have for anyone who disagrees with my position on this. If you’d like to answer any of my other points such as the honesty issue that would be great too.