Category: Pipes & Tobacco

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Peterson Atlantic Rusticated 221

I was in London for a couple of weeks around Easter 2022. I had not taken a pipe along with me, kind of on purpose. I did take some tobacco and a lighter, but not a pipe. I figured that if I had time, I could visit one of the pipe shops in London. With my work schedule I didn’t have the time to get to any of them while they were open. I did, however, find out that Selfridges has a James J Fox tobacconist in the store. That was a short tube ride and walk away, and they were open late, so off I went.

They had a small selection of pipes, and this one caught my eye. It being JJ Fox, in Selfridges, in London, I overpaid shamefully. That said, I love the pipe. It a favorite of mine that I use regularly. That said, it seems to have an issue with condensation and gurgling that sometimes cannot be overcome even with the Peterson “system”. I don’t know if it’s the shape or something else. (see edits below)

Rusticated Peterson Atlantic 221

Update Jan. ’24: I still like this pipe. The gurgling issue is partly the shape, and partly (the bigger part) a case of very poor drilling. The draft hole in the shank is drilled way off, intersecting around the very end of the tenon. This causes a large amount of turbulence in the airflow, and causes the moisture to condense out of the smoke. Of course there’s no way to get a pipe cleaner down there without removing the stem, so one either just deals with it or ends up with a large, soggy dottle — or both.

The peanut gallery is by now screaming, “But you just need to smoke slower!! Dry out your tobacco!” I can assure you — doing both these things will still result in a healthy gurgle about halfway through the bowl. I may do some work on the upper end of the draft hole one of these days when I’m feeling adventurous, but for now I just put up with it. I’m happy that Peterson is kind enough to hire the blind, I just wish they didn’t give them drills. 🙂

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Ashton Consummate Gentleman

I was looking for a tobacco to try some Latakia. Boy, did I find it!

I was attracted to Consummate Gentleman by the tin and the name, to be honest, as well as the description. I wanted to try a Latakia blend. I’d also never tried a tinned tobacco before, just bulk tobacco bought by the ounce. OK, I take that back! I’d bought a 100g tin of tobacco at the Danish Pipe Shop in Copenhagen, and loved it. It’s a totally different type of tin, though.

Just opening the tin was a new one for me. The lid wasn’t coming off with any normal human amount of force. It’s pretty well vacuum sealed. Finally figured out to use the tip of a butter knife to twist under the lid just enough to break the airtight seal and let some air in, then it opened up easily.

I was immediately struck by the strong, distinctly smoky aroma. Wow! If you like Laphroiag or Lagavulin you’ll probably like a Latakia blend. It smells a bit like a smoldering barn. It’s the kind of aroma that your male friends will love, and will cause most women to recoil in horror. There’s a paper liner in the tin to keep the tobacco from being in direct contact with the metal, as is the case (I believe) with all of the flat, vacuum sealed tins of this type. The tobacco was tightly packed and required a little rubbing or digging to get it to separate. Once I got some in hand, it seemed quite a bit less moist than the aromatics I’m used to. Some of them can feel downright oily or goopy; this was not overly dry, but I didn’t think I’d have problems keeping it lit.

Undaunted by the strong aroma, I loaded up a MM corncob and tried it out. It’s definitely a change from a milder aromatic like the Ted’s #1 (also known as RLP-6) that I’m used to as my daily smoke. There’s a lot of tobacco flavor in this one, rather than syrupy toppings. The Latakia adds a distinct smoky flavor that I didn’t find overbearing or too strong.

My wife was sitting a few feet away and said the smoke was tolerable, but not pleasant as is the smoke from the aromatic blends I’m usually smoking. As I figured would be the case, I didn’t have trouble keeping it lit. It’s not unusual for me to need to relight my pipe pretty often, but I think I made it through half a bowl of this with one or maybe two relights.

All in all, I like it. I won’t be making it my daily smoke, but just like a good Islay Scotch there are times when you’re just in the mood for a little bit of smoke in your life. It’s something different, and I’ll be keeping it around. I think this will be perfect for a nice little clay pipe I’ve got with a smaller bowl. I’ve got the tobacco in a jar for now, not knowing how well it will keep in the tin and paper.

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Lane Ltd. BCA (“Dark Horse”)

My local shop has a blend they call “Dark Horse” that I found out is bulk Lane Ltd BCA. It’s a nearly jet black Cavendish, with virtually no tobacco smell — the tin note (or bag note, I guess) seems to be mostly sugary, with some rum or whiskey. You smell the casings (toppings?), not the tobacco. I tried a bowl of it last night in my Peterson Atlantic 221. It’s quite mild and inoffensive to the point of being too mild. It’s a little boring, actually. There’s smoke there, but really not a lot of character. I don’t think I’ll make this a regular smoke in my rotation, but it might be nice for taking some of the edge off of a Virginia or VA/Perique blend that’s otherwise just too stout for my taste. Time will tell. I’m glad I tried it, but so far it’s not a real “keeper” for me. I’ve read a couple of reviews that say it gets better the more often you smoke it; I’ll use up the ounce I bought and see how it does.

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Savinelli Bing’s Favorite Limited Edition Arlecchino

There is probably only one thing that the late Bing Crosby and I have in common. I’ve got none of his talent and I don’t golf, but I love this pipe.

Savinelli makes a line of “Bing’s Favorite” pipes in various finishes. I was visiting my local shop, Ted’s Tobacco, partly to look at some of the Savinelli pipes I knew he carried. I was mostly interested in the 320KS shape, a chubby “author” bowl design. What caught my eye was this polar opposite. The Bing’s Favorite is a billiard with slim, elegant lines and a long shank. There were several in the case with various colored stems, but this one is the very unique “Arlecchino” stem that I love. When I saw pictures of the Bing’s Favorite on line I thought the stem would be a little longer than I would like; I was wrong.

I’ve smoked this pipe a number of times and it’s been wonderful. It accommodates a 6mm filter, either the standard Savinelli balsa or a cut-down Medico or Dr. Grabow paper filter. I get no gurgling or tongue bite at all. I love the size, the balance, the feel of it. I’m fond enough of it that I’m seriously considering buying a regular Bing’s Favorite in a smooth finish with the regular stem.

Savinelli Bing’s Favorite Arlecchino
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Pipe smoking

I’ve smoked a pipe before at various times. The first was back in the very early 1980s for a while. I started up again back around 2016-2017, and in fact picked up some absolutely wonderful tobacco at the Danish Pipe Shop in Copenhagen. I hadn’t smoked one in probably a year or so until earlier this year, when I stopped by Ted’s Tobacco again.

Once upon a time, we had some pipe shops in Omaha that also carried a few cigars. I’m reaching back to the 1970s and 1980 here… the days of David’s Briar Shop at Westroads. You could also likely find pretty fresh pipe tobacco at your local grocery or drug store. You could even buy pipes, albeit cheap ones, at one or two of the local drug store chains.

Those days are, of course, long gone. I don’t recall the last time I encountered another pipe smoker, either around here or while traveling (not counting the pipe shop staff in Copenhagen). I can find four shops in Omaha that sell pipe tobacco now — and all of them clearly sell cigars as their overwhelmingly major primary business. Of those four, two are way too far away to be practical — one is in the Old Market, the other on the northern edge of town. One, Ted’s Tobacco, is only a few minutes’ drive from my house. that’s where I’ve done most of my shopping for tobacco and pipes. Of the five pipes I currently own, two came from Ted’s, two from Missouri Meerschaum, and one I bought at Selfridge’s in London.

I’ll be posting more about the pipes and the tobacco I have tried and like, or dislike, or simply can’t smoke, as time goes on.