Tobacco pass finished - almost

I smoked the unmarked samples from P and found a new favourite, which, if given enough supply, I could dedicate the BigBenBrandy to. It may be hard to find in Sweden though...
Got the first one (Wessex Slices) about right though I didn't know brand or blend, I could tell it was a flake (d'uh) made out of mostly Burley and VA and so on. Not too hard given P is a great Burley fan. It was an OK smoke but a bit too strong in nicotine in the end giving me a dried out palate.

He fooled me on the second one though. I could've sworn it was a Balkan/English, but it was a Burley/Latakia/Perique(Crowley's Best). With that name of course it was destined to become a favourite of mine, even if I did't know it at the time of the testing.

Anyway, my part is done, and I've sent of two new samples and a corn cob to G in the UK for his pass. Once he's reviewed them, I'll let hom know what they actually are, and then that is that...

Tobacco tin pouch

Found this some time ago in an antiquity store. It is probably from the late fifties or so, made out of brass and engraved with a stylized picture of a happy naked lady.
Tobacco in this one doesn't stay moist for long, and that's fine with me. It carries app. rour-five bowls worth of tobacco, and I use it for unusual mixes, like Lancer's Slices and Fresh&Elegant (70/30; try it if you like sprinkled lemon over your smoked salmon).

Package fom US - I

So I got notice from (what's left of) the post office that a package from P had arrived. Having the day off I was on my way to go fishing the day after the ad agency party. Being a little slow in mind I hesitated to drive and slept a few more hours, then picked up the package and went off to the coast.

I did have some expectancy for this package since P had hinted that he would put some "goodies" in there besides the samples to review, so I didn't want to open it there in the dirty parking lot next to the supermarket. Once I had gotten to the coast I parked the car in an nice spot and turned my full attention to the package.

I was so eager to get it open that I snapped off the cheap tamper from my lighter trying to get throught the meticulously taped box. Once I got it open an intense aroma that somehow made me think of Christmas filled the car.

It was nicely stuffed with plastic bags to fill up the empty space surrounding a bundle of ziplock bags and some bubble wrapper through which I could just make out the contours of a corn cob pipe.

But, wait ... what the ... there's a bag in jet black naugahyde in the bottom of the box! I reach down and pull it out. I can feel through the sock that there are two parts in there. My God, is there something in there that has broken even though the box is undamaged? No, it can't be?!. My eyes fall upon a folded sheet of paper, and I decide to read the letter before I open the sock.

P writes about the tobacco sampling and instructions on how to go about it hmm yes, and more? He then tells me about the extra tobaccos that he has supplied me with and they are made out of, and then, in a very matter-of-factly way, as if it was the most natural thing in the world : "The BigBen Brandy is for your collection. Dedicate her to one of your favourites."

With trembling fingers I open the pipe sock and pry into it to find first the stem. It is a full saddle black ebonite, with a decoration ring of some lighter wood, and most importantly it is NOT broken! P has been foresighted enough not to put down the pipe mounted! Phew!

Package from the US II

I now reach into the bag agin to feel a smooth rounded bowl that I pull out and what I see makes me gasp! It is a chestnut brown brandy shaped pre-carbonated bowl with a grain that explodes in the autumn sun! I insert the stem that sets both the stain and the grain off with the contrasting light wood ring! It is a BEAUTY!

Ad agency party recruiting

So I went to this party that a competitor/colleague arranged. They had the nicest city office with a cool roof terrace in a 19th century building so there was a BBQ and live bands and beer and White Russian aplenty.

I was enjoying a nice pipe of Wingate when I noticed this young woman approaching me with a nervous smile. It turned out she had "stolen" a pipe from her father which had belonged to her grandfather, and she wanted to know if I could show her how to use it!

Charmed by her innocent looks and always willing to expand the pipe community we spent a good half hour sharing advice, tobacco and some cleaners. She was ever so happy she had finally brought up enough guts to ask me about pipe smoking, and assured me she would continue to smoke that beloved bulldog (that her father had been only to happy to give her once he found out she wanted it).

Joined in the tobacco passing

In the smokersforum.com somenone started a new thread which sends tremors IRL. Its a pass-it-forward thing where you recieve an unsmoked corn cob and two samples of tobbaco that you are going to review on the forum. Once you're done you pass the same type of package forward to the next in line. Interesting concept and gives you something too look forward to. I am waiting for P's package to get here from the US.

L.O.F. complete! Dissapointment pursues

Yep, the G.L.Pease Caravan tin of 57 g arrived together with a sample of Lancer's Black slices and a generous pinch of pure Perique which P had been kind enough to enclose!
I left job a little earlier to pick it up, and because the other colleagues where afraid of catching my beginning cold...

I took a good scotch on the way home to stop the cold and brought a pizza to eat before I would try out the new tobacco. I was extremely expectant and could hardly wait to get to smoke this, I opened the tiny cute little tin in the bar and had a smell - almost nothing? I shrugged and went home. Ate half the pizza 'til I just HAD to smoke.

I stuffed the Bjarne Exam pipe with GLP and lit it. Darned sissy tobacco. Didn't taste a thing? Disappointed I laid the halfsmoked pipe down for DGT, and stuffed another pipe with the Lancer's Slices and lit it. Nope, same crap didn't taste balooba. Another DGT candidate.

I wouldn't go to bed without a sturdy smoke so I stuffed my HCA III with Kong Frederick IX and sat down to light it up. What the ??! That also tasted like hay!?

I realized that the cold had gottenn my tongue and nose and went to bed early...

1st Leap of Faith (almost) complete!

Yesterday as I stumbled across the threshold of my humble mansion there was a note from the mail that I indeed had a package from yUSA to collect in my nearest post office!
Didn't have the time to go there that evening because I had to fix dinner for the family etc. After having told P on the forum, I poured myself a glass of American bourbon to celebrate the successful Leap of Faith!

This could be the beginning of a new "running" operation, I am looking at Samarra, Odyssey ...

L.O.F. Report Monday II

Today i got News from P that he had recieved the F&E package. He had shared some of it with his friends, and they had all thoroughly enjoyed it! Good, good. Actually they enjoyed it so much they want more... See how we'll solve it.

Bonus Picture of BBBFN 575

Expanding pipe community

Today colleague A decided to buy his first pipe. One of his friends decided to take up pipe smoking at the same time, since he had recieved a pipe for his thirtieth birthday.

All of this pipe stuff made me feel the need for a new pipe. Irrational but ...
I went down to Brobergs and had a look. The lady told me they didn't have that many pipes in at the moment but that wouldn't stop me now when I had come this far.
I hesitated for a while to buy the one I did, because it was made for 9mm filter, but the lady inserted a plug of some sort in the pipe that she assured me would make me forget it was ever designed to be fitted with a filter.

I had been looking at this pipe previously, and now was the time to strike. Big Ben Bora Flair Natural 575, welcome to my ever-growing collection!