I started the day with Charring Cross in a Rob Roy, took a break for some blueberry mufins and eggnog cookies that my wife made yesterday. The dog and I went out to check on the birds and give out noon treats. Now its time to relax with a Pride filled with Balkan Mixture.
The Sutliffe Kringle Cake has arrived, and boy, was it worth the wait. If you love Virginias and VaPers, you have to get your hands on some of this. Very deep Virginia character, tangy sweetness, with the Perique hitting your tongue at first, then relegating itself to the background until the very end of the bowl, where it comes alive again. The tin I got was damaged in shipping, so it was a little dry, but smoked well. I transferred it to a sealed jar, and will enjoy it over the next month or so. Highly recommended for VaPer lovers. PS If anybody bought some of this and doesn't like it, PM me and I will buy it off of you. Thanks
On the way home from my yearly visit to the Vascular Surgeon I enjoyed a pipe full of Peterson Flake in a Ropp Paneled Apple. Nothing changed over the last year so it was a relaxing ride home. I like to remind my doctors where they came from so I usually bring them food from the homestead, this time a 2 pound jar of honey and a 3 pound 11 ounce Red Broiler. Since Maltese Falcon is on sale I opened a tin and filled a Let Freedom Ring Rob Roy. So far I'm not impressed.
My after dinner smoke this evening is some MacBaren “Golden Brown Burley-London Blend”. This stuff smells incredible in the tin/jar. It has a heavy chocolate smell, and it is pure burley not topping, no chocolate anything added. It has a kind of spicy brown sugar flavor in the smoke, no chocolate. The pipe is one of my grade 8 Savinelli Autographs. For @vtgrad2003, out of the 40+ Savinelli pipes I have, this is the only one that has the air hole drilled incorrectly. It is off-center by about 1/2 an airway diameter (not much). This pipe also has one of the narrowest bottoms of any pipe I own, definitely a conical bowl. It is strangely light for a pipe this size with thick walls. I don’t know when it was made, but it was not yesterday, it still has a vulcanite stem. I can’t remember when they went to acrylic.
@vtgrad2003 Hmm, funny you should ask. I think it may have been the first time I have smoked it since I got it and refurbished it years ago. It smoked wet as hell, gurgled like it’s throat was cut and still had a rank, musty old ghost in it. I refurbed it before I had my “ozone chamber”.
After that first smoke I opened the airway to 4mm, chamfered the tenon and tapered the stem airway. I stuffed it with some C&D “Espresso” straight from the jar (it is a sloppy wet tobacco) and smoked it again right away. No more gurgle, the ghost was still lingering, but that was expected. It may go in the “ozone chamber” or I may just persevere and excise the ghost with more bowls of tobacco.
@RockyMountainBriar You, sir, are a patient soul! I would have chucked it or sold it by now if I had that many issues with it Just last week in fact, I was fishing from my boat on a local lake and had a bass on the line, but the gurgle my pipe was making was so irritating while reeling it in, I spit the pipe overboard on purpose while cussing like a banshee...lost the damn fish too! Fortunately I don't think I paid more than $60 for it as an estate pipe. I'm certainly not one to refurbish a pipe as you know...I'd likely break it anyway, but when I get one that starts to gurgle that badly, I try grinding out the bowl end of the airway with a reamer which usually does the trick for a while at least, but if it keeps coming back, it gets chucked.
We got a dusting of snow last night which made for a bright pretty morning. My wife has the day off and took care of morning chores so I could sleep in! I'm now enjoying a cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee she made for me with a Rob Roy full of Balkan Mixture. Life is good!
@Balisong Thank you! I know you are a cob aficionado, and I love my cobs too. To be honest, forget Sav, Peterson, etc., if you want a truly dependable pipe that you won't cry over if it goes bad on you, cobs are by far the best choice.
This morning, while enjoying Balkan Mixture in a Diplomat, I placed an order with P&C. They have some very good sales going on and sent me an email for an additional 10% off plus a code for free shipping over $79.00. I ended up with 3 pounds of RYO for the wife and 4 tins for me!
Comments
The tin I got was damaged in shipping, so it was a little dry, but smoked well. I transferred it to a sealed jar, and will enjoy it over the next month or so.
Highly recommended for VaPer lovers.
PS If anybody bought some of this and doesn't like it, PM me and I will buy it off of you. Thanks
For @vtgrad2003, out of the 40+ Savinelli pipes I have, this is the only one that has the air hole drilled incorrectly. It is off-center by about 1/2 an airway diameter (not much). This pipe also has one of the narrowest bottoms of any pipe I own, definitely a conical bowl. It is strangely light for a pipe this size with thick walls. I don’t know when it was made, but it was not yesterday, it still has a vulcanite stem. I can’t remember when they went to acrylic.
Hmm, funny you should ask. I think it may have been the first time I have smoked it since I got it and refurbished it years ago. It smoked wet as hell, gurgled like it’s throat was cut and still had a rank, musty old ghost in it. I refurbed it before I had my “ozone chamber”.
After that first smoke I opened the airway to 4mm, chamfered the tenon and tapered the stem airway. I stuffed it with some C&D “Espresso” straight from the jar (it is a sloppy wet tobacco) and smoked it again right away. No more gurgle, the ghost was still lingering, but that was expected. It may go in the “ozone chamber” or I may just persevere and excise the ghost with more bowls of tobacco.
You, sir, are a patient soul! I would have chucked it or sold it by now if I had that many issues with it
There are times I wish I had that kind of money. As the elf-on-a-shelf once said at the “theater” $20 is $20.