What Did You Smoke Today? (Pipe Edition)

[Emperor Zurg]

I've been working on a bottle of The Botanist for about a month now. It's a botanical styled gin...super good stuff. I drink it on the rocks 99.9% of the time.


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Thanks, I'll have to keep an eye out for some. Usually for sipping I go for Bombay Sapphire but always on the lookout for something different.

[Emperor Zurg]

Burned a couple bowls of Ennerdale (in a cob of course, I wouldn't defile a briar with with this stuff) while on the river the past couple of days. Used my oldest, rattyest, ugliest, surviving MM Pride. The thing smokes every bit as well as a fine briar. I'd hate to lose the dirty old thing.

[Emperor Zurg]

Had a bowl of Solani 660 in the Dagner poker last night

[Pipe Smoker]

Puffing 5 yo F&T Vintage in my Ardor Rhodesian. After 20+ fills this big boy is proving to be excellent in all respects. Smokes sweetly, easy maintenance, and it’s a solid sitter to boot.

Italian Estates Ardor Urano Rhodesian with Boxwood (DR) (2019) | Buy Italian Estates Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes

[Branzig]

10 year anniversary today....

Not sure what I'm smokin. Probably some super old red rap to celebrate after smoking some salmon for the wife and I.

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[Emperor Zurg]

10 year anniversary today....

CONGRATS!

Ain'tcha got any 10 year old Virginia?
10 year old FVF would be sublime.

Make sure you dry your salmon thoroughly before stuffing it in your pipe, the stuff is shipped pretty wet. Oh and best use a cob since it'll ghost a briar

[Emperor Zurg]

Burned a bowl of Esoterica Stonehaven in the Dagner poker tonight. Whoever told me to dry this blend thoroughly (think it was @Bruck or @Branzig ) was right. I dried it well before fold and stuff. Makes for a nice smoke. Peppery like a VaPer and with some nice dark fruit. Flavor holds right down to the bottom, unlike most aromatics. I guess this isn't really an aromatic per se although it is topped with something for sure. Anyway, glad I bought a couple bags back in 2015. It had none of that moldy newspaper taste I get with most burley blends.

[Emperor Zurg]

Another, albeit smaller, bowl of 2015 Stonehaven. So good. Hard to believe this isn't an untopped VaPer. So spicy and good! Didn't let this batch dry as much as the last (a bit pressed for time tonight) and the flavors were subsequently a little muted but still very nice!

[Emperor Zurg]

Smoked a bowl of War Horse Bar last night. Didn't really want a smoke but wanted to keep the mosquitoes away. I picked a non-favourite blend as there was a good chance I'd be abandoning it mid bowl.

War Horse Bar: Mini review...
I bought this because of the supposed nostalgia of an 'old blend brought back' etc etc and because of all the love on TR - hardly a bad review. It's touted as a 'strong blend with a singular top note'. Generally I like strong blends because generally strong blends don't bite... and I loathe tongue bite. Also, it's advertised as a plug. I like the plug cut and plug is rather rare. I'm a sucker for plug tobacco of any kind.

Actually, I got lots of tobacco cheap because I ordered Bar but P&C sent ready rubbed - 3 tins I think, which they replaced with Bar at no cost and let me keep the RR as well.

Well this stuff is nasty. It's like smoking a bowl of baby powder mixed with nicotine. At first light it's all baby powder all the time. By mid bowl some of the baby powder had burned off and I could taste the tobaccos... including papery (yes, papery. I didnt mean to type 'peppery') burley - which I do not particularly like. By the end, the baby powder was back with a vengeance. It's also not a plug. It's a crumble kake - my least favorite presentation: you slice off a few flakes and as you try to arrange them for stuffing they crumble into sawdust between your fingers. Crumble kakes suck. The reviewers at TR were trying to identify the 'singular' (read: evil) topping; anise, valerian root, vanilla etc... It's baby powder guys. Stop over thinking it. Baby powder: plain -n- simple. My Pipe still reeks of baby powder this morning. Hopefully it fades soon. Maybe I'll set it out in the sun for a while and see if that helps. Hope it's not ruined.

-edit-

Scrubbed the bowl and stem out good with dark rum, pipe cleaners and paper towel. Seems to have attenuated the baby powder quite a bit. There's hope yet! Have to pass a bowl of Happy Bogie thru it soon. No ghost Can stand up to Happy Bogie!

[Pipe Smoker]

Smoking my gorgeous new Mark Tinsky bulldog:

American Estates Mark Tinsky Mocha Bulldog (5) (Four Star) (2017) (Unsmoked) | Buy American Estates Tobacco Pipes at Smokingpipes

Mark had his heart in this one. Breaking it in with Carter Hall, which is going down quite well. It’s a pretty good tobacco.