In the thick emerald forests of Belgium, nestled amongst the foggy breadth of the Ardennes Valley, there lives a brilliant wizard named Vincent Manil, and he creates MAGIC!

It may sound like the beginning of some Harry Potter Style fantasy book, but the place I speak of is real, and so is the man (and his tobacco wizardry).

If you are a fan of rich burley tobaccos and you haven't yet tried one of the three offerings from the artisan blender at Tabac Manil, you are sadly missing out. There are three fantastic blends of pure, additive free, tobacco on offer, and each one brings a unique approach to an age-old burley that has been delighting smokers for a very long time.

The Tabac Manil Series

The Tabac Manil Semois line-up is simple: There is La Brumeuse, Le Petit Robin, and Reserve du Patron. Each tobacco offers a distinct experience to the discerning smoker. I find that once someone experiences these fine tobaccos, they often have at least one of them on hand in their rotation.

When you get your first brick of Tabac Manil tobacco, you will no doubt make a note of its arid nature. All three of the blends come very dry in pressed blocks of ribbon cut tobacco than you crumble off and push into the pipe. New smokers must resist the urge to rehydrate before they smoke, as the dry leaf brings an excited, perfect burn that is all a part of the experience. As a result, the smoker must pack the tobacco tighter than he or she would typically pack a pipe. Also worth noting is that Tabac Manil blends require no charring light and usually do not require a touch-up as you smoke.

Today we are going to discuss them and compare their characteristics so that you can make the right decision on where to begin your Ardennes adventure!

Before we begin, let's talk about the magic that is the jewel center of all three of Vincent Manil's blends, which he painstakingly crafts from the first seed in the ground to the last package on the truck. Semois. You may have heard of it. It is an offshoot of Burley known for it's hefty, lightly floral, complex Sumatra leaf qualities. In fact, you will sometimes hear Tabac Manil mentioned by those in the know when a cigar smoker claims they are looking to dip their toe into the world of pipe tobacco.

While it's true that Tabac Manil offers a transformative gateway smoke to the cigar smoker, there is much more on offer than merely passing the torch to a fresh hobbyist with a taste for rolled goods. These three blends bring new meaning to the word "subtle nuance" and can inspire years of calm, contemplative smoking for those who are interested.

Though they all have similar qualities, thanks to the Semois, the smoke of each blend is entirely different. So where do you begin?

Let's look at each one, shall we?

First, there is La Brumeuse.

Upon unwrapping the pressed brick of thick cut ribbon, you are met with a hearty tin note of earth, charred forest bark, and fresh leather. You will also notice a hint of rye bread essence and fresh mushroom scent there as well. Many say it is an intoxicating aroma.

When you light it up, these tin notes intensify with a base of dry hay baking in the afternoon sunlight, followed by a very light floral taste in the background, just a bystander, barely noticeable but there none the less. As you go deeper into the bowl, there are meaty fungal notes, something dark like a rainsoaked cellar at night and tingling spices. There are hints of coffee grounds and whisps of a loaf of bread cooling in the window on an Autumn day. Around the corner, I taste a touch of hops, like the aftertaste of a Guinness Stout, which is why I sometimes pair the two.

Though it is a singular blend, you will find that simplicity stops there, as many tastes will flood the mind of the distinguished smoker from the first puff to the last draw. It serves both leagues, the contemplative smoker or the person who just wants to relax. It burns clean and satisfying, leaving behind beautiful gray-white ash.

Next is Le Petit Robin.

This unusual blend has a sweeter tin note and is a bit heavier on the hay characteristics and floral aromas than the other

two. It includes around thirty percent of the magical Semois, with the other seventy percent made up of mysterious golden tobaccos, the identity of which Mr. Manil keeps a secret.

Le Petit Robin is finely cut into a beautifully spun shag and pressed into a firm brick for your smoking pleasure. You will pick up on the exquisite quality of the leaves the moment you unwrap the packaging and break it apart, releasing the sweet and savory aromas.

From first light, the experience is intense. As it burns, you will notice it has more sugar to the taste and is smoother, almost buttery, with hints of dry wood on a campfire, crackling. There are roasted nuts and early morning coffee memories that come to mind.

The Semois is there, as with La Brumeuse, and brings the full-bodied qualities, but it is added with a light hand, offering that lush mineral burn and meaty dirt-floored-cellar quality of an exotic cigar, but it is not as pronounced. I would say that those who find the earthy, leathery tones of the other two tobaccos to be a bit much, will see that Le Petit Robin is their tobacco of choice.

This blend provides a volley of sweet and savory that keeps the smoker awake with possibilities. It offers a bit more for the contemplative smoker to chew on than the other two. There are grassy layers of smoke mixed with piquant spices that burn to the very bottom of the bowl with white ash and deep contentment.

Overall, I'd say that Le Petit Robin gives you slightly more nuance to explore than the other two tobaccos on offer from Tabac Manil and may not be as ideal for straight relaxation as the other two.

Finally, we finish with Reserve du Patron.

As you unwrap the pressed block of medium-cut ribbon, you will smell a deep woodsy, spicey, cigar-like aroma that brings to mind stepping into an age-old barn and breathing deep.

Upon first light, the experience is profound and mysterious with notes of oats, herbs, nuts, spice, and earth all rushing past your palette like no other.

The throughline of Semois that connects them all is, of course, present here, but you find it has a more robust hand in the La Brumeuse and a lighter touch in the Le Petit Robin. Reserve du Patron also offers less of the floral notes than the other two, and a more standard Burley experience to my taste, though the noteworthy nuances are still there to explore.

Like La Brumeuse, it can be enjoyed for relaxation or profound meditation on the tobacco qualities alone, I've approached it both ways myself.

Reserve du Patron blend offers a middle ground for someone who wants to experience a little of both worlds and packs a punch from the first kiss of flame to the last puff at the bottom of the bowl, ending with whitish gray ash.

Explore the Mystic Blends

And there you have it! I hope that one of them sounds right for you. I wish you the best in your exploration of the mystic Ardennes Valley. Thanks for coming with me today! It was my pleasure, and I hope I transferred some excitement about the prospects of smoking such a fantastic artisan blend. Smoke deep and enjoy it! See you next time!

Zippo has been the number one name in lighters pretty much since George G. Blaisdell developed the first of their lighters in the early 1930’s.

According to popular stories, Blaisdell decided to make an attempt at improving lighters based on the design of Austrian lighters that were popular at the time. The chimney design was very useful in protecting the flame, and it would work well despite any winds fighting it. However, that was the only positive to the Austrian design, as Blaisdell noted that the lighter was difficult to use, required both hands, and was easily damaged and dented.

So Blaisdell decided to take his own approach, on the idea that a person should only need to use one hand to work their lighter. He made a small, rectangular case with a hinge to serve as a snuffer cap, while also protecting the wick and fuel when not in use. A little shrinking of the model and you got a comfortable, practical lighter that anyone can use with only one hand. Legend has it that Blaisdell got the name for the product because he liked the word “zipper” and decided that “Zippo” had a modern sound to it.

Adding his now famous lifetime guarantee, which the company still holds to, and we now have an Iconic American business and product.

While the decorative aspects of Zippo have taken almost a life of their own, the basic design for the Zippo lighters have not changed much since they were originally made. Colorful and intricate cases they may be, but at its heart, a Zippo is still a rectangular case that houses a lighting component with space for fuel.

That inside component used to be simple and old school, but Zippo has undergone a number of amazing improvements that keep their lighters at the top tier of lighters in the world. Right now, Zippo has five different inserts for their lighters that will allow you to further add to your customization choices.

Zippo Regular Insert

The Zippo classic original insert still has the chimney style design that helps prevent the wind from blowing out the fire. The lighter uses a traditional Zippo wick and lighter fluid, along with the original flint and wheel design. Zippo provides their own lighter fluid, one they claim will make the lighter work best and they say has a minimal odor to it.

Zippo Pipe Insert

The pipe insert was specifically designed to help out anyone that enjoys smoking a pipe. Using the same fuel as the original design, this insert was made differently, with a hole in the side of the chimney design that will allow users to more easily direct the flame down to the tobacco in the pipe. This helps users light and enjoy their tobacco but not do any damage to the pipe itself.

Zippo Single Torch Insert

For years, cigar smokers have avoided Zippos like the plague. The lighter fuel used in the traditional Zippo was said to ruin the flavor of a cigar, rendering the lighter practically useless for anyone that wanted to enjoy their smoking experience. The company now has a fix for that issue with the butane fueled single and double torch inserts. No wick or flint required, these sources have a piezoelectric ignition system you activate with a push down button at the top of the insert which will get you a hot flame that you can adjust as needed. These flames get incredibly hot, the Zippo website claims they can reach over 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature and odorless fuel combination make the single or double torch inserts the perfect options for cigar aficionados. So there should be no doubt that a single or double torch can light just about anything you need it to.

Zippo Double Torch Insert

The double torch is the same as the single torch, except for two flame sources here instead of one. Equally useful as the single torch, the double torch insert is preferred by some cigar smokers for the ability to cover more area of the cigar at once, making for a more even light. That, or people just use it for the pleasing aesthetic of two flames instead of one.

Zippo Double Arc Insert

If you’re looking for a really cool looking ignition system, the double arc insert is the one for you. However, if you want something that will easily light your cigars or pipes, this insert is not for you. Using electricity to create a lighting source, the X-shaped flame is actually two plasma beams crossing each other. These beams do not reach out far, so if you want to light something, it needs to be very close to the lighter, in order to touch the beam. Still, this is the cleanest of the inserts, as you don’t need to fuel it with anything. Simply plug the insert in and allow it to charge, Zippo claims it will be fully charged in one hour. Good to light smaller objects that can easily reach the beams, the double arc is probably not going to be the choice of cigar or pipe smokers.

With over 150 years worth of choices, adding to your collection of Peterson pipes can be an exercise in analysis paralysis. The current portfolio is enough to keep you sorting through choices for months. Add estate considerations and, although not really infinite, the choices begin to feel that way.

Adding to your Peterson pipe collection

Before we try logic, a word on emotional response.

Well-made tobacco pipes, even factory-made varieties like Peterson, are art pieces. Just like viewing a painting, occasionally your response to a particular pipe is completely illogical, driven by an emotional connection to the piece that can’t be quantified. In those cases, we always encourage you to throw the “rules” out the window and buy what moves you.

Now that we got that out of the way, here are some logical things to consider:

1. Is the pipe for artistic value or practicality?

Nearly all Peterson pipes are practical smokers. That is the number one reason smokers buy factory-made pipes--reliability. However, there are distinct differences in styles and user personalities within the Peterson family that make some pieces more practical than others. For instance, a Churchwarden might not be the best option if you like to smoke a bowl while you’re working, but it would be a great experience to wind down with at night..

2. Do you have past experiences with the particular shape or series? If so, what do they tell you?

This question won’t always help with estate pipes, but it will when it comes to current shapes and series. With a few notable exceptions, Peterson pipes are made in classic styles and the characteristics of the shape hold true across most series. A great example is the ever-popular Authors. While the individual dimensions vary a bit, they are similar enough that if you already know you like the Author in the Donegal Rocky series, it’s safe to assume you’ll like it in the Killarney series too.

Conversely, if your collection is already well-acquainted with a particular shape, it might be time to branch out a little and try something new.

3. What value does the pipe add to your rotation, given your current collection?

The answer to this question will be vastly different for new pipe collectors versus long-term aficionados. If you are just starting out, your initial aim will probably be to acquire enough practical pipes to complete a rotation (typically four to seven, but it varies by usage habits).

If you are a collector with an established core set, you may be looking for pieces with historical significance or which you believe may have historical significance in the future. For instance, many of our customers collect the limited edition pipes, despite their reputation as “beginner” pipes, with an eye to the future.

4. There are special event pipes. How can they benefit your collection?

Along with all of the regular pipes manufactured, Peterson also releases special edition pipes to commemorate times of the year and other special occasions. Being an Irish company, one of the more fitting special event pipes has to be their St. Patrick’s Day annual lines. 

These pipes, colored a vibrant green, will stand out amongst any collection, whether you are just starting out or have hundreds of pipes already. Another annual line they produce is for Christmas. The 2020 editions are elegant pipes that have a crisp, black finish with a brilliant brass ring separating bowl from stem. These can be a fun collector’s piece, especially if you like to have one from each year.

Speaking of years, the Peterson Pipe of the Year has been made since 1997, and has a limited run of supply for each year. Each pipe is numbered so you will know it and comes in a specialty box for your collection.

It’s not just calendar events that gets the special Peterson touch. Lines of pipes have been made to pay homage to notable books and fictional characters. These lines, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and Sherlock Holmes each can hold a special place amongst your collection for both their looks and why they were made.

The Dracula line of pipes come in both smooth and sandblasted finishes, allowing you to have your choice if you have a preferred look. These smoking pipes have a black bowl and a very intriguing stem, red with black swirls. Truly a pipe to see and be seen with.

Speaking of pipes to see, the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde pipes are truly different. In fitting with the namesake character this pipe is almost two in one. One half of the bowl is smooth and the other half is sandblasted, creating a vastly different look to any pipe you’re likely to have seen before.

Finally, we get to the Sherlock Holmes line. This line has enough pipes in it to have a collection all its own. Amongst them are the Baskerville model, one a smooth ebony model lovingly crafted with a sterling silver ring stamped with the titular character’s profile, the others having a sandblasted finish and a third with a rustic finish that would be fitting for the actual era of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary masterpiece.

Another pipe in the Holmes line pays homage to the character’s home with the Baker Street pipe.

Again having the three finish types, the Baker Street pipe has an ebony variant as well, but primarily comes in an amber color. The smooth variant of the pipe shows off the grain of the wood spectacularly, with a great sterling silver ring separating the bowl from the stem.

Displaying your collection

For both established collectors and those beginning their Peterson journey, having the right pipes is only as good as making sure you have the right way to show them off. You should make sure people can get the best view of your prizes by having the right pipe stands that will hold them with care. After all, what’s the point of having a collection if you’re not going to be able to enjoy them?

So sit back, smoke a bowl and consider your collection before indulging in your next Peterson pipe purchase. Then you can enjoy the process of choosing almost as much as owning. 

For the uninitiated, tobacco pipes can be smoked with or without filters. These filters are the source of major debates between pipe smokers. Some love them and use them religiously, others will never touch them. For you, it will all depend on what your experience is and if you enjoyed it and want to repeat that as how you want to smoke. That said, one of the most well known filters out there would be the Savinelli balsa filters.

Founded in 1876 in Italy, Savinelli is one of the largest pipe manufacturers in the world. Their innovation has led to them being renowned for their creativity and high quality pipes. Their pipes use the balsa filters, though many of them also have their signature convertible balsa system, meaning they can be either filtered, or you can acquire a spacer and have them unfiltered.

What does a filter do?

Pipe filters are used to absorb excess tar and nicotine from the tobacco. Obviously, the less of that we have in our bodies, the better it is for us. With balsa filters, there is also the added benefit of cooling and drying the smoke. Using the balsa wood does not alter the flavor of the tobacco, nor does it affect the aroma. This allows smokers to enjoy their tobacco with less risk of tongue bite or having the pipe gurgle.

Why balsa wood?

Balsa wood is a super light weight wood. It is one of the softest woods available, and is able to be cut with ease. Add this to the wood’s absorbent abilities, and you have the perfect filter to absorb moisture, tar, and nicotine. Found in the rainforests of Central and South America, balsa wood comes from a rapidly growing tree that tends to thrive in the areas with a decent space between trees. It is rare to see many of those trees in one area, as their seeds don’t drop like traditional trees. Rather, their seeds are like dandelion seeds and get blown to land in new areas away from the original tree.

Oh and when we say rapidly growing trees, we mean it. It is not uncommon to have a tree reach more than 16 feet tall within a year of growth. They generally reach a maximum height of 100 ft. tall at maturity and are usually harvestable within six to ten years. This fast growth makes them very useful for the forests after events like hurricanes or fires, as they can quickly get high enough to protect the undergrowth and newer seedlings from the hard tropical sun.

For humans though, it is the balsa wood’s light weight that is the biggest benefit. The wood is naturally very porous, as it has very large and thin cells which are filled with water while the tree is alive. This makes the tree only around 40 percent or actual substance, while the rest is air. This water in the cells is why the trees can grow and stay standing in nature, but it is also great for those of us that use these balsa filters, as that porousness allows the wood to absorb much of the moisture, tar, nicotine, and other elements we don’t necessarily want while enjoying our pipes.

Preparing the wood.

For such a light wood, the actual felled tree is quite heavy. This is due to all the water in the cells. The way we get the finished product is from how the wood gets prepared after it is chopped down.

Once the wood is received, it must be dried out before it is ready to be sold. That process is done in a kiln, where the wood spends two weeks carefully drying out. It must be done that carefully because any faster can damage the wood because the water would be removed too fast. When the wood is finished in the kiln, the water content will have gone from 60 percent to just 6. It is also during this time where any bacteria, fungi, or insects in the raw wood will be killed off, so it is essential to have the kiln drying.

Afterwards, the now dry wood will be substantially lighter than before and ready for sale and use.

Shaping and sizing for use.

Now we are getting to the good stuff. Balsa wood is very easy to work with, so easy that power tools are generally unnecessary once you get thin enough. However, it is very easy to damage and deform the wood so when cutting they use the sharpest blades available. This makes precision by the workers very important.

For Savinelli, they shape their filters into two different sizes, six and nine millimeters. These sizes will correspond perfectly with the sizes for your pipes. Once you know what size you need for your pipe, it is easy enough to insert. Simply place the filter into your pipe’s stem, pack your bowl, and enjoy a smooth smoking experience.

Are filters for you?

If you don’t care for filters, that’s perfectly fine. While Savinelli pipes are made with filters in mind, they do offer adapters for them that will give you an unfiltered smoke. Also coming in six and nine millimeter options, these adapters will take the place of the filters and offer you the option to choose how you want to enjoy using your pipes.

Short List of Favorite Pipe Brands We Carry

For a new pipe smoker or a collector branching out into other lines, the large selection of tobacco pipes available can sometimes seem daunting. To help make it a little easier, scroll these visual examples of some of the most popular brands of smoking pipes. These examples do not represent the whole line, but provide a quick example of the aesthetic of different companies and makers. Scroll through and choose your favorite from top tobacco pipe brands. And remember, this is simply a starting point, exploring is half the fun...

Current Pipe Brands We Carry

Angelo and Dorelio Rivera, a father and son team, created Ardor Pipes in 1974. The company had plenty of earlier evolutions, but it wasn’t until the combination of the duo’s initials that created “Ardor” came into being that a middle-of-the-road product into the handcrafted artisan pipes we love the company for today. If artisan pipes are your thing, but spending thousands of dollars isn’t, an Ardor pipe could be just right for you.

The most beloved French pipe brand, Butz-Choquin, has been producing beautifully crafted pipes since 1858. It is difficult to choose a few BC pipes that are indicative of the line. Expect these to violate the “business-as-usual” of design with elegance and a flair for French fashion sensibility. Quality, affordability and style make this one of the most popular brands in our inventory.

The influence of Achilles Savinelli and his partnership with founder, Enea Buzzi, can still be seen today in this Italian brand’s design sensibilities. Today Brebbia pipes are created by a small dedicated team of less than 20 employees. These briar pipes have a reputation as comfortable smokers, at an affordable price point. They are a great choice for beginners.

Made by Chapuis-Comoy, the Chacom brand is a combination of two famous pipe families and their legacy. One of the most beloved French brands, these were the pipes that soldiers all over Europe (with the exception of Great Britain and Ireland) carried into battle.

The Comoy family is one of the most legendary in the briar pipes world. Chapuis Comoy is the most affordable line in this many-brand company’s arsenal. These are machine drilled pipes with simple natural grains. A great place for new smokers to start or for workhorse pipes for the outdoorsman.

Clay pipes are often used tasting today. But before the briar pipe took over these were the most common way to smoke. Often used in historical reenactments, a clay pipe will smoke hotter than briar, but will be completely clean, tasting only of the tobacco.

The most American of all our brands, Dr. Grabow pipes are made in The Blue Ridge Mountains. The company is more than 60-years-old and is named specifically to help give pipe smoking a softer image in the U.S. Choose your affordable Dr. Grabow pipe and get it with free shipping!

Falcon pipes are some of the most interesting and utilitarian tobacco pipes around. With interchangeable pipe bowls and stems, the combinations are many and varied. Choose just one or two, or become a collector. These cool-smoking pieces are highly affordable, making it easy to make your seven day set!

If you are looking to add a new style of pipe to your collection, one that has a bit more color, then check out the new and improved Falcon Colored Pipe Stems product. We always include free domestic shipping without Falcon Colored pipe stems

4th Generation Tobacco Pipes were made to honor one of the most beloved families in pipe tobacco history, the Stokkebyes. With different shapes for every year and three finishes to choose from, you're going to find something extremely collectible here.

Joe Case hand carves his celebrated briar pipes in a basement studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Joe Case Pipes are a modern example of the exciting artisan work coming out the USA right now. Known for his Dagner Poker and other unique shapes, his smoking pipes are expertly carved collectibles you’ll want more than one of.

Jolly Roger tobacco pipes are the invention of artist Roger Wallenstein. These high grade German tobacco pipes have each been inspired by some pirate themed piece of history, character, or folklore. Each of our Jolly Roger tobacco pipes comes with a second white acrylic stem.

Before there was briar, there were Meerschaum pipes. Elaborately carved and highly collectable, Meerschaum has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last 20 years because many smokers believe it creates a more true tobacco state, because the vehicle for the tobacco is non-porous. Whatever your reason for buying, a Meerschaum pipe will look as cool on the shelf as it does when you smoke.

Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipes are as American as apple pie...or Mark Twain, perhaps the most famous of all cob smokers. Choose one or start a collection, these American-made pipes are affordable and collectible.

Molina tobacco pipes are some of the most storied and proud creations of the Italian pipe making family. From the traditional Barasso collection, and even up to the modern and daring Carbon series, Molina is always pushing the lines of the market, making pipes that are going to revolutionize pipe smoking.

Talented carver, Chris Morgan, is a popular artisan. His Briar Cigars are favorites. The Blackjack Series, our first pipes from Morgan, are his venture into factory-made pipes. They feature Morgan’s customary precision and aesthetic at a more accessible price.

Some of the most sought after smoking pipes by the younger generation of collectors, Scandinavian pipes by Erik Nording are free form and interesting, with a serious nod to the natural beauty of briar.

The new kid on the block, Old Dominion corncobs are made with a unique heirloom corn cob that is left over from the milling of one of America’s most sought after flours. Costing just a few dollars each, these make a wonderful tasting pipe or gift.

OMS Pipes are the brainchild of Salam of One Man Smokes. You might know him as the “Godfather of YouTube”. He says these briar pipes are made to be holdable, smokeable and durable. These are the ultimate work-day briars for your collection.

The name Owl comes from Steve Lavoice Jr’s inspiration for carving pipes--his grandfather. It’s the initials for “Older Warren Lavoice”. Owl Pipes are whimsical, unexpected and one-of-a-kind.

Lavoice Jr’s charming smokers make great gifts. Each one is packaged in a hand-painted keepsake box and includes unique surprises along with the unforgettable pipe.

We all know the slogan, “A thinking man smokes a Peterson pipe.” The Irish brand is one of the most beloved makers of briar pipes the world over. Pictured here are a few of the most traditional Petersons, but the line is so large and varied that there is something for almost everyone here.

The minimalist look of Hekthor Weibe’s Radiator Pipes have made them the darling of the Millennial pipe community. Redefining what we traditionally think of as a smoking pipe, these interchangeable briar bowls and stainless steel stems are favorites of those who like to innovate.

The Rattray's tobacco and pipe company began in the year of 1903 when Charles Rattray opened a small tobacco shop in Perth, Scotland. Today Rattray's is owned and operated out of Germany and produces pipes that represent Europe at a high degree. Choose from our large selection of Rattray's tobacco pipes for sale.

Rinaldo pipes are hand carved and unique. The two brothers that make up the team are some of the most talented European carvers still working today. These unique pipes are sure to be in your collection for generations!

Rossi pipes are made by Savinelli and then stamped with the old and storied name. Choose one of these affordable Italian pipes and you’ll own something sure to be a classic.

Quality Italian briar meets the famously good taste of Italy’s designers in the Savinelli brand. Most Savinellis feature the famous Savinelli Balsa System, a unique wooden filter that absorbs impurities and moisture ensuring a cool and dry smoke.

Germany’s most successful brand, Vauen pipes feature a 9 mm charcoal filter, known as the Dr. Perl to remove impurities and cool down the smoke. This system is extremely popular in Germany and gaining ground in America too.

Need a special gift for the pipe smoker in your life? These gift sets are a perfect way to show your love with class.

Brands No Longer Carried

Benny Thomsen pipes come to us through a collaboration with The Danish Pipe Shop. Thomsen learned his craft, which he began exploring in 2012, under the tutelage of such masters as Tom Eltang and Peter Klein. His work demonstrates that heritage, but has a unique style that we find extremely attractive.

Made by Kentucky-based American pipe carver, Brandon Brooks, these affordable artisan pipes can often be found with unique finishes. Brandon is heavily influenced by the Nashville scene--having spent time in the music business there--and you can see that aesthetic in his rock-n-roll style designs. All Brandon Brooks Pipes come with custom made Krakin Pipe Leather bags made specifically to match each one.

Briar Boy Pipes are hand carved by fellow Floridian, Aaron Strange, in his small studio. Relatively unknown, Strange’s work is inventive and meticulous. Scoop up one of his affordable and creative designs while you can, because we expect them to be harder and harder to come by as his notoriety builds.

Consider Caminetto pipes the high-end jewelry of Italian tobacco pipes. They are made by one of the founder’s sons today, Robert Ascorti and represent some of the best in Italian design.

Made in Florida, Cardinal House Pipes are the work of artisan carver, Walt Cannoy. Cannoy has long been a favorite for his high-grade briar and meerschaum pipes. With the Cardinal House brand, he brings the precision of a Cannoy creation to the masses.

Made by hand in England, Castleford’s master craftsman, famous carver Colin Fromm’s genius is everywhere on these unique tobacco pipes.

These collectable and rather unheard tobacco pipes were inspired by the world famous Chieftain's whiskey. The shape and finish design of these tobacco pipes were designed by German artist Roger Wallenstein. Between the One Finger and Balance pipes, Chieftain's tobacco pipes are some of the most unique on the market.

YouTube sensation, Jayson Dagner, meticulously designs each line of Dagner Pipes. Made in collectible seasons, these popular smoking pipes are specifically designed with the working person in mind. Rustic finishes and interesting design details have quickly made Dagner custom designed pipes cult classics.

EWA Pipes are made in St. Claude, France by the same company that makes Butz-Choquin. They are affordable briar pipes from a storied old brand. The first EWA pipes were carved in 1860 by Horace Waille and the brand nearly died out, before Denis Blanc saved it in 2000. Most of these pipes are small in stature and make a good choice for travel or work pipes.

Jobey pipes have some of the most interesting finishes around. Affordable and artful, smoking one of these pipes will get you noticed! Jobeys have a screw thread system connecting the stem and bit, so don’t try to pull them apart!

John Aylesbury pipes are actually extra pieces from pipe makers all over Europe. What you’ll find in this line is always changing and always exciting!

One of the most popular Scandinavian pipe makers, Jorgen Nielsen hails from a pipe-making family. It shows in every Nielsen Handmade Pipe. Each pipe is unique, each is a treasure.

J.P. Urquiza Pipes are handmade in the USA. Juan Pablo Urquiza began carving his own pipes completely by hand just a few short years ago. As he transitioned to the laithe, 2015 became Urquiza’s year for expansion. We are happy to offer his pipes here, in very limited quantities, today.

Fellow Floridian, Matt Van, is the newest thing to hit the artisan pipe scene by storm. We’re lucky to be the only retailer carrying his unique handmade pieces at this time. Choose a one-of-a-kind Matt Van Pipe at a perfectly affordable price point!

Affordable and traditional, Medico tobacco pipes feature a 6 mm filter and have a long tradition as the original American pipe brand.

Michal Novak Pipes are handmade in Prague. Novak, like other Scandinavian pipemakers, Novak has a clear preference for freehand pipes with plenty of whimsey. Novak is known for his large and flatish designs, of which you will see plenty here.

Hand crafted in California, Paul’s Pipes are made by Artisan pipe maker, Paul Menard. Paul uses a wood lathe and shaping tools to hand make each of his special pieces. Paul’s smoking pipes are a wonderful example of the exciting new breed of American small carvers. Choose one of his highly individual pieces today and be a part of this emerging tradition.

Peter Klein tobacco pipes are a perfect example of what majestry can come from the hands of a true Danish pipe master. Klein artisan grade pipes are graded from a scale of D-A, and then AA and Orca. Klein is known for this excellent use of horn in combination with his grand smooth orange colored finish.

Matt Roussell studied under some of North America’s most celebrated modern pipe carvers. You’ll find his trade-mark style of light stain on sandblasted briar a treat. Roussell Pipes are extremely limited edition, as his meticulous approach to carving means that he produces only a few dozen new pipes each year. If you’re lucky enough to get one, you’ll prize it forever.

You could call Sillem’s a dress pipe. Sleek, shiny and classic. These gentleman’s favorites will be a surprising addition to the collection of any pipe smoker who only thinks of Sillem’s as an accessories maker.

Silver Gray pipes are American made, in Oregon. Silver is our first female artisan pipe maker (Yes, that’s her real name). Her high-end pipes are carved by hand in the studio she shares with her mentor, Brad Pohlmann. Although she’s newer to making pipes, Silver’s mastery is greatly accelerated by her teacher and we find her pieces extraordinary.

Many of the world’s greatest pipe carvers and designers have called Stanwell pipes home over the years. The formerly British-made brand is now produced in Italy, but the sensibilities of all those talents can be seen in every piece.

Steve Morrisette and his high grade artisan tobacco pipes are some of the most valuable and sought after tobacco pipes in America. With each pipe, Steve uses decades of knowledge and experience to make each pipe the best smoker and most attractive version it can be.

Plenty of design savvy and a good eye for interesting combinations are hallmarks of Vuillard pipes. A favorite French brand.

The unorthodox, playful, and downright creative group of tobacco pipes seen here is the product of Roger Wallenstein. His most famous collection, the Driftwood artisan series, was inspired by creatures that live beneath the ocean's crest. See our full line of Roger Wallenstein tobacco pipes today!

Danish pipes designed with the sensibility of an artist, Winslow pipes are made by sculptor and painter Poul Winslow. Expect dramatic stains and convertible stems as a matter of course in Winslow’s work.

Considered the pipe of the working man for many years, Yello-Bole pipes are inexpensive and simple, with no unnecessary fuss.

Bulk Tobacco

If you want to make sure your favorite pipe tobacco blend is always close at hand, you will need to buy it in bulk. You can find the best pipe tobacco blends below. If you’re buying bulk for the first time and/or are unsure how to store it, read our dos and don’ts for cellaring tobacco when you receive your box and we will walk you through how to store your blends properly. Get your tobacco for your smoking pipe today!

The smallest bulk option available at TobaccoPipes.com, Cornell & Diehl bulk blends represent many of the company’s most famous pipe tobaccos. In addition, you’ll find a handful of special blends available in the 16 oz. packages. Made with a commitment to small-batch processing, C&D blends have a well-earned reputation for superiority. C&D also puts out small batches, in tins only.

Lane Limited produces one of the most universally loved American-style Aromatics on the market, Lane 1-Q. Sold here in 5 pound bulk bags, or less, our Lane options are meant for the serious smoker to make sure he’s always stocked up on their favorite blends. Save significantly by purchasing your Lane 1-Q and other blends in bulk. However, if you're just looking to try some, they are offered in 2 oz. options.

Blended by Sutliff, Music City Marketing’s custom blends are affordable Aromatics that are meant to be paired with your favorite work-day pipe. These were sold in 16 oz. tubs, these are good choices for fans of American-style Aromatics. Even though these are no longer offered, you may still get many of these similar blends from under the Sutliff blends.

Peter Stokkebye blends have been the go-to favorites for generations of pipe smokers and it’s no wonder. Four generations of Stokkebye men spent their lives blending tobacco. These 5 pound bags are the perfect way to save money and stock up on your favorite blends.

Peterson Pipe Tobacco is a favorite among many pipe smokers. Once blended by Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the company offered a number of their most popular blends in one pound bulk bags. However, these are no longer offered. STG does still offer many Peterson tinned tobacco.

Tobacco Tins & Pouches

Whether you want to cellar it for later or have that satisfying “whoosh” when you pop the top today, we have the tin of pipe tobacco you’re looking for. Choose from hundreds of different blends. You're sure to find the best pipe tobacco blends for your collection in tins here.

One of the most popular, most in demand pipe tobacco pouch on the market comes from the Amphora pipe tobacco company. Having been blended by Mac Baren, Amphora pipe tobacco is only of the highest quality. Order a pouch, or two, from us today!

Ashton pipe tobacco blends are produced by Kohlhase & Kopp. They feature some of the highest quality leaf available and it’s easy to see why smokers all over the world enjoy them. Ashton’s Guilty Pleasure is a favorite Aromatic blend for new smokers and there’s sure to be a blend for whatever stage of your pipe smoking journey you are on.

Balkan Sobranie pipe tobacco tins are some of the most sought after in the world of smoking. If you are lucky enough to come across this famous English blend when it’s in stock, we recommend jumping on a tin. It won’t be there long!

The Brebbia brand is known for their unique tobacco pipes, so it should come as no surprise that the company has a beloved brand of pipe tobacco too. Brebbia Tobacco has a blend for every type of pipe smoker.

BriarWorks Pipe Tobacco is a collaboration between BriarWorks International and Cornell & Diehl. This new kid on the block is taking pipe smokers by storm. Served up in 2 oz. mason jars, it’s perfect for cellaring or smoking right now. These blends pay homage to the American South, from taste to label.

The original Butera blends were created by Michael Butera. They are blends with a decidedly American sensibility, and cover a wide range of tobacco tastes. A legend of the tobacco pipes world, these blends are a testament to the man who has been called America’s greatest pipe maker.

Capstan Blends are made by Mac Baren from a recipe created over 120 years ago by the W.D. & H.O. Willis Company. The favorite brand of J.R.R. Tolkien, we can’t promise anything, but perhaps there’s a bit of storytelling magic in these blends.

At TobaccoPipes.com we offer all your favorite Captain Black blends you've grown to love over the years!

Captain Earle’s are small batch blends made by Cornell & Diehl. They are named for a whaling captain who lived at the turn of the twentieth century.

Castello Pipe Tobacco is probably not what you know the famous pipe brand for, but they are worthy of just as much attention as the smoking pipes. Made by Cornell & Diehl, these are small batch blends with class.

The oil tin-style tobacco tins for Comoy’s of London have quickly become a promise of quality in the world of tobacco blends. The company has long been famed for producing briar pipes, so it wasn’t a surprise to anyone to find how pleasing their tobacco blends are. We highly recommend these blends and suggest adding a few tins of each to your cellar for a rainy day.

Cornell & Diehl blends are small-batch--down to the hand-mounted labels. Made in North Carolina, the company’s blends are now overseen by tobacconist, Jeremy Reeves. Both the C&D staples, such as Autumn Evening, and the new blends coming out under Reeves are notable. Every true tobacco aficionado has at least a handful of C&D blends in his/her cellar.

Cult Pipe Tobacco is one of the newest lines to hit the market in the USA. Fans of Aromatics should consider the inventive blends coming out of this well-established cigar maker must-tries. We promise, you’ve never smoked anything like it before.

Not as well known in the USA as they deserve to be, the blenders at Dan Tobacco produce some of the highest quality pipe blends we’ve encountered. Made in Germany, the company produces blends for every possible type of smoker, but we have yet to find one that wasn’t absolutely superb.

Drew Estate pipe tobaccos are an inventive collaboration between the well-known Drew Estate team and Scandinavian Tobacco Group. These blends offer a little something for everyone and tin art that is memorable. You’ll want a few of these in your cellar.

When most pipe smokers think of Dunhill blends, they automatically think of Nightcap. One of the most famous English blends ever made, it’s certainly understandable. However, this epic English company has far more to offer than just this one blend. In fact, we recommend those new to Dunhill try an Dunhill All Day Set to start.

Escudo Navy De Luxe is technically a part of the Orlik Tobacco Company today. However, it’s historical origins belong with A & C Petersen. This Navy Flake, often compared to Dunhill’s more famous variety, is in a class all by itself.

Of the famous blends we carry, this is perhaps the most sought after. Esoterica tobacco is produced in small batches, in a traditional manner. That means the production is extremely limited each year and you are extremely lucky to find it in stock. Pick it up while you can.

Chances are, if you’ve smoked a pipe for even a short amount of time, you’ve smoked a blend dreamed up by a Stokkebye. Four generations of Stokkebye men have graced the pipe tobacco world with their genius. In the 4th Generation Blends by Erik Stokkebye, the family’s youngest tobacconist created a series made to honor the long-standing family tradition.

We know F & K for cigars and as a distributor of fine briar pipes. With these two custom blends, the company begins its foray into the world of pipe tobacco.

The Former’s blends are created in partnership with master pipe maker, Hans Nielsen. They are primarily named for his beloved briar grains and feature fine leaf from around the globe. These blends tend to fly under the radar in the USA, but are well worth a departure from your regular blends.

Perhaps the best-known living tobacconist, G.L. Pease blends are produced by Cornell & Diehl under his careful instruction. Fans of English blends are particularly likely to find a favorite here. However, Pease has a little something for everyone.

The calling card of Gawith Hoggarth & Co. Pipe Tobacco blends is the traditional equipment used to make each of the pipe tobacco blends. Even the tin art reflect the traditional approach of the company.

Germain's pipe tobacco is a rare and low production brand. This company has been hand blending small batches of tobacco since 1820 and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

J.J. Fox pipe tobacco blends date back to 1881. After nearly 150 years, the London-based brand is still beloved by pipe smokers and is being discovered by smokers all over the world. The most popular blend on this side of the pond seems to be Hibernia, which is a pleasant Vanilla-topped blend.

John Aylesbury paint can tins are affordable and worthy blends. The company is better known for their pipes and cigars, but as you might have guessed, these blends feature the same attention-to-detail as the well-established brand’s other products.

The crown in their logo is no accident. Mac Baren is clearly the king of the modern pipe tobacco world. Along with producing their own popular blends, like the newly re-imagined HH Series, Mac Baren has revitalized old favorites like three Nuns, Capstan and more. Pipe smokers of all ilks will find a blend to love among the plethora of options from this well-known brand.

McClelland Tobacco is one of the more prolific American pipe tobacco companies, featuring dozens of different blends. The company is best known for their Virginia tobaccos. However, the Frog Morton blends, part of the Craftsbury series, are perhaps the most popular at the moment.

Erik Nording is one of the world’s most beloved pipe makers. With his partnership with McClelland, Nording takes his long history making pipes and applies it to the tobacco we fill them with. Choose your favorite Nording blend, they are exceptional.

Popular in Denmark, one of the world’s epicenters for pipe smokers, Orlik pipe tobacco blends are some of the best blends we’ve experienced. Try the well-reviewed, Golden Sliced, you won’t be disappointed.

You probably know Peterson of Dublin best for their smoking pipes, but the Peterson pipe tobacco blends are worthy of note. In particular, the company produces notable annual Aromatic blends that are highly-anticipated each year. And, the University Flake is regarded as one of the strongest and most sought after flake tobaccos available.

The Rattray’s brand originated in Scotland in 1911 and has found fans all over the world since then. Now blended in Germany, this brand is just beginning to gain traction in The United States and certainly deserves its day in your pipe.

Rudiger L. Will, master tobacconist and long-time favorite of pipe smokers all over the world, is the blender behind Reiner tobacco. The original Reiner blend, Reiner Professional Blend, debuted in 1990 and has been going strong ever since.

One of the oldest and longest running tobacconists in the world, Robert Lewis opened his doors in 1787 in England. Ever since, the company has even been recognized by Queen Elizabeth for its excellence.

Samuel Gawith produces a variety of different blends for almost any type of pipe tobacco smoker. If you’re looking for a rare type of blend, like a strong rope, you’re likely to find it in this whimsical and large lineup of fine blends.

Like Peterson, Savinelli is best known for their pipes, which is why it may surprise you that their Brunello Flake is the favorite blend of most of the folks in our office. Although Savinelli’s pipe tobacco blends are limited, they are each notable and worthy of a spot in your collection. Seriously, the Brunello Flake is not to be missed. None of us ever go far without a tin of it handy.

The Seattle Pipe Club’s line of specialty blends are beloved by pipe smokers all over the USA. Particularly the Plum Pudding is a highly sought after blend from one of the largest pipe clubs around.

Sillem’s has been producing delicious tobacco blends and pipe accessories since the 1800s. Well-practiced and well-loved, these blends will leave you satisfied and the tin art on most Sillem’s blends is pretty good too.

Relatively new, in tobacconist terms anyway, Rudiger L. Will’s second brand, Solani Pipe Tobacco, first hit the market in 1997. The many distinctive blends have been wowing the pipe world ever since.

Sutliff Tobacco is almost as American as apple pie and baseball--it’s been around about as long. The company’s private blends are currently going through a bit of a metamorphosis, so we recommend that you stock up on your favorites before they are gone.

Svenborg pipe tobacco is made in Germany, but in the Danish style. It’s not a well-known brand on this side of the pond. However, we’ve been thoroughly pleased with the quality of the tins. If you’re looking to try something you’re friends probably don’t have, this is the brand to start with.

Tsuge Pipe Tobacco is a collaboration between the famous Japanese pipe family, Tsug, Daughters & Ryan, and Drew Estate. With so many titans of the pipe smoking world involved, you’re bound to get something special. Each of these blends is unique, often surprising, and graced with the most interesting tin art we’ve seen in a long time.

Tabac Manil is one-note and strong. It is the purest and cleanest tobacco we know of and packs quite a punch. If you’re looking for a natural Burley, this Belgian grown tobacco might be for you.

The modern version of Three Nuns is not 100% faithful to the original, but it’s as close as you’ll get. That is, unless you were smart enough to put a bunch of it away back in the 50s, and if so we’d like to invite ourselves over for a smoke. Blended by Mac Baren, it’s a favorite both for nostalgic reasons and for it’s quality.

The Tom Eltang tobacco blends were born through a partnership with Cornell & Diehl. The long-time famous pipe maker turns his head to blending in these very special tins. Choose your favorite or try them all, we recommend lighting up a bowl in your favorite Eltang pipe for a true fan experience.

Also blended by Cornell & Diehl, Two Friends tobaccos are the product of a collaboration between G.L. Pease and Craig Tarler. When two of the most talented modern tobacconists came together to make a series, you know something special was bound to come out of it. We’re particularly partial to Valle Crucis.

Vauen is an old and well-known German tobacco pipe company. There pipe tobacco blends are superior quality and worthy of a place in any smokers rotation. The Vauen pipe tobaccos are not easy to get ahold of in the USA, so if you find one on sale, we recommend you grab it before it goes on backorder again.

So you’re looking for a pipe to smoke and enjoy. You can go with a corn cob, or maybe even a classic briar pipe. For the purist though, you are not likely to get a better smoke than with a meerschaum pipe.

What is Meerschaum?

From a literal translation, meerschaum is the German word for seafoam, while geologists call the material sepiolite, and others yet refer to it by a popular nickname “white gold.” Common myths have it that German sailors saw a chunk of the material floating in the water and mistook it for some seafoam, giving it the name. In actuality, meerschaum is a type of clay naturally made by a composite of magnesium and hydro silicate.

This is found in many places around the world, including France, Greece, the United States, but is primarily located in Northern Africa, Eastern Africa, and Turkey. In fact, the African meerschaum is no longer available, which limits the world supply, but not necessarily the quality. That is because of all the meerschaum in the world it is generally accepted that the highest quality, the purest meerschaum, comes from the city of Eskisehir, Turkey.

While we call it that now, meerschaum actually has many different names, though they all have a similar English translation. In Turkey, it is called “Deniz Köpüğü” while in France it has the name “Echume de Mer.” While we have settled on its German translation, the material’s history and qualities have been appreciated worldwide.

Meerschaum is one of the most naturally porous substances in the world, which makes it perfect for pipes as it absorbs the tars, oils, and nicotine in tobacco. This allows for a cool, dry smoke that most smokers would say is unparalleled. Because it is a naturally occurring clay, combined with its porous nature, meerschaum is also one of the more heat resistant materials, capable of withstanding heat of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius, equivalent to 3632 degrees Fahrenheit.

One amazing thing about meerschaum is how it dries without losing any size. This is tremendously important for pipes due to the moisture it absorbs while smoked.

History of Meerschaum

The history of meerschaum can be split into two sections; pre-pipe and current use.

Meerschaum as a material has been used as a decoration for millennia, with archaeologists discovering it being used to decorate floors in the Early Bronze Age almost 5000 years ago, and even finding a meerschaum stamp in the tomb of a young child that dates back to 3700 years ago. In ancient times, sculptors used the meerschaum because of how easy it was to carve, allowing for incredibly intricate designs and decorations without the challenge of using a more rigid material. Back then, the metal and stone carving tools were softer, before the ability to smelt iron became more readily available. So having an easily sculpted material made it much easier to make detailed decorations. This ease of carving is the same reason you will see the amazing work that is done on the pipes of today.

Even today, meerschaum is also used to make elegant looking jewelry, such as beads, earrings, and necklaces.

Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

When it comes to making pipes, there is some thought that meerschaum pipes have been around since 1600, though records only go back as far as 1723. It is very possible that pipes have been made out of meerschaum before then, but without documented proof, 298 years of pipe making is still a lengthy history.

Tobacco was originally native to the Americas and as such, it was not until European explorers came to the “New World” that the plant was brought to the old one. This new, vastly popular item quickly made its way through Europe into the Middle East and then Asia. Back then, the pipes were just made out of clay, which burned extremely hot and were incredibly fragile. Once Meerschaum was introduced as an option, it became the go-to of pipe makers.

How it’s Made

In order to craft raw meerschaum into the intricate designs and beautiful pipes you see, there are a whole series of steps to be taken.

Mining Process

In the villages around the city of Eskisehir, Turkey, miners originally started by constructing a wooden derrick, then began the process of digging down to where they can find the meerschaum. This is a matter of deeper being better. You can get meerschaum close to, or even at, the surface but the quality of the clay is nowhere near as good as by going deep into the earth. Digging down to a depth of at least one hundred meters (328 feet) is when the miners can start their collection, if not deeper. Just think about how deep that actually is. For reference, from pedestal and foundation up to the torch, the Statue of Liberty tops out at 305 feet. Historically, once it was mined the raw meerschaum would be taken to craftsmen who cleaned away any rocks, then dried it in large clay ovens.

Obviously, this was a dangerous process that has undergone some serious modernization. Now, specialized equipment is used to locate the meerschaum, with pumps and cleaning equipment down in the mines. Doing this allows for the miners to evaluate the raw materials in the mine, finding any issues with it there and being able to deliver the best of the mined clay up to the surface instead of having to sort everything out after the fact. This means the meerschaum heads to the sculptor in a better condition, leading to better pipes.

Block Vs Press

Speaking of pipes, it’s time to get to the fun stuff. Meerschaum smoking pipes can be crafted into almost anything. The sculptors spend years mastering their craft, leading to some true works of art. You can get a bowl shaped like a famous person, an animal, any design you can think of or ask for.

Once dried, meerschaum is hard to work with. The trick the artists use is to submerge the clay in water. Being so porous, it absorbs the water and becomes much more malleable and easy to sculpt.

These amazing looking pipes are made out of one piece of meerschaum and are known as block pipes. The block pipes are the ones that are where meerschaum gets its respect. Unique and beautiful, these pipes are absorptive and give you the cool smoke you hear about from the material.

The best part of block pipes is the coloring that happens when a pipe is used. Known as a pipe’s patina, you will see the meerschaum darken with use, going from pure white to yellow, followed by an orange-red, to finally a rich golden brown by absorbing the tars and oils from your tobacco. You will get some amazing color combinations as your pipes age, leading you to have some incredibly interesting looking pipes.

The leftover scrap meerschaum has some uses too, but they are not nearly as good for making their own pipe. Known as press meerschaum tobacco pipes, the scrap is combined with glues and other binding agents to make cheap pipes that do not have the same quality that you should be expecting.

For one thing, press pipes have a tendency to gurgle which means you will not get the dry, smooth smoke you should be expecting out of a meerschaum pipe. It can be difficult to be able to tell the difference between block and press meerschaum, but there are some tricks to knowing which is which.

First, press meerschaum smoking pipes are heavier than the block variety. So if you’re able to hold a tobacco pipe that you know is block, you can compare the feel to another one to ensure that you are getting what you are looking for.

Another trick is one you should only do with a clean hand. Dip your finger in a little bit of water. Press meerschaum is not absorbent, and when you gently brush your finger against the bowl it will stay wet. Block pipes will absorb the moisture, drying your finger. If you are to test this way, you should proceed at your own risk. While you will find out if your pipe is block or press, the coloring of the block pipes can be disrupted by your finger’s oils which can instead leave fingerprints and a less aesthetically pleasing look.

Another test is for older, used pipes. Remember that block pipes color with use. Press pipes do not, as their composite make up prevents whatever meerschaum in the pipe from undergoing that reaction. So if you are coming across old pipes, a darker pipe is likely to be block while a lighter one might be press. Of course, usage of the pipe needs to be taken into consideration.

Overall, the easiest way to figure it out is through the price test. Press pipes should be much cheaper, meaning this is one of those products where you want to spend a little more because you will definitely get what you pay for.

Benefits of Meerschaum

Meerschaum is an incredibly useful material for pipe making. So when you get yourself a meerschaum tobacco pipe, you are getting one of the best pipes available and you should definitely have an appreciation for what is in your hands.

First, as we’ve said earlier, meerschaum is capable of withstanding incredibly high temperatures. Not that you would ever get there, but the fact that it can take temperatures in the thousands of degrees makes it ideal for smoking, you will never need to worry about burnout with a meerschaum.

Meerschaum smoking pipes are a neutral-tasting pipe so they will only taste like the tobacco you put in there. You will always get the purest tobacco flavor with a meerschaum so you should never be disappointed in your smoking experience if you are using a tobacco you love.

Another benefit of meerschaum pipes is that they don’t require a breaking-in process like you need with a briar or corn cob pipe. You should take the time to get accustomed to your new pipe, true, but you should be able to enjoy it from your first smoke. Just load in your favorite tobacco and get started!

As your pipe ages and gets used, you might notice the coloring process begin. This is controllable, based on how much you smoke with the pipe. You will never be able to maintain that ivory-esque white unless you don’t smoke with it, period. For collectors, this is not a bad idea, you will be maintaining a brand new, pristine pipe that will look great for many years.

For everyone else, this absolutely defeats the purpose of having a pipe. You can slow the process by limiting how often you smoke with it, perhaps no more than once per day. However, thanks to meerschaum’s heat properties, you can smoke your pipe multiple times per day. This is actually how you will color the pipe, which is due to the beeswax coating the outside of the pipe.

You might find that the pipe colors unevenly, which is natural. Oftentimes, you will see more color in the shank and bottom of the bowl, where much of the oil and tar gets absorbed first. One way to more evenly color your pipe would be with a coloring bowl. This is an extra attachment for your pipe. Once you insert it into your pipe, this would be where you pack your tobacco, which allows the tars, oils, and nicotine that bring start the coloring process to more evenly coat the entirety of your actual pipe, leading to the smooth color that people enjoy.

As with everything pertaining to looks, this is a preference and not a rule. Some smokers enjoy the uneven color that makes the pipe look like a gradual darkening. Others prefer the rich, even tones throughout the pipe that shows off the use and natural beauty of a meerschaum pipe. The choice is always your own.

Additional uses

This isn’t to say that the scrap meerschaum doesn’t have its uses. Some pieces are not up to the quality standards to make a full pipe but can be used to supplement in other ways.

Filters

Just because you don’t want to use the scraps for a new pipe doesn’t mean that the small, excess pieces of meerschaum don’t provide a great value for smokers. One major use for the extra material is through the use of filters. Since meerschaum is so porous, it acts as an excellent filter for those smokers that prefer to have one in their pipes. You generally won’t see a filter in a meerschaum tobacco pipe, since the pipe itself acts as a filter, but any other pipe that uses a filter can have a pure meerschaum filter or one with charcoal mixed in. White elephant, for example, carries a great selection of meerschaum and charcoal mix filters.

Meerschaum inlay in briar pipes

Some pieces of meerschaum are too small or not of the high quality required for making a full pipe. Instead of discarding it, or breaking it down for filters, they are sometimes made into an inlay for a briar pipe. Also sometimes called an insert, this inlay would allow a briar pipe to smoke and have the efficiency of a meerschaum pipe, while still having the look and affordability of a classic briar pipe. You can find some options made by Brebbia, Rattray, and Vauen.

One popular style of pipe, the Calabash, commonly has caps and inserts for the pipe. This cap and insert is made of various materials, with meerschaum being one style.

Decoration and other uses

Meerschaum is also used to make decorative tampers and cigarette holders, along with many other decorative pieces for non-smokers. Among the decorations, you can find meerschaum jewelry still being made. Because it is so easy to carve and sculpt, meerschaum is prized as a material for necklaces, earrings, and various small boxes or decorative pieces. Its look, so similar to ivory, also allows it to be a cruelty-free substitute as no animals were harmed for it.

Drawbacks of Meerschaum

Meerschaum is not without its flaws. It is a fragile pipe, especially when heated. You should never begin the cleaning process of a meerschaum smoking pipe until it has completely cooled down, or you risk the pipe cracking. Due to the fact that they are handmade, any cracked pipe is ruined, and since these are so valuable you must take the proper precautions and care.

Also when heated, you should avoid touching the bowl of the pipe. This is because the beeswax coat is going to be soft and easily altered, which means you will not be able to get the coloring you want to see on the pipe. If you do touch it, you will see smudges, fingerprints, and a lack of coloring in certain areas, while other spots might color differently which gives the pipe a splotchy, unappealing look.

Because they can burn so hot, you should handle them with care. The bowl might get a little uncomfortable when warm, but you shouldn’t be touching it too much when smoking in the first place. This is one drawback that can also be viewed as a benefit though, as the bowl absorbing the heat means the smoke is much cooler than from other pipes.

Another drawback can be attributed to the very reason meerschaums are so valued and such great pipes, their absorptivity. With how well the pipe absorbs moisture, it can also soak up some of the extra sugars and flavors of some tobaccos, which can then take on the flavors of them.

Though this is very rare for meerschaum pipes, it can happen if you use that tobacco often. This can be detrimental to the smokers that prefer a variety to their tobacco, such as sometimes using English and other times using Aromatics, you can deal with this ghosting. If that happens, you might struggle to remove it without a thorough cleaning.

Another challenge is some of the more oily tobacco variants can choke the pipe when it is absorbed into the bowl, making you need to really select your tobacco with care.

What you need to know before using Meerschaum

So far, you’ve gotten a fairly extensive idea of what a meerschaum tobacco pipe is and their pros and cons. So, what more do you need to know before you decide to add that new pipe to your collection? Here are some handy do’s and don’ts that will make your meerschaum experience as unforgettable as it should be.

Do make sure your hands are clean before handling your pipe. Meerschaum is very sensitive to moisture and dirt, you will stain your pipe with dirty hands if you are not careful.

Don’t be afraid to handle the pipe though. If your hands are clean, you can hold your pipe without concern about ruining the look. Remember why you got this in the first place, to enjoy a cool, smooth smoke. You can’t do that without touching it.

Do remember that each pipe colors differently. These are generally hand-carved pieces, and each block of meerschaum is unique and will react to your smoking habits in various ways.

Don’t treat your pipe like a briar one. Meerschaum pipes don’t need to be broken in like corn cob or briar does. Since those burn and need to be protected by a carbon cake, meerschaum’s have no such need. You can enjoy your pipe right away, no need to get it prepared.

Don’t leave a cake in the bowl. That’s one of the biggest don’ts here. You want to completely remove any cake from your bowl when you are done smoking. You need to be careful to let your pipe completely cool before cleaning, or you risk damaging your pipe. Once that is done, however, you should make sure to remove any residue from inside the bowl. This is because the cake expands with heat much faster than meerschaum, which will then crack the bowl and ruin your pipe.

Do be careful when cleaning your pipe. It is a process that is different from your other pipes, so make sure you know what you’re doing.

Meerschaum Vs. Briar Vs. Corn Cob

This is the big discussion, isn’t it? Which material do you like most? This debate can be long and sometimes fierce (it’s the internet, not everyone is nice here). While we don’t have a preference ourselves (We love Peterson, Missouri Meerschaum, and Rattray’s Meerschaum line equally), we do understand that there is a difference between the three most popular pipe materials.

Let’s begin our look at the differences at the start of the smoking experience. First and foremost, let’s talk about pricing. Corn cobs are very affordable, with the most expensive on our site going for $34.99. Briars can get very pricey, especially special editions like the unique Autograph line by Savinelli, but are usually the middle ground for price with some pipes being very reasonable. Meerschaums will tend towards being the most expensive pipes available, as the block pipes are all hand-carved and crafted. Anything handmade is naturally more expensive and since each meerschaum smoking pipe will usually see the care of a specially trained artist, you will find the prices go up.

Once you get a new pipe, it is time to smoke. Briars and corn cobs need to be broken in, while meerschaum pipes don’t have that challenge. The breaking-in process takes a while, to build up the carbon cake to protect the wood, which you don’t have to worry about and in fact want to avoid with the meerschaum.

When you are smoking, you have a few differences again. First is heat dissipation. Meerschaum pipes burn much hotter than briar or corn cob. This helps the meerschaum give you a cooler smoke than what you can get from the other two, but will still make your pipe hotter than the rest. That said, you will not have the same risk of burnout as you would with a briar or a corn cob. Remember that meerschaum can withstand incredibly high temperatures, so you have less to worry about there.

Briars and corn cobs need more rest between smokes to be effective. Smoking too much, too fast will burn through those two, while the meerschaum will actually benefit from more frequent uses by gaining that color they are so known for. That’s why briar users have more of a rotation for their pipes.

While smoking a pipe, you will notice different flavoring between the pipes. Briar tobacco pipes can influence the flavor of the tobacco with the natural flavor of the wood, something that does not happen with corn cobs or meerschaums. This can give you a different taste of the same exact tobacco based on what pipe you are using, so sometimes it would be interesting to try a blend in both a briar and a meerschaum to see the difference.

Meerschaums are more fragile than the others, so you need to be more careful with them than different pipes. Because of the very intricate designs on your pipe, and the nature of the material itself you need to take precautions to ensure the health of it, more than a briar or corn cob. That’s not to say you can abuse either of the other two, but they might be a little easier to care for.

Overall, the debate between pipe materials will still continue probably forever. Our stance on it is, and always has been, smoke what you like and you’ll never regret it.

Care and Maintenance

If you take proper care of your meerschaum smoking pipe, it should last a lifetime. Remember that your pipe is more fragile than a briar or corn cob, so extra care should be taken. All these extra steps are worth it though, for the smoking experience you get with your meerschaum pipe. First, remember to thoroughly wash your hands before using your pipe. We’ve said this before in this blog, but it is worth repeating.

For your first ten to twelve bowls smoked with the pipe, you should hold the pipe by its stem. Doing this lets the initial beeswax coat to get absorbed by the bowl, letting it color well and adding a small layer of protection. After those initial smoking sessions, you should feel free to handle the bowl with your hands.

After each smoke, let your pipe cool completely before further cleaning. Once cool, you will want to remove any leftover cake from the bowl. You can do this with a non-bristle pipe cleaner. Simply bend it in half and start to very gently wipe the inside of the bowl, removing the cake as you brush. If some of the cake is stubborn, you might need to ream the bowl, but you should do this extremely carefully, as the meerschaum can easily be damaged by a reamer. If you are not confident in your abilities, you might be better served by getting this taken care of by a professional.

Make sure you use enough pipe cleaners. Bristle pipe cleaners can damage your pipe, so avoid using them frequently. On the occasion that there is some gunk or other build-up they are okay to use, but not more than that. That said, remember to be gentle when you are using any pipe cleaner. Rubbing too vigorously can wear away at the meerschaum, leading to thin spots on the bowl that can very easily crack and ruin your pipe.

Just as in all pipes, the connection between the bowl and the pipe of a meerschaum is done through a mortise and tenon. Here though, if you allow moisture to build up you can weaken the threads of the mortise which will cause your stem to become loose or even fall out. Your best option to prevent this is to ensure you air dry your pipes when you are done smoking with them. When air drying, it would be best to remove the stem and let both bowl and stem dry separately.

When it comes time to clean the stem, take care how you remove it. To remove the stem, you hold the bowl in one hand and gently rotate the stem clockwise with the other hand. Pull while rotating and it should come out. Once that is out, you can remove the tenon by taking a pair of pliers and unscrew it counterclockwise. You want to protect the tenon first by covering it in a heavy cloth or some other protective material, to make sure you aren’t crushing or distorting it.

Never remove the mortise unless there is visible damage or cracking. If you remove the mortise you risk damaging the threads which can lead to the pipe not working properly.

Once you have finished cleaning, you can reinsert the stem by again rotating clockwise but this time pushing in.

There might be times where a deeper cleaning is needed. To do this, use a 40-50 percent alcohol solution on the chamber. Be careful to not use stronger alcohol, as it can damage the pipe.

Rewaxing your pipe

There will be times you might need to reapply beeswax to the pipe. This happens because as you use your pipe, the wax on the pipe naturally melts from the heat. While most of it gets absorbed by the porous meerschaum, you can lose some of it that won’t get soaked up. This will happen, and there is no reason for any undue concern, but that does mean some more wax is needed. You will be able to tell when you need to re-wax because the pipe will start to look dull, chalky, or rough to the touch.

There are differing opinions on how to reapply wax to your pipe, but regardless of how you do it, you will still need to acquire a few things to make your application process go smoothly. First, and rather obviously, you will need to get some beeswax. Some people prefer natural yellow wax, others the white variant This is a personal preference thing, so whatever you are comfortable with will be fine. You will need something to heat the beeswax with, and you can easily do that with something like a hairdryer that you should already have at home. When you are spreading the wax you will need some cotton swabs or some more non-bristle pipe cleaners. You will then need a cloth, for finishing touches, and something to hold your pipe while it cools. For certain processes, you will want to get a cork or anything else you would use to plug your bowl with.

Now that you have everything, let’s get started. Begin by making sure your hands are clean and dry. Yes, we know we sound like a broken record but if you use dirty hands your pipe will not look how you want it to.

Your first actual waxing step will be to heat up your beeswax with the hairdryer. Heating the wax makes it easier to spread onto the pipe. Some places will tell you that you will want to get the wax to a point where it is malleable and easily spread, but not yet liquified. Others completely liquify the wax. Overall this will be a personal preference, so whatever you most feel comfortable with will be the way to go.

Your second step is to apply the now heated wax. Do your best to avoid using your fingers, since your fingerprints will alter the smooth spread you want for the wax and your pipe. Also, melted wax is, well, hot. Some people have the wax in a pot, and dip their pipe bowl into it, after you plug the holes to make sure no wax gets inside the pipe. Others use a cotton swab to basically paint the wax on. Further still, there are people who melt the wax onto a paper towel and wipe the wax onto the bowl while smoking it. For beginners, we would recommend using the painting method, as it gives you the most control and room for error.

After the wax is applied, you will heat your pipe. You can do this with the hairdryer, or you can smoke a bowl to get the heat. Regardless of how you choose to heat it up, do not touch the bowl yet, only handle it by the stem. Again, this is because of your fingerprints altering the wax, especially now that it has been heated twice and your pipe is warm.

Now you want to allow your pipe to cool down. Remember, meerschaum pipes are most fragile when warm, so you never want to do too much with them while warm. After the pipe has cooled off you will take a cloth and gently rub the pipe, polishing it to a good shine.

Once you are done, you might see a buildup of excess wax. You can see this or you can feel it, as your pipe will be sticky or tacky to the touch. This is fixable, by simply heating your pipe and very carefully using a cotton swab to wipe off the excess wax while the wax is less solid.

Best tobacco to smoke in a Meerschaum

Because a meerschaum tobacco pipe is flavor neutral, everything you taste will be from the tobacco itself. This is great because you will always be able to enjoy your favorite blends, or experiment with new flavors and get an honest taste for it, without the risk of the pipe taking away from the flavor or adding to it.

The only thing to avoid would be tobacco with a heavy casing, these leave a large residue that can clog up your meerschaum easily and make it more difficult to enjoy a cool smoke.

Brands that make Meerschaum pipes

Since meerschaum tobacco pipes have such a rich history, you are likely to find many have been made by older, well-established brands that have stood the test of time as quality pipe makers. However, because of the popularity of briar pipes, meerschaums have dwindled in manufacturing. Another major reason is how Turkey controls the exporting of raw meerschaum in order to have the sculptors and artisans inside the country have primary access to the material. This will naturally lower the availability of meerschaum since the companies need to rely on the Turkish makers more and more.

One incredibly well known and respected brand was Peterson. In the recent past, they had meerschaum variants on their Sherlock Holmes lines, but that seems to have gone away for now and it is unsure if they will be releasing any more.

Currently, Rattray and Altinay are major meerschaum smoking pipe providers. The expertise they show with this ancient and incredibly useful material shows the versatility of meerschaums.

From elegantly simple to simply elegant, meerschaum pipes have the history and quality that any pipe smoker should appreciate.

Sometimes it’s challenging to get started in a new hobby. A hobby like smoking a tobacco pipe can feel daunting to begin. Not knowing the right way to smoke a pipe can cause frustration and make you lose interest in a hobby you haven’t gotten a chance to appreciate.

With that in mind, we put this guide together to help you get started on the right track and make smoking a tobacco pipe an enjoyable experience!

Choosing your Tobacco Pipe

The first step for any new pipe smoker is to buy a pipe. Choosing what smoking pipe is best for you can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Follow these four steps and choose the first pipes in your collection with ease.

1. Choose the material: Briar, Corn Cob or Meerschaum

2. Pick your shape.

3. Decide whether or not you want a filter.

4. Decide how much you want to spend.

Choose the material: Briar, Corn Cob, or Meerschaum.

The first choice you will make is what material will be used to construct your pipe.

The three most common materials used in the construction of tobacco pipes are briar wood, corn cobs, and meerschaum.

Briar Wood

Briar is the most popular material used for crafting tobacco pipes. Most of the pipes you see in your local retailer or online are made from this unique wood. Briar comes from the roots of the Erica Arborea tree, primarily growing near the Mediterranean Sea. Due to its saltwater-tolerant growing conditions, briar is exceptionally durable, heat resistant, and breathable. Briar is porous on a microscopic level, which allows it to absorb the heat and oil produced by burning tobacco.

Corn Cobs

Corncob, often shortened to cob, is the most affordable material. Corn cob pipes are made by drying out a cob of corn, drilling out the center, and attaching a stem. Smokers love cob pipes because they are inexpensive, easy to maintain, and culturally nostalgic.

Meerschaum

Meerschaum is a material found in Turkey near the Black Sea. Authentic meerschaum is significantly more expensive than corn cob or briar. This is because meerschaum is a material that is easily carved. Most of the time, meerschaum pipes have an intricate design, which puts them in the premium price category. Despite their expense, Meerschaum pipes are highly sought after. Tobacco pipes made from meerschaum smoke smooth and cool. They also tend to be lightweight. You can get a deep dive into meerschaum here.

Pick Your Shape

Once you’ve chosen the material, it is time to decide what shape will work best for you.

There are many different ways to decide what shape to buy. Some smokers only want fat pipes while others only want skinny. Some enjoy long stemmed pipes, but others prefer the stem to be as short as possible.

Some smokers just pick the shape that “speaks” to them at that moment.

There is no correct shape. Whatever you choose is “right” for you. However, a few guiding principles will help you get the most out of your early smoking experiences.

To see an intensive guide of pipe shape options, visit A Complete Guide to Tobacco Pipe Shapes.

Consider these four things when choosing the perfect pipe for you:

1. Chamber Shape and Size

2. Straight or Bent Stem

3. Smooth and Rustic Finished Pipes

4. Practical and Collectable Pipes

Chamber Shape and Size

The chamber is where the tobacco goes into a pipe. Learning about the differences here will help you understand how the chamber’s size and shape affect your smoking experience in many ways.

Simply put, the more tobacco you have, the longer and stronger your smoke will be.

If you’re sitting down to smoke for a long time, a bowl with a large diameter or a deeper depth is preferable. If you just want the occasional short smoke, you don’t have time to take a long break at work, or you want to smoke multiple tobaccos in one sitting, you should stick with a smaller chamber.

As for the shape of the chamber, there are only a few variations.

Most pipes have a perfectly cylindrical chamber. But some pipes, such as a Dublin, have a conical chamber that tapers in diameter down the bowl. This usually speeds up the burning process and intensifies the flavor at the end of the smoke.

However, the shape of the bowl is not the only part of the pipe design that affects how the pipe smokes.

Straight or Bent Stem

Deciding between a straight or a bent stem is much more important than you might think. The choice is about more than aesthetics. Straight and bent stems perform in different ways.

Straight Stems - Have a classic look and feel. Also, straight stems allow smoke to flow directly to the mouth, which could result in a more intense flavor from your tobacco.

Bent Stems - They are often beloved for comfort. The bend makes the pipe easier to clench in the jaw, hold in your hand, and even light. A bent stem also assists in keeping moisture away from the mouth of the smoker.

There are pros and cons to either stem choice. That’s why so many smokers have both in their collections. However, most pipe smokers tend to lean towards one type or the other. The choice is yours. There is no right place to begin.

Smooth and Rustic Finished Pipes

You have most likely noticed a plethora of pipe shapes, styles, materials, and finishes by now. We understand how it may be a bit overwhelming. While most aspects of the construction of the pipe directly or indirectly affect the performance of the pipe, not all do.

To be honest, the finish of a pipe has no legitimate stakes in the pipe’s performance. Some say it makes a cooler smoke, but we couldn’t verify that it actually does. The choice between a smooth, rustic, sandblasted, or other custom finished pipe will not affect your pipe smoking experience at all at the beginning. The choice between them is yours to make.

Practical and Collectable Pipes

Something you should keep in mind is what exactly you plan to be doing with your pipe.

Are you going to be smoking it while mowing the yard?

Will you pull it out at a friend’s barbecue?

Or will this pipe of yours only be for special occasions?

Our point simply is that you may not want to mow the yard while smoking an artisan pipe that costs a few hundred dollars.

We suggest that new pipe smokers start with a moderately priced pipe--perhaps a pipe that costs between $25-50. As you fall in love with the hobby, you may want to expand your collection to include more expensive pipes.

To Filter or Not to Filter

In the United States, most tobacco pipe smokers prefer unfiltered pipes, but in many European countries only filtered pipes are available. So what gives? Is one better than the other?

Well, it depends on who you ask.

Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to use a filter:

Types of Pipe Filters

There are three common styles of pipe filters: pass-through filters, absorption filters, and condensers.

• Pass-Through pipe filters are the most common style filter. The Pass-Through filter specializes in reducing the amount of nicotine and tar present in tobacco. The most prevalent complaint of Pass-Through filters is that using them inhibits the flavor of your pipe tobacco because of their high absorption levels. However, because they absorb so much moisture, it greatly reduces the odds of contracting tongue bite. There are two types of pass-through filters:
  • A thick cotton tube with a hollowed-out center, such as the Dr. Grabow Pipe filters,
  • Or a carbon-filled canister style filter, such as the Vauen Pipe filter.

• Absorption filters are another classic pipe filter style. The 6mm and 9mm Savinelli Balsa Wood filters are the most common form of an Absorption filter. Absorption filters work by drying out and cooling off the smoke flow before it strikes the palate. Unlike the Pass-Through filters, Absorption filters allow the smoke to flow directed in-between the bore and filter, thus allowing the smoke to contact a greater surface area for dispersing heat resulting in a cooler smoke.

• Condensers are different from the other pipe filter types. Often called Stingers, Condensers are designed to stop moisture from entering the stem of your pipe. They consist of a metal insert in the stem that has a small bore on the top. The Condenser is believed to keep moisture from entering the stem of the pipe. The largest problem with condensers is that they make cleaning your pipe incredibly difficult. The intention seems to have been that you would take the pipe apart while it was warm, but that is, in fact, exactly the worst thing you can do for a tobacco pipe. Thankfully, these filters are much less common now than they once were.

Why Smoke with a Filter

1. Smoking a filtered pipe is believed to be healthier than an unfiltered pipe. The idea behind using a filter is that the carbon, paper, or balsa pipe filter will absorb excess tar and nicotine. This is thought to make the risk to the smoker’s lungs smaller, especially if you accidentally inhale the smoke. There are very few studies that look at pipe smoking in particular--most are concerned with cigarettes and cigars--which means we do not know for certain if this hypothesis is correct.

2. Beyond the possible health benefits, pipe filters can reduce tongue bite drastically. Tongue bite is often caused by the “junk” that filters absorb. However, it is important to frequently replace your filters, as per the instructions for each box. Neglecting to do so may negate the filter’s positive aspects and increase the severity of tongue bite.

3. A filter is a useful tool for a pipe with a larger than average draft hole size in the bottom of the bowl. A larger bore makes it more likely that ash or small tobacco cuts will be drawn into the stem, and consequently, onto your tongue. The use of a filter catches these small particles in the filter, not in your mouth.

4. Filters block and absorb excess moisture. This is incredibly beneficial for smokers who enjoy heavily cased and moist tobaccos. Smoking a wet tobacco--especially in a straight or half-bent pipe--often means that spittle will collect in the stem. Pipe filters help to negate this issue.

5. Filters help control draw. Some pipe smokers find that they smoke too quickly and with too much force. The natural resistance a filter adds to the draw helps slow down the smoke, keeping it cooler and more flavorful.

Why Smoke Without a Filter

The popularity of filterless tobacco pipes in the USA happens because smoking without a filter has many experiential advantages. The super absorptive qualities of pipe filters can take away what pipe smokers really want from the tobacco: taste.

Especially for smokers who do not inhale, some feel that the filter detracts from the taste. Using a filter can make cleaning your pipe more difficult. You cannot run a pipe cleaner through your pipe while smoking, which means you must wait until the end of your smoke--after the pipe is cool--to take it apart, remove the filter and clean it properly. In addition, leaving the filter in for too long can cause major gunk build up in your pipe. A used pipe filter should not sit in a pipe for more than 24 hours. The moisture and tar absorbed will not dry up. Neglecting to remove the filter will mean that you are giving your briar a chance to be affected by what essentially is a wet sponge. Not something any collector wants to think about doing to one of their “babies.”

Using filters properly is the only way to use them, and some smokers see this as a large additional expense, better spent on new tobacco blends. In the USA, a filter will run between .20-.30 each, which can add up over time.

Should You use a Filter?

Here is our best, attorney-like answer: It depends.

No one can answer this question but you. Pipe smoking is such a personal hobby, and your decision to use a filter should not be affected by others. It should be your decision.

Use this information and choose for yourself. Try them both. See what you prefer. That is the best advice we, or anyone else, can give you.

How Much To Spend

The cost of a pipe varies wildly. It is easy to find and order a corn cob pipe for less than ten dollars. Two clicks later, you could find a briar pipe for over $1,000.

So what should you do? Start low or shop for the best?

We would never recommend a beginner start with a pipe that costs thousands (or even hundreds) of dollars. But knowing which end of the range you should begin on comes down to a few simple questions:

How Will You Smoke?

A better way to phrase this is, “where will you smoke?”

It is important to know the setting in which you will be smoking. If you plan to immediately join a pipe club, where smokers take pride in their quality pieces, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea to spend a bit more money on a higher grade briar or meerschaum pipe.

But if you plan on just filling up your pipe with whatever tobacco you can find and want to smoke while fishing, biking, or some other outdoor hobby, a trusty cob or low-grade briar pipe will do nicely.

Factory or Artisan Grade?

For our purposes, think of factory pipes as brands that are produced on a mass scale, like Vauen or Peterson. Most tobacco pipes fall under this category.

An artisan grade pipe is a one-of-a-kind creation made by the hands of a pipe carver. Artisan pipes come from both large brands (like the Savinelli Autograph Series) and small one-person shops (like OWL Pipes).

Typically, artisan grade pipes tend to have a steeper price point than factory pipes. If you are just looking to smoke, a factory pipe will do you nicely. However, if you desire to jump headfirst into pipe collecting as many smokers do, a more affordable artisan pipe would be a good choice for you.

Suggested Price Ranges for Pipes

This section is not intended as an absolute model for pipe buying. Rather, use this as a basic guide for weeding out how much you should begin spending on a pipe.

• Basic Cob - A decent corn cob pipe, like a Missouri Meerschaum brand pipe, should cost between $10 and $25, depending on the type you choose.
• Low-Grade Briar - An affordable briar pipe would range somewhere between $25-75.
• Intermediate Pipe - A moderate briar pipe, or low-grade meerschaum, could range anywhere from $80-200.
• High-Grade Pipe - For more of a strong-willed briar pipe, artisan grade pipe, or pure meerschaum pipe, you should expect to pay $300 and up.

Creating a Pipe Rotation

Pipe rotation refers to how often the smoker changes pipes. Most pipe smoking enthusiasts agree that a briar pipe needs to rest in order to keep it in good condition and ensure the pipe lasts for years to come. A collection of smoking pipes is needed to accommodate this.

Proper pipe rotation is a particularly heated topic. Some long-time tobacco pipe smokers use the same pipe all day, every day. Other smokers rotate two or three pipes. Some pipe enthusiasts have large collections and only smoke the same tobacco pipe every few weeks.

In our opinion, there are four different ways you can build your pipe collection to accommodate your rotation. But first, we will explain why you probably should have more than one pipe.

1. Let the Pipe Rest for at least a Week

2. Rest the Pipe for a Day

3. It depends on your smoking style

4. Do Whatever you Want

Why do briar pipes need to rest?

Several things happen to a pipe when it’s smoked that changes the pipe’s structure.

First, the bowl of the pipe heats from the burning tobacco inside of it. As the smoke moves through the stem, the stem begins to heat as well. When wood is heated to high temperatures, we all know what happens--it burns! That is why Meerschaum pipes do not need the rest time of briar--they aren’t made of wood.

If a briar pipe isn’t allowed to cool fully between smokes, holes can form in the bowl. The pipe can also develop cracks and will begin to smell sour.

Tobacco contains 10-14% moisture when smoking conditions are optimal. This moisture causes steam to pass through the pipe with the smoke, and the pipe will “sour” without proper time to cool. If your pipe ever has a distinctive sour odor, don’t smoke it! Let it sit for a couple of days.

One: Let the Pipe Rest for at least a Week

The term 7-Day Set comes up often in the pipe world. This refers to the long-standing rule that an aficionado will have at least seven pipes, one for each day of the week.

A full seven-day rest ensures that your pipe is completely dried out before reuse. However, there are obvious drawbacks. Acquiring seven quality pipes can be a fairly large investment. If you only own one or two, waiting a whole week to smoke a bowl again can be a distressing thought.

Two: Rest the Pipe for a Day

Most modern smokers follow this rule of thumb, giving the pipe 24 hours to rest. Unless the bowl is especially thick, you’re probably in the clear. The 24-hour rule allows for at least one bowl per day with a smaller rotation of two or three pipes. Especially if most of your pipes are factory-made, you should be safe and satisfied with a one-day rest.

Three: It depends on your smoking style

Some tobacco pipe collectors believe that your personal style should determine how often you rotate your pipes. Ask yourself the following questions:

How wet do you smoke?

How hot do you draw?

Are you a puffer or a sipper?

Do you smoke tobaccos that are on the wet side or the dry side?

How high quality is the briar your pipe is made from?

The hypothesis believed by those who follow this method is that your style will either lessen or extend the time a pipe needs to sit. However, most beginners probably can’t answer these questions. We suggest skipping this method until you’ve become comfortable with your personal smoking habits and tried a variety of pipes and tobaccos.

Four: Do Whatever you Want

As long as you’re not getting an unpleasant sour taste, you can smoke your favorite pipe whenever you want.

We know many 30 or 40-year veterans of the hobby who smoke the same pipe four or five times a day and like it just fine.

Pipe rotation is largely based on your preferences and the type of tobacco pipes you smoke. It takes patience to figure out a rotation. Choose the method that you feel comfortable with and adjust your practice as you develop a style that works for you.

Choosing your Pipe Tobacco

Now that you have your tobacco pipe, the next step is to pick out a tobacco blend.

Different Pipe Tobacco Components

Understanding the common components of pipe tobacco blends can help you choose the right one.

Pipe tobacco blends are a combination of many flavors and textures. Much like making sausage, each component causes a slightly different experience for the palate. You may know that you like breakfast links, spicy Italian, or kielbasa. You might love one kind but hate the other. Understanding the varieties comes down to understanding the individual ingredients that make up the whole. Like sausage varieties for a diner, pipe tobacco’s different ingredients create entirely different experiences for the smoker.

Let’s take a look at a few of the most common “ingredients” that come together to make a pipe tobacco blend:

Burley Tobacco

Cavendish Tobacco

Virginia Pipe Tobacco

Oriental/Turkish Tobacco

Dark Fired Kentucky Tobacco

Perique Tobacco

Latakia Pipe Tobacco

Burley Tobacco

Burley is the second most common form of tobacco.

George Webb and Joseph Fore discovered white burley tobacco in 1864. While discovered in Ohio, 70% of burley tobacco is grown in Kentucky today. The remaining 30% is produced in Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio.

Burley is air-cured, which means the tobacco leaves are hung from a farm’s rafters to dry. Leaves are hung for approximately eight weeks, allowing the environment around the tobacco to impact both the flavor and the texture. Burley is an intrinsically light tobacco containing natural sugars. Its simple molecular structure makes it easy to mix, breed, and cure with other flavors. Burley can take on many different flavors and can be concentrated to produce a stronger flavor.

The mild and sweet nature of Burley makes it a natural fit for many popular blends. It is always added to soften the flavor and intensity of a blend.

Cavendish Tobacco

Cavendish isn’t actually a type of tobacco. It’s a process used to cure and cut Burley. However, it’s commonly referred to on its own due to Cavendish’s unique properties.

Sir Thomas Cavendish, an English immigrant to Virginia in the late 16th century, discovered the process we now call Cavendish. He decided to dip his “plain flavored” Burley into a barrel of sugar and discovered a delightful new treat.

Cavendish begins as white Burley and Dark Fired Kentucky tobacco. Technically, any tobacco can be made into a Cavendish, but these two are the most popular choices, by far:

1. The Burley is pressed into one-inch-thick squares.
2. The squares are pressed using steam or fire.
3. The squares are sealed into a barrel and left to ferment.

Typically, Cavendish consists of 54% tobacco, 22% water, 8% alcohol, and 16% sugar or flavoring. Cavendish is often found as a straight blend, sold as an additive. This allows the user to modify any of their own blends with a sweeter, more mellow taste.

Virginia Pipe Tobacco

Despite its deceiving name, Virginia tobacco grows all over the world. Virginia tobacco is the most common blending ingredient and is beloved for its flexibility and complexity.

Virginia is a favorite of personal tobacco blenders and connoisseurs alike. Like a fine wine, Virginias are complex and develop new characteristics and flavor when aged. Young Virginia is a bright lemon color and is characterized by a light, often citrusy flavor. As it matures, it will darken into a honey gold color. The strongest and most mature varieties are a rich red hue and full of flavor.

Virginia has a high sugar content, which often results in a sweet, tangy flavor. Because of the high sugar and oil content, Virginia can cause tongue bite if smoked too quickly or too hot.

Oriental/Turkish Tobacco

Oriental is a classification for tobacco grown in the Mediterranean region. It includes blends such as Turkish and Latakia, but also numerous other blends unique to the area.

Turkish tobacco was discovered in Turkey but is now produced in towns and variations such as Smyrna, Basma, Izmir, Yenidje, Samsun, Xanthi, and other small villages.

Orientals are known for being very aromatic. They generally have a “sweet and sour” flavor, meaning there will be a fruit or nut flavor accompanied by a pepper or bread taste. Just as Oriental blends are famous for being sweet and sour, Turkish blends always carry a sweet undertone with a spicy kick. Turkish tobacco is added to blends to deliver more body and flavor without compromising the English nature.

Making Dark Fired Kentucky Tobacco

Dark Fired Kentucky (or DFK for short) is similar to Burley. They are primarily produced in the same state and the same climate. The difference between DFK and Burley is that DFK is left to cure over an open fire. This unique and direct curing process gives this blend an incredibly smoky flavor. Fire-curing also chemically alters the plant, delivering a substantially higher nicotine dose to the smoker. DFK tobacco has an earthy flavor and is smooth on the tongue.

What Exactly is Perique Tobacco?

Perique is specific and unique. It can only be produced in one small part of the world. Much like champagne, if it is not made in that one location, it’s not really Perique. That location, St. James Parish, Louisiana, is the only place that produces true Perique tobacco. While environmental factors help in this reasoning, it is also due to the process the tobacco undergoes and the people who grow it.

The Choctaw Indians first made Perique. The Choctaw Indians took the tobacco, stored it in a hollowed-out log, subjected it to fire, and then let it cure. This process was witnessed by 19th century farmer Pierre Chenet, who leaped onto the idea and started cultivating his own crops. When subjected to high levels of pressure, the natural juices of the tobacco seeps out, beginning a fermentation process that gives Perique the flavors for which it is known.

With modern times came a modernization of the process. Today, Perique is stored in old bourbon barrels and squeezed to remove all the air from the barrel. If there is any air in the barrel, the tobacco can rot, so it is vital the air gets pressed out. Once this process is finished, the barrels are stored for around three months, then opened to allow the tobacco to breathe. After 12 to 24 hours, the barrel is re-sealed and pressed again, repeating three times to properly age and prepare the Perique.

The flavor profile of Perique features peppery spice with hints of fig. Popular on its own, Perique also works as an excellent enhancer when combined with other types of tobacco.

Because of the small production area, true Perique is difficult to find. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the area, which nearly eliminated Perique tobacco from existence. However, thanks to the dedicated farmers of the area, we are still able to enjoy this unique form today.

Latakia Pipe Tobacco

Latakia tobacco is produced by hanging to cure and then either steamed with pine or smoking with fire. This method of curing and aging gives it a spicy flavor. It is the strongest and most upfront flavor of the common tobaccos.

Latakia tobacco was discovered and originally produced in Latakia, Syria. It is now produced wholly in Cyprus.

Latakia is generally the tobacco added to English blends that gives it the smoky “punch” so many smokers are looking for. It is a plaguing myth that Latakia is cured by hanging over a camel dung fire. This is a ludicrous claim, and all smokers can be assured this does not happen to their tobacco.

Styles of Pipe Tobacco

Now that we’re all more familiar with the variations of the “ingredients,” it’s time to talk about how the individual components come together to make a tobacco blend.

On a chemical level, every tobacco plant is the same. The region of growth and aging process gives each type its unique flavor. Each tobacco blend contains a unique crop and mixture of crops to give it a distinct flavor. While it may not be chemically complex, the characteristics of each type are unique.

There is a blend out there featuring just about every combination of tobacco imaginable. To help us understand this complex field better, it is helpful to separate the blends into different family classifications.

This is not an exhaustive list, but it is long enough to give you an in-depth look at pipe tobacco blends.

Aromatic Blends

Aromatic tobacco is the blend most smokers begin with. As its name implies, this is a family of tobacco with a pleasing, usually sweet, aroma (that bystanders tend to adore). For tobacco to be considered an Aromatic, some sort of added flavor must top it. For example, Comoy’s Cask No. 2 is complemented with aged port wine, giving it a slightly alcoholic and rich fruity texture.

A large majority of Aromatic blends contain Cavendish tobacco and are then supplemented by Virginia and Burley. Because aromatic tobacco is an oily substance, it is prone to causing tongue bite. We suggest that first-time smokers avoid heavy aromatics.

Non-Aromatic Tobacco

Despite its deceiving name, Aromatic and Non-Aromatic blends are incredibly similar. The difference between them is that Non-Aromatic tobacco is not topped with additional flavor. This blend type relies on the natural sweetness of each tobacco type to deliver sweet taste, varying texture, and aromas to the smoker.

Non-aromatic blends, compared to Aromatics, are usually dry and easy-smoking, which is why we suggest Non-Aromatic tobacco for a first-time smoker. Not only will the blend be easy on the tongue, but it will also deliver a pleasant experience for those nearby.

We should note that not all Non-Aromatic blends have an intrinsically sweet nature. Some unique blends that cannot be labeled in other categories are listed.

Virginia/Perique Pipe Tobacco

Virginia/Perique tobacco may be the most common unknown blend around. This mixture is often called Va/Per for short. Many smokers who have a delicate palate, but love tasting exotic rich flavors, find themselves attracted to Va/Per blends.

The name of this tobacco variant hints at its two main components: Virginia and Perique tobaccos. Va/Per blends typically have a sweet and sour flavor and can come across as a bit swampy in their tin note.

English Tobacco Blends

After aromatic, English is the most common pipe tobacco blend style. English tobacco blends can range from soft and delicate to full-flavored and nicotine packed. When choosing an English blend, it is important to read the product description to ensure that it is a mixture that will appeal to you. Particularly when you’re first starting out, it’s important to pay attention to the strength level. No one ever enjoyed a headache from too much nicotine!

A significant portion of Latakia tobacco defines English blends. The Latakia gives English tobaccos a strong smoke flavor, very similar to the smell of a campfire. An English blend nearly always has a combination of Virginia and Oriental tobacco to complement the Latakia. Often the proportions of an English blend’s three main components are tinkered with, and a new family, like Balkan, of pipe tobacco blends is created.

Choosing your Tobacco Cut

Blend types are only part of the equation when it comes to choosing your pipe tobacco. The next step is to learn about the different forms of tobacco. Each family of tobacco blends can be found in different shapes and sizes, and each smoke a little bit differently.

Loose Cut Pipe Tobacco

The majority of pipe tobacco mixtures, and probably all the ones you have ever seen, come packaged loose. This means that there are little ribbons of tobacco leaves scattered about. Often called Ribbon Cut, loose tobacco is made by shredding the individual tobacco leaves (like shredding paper) and then mixing them together.

Ribbon Cut is the easiest pipe tobacco to light and smoke, which is why we suggest it for beginners. It is easier to control the pack of the bowl and intensity of flavor when working with ribbon cut tobacco.

Flake Tobacco

When you first see a flake of pipe tobacco, you might be confused. It doesn’t seem like the paper-like flat piece would fit in your pipe.

Flake tobacco is a sheet of pressed tobacco, containing all the different components of that blend pressed together. Flake tobacco is usually denser than ribbon cut, which results in a more concentrated flavor. It can burn at a hotter temperature and usually give the smoker a longer-lasting smoke.

Flake is made by packing different leaves in a high-pressure press and exerting tons of psi for hours at a time. The pressed leaves are then vertically sliced, giving the smoker a single sheet of cut tobacco.

To smoke flake, rub the sheet in between your fingers or hands until it falls apart. Then load it into the chamber and smoke.

Cake Pipe Tobacco

Tobacco in cake form shares many characteristics with flake. A cake is just pre-sliced flake tobacco. Many times whole tobacco leaves are pressed together, and in this case, we call it a plug.

The easiest way to smoke a cake is to take a knife to the brick. Shave off a corner, or even make your own flake. Then proceed to rub it out to your desired size, load it into the bowl, and begin smoking.

What is Coin Tobacco

Coin tobacco is the least common form of pipe tobacco we will cover here. Coin is similar in form and function to flake tobacco, even though it looks quite different. Coin happens when tobacco is rolled into a tightrope, called a twist, aged for a time, and then sliced (imagine a pepperoni being sliced).

Just like flake, coin can be smoked by rubbing it out in your hand before loading your pipe.

Pairing a Pipe with a Tobacco Blend

The most important thing for a new smoker to learn is what exactly they love to smoke, not what they should smoke it in. That being said, many smokers appreciate a bit of in-depth guidance on the issue. Use this short guided section to help you. It is not an absolute guide, merely our own opinions.

Billiard Shaped Pipe Pair

The Billiard is the most recognized and common tobacco pipe. It is perfect for beginners who want to learn about pipe smoking and perfect for the distinguished pros who enjoy smoking a few bowls every night.

Any tobacco blend will work in a Billiard. With its straightforward design, thick bowl, and long stem, it’s a flexible shape. If you are looking for a pipe that can handle any blend, choose this shape.

Poker Pipe Pairing

Experienced smokers love pokers. The Poker shape is one of the smoothest smoking pipe shapes. It is also notorious for being the working man’s pipe because the short shank makes it easy to hold in the mouth, and you can set it down while working with your hands.

Due to the short and straight stem on a Poker, it’s often suggested that Virginias and heavily coated tobaccos are poor choices for this shape. When smoking a Poker, you are more likely to produce a buildup of spittle in the shank. If you tend to do manual work while smoking, odds are you will be in a position where the spittle can run up the shank, a most unpleasant experience.

We prefer smoking a strong Latakia flake in a Poker. Pokers also work well with high nicotine blends. The Poker’s thick walls help absorb flavor, and after a few uses with the blend, the taste will start to amplify and develop with every bowl.

Tobacco for a Bulldog

The bowl of the Bulldog resembles two cones stacked on top of one another. The bowl’s thick center allows an exceptional amount of heat and oil to be absorbed into the pipe. This cone shape gives this shape a thick briar bowl, which makes it the perfect choice for smoking heavier blends.

The suggested minimal thickness of your bowl-wall is a fourth of an inch. While the Bulldog keeps a quarter-inch thickness at the top of the bowl, the cone shape expands the thickness of the bowl towards the bottom, usually becoming around half an inch thick. The thicker bowl makes The Bulldog the perfect shape for smoking flake tobaccos.

Tobacco for a Bent Pipe

There are a plethora of pipe shapes that come in bent versions: Apple, Billiard, Calabash, Rhodesian, Bulldog, Pear, and Freehand, to name a few. While there are differences in each of these, what matters here is the bend in the stem. Bent pipes are, without a doubt, the best pipe for smoking Virginia blends.

Virginia blended tobaccos are notorious for giving smokers tongue bite. The chemical make-up and the hot burning temperature require a patient smoker. When smoking a bent pipe, the stem is generally built longer so that the bowl is still the same distance from the mouth. The longer stem allows the smoke more time to cool off and to disperse its energy through the stem before hitting the tongue.

Bent pipes are also perfect for smoking heavily cased aromatics.

The casing on some aromatics is what gives the pipe smoker the occasional spittle attack. The bent nature of the pipe sets physics out against runback. Most of the time, the spittle will be unable to travel upwards toward the bit. When you find that your favorite Aromatic smokes super wet, try smoking it in a bent pipe.

How to Smoke your Pipe

Part of what makes pipe smoking so special is the ritual of gathering your tools and sitting down for a smoke. Unlike other forms of smoking, where you can light up with only a moment’s notice, smoking a pipe requires a thoughtful plan and decisive action.

Since the path to proper smoking is full of trepidation and a bit mystical, frustration can arise. With a pipe mentor (or this handy guide) and the proper tools, you can easily get a jump on the process and immediately begin enjoying a relaxing new hobby.

Packing Your Pipe

The pack is critical to enjoying a satisfying bowl of tobacco.

Packing--or how the tobacco goes into the chamber--can be done in many different ways. The method we recommend trying first is by far the most popular, and in our opinion, the most flavorful way.

Preparing the Tobacco

Ribbon or loose cut tobacco does not require any preparation. But if you are smoking a flake, coin, cake, plug, or twist, then the tobacco will need to be manipulated.

The sure-fire way (pun intended) to prepare these blends is to take an amount and place it between your palms. Slowly rub your palms together. After a few seconds, the tobacco will fall apart and is ready for loading in the chamber. If you find that the pieces are too large, simply repeat the process. If the tobacco is too small, then reduce the pressure and intensity with which you rub the tobacco out.

Packing your Pipe

The Three Pack Method is our favorite and the most popular way to pack a bowl. As the name hints, there are three steps to loading up the perfect bowl of tobacco:

1st Pack:

1. Grab a small pinch of tobacco and drop it into the chamber of the pipe. This small pinch should not be denser than the tobacco just laying on a table in a pile--it should be completely loose.
2. Add tobacco to the bowl until it appears the chamber is half full.

2nd Pack: The second step to packing your pipe will begin the same way as the first.

1. Pinch a light pile of tobacco and drop it into the chamber of the pipe. Fill the pipe until it is three-quarters of the way full and then stop.
2. Now, take your finger or a pipe tamper and gently tap down the tobacco. Press down hard enough to remove the empty space between the leaves without compacting the tobacco itself.

3rd Pack:

1. Drop loose tobacco into the chamber of the pipe for a third and final time.
2. Fill it to the top of, or even just a bit over, the chamber rim of your pipe.
3. At this point, take your finger or a pipe tamper and push down on the tobacco harder, but not much harder, than the previous pack. The tobacco should end even with or slightly below the top of the chamber.

This process works because it causes the tobacco to be evenly packed from the top to the bottom of the chamber. If the tobacco is uneven, then it will not remain lit throughout the bowl. A bowl packed too tightly will also reduce the flavor of the tobacco. The unsmoked portion acts as a filter in the sense that it dilutes the flavor.

The key to making sure this process works is to periodically draw (to puff on the stem of the pipe) and make sure that it does not become more difficult to draw at any point. It is important to note that you are not inhaling the smoke. A tobacco pipe is not a cigarette, and you should not smoke a pipe the same way you do with a cigarette. You want to allow the smoke to rest in your mouth, swirling around so you can appreciate the flavor of the tobacco.

If there seems to be a block or the draw is significantly thicker than it is with an empty pipe, then it would be best to empty the bowl and begin again. When the chamber is filled and ready to be lit, it should feel as if there is no air-flow resistance.

If you have difficulty with this technique at first, don’t get discouraged. It takes some smokers years of daily smoking to perfect this packing method. But once they have it down, it is obvious that all the work was well worth it.

Lighting the Tobacco

Now we come to the last step before you can finally begin enjoying pipe smoking: lighting the tobacco. Unfortunately, lighting a pipe isn’t as easy as firing up a cigarette or even smoldering a cigar. But with a little thought and intention, you will have absolutely no problem.

Deciding on a Flame

Many smokers believe that choosing the proper flame source is nearly as important as packing the pipe. Whether or not you have an opinion on the issue, it is helpful to be familiar with the most common style of lighters people use.

Matches: Matches are the most common choice. To use a match, simply strike it and hold it until the sulfur is burned (usually about one count). Then, bring the match to the surface of the tobacco and gently puff through the mouthpiece while moving the fire around the filled bowl in a slow circle.

Fluid Lighters: The lighter you’re most likely to think of when imagining a fluid lighter is the famous Zippo brand. These lighters hold up well and are the most reliable, in pretty much any weather. But, be careful! These lighters may char the rim of your pipe bowl, and if you use them too liberally, they will give your tobacco an unpleasant taste.

Butane Lighters: Butane lighters are an attractive and convenient way to keep your fire with you wherever you go. Unlike fluid lighters, the risk of hurting your tobacco’s flavor is much lower. Using a butane lighter, specifically designed for pipes, will help you avoid burning your fingers and keep the flame right where you want it. A butane lighter can be a bit of an investment, but it’s a pipe smoking accessory you’ll have for the rest of your days if you treat it right.

How to Light your Pipe

Just as packing well is crucial for a good smoke, so is the actual lighting process. There are three simple and easy to understand steps to light your tobacco:

The Charring Light: The first light, called the Charring Light, is done with a gentle circle of fire at the top of the tobacco applied in a lazy circle while puffing gently at the mouthpiece. This light will char the top of the tobacco, hence its name.

The Preliminary Tamp: After the tobacco has been subject to fire for the first time, it will expand and slightly rise from the top of the chamber. To keep the tobacco tighter together, lightly push down with a tamper (we should note that you will need to repeat this periodically through smoking the bowl, on an average of 2-3 times).

The Second Light: Now it is time to wait. We suggest giving the tobacco a 60-second break before implementing this third and final step. Light the pipe tobacco again, in the same lazy circle as before.

Finally, you can smoke your pipe.

Smoking Your Tobacco Pipe

At last!

We made it to the point where you can sit back, relax, and smoke decadent tobacco leaves in your new pipe. At this point, you could stop reading and just enjoy your smoke. If you want the best experience possible and set up for success, our tips and guidelines for pipe smoking will greatly benefit you.

Consider Smoking Pace

The rhythm of your smoking is paramount to your experience. As a new smoker, don’t get discouraged. It takes practice and patience to get the pace just right. No two smokers do it exactly the same way.

In general, your goal is to take a puff often enough to keep your tobacco lit but slowly enough to keep the smoke fairly cool.

Smoking hot will cause the dreaded tongue bite and could damage the bowl of the pipe. Hold your pipe by the bowl. If your fingers are too hot, slow down. It’s always better to relight than to smoke too hot.

Learning how to light and pace your puffs properly takes practice and experimentation. Don’t get discouraged if your first few dozen smokes require dozens of relighting or cooling stops. Just like anything else worth doing, you’ll improve with practice.

What about a Relight?

Sometimes your tobacco will go out. Despite what you might read, it’s no big deal (well, unless you’re trying to win a competition). This could be due to a bad pack, inconsistent pace, tobacco that was too moist or too dry, or a plethora of other reasons. It happens to new smokers, and it happens to smokers who have been practicing the hobby for decades.

Of course, you don’t want to waste your tobacco and only smoke the top half of the bowl. So how exactly should you go about relighting it?

The first thing you should do is softly tamp down the remaining ash. Then, turn the bowl upside down and gently let the ash, also known as dottle, fall out.

Don’t force anything out of the chamber. You wouldn’t want to lose any good tobacco!

At this point, we suggest letting the pipe rest for about a minute. This allows the pipe to cool and to have a more consistent temperature in the tobacco.

Once the tobacco has set, simply light it with a match or lighter. You will notice that it no longer tastes good--rather, it tastes like an ashtray. That is simply because the ash at the top chamber is transferring the embers down to the tobacco below. If you want to avoid a few puffs of this sour taste, very gently exhale through the pipe. The added oxygen will speed up the burning process, and the smoke will go away from your mouth while the ash is burning, not towards it.

At this point, you should be able to resume smoking your pipe as usual. If the tobacco goes out again, simply rinse, lather, and repeat. If the tobacco is going out over and over again, it may be a good idea to experiment with your pack, light, and type of tobacco you use.

Breaking in a Tobacco Pipe

From this point forward, cake is no longer a yummy treat.

Okay, it still is, but not in our world.

In the pipe world, cake refers to the buildup of carbon and other materials on the inside walls of the pipe’s chamber. It is the thick black stuff you see on the inside of tobacco pipes. To break in a pipe means to slowly introduce tobacco to the pipe so that a healthy and beneficial cake can build up.

But Why Develop Cake?

Developing a proper cake is a critical step in ensuring your pipe lasts for years to come. This can be one of the most frustrating parts of learning to smoke a pipe--knowing when you have just the right thickness.

The cake creates a barrier around the entire bowl chamber. Cake refers to the carbon deposits that are left behind by the smoked tobacco. These carbon deposits insulate the chamber and keep the briar from charring.

In addition to protecting the chamber, cake helps make your smoking experience sweeter. The carbon builds up forms from the sugars in the tobacco. These deposits blend with some of the flavor of the briar, resulting in a mellow smoke.

How to Develop Pipe Cake

To develop the initial cake, you will use a gradual buildup process that is a little different than a regular smoking experience. Learning how to do this properly takes time and patience. Follow these steps carefully for the best results:

Fill the bowl a quarter full with tobacco. We start with a partial bowl to give the carbon room to form evenly. This process ensures that every bit of the chamber will be exposed to charred tobacco.

Light the partial bowl evenly. Take your first draw, then tamp with your tamper and do your second light.

Smoke the bowl slowly and completely. Take your time, even more so than usual, with this smoke. Draw slowly and methodically, which will help you form an even cake. Make sure to smoke the whole bowl, all the way to the heel, which is the bottom of the bowl. Developing cake at the bottom of the bowl is the most difficult part of the process.

Continue this process for 3-5 smokes.

Next, follow steps 1-4 with a half-bowl, then three quarters. By increasing the amount of tobacco in the bowl gradually, over time, you will build a more even cake, from bottom to top, inside the chamber. Most pipes need at least a dozen smokes to begin forming a nice cake.

The last and possibly most crucial step in developing a pipe cake is to be careful when emptying your pipe.

When the smoke is complete, let the tobacco smolder in the chamber for a few minutes; don’t immediately dump it out. After a few minutes, gently dump the bowl, and if possible, tap the pipe on a cork knocker to dump out the rest.

DO NOT scrape out the tobacco with a pipe tool. This will reverse much of the caking process that took place during the last smoke. If you have to loosen the ash with a pipe tool, that is fine. Just refrain from scraping the inner walls of the chamber.

Maintaining Your Pipes

Now that all the jargon is out of the way, you can enjoy smoking your tobacco pipe time and time again.

At this point, the mere act of smoking ends, and the fantastic hobby of pipe collecting and pipe smoking begins.

Most new pipe smokers are looking for more than just a new way to smoke tobacco. In fact, many newcomers aren’t looking for a way to smoke tobacco at all! Most people enter the community of pipe smoking because they feel it is a compelling lifestyle.

To get the most out of every pipe you own, taking preventative measures will keep them healthy, beautiful, and smoking great! We can do this with the proper pipe accessories and tools for consistent and needed maintenance.

How to Ream a Pipe

We just talked about building up the carbon, or cake, of your tobacco pipe. But like everything, you can have too much of a good thing.

Building up too much cake in your pipe is a bad thing. When cake heats, it expands. Once there is too much cake, it will expand a bit too much and could crack your pipes.

We believe the optimal cake thickness is 1.5mm, or about the thickness of a dime. Once the cake exceeds 2mm, it is time to ream--remove some cake.

The Tools of the Trade

Before we go into what types of pipe reamers you should consider, a word of warning: DO NOT use a knife.

We know it is tempting. So tempting, in fact, that a few of us may have learned this lesson the hard way by ruining a perfectly good pipe. We know you probably have some sharp pocket knives lying around. But we want you to say no! Using a knife will strip the carbon from your pipe rather than sand it off. Besides, you are likely to stab or scratch your briar bowl, which is bad news.

Pipe Tool Attachment: Most smokers have an abundance of 3-in-1 style pipe tools nestled around their home, office, and car. These tools come with a tamper, pick, and a reamer. While the scoop tool is called a reamer, its purpose is to loosen and shovel out the ash. The reamer attachment was not designed to scrape the carbon from the inside of the bowl. Attempting to ream with this tool can result in taking out chunks and damaging the briar underneath the cake.

Sandpaper: Some people love the direct, hands-on approach. They like to take a thin piece of sandpaper, apply it to a finger, and slowly sand down the cake. This tool can be precise, but only in the hands of experienced woodworkers and crafters who know how to properly sand. If you’re a novice with sandpaper, we don’t recommend this method.

Dremel Tool: Another tool favored by woodworkers is the Dremel tool method. A rock sander attached to the end of the tool can be a quick and easy method, but only in the right hands. This is a dangerous way to ream. It takes a steady hand and perfect attention to detail to do it correctly. We advise you not to try this method unless you are a very experienced restoration expert.

British Buttner: The British Buttner is a classic tool and the most economical at that. This reamer is spring-loaded, causing it to always fit snugly in the bowl. These are typically three-quarters of an inch thick, which fits most standard pipes. This tool is perfect for pipes with a U-shaped chamber. What makes this tool so popular is its ability to reach the bottom of most chambers quite easily, a characteristic which most other tools have trouble with.

Multi-Tool T-Reamer: A Multi-Tool reamer is the preferred tool of restoration artists and those who have multiple sized pipes to care for. The advantage here is the T-Reamer’s flexibility in accommodating various. The downside to this is the lack of adjustability. If you happen not to have a reamer that fits your pipe, you are out of luck.

Senior Pipe Reamer: The Senior Pipe Reamer is the most popular quality pipe reamer. With tapered sharpened edges, and a V-shaped bottom (which obviously works well with V-shaped chambers), this reamer is perfect for most every pipe. This reamer is beloved because with a little torque, the diameter of the reamer changes. As you ream, you can slowly enlarge the reamer to match the cake, making it the safest reamer to use on your pipes.

Reaming a Pipe

Once you select your tool of choice, it is a bad idea to jump in and start reaming your favorite pipes right away.

We suggest you go to eBay or a local antique market and buy a few beat-up estate pipes with loads of cake. Use these to practice. If you haven’t practiced, the odds are pretty high that you will mess up your pipe instead of repairing it. Please practice first.

First and foremost, have a stable and secure workplace. You will want to have a steady hand when reaming. The couch, in your lap, car, or some other unstable place can keep your hand from being steady.

The key to reaming is gentle and consistent torque. When you insert your tool, you only want a small amount of friction between the cake and your tool. At this point, you will twist until the friction disappears. Dump the dust out, expand your reamer, and continue the process. You should be creating a fine dust of carbon. If you are taking out chunks, scrape more gently and see if you can decrease your reamer’s size.

It is tempting to ream inconsistently around the bowl, such as pushing harder on the shank side of the pipe. Avoid this—Ream equally all around the diameter of your bowl.

Do not ream all the way to fresh wood! This is a mistake many, including us, have made. Even professional pipe restorers don’t always ream down to the fresh wood. It is best to leave a light layer.

When you make your way to the heel of the bowl, be careful! There is often only a little, if any, cake at the bottom of the bowl.

Once you have completed reaming, you will want to clean the pipe carefully. Dump the carbon dust out and begin running pipe cleaners through your pipe. For those of you that use alcohol to clean your pipes, Everclear is a great place to start. If using alcohol is not your thing, then using a pipe cleaning solution will work well as an alternative.

Cleaning a Tobacco Pipe

There are three different levels of pipe cleaning.

The first is a quick clean after each bowl, and the second is a more thorough method used periodically as maintenance, and the last a special treatment for severely dirty pipes.

Quick Clean

This level of cleaning is not strictly necessary.

You can, and many do, skip this step and have a perfectly fantastic smoking life. But if you follow this simple step, we believe that your next bowl in the same pipe will be significantly more flavorful than if you skip it.

All you need for this step is a pipe cleaner. Then, follow these two simple steps:

• Once you finish smoking, insert a pipe cleaner through the stem into the pipe as far as it will go. Leave the cleaner in for a few minutes.
• Once the tobacco has cooled, dump it out. Then remove and discard the pipe cleaner.

This method removes unnecessary sludge from the stem, shank, and heel of the pipe, which clears up the flavor of the tobacco the next time you smoke the pipe.

Note: It is a bad idea to remove the stem from the shank of the pipe right after smoking. If you plan on running a pipe cleaner through the two pieces separately, it is crucial that you let the pipe cool down completely before removing the stem. Taking the two apart while the pipe is hot will cause the stem to expand and contract at a different rate, resulting in a loose joint.

Regular Pipe Cleaning

You should give each pipe you smoke regularly a good cleaning treatment every month in an ideal situation.

The process we will outline below promotes the long-term health of each pipe and reduces small amounts of grime that build up in the nooks and crannies of a pipe.

Tools you will need:

• Pipe cleaners,
• Paper towels,
• Everclear, or other alcohol (we strongly suggest you avoid rubbing alcohol and absolutely avoid water. Many smokers prefer using sugar-based alcohol, like rum or brandy because they believe it gives the pipe a sweeter flavor)).

Once you’ve gathered your tools, follow these steps to get your pipes back in tip-top shape:

1. The first step is to prepare your set-up. Lay down a rag or paper towel to work on. Then, disassemble your pipe.

2. To clean your stem, dip the tip of a pipe cleaner into the alcohol. Insert the cleaner into the bit of your stem, and push it through in one direction. Repeat the process until the cleaner is no longer attracting grime.

3. To clean the shank, take another pipe cleaner and dip it into the alcohol. Insert it into the mortise (where the stem resides) and rub back and forth, picking up as much grime as possible. This may require more than one pipe cleaner. Once you are satisfied with the amount of cleaning, it is time to move on to the chamber itself.

4. It is at this point we prefer to switch to a paper towel. Ball up the paper towel so that it will fit in the chamber. Add a small amount of alcohol to the paper towel. Insert the paper towel into the chamber and lightly twist. This will remove a large amount of dirt and ash. Repeat the process until you are satisfied.

It is important to give the pipe time to dry out after cleaning. To be safe, we suggest waiting at least 12 hours until you smoke that pipe again.

Sour Treatment

Sometimes a pipe can go sour from all the moisture of the tobacco. This takes a while to happen, but it does occasionally occur. The solution to this problem is simpler than you might expect. All you need are a few inexpensive tools.

Tools You Will Need:

• Pipe cleaners
• Everclear, or other alcohol
• Non-iodized salt

How to Clean:

1. Insert a pipe cleaner through the stem all the way to the chamber. Be sure the cleaner is not in the chamber, just in the bore protecting the shank.

2. Fill the pipe to the chamber rim with non-iodized salt. It is important to use non-iodized salt. Salt with iodine can damage your pipe.

3. Once it is full, take 10-15 drops of Everclear and drop them onto the top of the salt (it is crucial to use Everclear in this situation, not other types of alcohol). The salt will instantly begin turning brown. Don’t be alarmed; that is what we want to happen.

4. Now it is time to wait. It will take 12-24 hours for all the alcohol to evaporate (which is why it is important to use a high-proof liquid, like Everclear). Once you believe the liquid is gone, you can scrape out the musky salt. Warning: if you do not get every last grain of salt out, you will most likely get a piece of disgusting salt on your tongue, resulting in one of the worst tastes you could imagine.

If this process fails to restore your pipe’s smoke-ability, it may be time to send it off to an expert pipe restorer for repair.

Making Pipe Smoking Unique to You

Congratulations! If you’ve made it to this point in the guide, you are now a pipe smoker. You have all the tools you need to love and enjoy this hobby for the rest of your life.

If you’re feeling pretty good and don’t have a lot of curiosity, you can stop right now and be perfectly happy.

If you are like us, you will soon be asking the question, “Isn’t there more?”

Absolutely! Pipe smoking is an art form that no one ever completely masters. There are so many facets to this lifestyle that make it unique. No two smokers have the same experience. The rest of the information in this guide is designed to help you make pipe smoking unique to you. From creating a tobacco cellar to pairing drinks with your favorite blend, these topics will help you customize your experience.

Assembling a Pipe Kit

Your pipe kit should include all the essential things you need to enjoy a great smoke. A few of these are constants, and no one will have any fun without a favorite pipe tobacco and something to light it with. Beyond the simple requirement of pipe tobacco and fire, there are a host of possibilities.

We think that every basic pipe kit should include at least three things in addition to your favorite pipe: a lighter, a sturdy 3-in-1 tool, and a great pipe and tobacco pouch. Here’s how to choose the right accessories for your needs:

Choosing a Lighter

Matches and/or a basic BIC-style lighter will get the job done--but with a few drawbacks. If you’re just getting started, use one of these.

If you are building a collection of pipes and spend a fair bit of time smoking them, we think the investment in a good-quality lighter is a sound one.

A reliable lighter will run in the same price range as a mid-range pipe. Just like your favorite pipes, the more artisan accents and stylish customization the lighter has, the higher the price will be. A perfect choice for lighters that are both beautiful and functional are Tsubota lighters. These lighters are made specifically for pipe smokers and will work even outside on a breezy day.

Finding the Proper Pipe Tool

A basic Czech tool will get you through, and the four dollar price point is hard to beat. We have these laying all over the office, and the car, and the house. The downside is their durability. You will have to spend that four dollars more than once. Just like a lighter, a good-quality tool is a small investment that can substantially enhance your enjoyment. Whatever type of pipe tool you choose, look for these signs of quality and durability:

Strong metal construction: Steel or other durable metals will last longer than aluminum or other cheaper materials.

Well-made joints: The most likely place for a 3-in-1 tool to break is at the joints. Look for smooth movement back-and-forth and sturdy construction here.

Simple construction: A few adornments might add enjoyment. However, we recommend staying away from tools with lots of decorations that are likely to break and/or show wear. Remember, a good tool is meant to be functional; if you want a fun additional element, spring for a handmade pipe tamper.

A Pipe/Tobacco Pouch

Once you put your pipe kit together, you will need something to hold it all in. Ideally, your kit will be convenient for travel, compact, and maybe even a bit stylish. At home, you may have a large pipe cabinet or a humble tackle box for storing your tools, pipes, and tobaccos. However, when you’re on the go, you’ll want something that you can hold in your hand without dropping your whisky.

Pipe and tobacco pouches come in a plethora of colors, shapes, sizes, and designs. There are some leather tobacco pouches that do nothing other than hold tobacco for only a few dollars. Then, there are large multi-item bags that hold numerous pipes and everything in-between.

Pick the pouch that will best accommodate your needs.

Cellaring Pipe Tobacco

There are many benefits to aging and storing our tobacco. The main reason cellaring tobacco is a great idea is because tobacco--just like wine and wisdom--improves with age. When stored properly, the flavors and aroma of the blend mature and gain depth.

We are living in the golden age of tobacco blends. This is likely to be the cheapest pipe tobacco will ever be. With government regulations, inflation, and fewer farms, the price of tobacco is only going to go up.

Cellaring tobacco is a clear and wise investment in the future of your favorite new hobby. If you are a committed pipe smoker and plan to continue for years to come, it might not be a bad idea to stock up now. Think of it like a savings plan for your future happiness.

How Different Tobaccos React to Aging

Virginia Tobacco: The natural sugar content and unique chemical structure make Virginia ideal for aging. No matter how long it is aged, its quality will only increase, at least in our lifetime.

Orientals: After a few years in the cellar, Oriental tobaccos will move away from the intrinsic spice and begin picking up flavors of fruit. There is no universal “sweet spot” time for aging Orientals; they all age differently. However, it is safe to say that the peak will be sometime around 30-40 years in the cellar and will decrease in flavor after that.

Burley Tobacco: Burley is almost always blended with Virginia tobacco, so the same rules of aging apply.

WARNING: be careful in aging certain aromatics. Some tobacco companies put a heavy coating on their Aromatic blends. This coating, if too heavy, will actually hurt the tobacco with age.

Latakia: Like Orientals, Latakia will mellow out after a few years. It will start to lose its punch. This could be a good or bad thing, depending on the blend. If what we affectionately know as “Lat Bombs” are your thing, don’t age it. If you prefer a milder experience, aging will take the rough edges off.

The Do’s of Cellaring Tobacco

Cellaring tobacco is much easier than you may think. By following these simple steps, you will be on your way to building up your own personalized pipe tobacco storehouse!

Control The Temperature And Humidity: Controlling the temperature and humidity of your tobacco is the key to proper aging. Here’s how to do it: Store your tobacco in a place that is somewhere between 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Too much heat will spoil the tobacco (a lot like meat), while not enough will prevent the aging process from really beginning.

Store your tobacco in a place that has the lowest amount of humidity possible. Storing your tobacco in places of high humidity can threaten the seal of your tins, jars, or whatever you store with. If the metal corrodes and the seal is broken, your tobacco can no longer age properly.

Store Your Tobacco In A Dark Place: Limiting the light exposure will protect your containers, thus protecting your tobacco. Your system doesn’t need to be fancy, do what is practical for you. Closed cardboard boxes protect the tobacco from light exposure. They also work well because a closed cardboard box will absorb the humidity before it has time to corrode the metal in the jars and tins.

Use Unopened Tins Or Sealed Glass Jars For Storing: Having an unopened tobacco tin is ideal. However, if you are storing bulk tobacco or did not buy a spare tin, we suggest using canning jars, such as mason jars. Canning jars easily create airtight seals, and they happen to look really good stuffed with tobacco!

Create A Plan For Smoking Your Tobacco: We recommend always taking taste notes. Not only will this be helpful, but it will enhance your experience. Have a set time when you will open your aged tobacco. A great place to start is to let tobacco age periods of six months, one year, two years, five years, and ten years. This is where taste notes will be helpful. Not many people can clearly remember the nuances of a tobacco five years after they smoked it.

Don’ts of Cellaring Tobacco

Do NOT Store with cigars or in a humidor: Pipe tobacco and cigars are both aromatic. Storing them together in a humidor is not a good way to store your tobacco. The last thing you want is for your tobacco and cigars to start taking on the taste of each other as they age. A humidor works for cigars because you need to keep your cigars at a balanced humidity. Too low will make your cigar dry out. A dry cigar loses its aroma and flavor. Too high, and your cigar will develop mold or rot. You will want to keep your tins in a low level of humidity. A humidor is meant to keep the humidity level balanced at a higher level than your pipe tobacco should be at.

Do NOT store in plastic: One of the worst crimes a smoker can commit is to store their tobacco in plastic long term. People believe it is acceptable to store tobacco in plastic, mostly because when they buy tobacco from their local tobacconist, they store the tobacco in a plastic bag. The intent behind that bag is that you take it home and store it in a jar or that you smoke it relatively quickly. We are never given plastic bags to keep as storage containers.

The chemicals in the tobacco will begin to erode part of the plastic. This is then absorbed into the tobacco (not good). On top of that, the plastic will itself absorb the tobacco. It will begin to ghost (change colors). Just like how you store chili in a tub container, and after a few days, the container is no longer clear but brown, your tobacco will do the same.

“Pounds of tobacco are often delivered to shops in plastic,” you may say. The truth is is these plastic bags have been chemically engineered to store tobacco for up to five years. So they are safe from the effect.

Do NOT add moisture: If you add moisture to your tobacco, chances are you will find that your precious aged tobacco has molded. The tobacco has been stored and sold with the moisture content at the level the blender would like it to be. It is our personal opinion that if you want to get the most out of your tobacco, you should smoke it the way the “chef” intended.

Pairing Drinks with Tobacco

There are many reasons why you should pair your tobacco and drinks together. The key to a great recipe, whether it’s a tobacco blend or a dinner entree, is the correct combination of flavors. Tobacco and drinks work much the same way.

Consider a parallel in the culinary world. Few things in this world are as delicate and expertly crafted as homemade Italian pasta served with a homemade marinara sauce. While this entree is delectable and as perfect as it can be by itself, it is still missing something: a drink.

Of course, you could always eat this Italian dish while drinking water, but that doesn’t enhance the flavor. What you need is a decadent red wine. Red wine will act as a magnifying glass, making it easier to detect some of the more subtle flavors in the dish.

Without the right drink to match your food, you will forever lose some of the best flavors. In many ways, pipe tobacco works the same way.

You may have a perfect tin of Virginia tobacco that has been aged for 30 years. You can crack it open, smoke it, and enjoy it for what it is. But unless you are enjoying it under the right conditions, you will miss something.

Another reason to pair these two is that it makes your smoking experience more personal. Before you enjoyed smoking your tobacco in your pipe, and it was wonderful. But now you can start adding another layer of flavor to your already delicious hobby.

Now that you are motivated to begin refining your smoking experience, you have to figure out what goes well together.

Many of the same principles for pairing tobacco and drinks are overarching principles in the larger world of pairing food and wine. While the specifics may change, the basic principles of flavor pairings are similar. With this in mind, it is not as difficult as you may think to match your tobacco with a drink that enriches its flavor.

Flavors Should Have An Equal Body

This is the most important rule for pairing drinks with your tobacco. It is imperative -- if you want to have the best pairing possible -- that you pair a medium-bodied tobacco with a medium-bodied drink, full with full and mild with mild. Smoking a big-bodied tobacco while sipping on a “weak” drink means that the tobacco will overpower the drink, and you will not be able to taste the subtleties in the drink. Likewise, do not have a strong drink with a mild-bodied tobacco.

Here are some examples of good mild, medium, and full-bodied combinations:

Mild: Mac Baren Modern Virginia and a lager, such as Yuengling.

Medium: McClelland Frog Morton and an Old Fashioned cocktail.

Full: Samuel Gawith 1792 Flake and bourbon, such as Woodford Reserve.

The whole purpose of smoking, and drinking too, is to taste as much as possible. You want to taste the subtle little notes that sometimes hide underneath more powerful flavors. If you do not balance the body of smoke and drink, then one will disappear, and the pursuit will become rather meaningless.

Here are some common drink classifications that will help you in choosing the right pairing:

Mild Bodied: Water, most tea, flavored waters, clear fruit juices, most lagers, pilsner beers, many dry white wines, light rums, gin, and vodka.

Medium Bodied: Enhanced teas, most other fruit juices, ambers, red beers, ales, heavier white wines and blushes, golden Rums, lighter Scotches and Whiskeys, lighter liqueurs and cordials, and most mixed drinks.

Full Bodied: Medium to dark roast coffees, dark juices (grape, dark berry), Stouts and Porters, dark Rums, full Scotches, Bourbons, and deep red Wines.

Match Complimentary Opposite Flavors

Perhaps the most well known pairing of opposite flavors is sweet and salty. When you take a bite of salted caramel brittle and then eat a piece of kettle-corn, you understand how well salty and sweet flavors complement each other. The same principle applies to pairing pipe tobacco and drinks. If you are smoking a very sweet aromatic blend, then a slightly salty drink would pair well.

Other great flavor combinations are smoke and oak, acid with richness, sweet and spicy, and even sweet with other sweets. Another great way to compliment is by using the tobacco’s or drinks’ origins as a means of pairing. For example, McClelland tobacco (made near St. Louis, MO) and a St. Louis crafted beer, like a Perennial Artisan Ale. They may not match together perfectly with flavor, but the theme and reasoning you put into the decision make it worthwhile.

Notice When and Where you are Smoking

This may seem like common sense, but there is a right place and a right time to smoke and drink.

For example, no matter what type of tobacco you smoke first thing in the morning, a good cup of coffee will always pair well. Conversely, when smoking late at night, a cup of caffeinated coffee may not be the best choice, even if the flavor is right. On the other hand, a stiff scotch may not be the best choice to pair with your tobacco in the morning or at lunch but should instead be enjoyed in the afternoon and evening.

It is also helpful to know where you are smoking. If you are traveling through Kentucky, it may be nice to smoke with bourbon. If you are on the coast of North Carolina or in the mainland of California, a good wine may be a good choice.

Conclusion

There has been a ton of information learned about smoking a tobacco pipe. This is a hobby filled with passionate people who eagerly enjoy it, and there are many ways to make it a hobby you love too. If you just want to collect smoking pipes, or if you want to appreciate the various flavors of different tobaccos from around the world, we hope this comprehensive explanation covered it all.

Proper care and maintenance will prolong your pipe's life. After each use, you should be taking the appropriate steps to clean your pipe to have it ready for the next use. Like making your bed, brushing your teeth, or mowing the lawn, this is an important task that helps maintain your quality of life.

To clean your smoking pipe, you need the correct tools. One of these tools, the humble yet versatile pipe cleaner, will be the most used item at your disposal. The story of the origins of pipe cleaners is mostly lost to time, but we do know some information.

Find your pipe cleaners here.

At TobaccoPipes.com, we have the widest variety of pipe cleaners and brands available. We are your one-stop-shop for all your pipe cleaner needs. Are you curious about what pipe cleaner might work best for you? Feel free to scroll through our list of brands and their products.

BJ Long

The original pipe cleaner company, BJ Long, offers you a versatile and diverse list of pipe cleaners to look through. From short, bristled cleaners for a deep clean to extra absorbent 12 inch cleaners that soak up moisture, BJ Long has something for you.

We have so many BJ Long pipe cleaner variants we love; here are five of our favorites.

• The 100 count bag
• Their extra-thick, extra absorbent cleaner
• Their six-inch bristled cleaner.
• Twelve inches of pipe cleaner, perfect for churchwarden pipes.
• The bristled 12-inch cleaner, for when you need a deeper clean for your churchwarden.

Brigham

Brigham makes some very nice tobacco pipes, so it makes sense the company would want to provide you a tool to clean them too.

Brigham offers regular, bristled, extra absorbent, and churchwarden-length pipe cleaners for your needs. You can also find a pipe brush tool made by Brigham to suit any needs you might have.

Capri

The Capri brand is an homage to the Italian island of the same name. A major tourist destination, keeping the island clean and presentable is crucial for business there. The same is true for the Capri pipes, and so pipe cleaners are needed to keep a smoking pipe in good condition. What could be better than cleaning a Capri with a Capri?

Dill

Dill's Best was a famous brand of pipe tobacco that was around for almost 100 years. Founded in 1858, they were a well-respected tobacco company until cigarettes rose dramatically in popularity in the 1950s. Although the pipe tobacco has gone away, the brand lives on in their pipe cleaners. They offer two different cleaners, a bristled version for weekly use and a non-bristled variant for everyday cleaning.

Falcon

Falcon pipes are a unique take on smoking pipes. The thin stems of the interchangeable pipes make it difficult for regular sized pipe cleaners to be inserted, though. That's why Falcon makes their own pipe cleaners that are thinner and makes cleaning their pipes a breeze. We offer you the option of getting them as one pack or getting a group of six or twelve.

John Aylesbury

The John Aylesbury brand is not made by any one person but is instead a consortium of fifty different groups that came together to make great products. While they might be best known for pipe tobacco, the consortium also releases pipe cleaners. The bristled pipe cleaners are great for giving your pipe a deep clean when they are needed.

Mac Baren

In 1887, a family of Danish tobacconists founded Mac Baren. They would experiment with their tobacco and become an incredibly popular brand around the world. They later crafted their own pipe cleaners to assist smokers who would enjoy their tobacco. Mac Baren pipe cleaners are a great item to use after enjoying the brand.

Super Value

Just like the Super Value pipe tobacco, their pipe cleaners are affordable and an excellent choice for anyone that is budget-conscious. A solid choice to clean your smoking pipe, it would be hard to go wrong with Super Value.

Vauen

Vauen is a German brand that has been around since the beginning of the 1900s. They produce their line-up of pipe cleaners with their smoking pipes and their tobacco in mind. After all, the maker of a pipe and tobacco will know the best way to care for and clean their products. Vauen offers you three different pipe cleaners, a tapered cleaner that will fit in both thin and thick areas, a bristled version for the more in-depth cleaning sessions, and an extra long cleaner for large pipes like a churchwarden.

White Elephant

The White Elephant brand comes from Robert and Michael Maderholz. Robert used to make briar pipes from the mid-1940s until the mid-1980s. His son Michael went towards the accessories market instead. He started producing filters for smoking pipes and later branched out to pipe cleaners. This was the natural progression, as someone who makes filters knows the importance of a clean pipe. We offer two White Elephant pipe cleaners, the bristled deep cleaners and the regular tapered cleaners.

What did they do before the cleaner?

You must wonder what was used to clean out tobacco pipes before pipe cleaners were invented. The truth is not readily known as to exactly what was used, but the generally accepted answer is that the people who used the earliest briar pipes cleaned them out by taking a feather, usually from a chicken, to clean their shanks and stems. This would make sense since the feathers would be stiff enough to hold up to use but gentle enough not to damage the pipe.

That only covers the briar pipes, though, and since those were not made until the mid-1800s, we must wonder what they did before then too. Before briar took over as the most preferred material for a tobacco pipe, it was clay that held that title.

Clay pipes were, and still are, incredibly fragile. Cleaning with any type of brush, feather, or something else would take intense skill not to damage the pipe. Multiple reports determined that the most likely way clay pipes were cleaned was by placing them in a fire pit that would burn off anything inside them. This would allow users to have a completely clean pipe for later use.

However, others doubt this to be accurate, as engulfing the clay in heat might have been more damaging to the pipe during the cleaning process than actually beneficial. This would defeat the purpose of cleaning the pipe since you can't smoke with a broken one. The more likely answer is that when the clay pipe became too dirty to use, it was discarded, and a new one was acquired, as clay pipes were cheap and made to be used and thrown away.

Inventing the pipe cleaner

As we've said, most of the information on the pipe cleaner's invention has been mostly lost to time. Here's what we do know; John Harry Stedman and his business partner Charles Angel invented them sometime in the early 1900s, in Rochester, New York. Stedman later sold the rights to pipe cleaners to the B.J. Long Company sometime after that for a good price, as it is reported this sale made him very wealthy. Stedman died in 1922, so this would reasonably place the invention comfortably before then, meaning we can logically assume pipe cleaners have been around for over one hundred years now.

Who was John Harry Stedman?

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1843, John Harry Stedman was an ambitious and hard-working man. Starting as the superintendent of a marble quarry at 21, Stedman rose through the ranks of many companies, earning the position of president, vice-president, or director of at least seven companies in his life.

Stedman was also a broad thinker, using his creativity to develop numerous inventions besides pipe cleaners. One of his first innovations was the 1892 development of the "Stedman Time-Limit," an early version of modern transfer tickets.

This creativity goes to show Stedman as a forward thinker, a man that saw a problem and came up with a solution.

Okay, so what are pipe cleaners made out of?

Pipe cleaners are actually fairly simple in their components. Take two lengths of wire, twist them together with fiber between them, and you have a pipe cleaner.

The lengths of wire, called the core, would need to be tightly wound to prevent the fiber, also known as the pile, from coming loose during use.

The fiber is an absorbent material, typically cotton. This helps the cleaner absorb the liquids and oils in the shank and stem of pipes that you run through.

Sometimes you need a stiffer pipe cleaner, which is when manufacturers add nylon or plastic to the pile. This stiffness allows a smoker to scrub the inside of the shank and stem more easily, useful when you need a deeper clean than the regular cleaning sessions.

Great, now how do I clean my tobacco pipe with a pipe cleaner?

There are a variety of different levels of pipe cleaning. These steps are also different based on what type of pipe you are using. You clean and care for a briar pipe far differently than you do with a meerschaum one. Both materials have cleaning practices for the stages of cleaning, though. There's after every smoke and providing thorough maintenance. Just remember to make sure your pipe has cooled down before cleaning. You will damage your pipe if you try to clean it while warm.

First, you need to know which length you will be using.

Obviously, it would be best if you used a pipe cleaner that is longer than your pipe's stem. Nothing would be more frustrating than using a pipe cleaner that doesn't reach. You would be left with uncleaned areas or gunk that gets left behind when you pull the too short cleaner out.

For short pipes like pokers, any cleaner will do the trick. Sure, anything very long can be unwieldy, but you will still be able to clean them properly.

A long pipe, like a churchwarden, on the other hand, requires extra long pipe cleaners. In fact, there are pipe cleaners specially made for precisely that purpose. You will need to make sure you are using a pipe cleaner of the appropriate length to get your pipes cleaned well.

For cleaning briar tobacco pipes

During the smoke

When smoking an unfiltered pipe, you will usually want to take care of the moisture that comes with your favorite tobacco. To get rid of that moisture, take a pipe cleaner and insert it into the mouthpiece of the smoking pipe. Push it in for a moment, and allow the cleaner to soak up that moisture. You will do this as many times as you feel is needed. Having a pipe gurgle is one of the most unpleasant things that can happen while smoking, and making sure you keep it dry will help you enjoy your smoking session even more.

After every smoke

Okay, so first, you will need to clear out your bowl. Hold the pipe by its bowl, then gently knock it against the cork in a pipe ashtray or against your hand. You want to hold your pipe by the bowl for more support. Holding it by the shank or stem can damage the pipe by not supporting the weight properly. You also should never knock it against anything other than the cork or your hand. Knocking your pipe against something hard, like a table, will damage the bowl and can crack it. Always be certain to use the right practices when starting to clean your pipe.

Once you've got the remnants of the tobacco, known as dottle, out of the bowl, it is time to use the pipe cleaners. First, you separate the stem and shank by gently twisting them apart. Take care of how you remove the stem because you can loosen it if you are too rough.

Now that you've got them separated, you can take a pipe cleaner and run it through the shank. Use a few back and forth scrubbing motions to make sure you are catching everything. Do this with a few cleaners until they come out clear. Don't be afraid to use the pipe cleaners. They are cheap, and you get a decent amount of them with each purchase.

You will repeat this step with the stem, making sure to absorb any leftover moisture that has built up there. You might find more moisture there since the stem is what you place in your mouth.

After you are done with the stem and shank, take a fresh pipe cleaner and bend it in half. You will take the folded cleaner and rub it along the inside wall of your bowl. This is a basic reaming and will help you control the cake buildup. Cake is essential to have on your pipe; it protects the wood and will prevent a burnout. You want some cake on the inside of the bowl, no more than 1 to 1.5 millimeters in thickness, about the thickness of a dime. More than that can damage your pipe or inhibit the flow. So you need to take care to remove the excess but try not to scrape it all off. This is something that will become easier to judge with practice and experience.

Now you can reconnect your shank and stem and set your pipe down to rest. Remember to rest your tobacco pipe after use properly.

If you do this daily cleaning regularly, you will help improve the overall lifetime of your smoking pipe, and you also don’t need to perform thorough maintenance as often.

For thorough maintenance

Generally, a thorough cleaning of your smoking pipe comes after a session of smoking. This is pretty much the same steps as a regular clean, but you have a little more to do.

Again, you are going to separate the shank and stem. Make sure you get rid of the dottle like you normally do. Whatever you can remove first will make this cleaning experience smoother.

Now that you've cleared out the dottle and have separated the shank and stem, you will take a cleaning solution -- usually high proof alcohol or grain alcohol, and dip a stiff pipe cleaner in it.

For beginners, you might want to ball up a paper towel and place it in the pipe's bowl to absorb any excess alcohol. This is because you do not want to have any alcohol touching the outside of the pipe. The alcohol can eat away at the finish and ruin your pipe if it does get on the outside.

When you are ready for it, you will run the cleaner through the pipe's shank. Push it through from the tenon and pull it out of the other end. This will help break up any gunk sticking to the inside of it, which you will then soak up when you run a dry pipe cleaner next. You will notice the cleaners come out covered in that dark gunk. Keep alternating between moistened cleaner and dry cleaner until your pipe cleaners look the same coming out as they did going in. Once that happens, run one final dry cleaner through to make sure you dry the shank. This will really defeat the purpose of cleaning if you leave moisture in it.

Next, you will use some bristle pipe cleaners. Wetting these with the alcohol, carefully insert it into the airhole, being sure not to get any of the alcohol on the outside. You want to brush the inside of the airhole very thoroughly, allowing the stiffer bristles to do their job. The airhole in some pipes is larger than the pipe cleaners can handle regularly, so you might need to fold it in half in order to brush the entire interior. Do the same practice with the stem, repeating wet with dry until the pipe cleaners stop looking different. Once again, run a dry cleaner to whisk away any excess moisture to ensure your pipe's health.

Once all pieces are dry, you can reconnect your shank and stem. Once connected, take a cloth and a polishing agent to keep your pipe looking fresh. Some people like using olive oil, but you need to be careful to use a very small amount of that. It might be better to use a specially made cloth for this step.

Now that you have a clean smoking pipe, you should let it rest for at least a full day, maybe two, before going back to it. This is why a good rotation of pipes is helpful for those of us who enjoy a bowl each day.

Meerschaum pipe cleaning with pipe cleaners

Alright, cleaning a meerschaum smoking pipe is fairly different from those made of other materials like the briar pipes we just discussed. Meerschaum makes for a more fragile smoking pipe and needs to be cleaned with extra care.

For one thing, you will not be using bristle pipe cleaners outside of extreme circumstances. They can damage the material and leave gouges that can weaken the rest of the pipe.

Another thing you will not be using will be any alcohol. Deep, deep cleaning might call for a 40-50 percent alcohol solution, but that's it. Otherwise, it is too risky to use alcohol as meerschaum is very porous, and you don't want it to absorb anything.

So how do I clean a meerschaum pipe then?

The good news is it starts similarly to the briar pipes. You must let the pipe cool completely before beginning the cleaning process. This is even more important than with a briar smoking pipe since the moisture from the smoking session will soften the meerschaum pipes and make them much more fragile. Letting the pipe cool will allow the pipe to dry off a little bit, making it safe to begin the cleaning process.

The first thing you will do is to remove any leftover cake from the bowl. Start this the same way you would with a briar pipe, by knocking it against the cork of a pipe ashtray or your hand. Once the dottle is gone, you will want to brush away anything that is still there. You are going to do this by folding a pipe cleaner in half and using it to wipe the inside of the bowl gently. This will help get rid of the cake, something good in a briar but damaging for a meerschaum pipe. You need to remove the cake entirely because it expands with heat and can crack the bowl of a meerschaum pipe.

Once you have taken care of the bowl, it is time to take care of the stem. Again you are going to separate the stem and shank. In a meerschaum pipe, there is a particular way to do this. You need to rotate the stem clockwise while pulling to remove. Always remember to do it clockwise, or you risk loosening the mortise and damaging the pipe.

Since the stem will likely be made out of the same material, that cleaning process will be the same.

The difference comes with the rest of the pipe. Because meerschaum is so absorptive, it is easy to carve. This is great for the sculptors that make some genuinely magnificent looking pipes. This is not so great during the cleaning process. When running a pipe cleaner through the shank, you should be careful since being too vigorous with the cleaner can wear away at the bowl, leaving thinner spots there that are much easier to crack and ruin the pipe.

Once you are done with this, leave the pipe to dry. A meerschaum smoking pipe does not need to rest as long as a briar, so you will be able to enjoy a bowl more frequently. However, you should make sure to give it enough rest to dry out and avoid moisture damage.

Alternative uses for pipe cleaners

Now that you have your pipes all cleaned up, you will likely find plenty of spare pipe cleaners. Sure, you can save them for the next cleaning, and you should, but there are plenty of other uses for a pipe cleaner other than the initially designed use.

Of course, your first introduction to pipe cleaners was likely not for your smoking pipes. Many people saw pipe cleaners well before they were allowed to purchase tobacco or a tobacco pipe. Your first experience with pipe cleaners was likely in school, during arts and crafts. There are plenty of pipe cleaners that are manufactured in various colors, some specifically made for decoration. There are some great designs you can create with them, perfect for spending time with your children or even just to embrace your artistic side.

There are other practical uses too. For instance, pipe cleaners can double as twist ties. After all, they are basically the same thing, a thin wire covered in a softer material. Just fold and twist, you will have things securely tied in no time.

One great use for pipe cleaners would be for organization. Especially useful with cleaners of different colors, you can bunch items together and wrap a pipe cleaner around them, helping you differentiate your things. One example of this would be with wires and cables. If you are moving or even just setting something up in your home, having a jumble of cables can be frustrating to handle. If you keep all the wires for each item sorted and bound by a different colored pipe cleaner, it will make life that much more comfortable when trying to deal with things. So wrap your tv wires with a blue cleaner, your game systems with a red cleaner, your blu-ray player with a green one, and your sound system with a black one. This will make your space so much neater and more organized.

In an extreme example, you can use pipe cleaners as emergency shoelaces. In a pinch, you can lace your shoes together with these cleaners, and they will hold together until you are able to go out and get proper shoelaces again. You will not get the best knots from this, but it will definitely be a good option in the event your laces unexpectedly break.

Pipe cleaners are also a great option to help you get a better grip on tools. Wrap them around the handle of the device you need help holding, and you have a softer grip, one that will more readily conform to your hand. You will find items slipping from a loose grasp not happening to you as much anymore.

One more idea we will mention is using them with your clothing. Try wrapping them around your hangers to give your shirts and jackets something to cling to. This will help prevent clothing from slipping off and crumpling on the floor.

Obviously, with an item as versatile as a pipe cleaner, there are practically infinite uses for an imaginative mind. You will never run out of something to do with them, and since they are so affordable, having plenty of them to do the job should not be difficult.

In conclusion

From humble beginnings, the pipe cleaner has been around for at least one hundred years. What started out as a useful item to clean tobacco pipes became an item that has multiple functions. From all accounts of the man, John Harry Stedman appears to have been a futurist. However, we doubt that even he would have foreseen how versatile an object he created. So next time you find yourself cleaning a smoking pipe, take note of the simple yet brilliant tool you are using.

Figuring out the world and culture of pipe smoking is difficult and treacherous. Just like any other hobby or practice in life, the right resources make developing a meaningful connection to the activity considerably easier.

When you dig into pipe smoking, you will quickly be bombarded by a vocabulary that seems like Greek to you. Even though context clues can help a little, there is still a massive gap in what you need to know.

That is why we have compiled this pipe and tobacco glossary--to make pipe smoking easier and more pleasant for you.

You can use this glossary as a simple reminder, tool, resource, or just about anything else. We just hope that it helps you make pipe smoking more enjoyable to you, no matter where you are!

 A

Acorn/Pear

  The Acorn and Pear shaped pipes are synonymous with one another. The outside of the bowl  is conical shaped, tapering towards the base. There are no hard lines or angles around the  chamber of the pipe.  The rounding edges are the defining feature of an Acorn shaped pipe.

African Block Meerschaum

African Block Meerschaum is similar to tradition meerschaum found in Turkey. The difference is that it is slightly darker in color and heavier than tradition meerschaum. Pipes made from African block meerschaum are seldom seen today but they can still be found with a bit of effort. This material is mined from Tanzania.

Aging

Aging tobacco is the process of allowing either a tobacco leaf or an unopened tin time to rest and mature. This process, similar to aging wine, allows flavors to blend and develop over time. 

Agonya

Agonya tobacco is a strand of Kabakolak tobacco, which means the stem wings extend beyond the leaf.  This tobacco, which can have a light and smooth body, grows in the Sea of Marmara in the region east of Kanakhale, Turkey.

Air-cured

Air-cured tobacco is synonymous with Burley. It is the only leaf that is air-cured.  As soon as the tobacco leaves are cut they are hung in a shaded place--usually a barn--that is extremely well ventilated.  Over a period of a few months, the tobacco turns from brilliant green to warm yellow and finally to an earthy brown hue.  Once the tobacco leave reach the desired color, they are ready for either immediate processing or fermentation.

Amber

Before acrylic and acrylic stems became popular in the late 19th century, amber was a common material chosen for the construction of a stem. Amber comes from the hardened resin of old trees. While the material is beautiful, it is brittle and hard. Amber stems require much more maintenance and care than the acrylic stems we see today.

American Blend

While American blend tobacco are simple to make and understand, there are not as many of them out there as you might think.  American blends consists of Virginia, Burley, and Oriental tobaccos and are often topped with aromatic scents. 

 Apple

An Apple-shaped pipe is a rounded, more spherical version of a Billiard.  However, it isn’t a pure sphere.  The bottom and top of the bowl can widen and shrink from model to model, just like the fruit.  The pipe was named after the fruit it takes its appearance from.

Army Mount

The army stem is also known as the military style. This style often increase the collectability of a pipe. These pipes are often banded with a thick metal ring of nickel or sterling silver. On an army stem there is no tenon. The entire stem is placed in the morise. The shape and design of army mount stems vary greatly.

Aromatic

Most new pipe smokers begin smoking with an Aromatic pipe tobacco blend. An aromatic tobacco is a mixtures of components that have a liberal casing or top flavoring different than the natural tobacco. Typically aromatic tobaccos are sweet or fruity and have an excellent room aroma to accompany them.

 Author

Author pipes are known for their large bowls, in comparison to most other pipes.  The large bowl attracts many smokers who love to smoke for extended periods of time.  Usually made from briar, the super thick chamber walls absorb vast amounts of heat and oil from burning tobacco.

  B

Bafra

Bafra style tobacco is the same as Samsun. Often, Bafra has small red or brown smudges of color in the leaf. There is a naturally pungent odor that accompanies this tobacco. This blend has a decadently rich flavor. 

Bakelite

Bakelite is a chemically complicated plastic that is a bit harder than vulcanite but is softer than a traditional plain acrylic. Technically bakelite is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride. The material is usually an off-white or yellow color. It is a common choice for intricate bands.

Balkan

As common as the term “Balkan” is, it is not a historically or academically official term for pipe tobacco mixtures. However, since its popularity shows that it is a term many have heard and use, it must be given a more firm working definition. The most simple and least controversial definition of what a Balkan blend means is a Latakia based blend which contains more Oriental and less Virginia leaf than a traditional English blend.

Band

A band is a ring of  metal, acrylic, or some other material that is bound around the shank, stem, or joint of a pipe. A band is purely aesthetic and offers no functional benefit.

Basma

Basma is a tobacco grown solely in Western Greece. The stems of the leaf do not extend beyond the leaf of the main stalk. This tobacco strain is considered by many to be the finest natural aromatic tobacco in the world.

Bead

A bead is an engraved line running through the stummel. Bead lines are most commonly seen on bulldog shaped pipes, where there are two running parallel to one another. Bead lines are put into a pipe with a lathe. They were once much more popular than they are now, but are still used by some artisans.

Bent Pipe

Referring to a pipe as “bent” is a geometric phrase used to describe a pipe that has a curve or angle in the shank or stem.

Billiard

The Billiard shape is without a doubt the most popular tobacco pipe shape in the world. Billiards feature a perfectly cylindrical chamber and can be found with either a bent or a straight stem. The key to a classic Billiard is a cylindrical shank equal in length to the height of the bowl.

Birdseye

Birdseye refers to a type of grain that appears on a pipe when the straight grain has been cut straight across horizontally. The effect is a gorgeous dot and bubble pattern across the cut area of the briar. Birdseye pipes are highly collectable. Only a master carver can properly bring out the beauty of the birdseye grain.

Bit

Bit is a slang term used to refer to the stem or mouthpiece of a pipe.

Bite

There are two different definitions of bite: 1) When a tobacco smokes harsh, it can often be said to “bite” the tongue. This is a result of excess topping and oil on the tobacco rubbing the surface of the tongue raw. Tongue bite often feels like burning your tongue on a hot cup of coffee. 2) A bite, or bite zone, is the part of a stem where the teeth meets the pipe. It is generally the last quarter of the stem that goes into the smoker’s mouth.

Bloom

Also known as plume, bloom is a white colored substance that appears on the outside of well aged tobaccos. Although the bloom looks like white mold, it is actually just the maturation of sugars emerging from the tobacco. This is a sign that a tobacco has taken well to an aging process. Bloom is more commonly seen on cigars, but is also often apparent in pipe tobacco.

Blowfish

The most important feature of the Blowfish shape is the briar’s grain pattern. The sides of the bowl are large and round and will always have a birdseye grain, while the front and backside of the bowl has a straight grain running perpendicular through the tobacco chamber. To imagine a Blowfish, picture a bundle of pipe cleaners held out in front of you. The birdseye grain is the end of each cleaner, creating a popcorn style pattern, and the straight grain is the length of the cleaner running left and right of your position.

Bowl

This is the less specific term for the chamber of a pipe. Sometimes the term bowl is used to describe the entire stummel of the pipe.

Bowl Coating

Many pipe makers apply a material that coats the inner walls of the chamber, usually to promote smooth smoking and a proper build up of cake. The bowl coating also reduces the odds of a burnout. Artisans often use a bowl coating as an artistic choice, as well. Whether or not to use a bowl coating is a controversial issue and there are valid opinions on each side.

Brandy

The Brandy-shaped pipe was designed to look a brandy glass.  The bulging shape of this pipe makes it comfortable and easy pipe to hold in the hand. Imagine a Billiard shaped bowl, but with a sizeable chunk of briar left on the front of end of the bowl, giving it that rounded brandy glass look.

Breaking In 

Breaking In is the term used to describe the process of preparing a new pipe for regular smoking.

Not all types of tobacco pipes require a break-in process. Many pipes are pre-treated. Meerschaum and clay pipes don’t need any type of breaking in. However, most pipes made of wood or corn cob should go through a break-in process ( Follow this process for breaking in your new pipe).  

Briar

Briar is, without a doubt, the most popular choice of material for pipe makers. Technically speaking, briar is the root of the Erica Arborea tree, which is almost solely grown in the greater Mediterranean region. The roots of the tree are harvested when they are around 30 years old. Then, they are dried out, cut, and shipped to pipe carvers around the world. Briar is an excellent material for pipe making, because there are microscopic air pockets in the wood which excel at absorbing heat and oil from burning tobacco.

Brindle

Brindle is the more technical term for a cumberland-style stem. Brindle-style stems were made popular by the Dunhill brand and add collectable value to pipes today. A brindle stem is made by adding red or brown pigments to the raw vulcanite material.

Brylon

Brylon is a  cheap alternative to briar which is used for pipemaking. This man-made material was invented in 1966 by S.M. Frank & Co., or Yello Bole today. The material is a mixture of sawdust, typically briar sawdust, and acrylic resin. While the end product is durable, many smokers feel that it smokes too hot and can even burn the hand.

Bullcap

The Bullcap shape is not very common, but is growing in popularity among individual artisans around the world. The largest difference between a Bullcap pipe and other pipes in the Bulldog family is the addition of a saddle bit stem, for a pure and correct Bullcap will always have the saddle stem.

Bulldog

To envision a bulldog-shaped pipe, imagine the larger sides of two cones rests on top of each other. Then, the small half of the top cone is cut off.  The twin bead lines running parallel across the bowl characterize a pure Bulldog.  For a Bulldog pipe, the smooth bottom of the briar bowl always transitions to a diamond shaped shank with edges pointing up and down.  

Bull Moose

The easiest way to picture a Bull Moose is to compress a Rhodesian from the top. The chamber walls are significantly larger and the chamber is shortened by as much as twenty-five percent. In addition, the shank is considerably beefed up. The length of the tapered stem is trimmed down, which makes this pipe short and fat in every aspect.

 Burl

The burl is the tumor-like knot of wood that comes from the roots of the Erica Arborea tree. The burl is cut into chunks and sold to pipe makers for carving.

Burley

Burley is the most common tobacco in the world. Used mostly for cigarette production, this component is grown almost solely in Kentucky and Tennessee. This tobacco naturally has a low sugar content and must be sweetened to fit the needs of most blends. It ranges from mild to full-flavored depending on the growth and harvest.

Burnout

When there is a spot of char that continues to penetrate deeper and deeper into the briar of a pipe, the result is called a burnout. Generally, when the outer layer of briar is penetrated deep, that pipe will no longer smoke properly. Some minor cases of burnout can be restored by the hands of an expert pipe restorer. Usually a burnout occurs when a smoker smokes the same pipe too hot for too long. It can also occur from a natural imperfection in the pipe, but user abuse is the most common cause.

Button

The button is a raised lip at the tip of the stem. The button makes the pipe easier to hold in the teeth without it slipping out. The button receives particular attention from pipe carvers, for many this is the most crucial point of contact on the pipe.

C 

Cake

Cake is the slang term pipe smokers prefer when discussing the buildup of carbon around the chamber walls of a pipe. To learn more about properly maintaining the cake on your pipe, visit How to Ream Tobacco Pipes.

Calabash

There are two different forms of the Calabash: a Gourd Calabash and the general Calabash shape. The principles of the two shapes are the same--the solid wood version of a Calabash has a large, usually briar bowl, with a tapered rim and flares before transitioning down the chamber walls. The chamber of the pipe is often quite deep.

Canadian

In order for a shape to be deemed a Canadian, the length of the shank must be at least one and a half times the height of the bowl, but cannot exceed double the length.  In addition, a traditional Canadian will always have an oval shaped shank and a tapered stem.

Carnauba

Carnauba is a vegetable wax derived from the fronds of copernicia cerifera, or carnauba tree, a Brazilian native tree. Pipe makers often use this wax to coat the outside of their creations. It shines, is difficult to dull, and handles the heat of smoking well.

Casing

A casing is a spray or sauce applied to unfinished tobacco. A casing is usually used to sweeten a tobacco. In contrast, top flavor is the addition of scents and flavors to the blend at the finish.

Cavalier

The Cavalier shape is unique because the air hole in the shank continues past the chamber, down into the shank extension. This feature traps the moisture of the tobacco in a cavity, which needs to be regularly cleaned. This keeps illicit moisture away from the tobacco and the smoker’s mouth. It is this moisture chamber that defines a Cavalier-shaped pipe.

Cavendish

Cavendish is made by taking a particular tobacco and pressing it into a cake, heating the tobacco, then storing it for an allotted period of time, allowing it to ferment. Often flavoring is inserted into the cake while pressing, giving the tobacco a distinct flavor for each batch. This is a process of curing tobacco, rather than a specific leaf.

Chamber

The chamber is where the tobacco is placed in a pipe. The term chamber and bowl are often used interchangeably, although to do so is technically slang.

Char

Char is a common term and refers to the early stage of burning which blackens the wood. This usually happens along the rim of a pipe due to excessive flame from a lighter.

Cherrywood

From a design standpoint, the Cherrywood and the Poker pipe are synonymous with each other, except for the bent balanced style of the Cherrywood. A cylindrical chamber and bowl with thick briar walls make this a cool smoking pipe. The shank of the Cherrywood is typically slightly shorter than the height of the bowl.

Cherry Wood

At one time the wood of a cherry tree was popular for pipe making. Since the popularity of briar has emerged, the use of cherry in pipe has decreased dramatically. Many novice carvers practice pipe making with the wood of a cherry tree.

Chimney

If you’ve ever seen a Chimney-shaped pipe you’ve probably conjured a memory of a cheery roughtop. The tall bowl looks like the chimney of a grand estate, especially when smoke is billowing from the chamber.

Churchwarden

A Churchwarden pipe is not so much a pipe shape as it is a length and pipe stem. Generally, the stem will be between nine and eighteen inches, but as long as it can still be held and smoked practically it will qualify as a Churchwarden. Technically speaking, any shaped bowl can become a churchwarden.

Clay

The first tobacco pipes were made from clay. There are two styles of clay pipes: hand-rolled--which are shaped by the hand of a master potter or carver--and slip cast, which are molded like plaster into a cast. Clay pipes burn hot, but are still used by many smokers today. Clay pipes are popular for historical reenactments and as “tasting” pipes.

Coin

A coin is a single slice of tobacco which is cut from a twist or a rope of tobacco. In principle, a coin cut is the same as flake cut tobacco, just circular instead of rectangular and is often thinner.

Combination Finish

A pipe is said to have a combination finish when it has multiple textured finishes on the stummel.

Combination Stem

This is a melding of the tapered and saddle style stems. For a combination stem, the tenon, mortice, and immediate stem shape is identical to a saddle stem. The difference is when the stem “drops” off the shape is no longer flat, instead it is tapered. The combination stem is saddle in the front, tapered in the bit.

Corncob

Usually referred to just as a “cob”, this is the cheapest and most available material for tobacco pipes. The interior of an ear of corn is hollowed out, dried, and sometimes coated in a protective resin or wax. Many smokers prefer their cobs to other pipes, claiming that they smoke dryer and cooler than all others.

Cross Grain

A tobacco pipe with a cross grain has bird’s eye grain on the sides and a straight grain running through the top and bottom. A great example of a cross grain pipe is the blowfish shape.

Cube Cut

Cube cut is a style of cutting tobacco. The name is fairly self-explanatory, for the tobacco has a cube shape. To make cube, a cake of tobacco is diced into evenly sized chunks.

Cumberland

Cumberland-style stems (see also, Brindle) were made popular by the Dunhill brand where it was called brindle. A cumberland stem is one made of vulcanite or ebonite with red and/or brown pigment added which create a marble-like look and/or texture. Modern artisans often use other vibrant colors, besides the traditional red and brown, to create a similar effect.

Curing

Curing ages tobacco to develop the flavor and chemically alters the leaf.  All tobacco must go through some form of a curing process. Tobacco can be fire-cured, flue-cured, air-cured, sundried, or even fermented. This term simply refers to the aging process of the tobacco before it is blended.

Curly Cut

A tobacco that has been curly cut was pressed and twisted into a rope and then cut into slices. This cut is smaller and thinner than a traditional flake cut.

Cut

Cut refers to how the tobacco is present after preparation. The term refers to how it is divided into pieces for packing in a pipe and smoking.

There are seven common cuts for pipe tobacco. They are:

• Flake - refers to slices cut from larger cakes. This cut is popular for its versatility. Straight Virginias and Virginia/Perique blends are often presented this way.

• Broken Flake - Broken flake comes from cakes or plugs. Unlike the uniform sheets of flake, the pieces are uneven and irregular.

• Coin - Refers to a blend that is sliced from twists, ropes, and navy plug. Coins are fairly uniform circles that can be stacked, rubbed out, or folded for packing.

• Plug - Square bars cut from larger blocks of layered, heated and pressed tobacco. This blend is perfect for aging, but does require careful preparation before smoking.

• Ribbon - By far the most popular cut, Ribbon refers to small strands cut by a machine.

• Rope - The name is apt, Ropes are long cylindrical cords that must be sliced and rubbed or folded before smoking.

Cutty

As far as we can tell, the Cutty shape is the oldest pipe shape still made today. The Cutty has a conical shaped chamber. The largest difference between a Dublin, whose family the shape falls in, and a Cutty is that while a Dublin has evenly thick chamber walls that move down the bowl, the Cutty has more of a rounded shape.

Czech Tool

A Czech tool is the most common and generally most affordable pipe tool. A traditional Czech tool is a three-in-one piece containing a tamper, a dottle shovel, and pick for clearing the air. These tools are named so because they were once mostly made in the Czech Republic.

D 

Delayed Gratification Technique

DGT is the act of smoking half, or roughly half, of a bowl of tobacco then leaving the rest--ash included--to sit for a few hours or even a few days before finishing. Many tobaccos have a slight change in flavor when allowed to sit partially smoked, and many smokers prefer to smoke their tobacco in this manner.

Derlin

Derlin is the short term for the plastic often used by pipe makers to construct the tenon (See Tennon term). Derlin is technically polyoxymethylene, also known as acetal, polyacetal, and polyformaldehyde. This plastic material is strong, durable, has a low moisture absorption rate, and has low friction, which is quite valuable for a pipe tenon.

Devil Anse

The Devil Anse pipe began as a Cutty, and as it evolved adaptations changed the shape to a shorter and lighter model. It eventually dropped the spur on the base.  Now, the Devil Anse is a straight-stemmed pipe which sports a forward canting bowl. The bowl is more spherical in nature than the Cutty pipe, which is quite tall.

Diplomat

To make a Diplomat, an Apple bowl is squashed, by as little as an eighth of an inch. An oval-shaped shank--roughly as long as the bowl is tall--is added. The larger size of the Diplomat bowl is what makes is the preferred pipe for smokers. The difference between the Diplomat and other Apple family pipes is that it does not have as perfect of a sphere.

Djebel

In many cases this tobacco is referred to as Xanthi-Djebel. This tobacco is used mainly for cigarette production but is often added to pipe tobacco blends. Djebel is grown near the base of the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria above the town of Xanthi. A djebel is a range of mountains or hills, and is where the name of the tobacco comes from.

Dottle

The term dottle refers to the unburnt and ash left over in the heel of the chamber after smoking a bowl of tobacco. 

Draft Hole

The draft hole refers to the point where the bore of the air chamber meets the tobacco chamber of a pipe. The draft hole is usually centered at the back of the heel, but can be elevated in certain situations.

Drama

Drama is a small-batch and very specific blend of tobacco prized by many smokers.  Drama is grown in Rhodope Mountains in eastern Greece, and is named after a town in the area. The tobacco is said to have an olive oil fragrance that naturally fills the space. Drama is a member of the Kabakolak variety, meaning it has wing-shaped stems on the leaf.

Dublin

The dimensional standards for a Dublin pipe are open to interpretation compared to other shapes, making it a shape we see with endless variations. The only diehard qualification a Dublin must meet is the conical shaped bowl and chamber--the chamber must taper to a smaller diameter down the bore.

Duke/Don

The Duke shape has a perfectly cylindrical bowl and chamber with lines, each parallel to one another. The foot of the bowl has been cut flat at a slight angle, redistributing the weight, allowing it to sit upright effortlessly.  What separates the Duke from every other tobacco pipe is that there is no briar shank, either a vulcanite or bone two-piece stem is attached to the mortice by an inserted aluminum band.

E 

Ebonite

Chemically speaking, ebonite and vulcanite are the same material--hard vulcanized rubber. Ebonite received its name from a material it was designed to replace and occasionally imitate, ebony. This stem material is often hand-cut by artisans and is used in many high level pipes. Ebonite stems are very soft on the teeth.

Egg

An Egg-shaped pipe is a tall and elongated pipe.  It has the smallest circumference of all pipe shapes in the Apple family. With a tall bowl and relatively thin chamber walls, this is a gentle pipe, meant to be held carefully and smoked in appropriate situations.

English

There are many different opinions on what constitutes an English blend. What is agreed upon is that the blend contains a significant amount of Latakia. English blends contain varying amounts of Virginia (sometimes used as the base) and Oriental, with the occasionally dash of Perique.  The term “English” has its roots in the now dead Tobacco Purity Laws and was used to classify tobacco from the United Kingdom.

English Cavendish

English Cavendish blends are not a combination of English-style and Cavendish-style blends. Rather, an English Cavendish is usually a Virginia tobacco that has been flue-cured or fire-cured, pressed, then allowed to age for weeks at a time. This process results in a blend with an earthy rustic flavor, but has a much more gentle flavor and room note than one might expect.

Estate Pipe

An estate pipe is a smoked or an unsmoked pipe that has been previously owned by another pipe collector. The term estate pipe is widely used to refer to a pipe that is not purchased brand new.

F

Ferrule

The function of a ferrule on a tobacco pipe is the same on most other pipes/handles. It is a ring that decorates and strengthens the end or joint of a pipe. Often on tobacco pipes the ferrule is a decorative piece. It is important to note that the mortise is drilled into the ferrule.

Fill

Occasionally a pipe, especially a briar pipe, will have a hole or a void in the material. This is natural and more common than you might expect. A fill is used to fill in the hole, giving it the appearance of a flawless and even surface. These holes are filled by taking a sharp knife, removing the defected chunk, then filling the void with a putty or some other material. These fills are for aesthetic purposes and are not detrimental to the function of a pipe.

Finish

The finish of a tobacco pipe is any effect applied to the outside of the pipe. This can include a rustic texture, smooth texture, carved body, stain color, or added material.

Fire Cured

Fire curing is a method of maturing the flavors in a tobacco by hanging the bundles over an open flame and allowing the heat and smoke to chemically react with the leaf. Fire Curing a tobacco generally results in the tobacco retaining a rich and intense flavor. Dark Fired Kentucky and Latakia tobacco are the most common fire cured tobaccos.

Flake

A popular way to package tobacco is to press it into a cube. Flake cut tobacco is just slices cut off the pressed cube. Flake tobacco usually has a concentrated flavor compared to ribbon or shag cuts. It can be sold as whole flake, broken flake, or ready rubbed.

Flame Grain

Flame grain is a style of grain in the briar similar to a straight grain. The difference with the flame grain are the angles. When the briar is cut in a certain direction some lines will be thicker than normal, much like how a square is longer when angled 45 degrees. This is a gorgeous pattern and is often accented with a bright stain and smooth finish.

Flue Cured

The main component of flue curing tobacco is subjecting the bundle to heat from a fire but directing smoke away. Flue cured tobacco goes through an intense chemical change from the dry heat. By avoiding the smoky flavors, the tobacco turns a brighter color, like yellow or orange, and the sweet flavors emerge from deep within the leaf. This process is difficult to do correctly and requires a sophisticated space with great ventilation.

Foot

The foot of the pipe is the bottom or base of the bowl, which contrasts the heel which is the bottom of the inside of the chamber.

Freehand

The Freehand style/category of pipe is unlike any other pipe shape. A Freehand pipe is created when an artist decides to follow the contours of the briar, not the plan they had when beginning to carve. It is the chunk of briar determines the final shape of the pipe. There is a significant difference between a Freehand and a Freeform pipe, where a Freehand begins as a specific shape and is transformed into something else, a Freeform is not defined by anything.  

 G

Ghost

A ghost is the leftover flavor of a previously smoked tobacco. Ghosting is generally considered a negative side effect that most smokers want to avoid. Ghosting can be caused by residual moisture resting in the shank or stem of a pipe but is usually blamed on the the cake.

Gourd

The material of choice for a traditional Calabash pipe is gourd.  Usually South African gourd is preferred for pipe making. The material is cut then dried in the sun to cure. The pipe itself is usually lined with briar or meerschaum to make it smokable. 

H

Hand

When tobacco leafs are initially cut from the plant, they are bundled and knotted up. This bundles is called a hand. 

Hawkbill

The dimensions of a Hawkbill pipe are more specific than other Apple family pipes. The bowl is especially spherical, with more rounded proportions than the Tomato or Ball shape. The rounded shank begins at the base of the bowl, and has a consistent curve that rounds out and ends even with the top of the bowl. A Hawkbill maintains a smooth and even taper from the base of the shank all the way to the tip of the stem.

Heath

Heath is the tree from which burls of briar are derived. The technical name for the plant is Erica Arborea. The tree usually measures between 1-2 meters tall. It is grown almost exclusively in sandy soil of the greater Mediterranean region.

Heel

The heel of a pipe is the bottom of the inside chamber.

Horn

A Horn shape is defined by the absence of any hard lines or angles. The entire pipe is one large curving taper towards the stem.  The only lines on a Horn pipe are the angles at the chamber rim.

 I

Izmir

This leaf of tobacco is synonymous with Smyrna.  They are the same.  Izmir is named after the region in which it is grown. Overall this tobacco has a strong flavor, but ironically has a low nicotine content and smokes very cool. A majority of the time Izmir is used as a supplemental flavor enhancer in pipe tobacco blends.

J

Jatim

Jatim is a pure Indonesian tobacco. The name Jatim comes from a combination of the regions in which it is grown, Jawa Timur. Jatim is a common component in cigarette tobaccos and is used as a supplemental flavor enhancer in pipe tobacco.

 Joint 

 Googling a phrase like tobacco pipe joint brings you  to different search results than most of us want.  When pipe makers refer to the joint they are talking  about one of the oldest practices in woodworking. For  pipes, the joint is the point where the mortise  accepts a smaller tenon.

 The mortise-and-tenon joint is a common type of  woodworking joint. It has been in use almost since  wooden tools first began. This type of joint is created  when two pieces fit together to form one whole  piece. The precision required to construct the joint is often the most difficult part of making a pipe.

 K

Kabakolak

At the most basic level, Kabakolak is a classification or family of tobacco. It is a cross between Bali and Basma. Kabakolak is different from other tobaccos because the stem extensions that cover the natural curvature of the leaf much farther out than a regular tobacco plant.

Katerini

This component is generally used in small quantities as a flavoring component. Katerini is grown in the Greek province of Macedonia. Katerini is known for being a mild and sweet Oriental tobacco.

Kentucky

Kentucky tobacco is usually referred to as “Dark Fired Kentucky”. This is made by gathering a select crop of burley, hanging it over a fire and allowing it to cure in the smoke. This gives the tobacco a smoky flavor.

L 

Latakia

Latakia is named for the port city in Syria where it originated and is by far the most common turkish tobacco. This blend is cured over either a wood oak or stone pine fire, giving the tobacco a bold smoky flavor.

Liverpool

The Liverpool shape is a deviation from the Canadian and sports a shank that is one and a half to twice as long as the chamber is tall.  To separate a Liverpool from other long shanked pipes, look at the stem and shank, Liverpool’s have a round cylindrical shank and a tapered stem.

Lovat

A Lovat’s shank is roughly one and a half times longer than the height of its bowl, and is seldom longer. The Lovat originated when a pipe carver decided to extend the shank of a Billiard (into a Canadian) and give it a saddle bit stem.

Lumberman

The Lumberman is an esteemed member of the Long Shank pipe club. In order to be considered a Lumberman, the pipe must have a Billiard bowl, and then be given a shank that is one and a half to two times longer than the bowl’s height.

Lucite

Lucite is a version plastic/acrylic used in making stems for pipes. Lucite is a solid but transparent plastic (naturally that is, but color is often added for aesthetic purposes) made of polymethyl methacrylate. While it stands up to the test of time well, it is not one of the softer materials on the teeth.

Luletasi

This is the Turkish word for “meerschaum”.

M

Mahale

Mahale is a Turkish tobacco. It has a fine leaf, decadent aroma, and delicious medium flavor.  

Maryland

Maryland is strand of American pipe tobacco. It is less popular than Burley or Virginia. Maryland tobacco is a very mild mixture. It is used to sweeten and add a nutty flavor to American tobacco blends. Unfortunately, due to legislation this tobacco is produced less and less in the state of Maryland.

Meerschaum

Chemically, meerschaum is a complex material. Technically this clay-like material is hydrous magnesium silicate, or sepiolite for short. Genuine meerschaum is found almost solely in Turkey near the Black Sea. When wet, meerschaum is easy to carve, which is what allows it to be the material of choice for the most meticulous carvers in the world. A meerschaum pipe is difficult to burn out, absorbs heat and oil effectively from the tobacco, and turns a beautiful brown/bronze color as it is smoked. When hot, meerschaum is extremely fragile and can easily shatter if dropped from a low height. Meerschaum means “seafoam” in German.

Melding

Melding refers to the process that happens as a tobacco blend ages over time, each different component in the blend begins to take on the flavors of the others. As time goes forward, the flavor in the tobacco becomes more and more consistent.

Mellowing

Mellowing is a term that refers to tobacco’s natural tendency to become less potent while aging. A mellow tobacco is a smooth tobacco.

Morta

Second only to briar wood, morta is the most prized wood material for tobacco pipes. Morta is harvested from trees that fell and were submerged in bogs. The wood, while being buried for around 5,000 years become near totally petrified by the acidic and oxygenless conditions of the bog. Morta is a nutrient rich material, which causes it to be quite resistant to fire. The natural dark color and magnificent grain make it a favorite of artisan pipe carves. Morta is known to carry quite a putrid stench during the carving stages.

Mortise

The mortise is the opposite of the tenon. It is the opening at the end of the shank in which the stem tenon is inserted, making a joint. Following general woodworking law, the joint becomes the weakest part of the pipe, which means the smoker should be sure treat the mortise carefully.

Mouthpiece

This is a more general term than stem or bit. The name more or less describes itself, for it is the part of the pipe designed to go in the mouth of the smoker.

N

Nautilus

There are only two defining features of a Nautilus shape pipe. First of all, there can be no definitive angles or hard lines in the briar of the shape--must flow into each other. Second, the shank must curve back and rejoin the upper half of the bowl, leaving an absence in the middle of the pipe.

Nomenclature

This term is used is many different trades and refers to the stamping, branding, or other identification mark on an object.  For a tobacco pipe this can be a logo on the shape, a stamp on the band, a laser printed design, or other image.

Non-Aromatic 

Non-Aromatic means that a tobacco isn’t an Aromatic…Sort of.

Non-Aromatic tobacco blends are blends that have little-to-no topping. The lack of topping changes the texture and effect of the tobacco blend when smoked. The term “Non-Aromatic” is a catch-all. It identifies blends that are neither English or Aromatic. (Learn more about the differences between Aromatic and Non-Aromatic blends here)

Don’t mistake non-aromatic blends for choices with no casings. According to G.L. Pease, almost all tobacco blends have at least a small amount of casing.

 Nose Warmer

A Nose Warmer is a pipe with a short shank and stem. It is called a Nose Warmer because when lighting the heat can sometimes warm the tip of your nose. This shape specific title of this pipe is the Stubby. 

O

Olive Wood

 Olive is experiencing something of a renaissance in  the hands of artisan carvers. The wood of the olive  tree has been used for pipe construction for a long  time.

 As you might guess, Olive wood comes from the  wood of an olive tree. Because olives are prized for  their food value, they are not felled for lumber often. This means that olive wood pieces are usually small. They come from pruned branches, trimmings, and sometimes from damaged trees. These smallish pieces are perfect for making pipes.

Olive wood has a distinct scent.  Many pipe makers believe that the properties of the wood’s oil can add to the experience of smoking a pipe. Olive’s grain is distinct. It creates stunning pieces in the hands of talented pipe makers.   

Oom-Paul

The chamber and bowl of an Oom Paul shape pipe is synonymous with a Billiard. The shank of the pipe is severely angled up, with a saddle bit stem jutting out, close to a 90 degree angle. The angle makes this pipe a deeply bent.

Oriental

Even though this term is often used interchangeably with Turkish, the term Oriental Tobacco covers a slightly broader area. Orientals are grown in the greater Mediterranean area, and many consider Indonesian grown tobacco to fall into this category as well. Oriental tobacco is typically sun-cured, and due to this and its location of growth, it often has some form of exotic or strong flavor.

Oval

Where most pipes have a perfectly circular chamber, the Opera pipes, another name for the Oval, has an oval shaped chamber. This style of chamber is most often used on Churchwarden and Vest style pipes. 

P

Panel

Panel shaped pipes are closely related to the Billiard. The difference between the Panel shape and Billiard shapes are the contours of the outside of the chamber and shank, a Panel will have no less than four flat sides on the bowl, and can have up to eight, all running perfectly perpendicular to the next.

Perique

True Perique tobacco is grown in only one place: St. James Parish, Louisiana.  The tobacco is stored in large wooden barrels at high pressure and allowed to age and ferment for years at a time. This processes produces a full-flavored potent tobacco prized by pipe smokers.

Pipe

For our purposes, a pipe is a tube with a small hole on one end, and a larger hole on the other end. It is used to smoke tobacco.

Pot

The Pot shape is the shorter, more adaptable version of a Billiard. A Pot is born when a standard Billiard pipe loses the top section of the bowl somewhere in the area of one third the total height of the bowl. A Pot usually has a wider diameter chamber than the Billiard.

Prince

The Prince is a the longer, flattened version of an Apple. To get a Prince, take an Apple pipe, squash the bowl slightly, shorten the length of the shank--usually down to three quarters of the height of the bowl--keep the cylindrical shape of the shank, and add a lengthened slightly curved stem, you get a Prince.

P-Lip

The P-Lip is a patented  design specific to one brand: Peterson of Dublin.  A P-Lip is a stem that has an air hole on the top of the stem, rather than on the end.  This redirects the ribbon of smoke away from the tongue, which decreases tongue bite.

Plug

A plug tobacco is different from a cake. The difference is that plug is made from pressing together whole tobacco leaves. Often the tobacco is aged for a period of time before packaging in this pressed brick shape. This tobacco is smoked by cutting slices from the brick and rubbing out the components.

Poker

The Poker pipe is the most famous and most smoked sitting pipe in the world. The outside appearance of a Poker is a perfect cylinder with a miniscule forward cant. The chamber will be cylindrical, with parallel walls on each side. A Poker nearly always has a flat chamber rim, which transitions to the wall and chamber at a ninety degree angle.

R 

Reaming

This is the process of removing the carbon build up, or “cake”, from the inside chamber of your pipe. To learn more, see How To Ream Tobacco Pipes.

Rhodesian

A Rhodesian traditionally has a cylindrical shaped shank. The double conical shape and twin bead lines are the same on a Rhodesian as they are on the Bulldog. A majority of the time the Rhodesian will have an eighth to a quarter bent shank and stem, but can periodically be found in a straight design.

Ribbon

The term ribbon refers to a style of cutting tobacco. Ribbon is long and thin strips of tobacco.

Room Note

The room note refers to the unique aroma that a particular tobacco emits into the room in which you are smoking.

Rotation

When smokers refer to a rotation, they are referring to a certain order in which they smoke their specific pipes. For example, a person who smokes once a day and has seven pipes may have a week-long or seven day rotation, meaning they smoke a different pipe each day of the week. A smoking rotation is strongly suggest, for giving pipes time to rest and recover after smoking is important for retaining their effectiveness.

Rubbed Out

Smokers often refer to “rubbing out” a tobacco when working with a flake, plug, cake, or coin style tobacco. A “rubbed out” tobacco is one that has been agitate with the fingers, breaking it apart into finer strands. This allows the tobacco to fit more evenly in the chamber, be easier to light, and deliver a smoother smoke.

Rusticated

A pipe’s surface is described as being rustic when the stummel has been given some texture other than smooth.

 S

Saddle Bit

The saddle bit-style stem is designed to make a pipe more comfortable when being clenched in the mouth. A saddle stem has a push tenon that slides in the mortice. The stem begins like a tapered model where it meets the shank, then, the stem drops off where the top and bottom of the stem disappears, leaving a wide but thin band. The bore is typically smaller than it is on other stems.

Samsun

This Oriental tobacco is grown around the town of Samsun, Turkey. Used more often in cigarettes, this tobacco has a very low nicotine level. The Samsun tobacco plant has a famous heart shaped leaf, and when aged turns a very dark color, emitting an exotic flavor.

Sandblast

This is a process that pipe makers use to add texture to the stummel of a wooden pipe. High speed blasts of sand in a controlled environment strip away the softer layers of wood, usually briar, leaving the harder ribbons. This typically creates a beautiful wavy patterned finish.

Scottish

The term Scottish, English, and Balkan terms are quite muddled. Most smokers seem to use the terms interchangeably. However, compared to the others, a Scottish blend contains less Latakia, a larger portion of the secondary component Virginia, and little to no Oriental.

Screw Stem

The screw-style stem is not so much a shape or style of stem as a classification based on functionality. Many smokers love this style, because it is easy to repair--if the tenon breaks, it is easily replaced by another threaded tenon. On a screw stem, the tenon is threaded and inserts into a matching threaded mortise. The easiest way to picture this stem is as a nut and bolt.  Pipes with a screw stem can have any stem shape, tapered, saddle, or a random freeform design. A stinger is often paired with a screw stem to assist in reducing the gargle of moisture which may collect in the shank.

Seven-Day Set

A 7-Day Set is considered a complete beginner’s collection by many pipe smokers. The idea is to have a different pipe for every day of the week. This allows the smoker to rest their pipes for a full week before smoking them again.

Most modern smokers don’t consider it necessary to allow a pipe to rest for an entire week. However, it’s still a great idea if your collection is large enough to allow it.

Shag

Shag cut is a tobacco blend that has been very finely cut, even more fine than ribbon. Shag is often bought as a cigarette filler for smokers who roll their own cigarettes.

Shank

The shank is the portion of a pipe in between the bowl and the stem. It is typically made from the same solid piece as the stummel.

Shirazi

The majority of Shirazi tobacco is primarily used as a filler for cigarettes, but is quite popular in the pipe tobacco blending sphere. Shiraz tobacco was brought to Shiraz, Iran, the city it was eventually named after, from the Americas in the 16th century.

Sitter

The Sitter pipe is not so much an individual pipe shape as it is a classification for shapes. A pipe that is referred to as a Sitter is a pipe that stands upright on its own due to a flat foot or shank.

Slot

The slot is the widened air hole near the front of the stem. Generally acrylic and vulcanite stems have a bore that tapers going down towards the pipe--this is the slot. The purpose of a slot is to improve the smoothness of the air flow and make it easier to use a pipe cleaner.

Smyrna

This tobacco leaf is grown around the Izmir region, and is often called Izmir, in Indonesia.  Smyrna is a naturally strong flavored tobacco, but has a low nicotine content compared to its strength. In pipe tobacco, Smyrna is typically used as a supplemental flavor enhancer, but can occasionally be found as the base tobacco in a blend. It is a very cool smoking blend.

Soppeng

Soppeng is an Indonesian tobacco and seems to be the Oriental equivalent to Cavendish.  Palm sugar is added to Soppeng to sweeten the taste, and the tobacco is then fired. Often times the finished leaf is stored in bamboo palms, which furthers the sweet flavor. Soppeng is most often smoked in cigarettes, but is commonly found in pipe blends.

Spider Webbing

Spider webbing occurs when a pipe is smoked a bit too much, and instead of a burnout or single char spot, the pipe has lines of burnt char grained into the wood. A pipe with spider webbing can be repaired by either building up the cake in the chamber or in cases with light spider webbing another bowl coating will do.

Spigot

This is the name for the meeting between an army mount tenon and shank, both of which are coated in metal.

Spur

The spur is most often seen on a cutty shaped pipe and long clay pipes. Centuries ago when pipe smoking was growing in popularity, clay pipes were the sole means of smoking. Because the clay quickly became hot, a spur was added to the foot of the pipe for the smoker to hold on to.

Srintil

This is a strong and potent breed of tobacco. Srintil is grown primarily in the Java region Temanggung Regency in Indonesia. To make Srintil only the top portion of the tobacco plant is harvested, the more potent and oily section of this particular plant. It is then air cured and allowed to ferment for varying times. Yearly yield is only around three tons. Srintil is most easily understood as the Asian equivalent of Perique.

Stain

A stain is a certain pigmented color applied to the outside of the pipe to achieve the look the pipe maker desires.

Stem

A stem is the part of the pipe that you put into your mouth. It extends into the shank of the pipe.

Stinger

A stinger is commonly called a “condenser”, “cleaner”, and/or “metal filter”. The stinger fits inside the tenon and extends into the shank of the pipe. The purpose of a stinger is to reduce the moisture gargle when smoking.

Straight

A pipe is deemed as straight when there is no bend or curve in the shank or stem of the pipe.  The bowl of the pipe can have a forward or backward cant and still be deemed a straight pipe.

Straight Grain

When the natural grain of the briar is very densely packed together, it tends to run in one direction, with most of the grain being almost perfectly parallel to one another. This typically runs up and down the bowl of the pipe but can run side to side depending on the preference of the carver.

Stubby

This pipe, which is based off of a Billiard, is a portable pipe, perfect for smoking on the go. This is because of its standard shaped bowl and relatively short stem. While this is not classic shape, it has become a recognized trend. This pipe is often called a Nose Warmer.

Stummel

The stummel refers to the total pipe minus the attached stem. This includes the shank, bowl, chamber, and other materials that make up the end of the pipe.

Sun Cured

Sun curing tobacco is a way of aging and drying out the oil in the leaves, which matures the flavor and enables the tobacco to stay lit. This method involves laying the leaves out in the open sun and allowing nature to do its work. This is a popular method for curing Oriental type tobaccos, but is used all over the world.

T 

Tambolaka

This tobacco takes its name from the region in which it is grown, Tambolaka on Western Sumba, and island in the Indonesian archipelago. What gives this tobacco its high nicotine content, strong flavor, and potent aroma is the limestone rich soil the tobacco is grown in.  What is unique about Tambolaka is that when harvested it is rolled into long sticks and stored to age for around five years.

Tamper

A tamper is a generic term used to describe a tool that a pipe smoker uses to push the burning ash downs towards the base of the chamber while smoking. This tool is necessary because the burning tobacco must be periodically pushed down so that it comes in contact with the unburning tobacco below it.

Tankard

While all other pipes in the Sitter family have perfectly cylindrical bowls, the Tankard shape has a slightly larger diameter at the foot than at the chamber rim, however, the chamber remains perfectly cylindrical. The foot of the pipe is cut off, which assists it in standing on its own when filled with tobacco. Tankard pipes are usually small and very light.

Tapered Bit

The tapered stem is the most common style of stem. Carvers and smokers love this stem because it is traditional, easy to make, and has the option of a large bore. A tapered stem has a tenon that is securely held in the mortise. The tapered stem is thickest where it meets the shank, and smoothly tapers down to a more compressed size as it gets closer to the bit.

Tenon

The tenon is the protruding piece of the stem that is inserted into the shank or stummel of the pipe. Tenons can be made from many different materials, including metal, acrylic, vulcanite, derlin, and others. Some tenons are threaded and screw into the stummel of this pipe.

Tin Note

The phrase tin note is used in reference to the specific smell of an unsmoked tobacco blend when you open the seal or lid of the tin.

Tomahawk

The Tomahawk shape features a pointed base of the bowl and the shape of the bent stem resemble the ancient weapon. Really, these are the only defining factors of the Tomahawk.

Tomato/Ball

It is quite apparent why the Tomato is named as it is. Sometimes, when the pipe is called a Ball, it is because the spherical shape of the bowl is readily apparent, not so much that it has a different design. It is up to the artist to decide, for there is no significant difference in design.

  Topping

 There are two definitions for the term topping within  the world of tobacco smoking. The first isn't usually  encountered by the average pipe smoker. The  second definition is the one you’re most familiar  with.

 The first definition for topping refers to a technique  used in the development of tobacco crops. It is the  removal of the tobacco flowers before suckering  (pruning out) excess leaves. Topping and suckering  is a common agricultural process for large leafy  plants.

The second, and far more common, meaning of topping refers to flavors added to an Aromatic blend.

When referring to blending, topping is the Aromatic flavoring added just before packaging. For example, your favorite Cherry blend has a topping of cherry flavoring added at the end of processing. Think of the topping for your favorite blend as a sauce, like the hollandaise to your eggs benedict. 

Trebizond

This tobacco is grown in Turkey and resembles Samsun. Trebizond leaf is coarse in texture and light in color.

Turkish

Turkish tobaccos are grown in either Turkey or the greater Mediterranean area. Often called “Orientals”, this family is made up from Yenidje, Smyrna, Samsun, Izmir, Drama, Xanthe, and often Basma tobacco. This tobacco can be difficult for pipe tobacco producers to get their hands on, for these components are in high demand in the cigarette market.

Twist

Twist is a form of forming blended tobacco into a roll. The leaves are pressed into a rope, which looks similar to salami, and they are then cut into coins and rubbed out. This is often referred to as “rope” tobacco.

U 

Ukulele

The Ukulele -- sometimes called an “Eskimo” or “Snow Cone”-- is not generally thought of as a member of the Bulldog family. However, the contours of the bowl demand this pipe be classified in that family.  The Ukulele has the same cone shaped bowl, length, and squashed design of other members in its family, with the exception of the bead lines. The Ukulele shape is usually seen with a straight design and tapered stem.

V

VaPer

This abbreviation refers to a combination of Virginia and Perique tobaccos. This combination is treasured by smokers. This blend usually a sweet and sour contrast in the flavor and ages quite well.

Vest

A Vest pipe is a particularly unique shape made to carry in a coat pocket. There are three engineered aspects to this pipe that make the Vest so easy and versatile. First, the short stem swivels, which allows the pipe to easily be stored in a pocket. Second, the rounded base of the bowl is built to easily slide into a vest pocket for easy safe-keeping. Finally, the short bent design of this pipe makes it easy to clench and hold in your teeth or mouth.

Virginia

Virginia is a strand of tobacco is the most common for pipe smokers, and is included in a large amount of blends. Often called “brightleaf”, virginia has a light color and texture when compared to other tobaccos. Virginia is typically grown in sandy soil, usually in the state of North Carolina, and has a naturally mellow taste. Virginia is a tobacco that holds up to the aging process exceptionally well.

Volcano

The Volcano shape consists of a conical shaped bowl that widens closer to the base of the pipe. The foot is either flat or rounded. Volcano pipes have a small diameter rim than others. Because the chamber will typically have a perfectly cylindrical shape, the chamber walls thicken from the rim down towards the foot. The Volcano will almost always have a bent stem.

Vulcanite

Vulcanite is a hardened rubber. Vulcanite can contain large amounts of sulfur and thus is subject to oxidation if left out in the sun. Vulcanite is a preferred stem material by many pipe makers. It is very soft compared to other acrylics used for stems. Vulcanite is naturally a dark black color.

W 

White Burley

White Burley is a term used to describe a lighter toned tobacco, and is slightly subjective. According to the traditional definition all burley currently grown is white burley. Producers often distinguish a white burley leaf from others when using multiple components of burley in the same mixture.

X 

Xanthi

Xanthi is a leaf that falls into the classification of Basma tobacco. The leaf is named after the region in which it is primarily grown in Greece. Xanthi is a tobacco that has a particularly strong and pleasant aroma.

Y 

Yenidje

Yenidje is a strain of tobacco classified as a Turkish Xanthi blend and is considered by many to be the most prized Oriental tobacco. This leaf is named after the town Yenidje where it was once grown. It is now grown in northern Syria. This tobacco has a relatively low nicotine content and smoky flavor. Yenidje does not burn well on its own, so it is used as a supplemental flavor enhancer in blends.

Z 

Zebrawood

Zebrawood  refers to any number of tropical tree species. This wood is defined by a light and dark striping grain, which just so happens to look like the stripes of a zebra. This material is commonly used as a band around the shank of a pipe.

Zulu

A Zulu bowl has a conical shape that tapers down to a smaller chamber diameter toward the bore. However, the Zulu often has slightly thinner chamber walls than other pipes, giving it its light design. Usually the bowl has an obvious forward cant. It is the bend of the Zulu that defines it. Unlike most bent pipes, the Zulu has a straight shank, jutting out of the bowl at a ninety degree angle. This results in an outward facing bowl, giving the illusion of an extreme cant.

Tobacco pipes come in so many different shapes, sizes, and styles that it can be challenging to figure out which direction to go in. A big debate you might see on forums and between tobacco pipe enthusiasts is if you prefer to have an artisan made pipe, or rather a factory made one.

Since we're all about making the pipe smoking hobby more accessible, we'll try to break down the main differences. Learning these differences will help you decide for yourself which type of pipe is a better fit for you.

We want to make sure to highlight the pros and cons of both artisan and factory made tobacco pipes. You cannot make a good decision without having all the information, and that is something we always want you to have.

We are going to throw in a quick spoiler here; just like almost everything that is in this glorious hobby of ours, your likes and preferences may differ from others, so pick what you like.

Artisan pipes, not just "handmade"

It is worth noting, before we begin, that what we're really talking about here is the differences between artisan and mass-produced pipes. Nearly all tobacco pipes are "handmade" to a certain degree. Drilling, fitting, and finishing are almost universally done by skilled human hands, even if the block gets cut mechanically, such as in companies like Peterson and Savinelli, two pipe companies that produce hundreds of pipes daily.

The distinction can lead to a lot of confusion. Pipes can be labeled factory, handmade, semi-handmade, or artisan, and the difference isn't regulated in any significant way. Generally, a truly Artisan pipe means that it is entirely handmade with great skill and care. It would not be wrong to compare the difference to buying an original piece of art or a print. The print will never be as nuanced as the original, but that doesn't mean it isn't an accurate portrayal that will bring you joy.

Advantages of an Artisan Pipe

Artisan tobacco pipes are generally, as the name suggests, small works of highly-individualized art. Aesthetically, these pipes are usually superior to factory-made pipes. After all, when coming up with a design for an artisan smoking pipe, the carver is only limited by his or her imagination.

Artisan smoking pipes are drilled, shaped, and finished with the careful eyes and hands of an artist who has spent years perfecting the craft. These pipe makers have apprenticed under masters, learning the ins and outs of tobacco pipes from those willing to teach. Since these pipes are an expression of the artists' history and vision, they typically reflect that in their one-of-a-kind prices. Expect to pay anywhere from $300 to over $5,000 for one of these special pipes.

Disadvantages of Artisan Pipes

The first is pretty obvious; anything original is going to be pricey. While yes, the quality of the artisan tobacco pipes is a big reason for the high price, it is also only one of the reasons. Artisan pipes, being completely handmade, also take longer to be finished. It is that manufacturing timeframe that limits how many pipes an artisan maker can produce in a day. Fewer pipes mean a rarer product, and a rarer product naturally drives the price up more than something that is more quickly made. That said, if a $300+ investment isn't in your budget, standing firm on only wanting an artisan pipe that you can’t afford could prohibit you from enjoying a great smoking experience with a more affordable tobacco pipe.

Another often overlooked disadvantage is that when your pipe is one-of-a-kind, it could be hard to replace any broken parts. Even worse, if lost, it cannot be perfectly replicated.

For this reason, even the most serious collectors often have a factory made pipe or two.

Advantages of factory-made pipes

Conversely, factory-made pipes get made in large quantities, typically started by machines and then finished by skilled artisans. Although variations still occur, the basic shapes and smoke ability are much more consistent than artisan pipes. In a factory-made pipe, the superiority of design is sacrificed slightly for consistency. However, that consistency is a strong plus for companies who have perfected the process of making quality pipes at affordable prices.

A factory pipe can be made in nearly identical ways again and again. Of course, slight variations will still occur in both the briar and the stems. That said, in general, one Peterson Churchwarden will smoke pretty similar to the next. Add to this that these pipes are usually much more affordable and it's easy to see why new smokers, daily smokers, and even many collectors fill their pipe stands with factory or semi-handmade pipes.

Imagine taking your pipe out camping, or maybe on a relaxing fishing trip. Do you really want to risk damaging your expensive, one-of-a-kind smoking pipe? Or would you rather have a more affordable option on hand that will be great for smoking on the go or where the risk of damage is heightened? We suggest getting something less expensive that, while not disposable, is not something you will regret losing.

Here at TobaccoPipes.com, we carry a large variety of artisan and factory made pipes. We do this because we believe both have advantages, depending on the needs of the smoker. Don't get too caught up in which type of pipe you're choosing. What matters most is that you enjoy your bowl. You can do that with a basic corn cob or a high-end Savinelli Autograph--it all depends on your particular preferences.

Our Favorites

When it comes to factory tobacco pipes and artisan versions, we have our preferences just like everyone else. We love the look and feel of a bunch of different pipes, and it is always a pleasure to talk about our favorites.

Our favorite artisan pipes.

Castello

When it comes to awesome looking pipes, we really must start with the Castello Flame. As we mentioned above, artisan tobacco pipes are not cheap, and this one certainly is for the hardcore collectors. However, we still marvel at the craftsmanship of this beauty. 

The briar is carved on the bottom to look like a roaring fire, heating up the tobacco inside. Even the golden-yellow acrylic stem practically glows from radiating flame. If you are willing to spend the money, this tobacco pipe is certainly worth consideration. Castello has plenty of options available; take a look!

Neerup

Another great looking artisan pipe is Neerup's Harvest Moon 3. This bent apple shaped pipe features a dark finish, providing an excellent contrast to the grain. Fitted with a brass and turquoise ring that connects the stem and the stummel, this is a much more affordable pipe for you. 

An excellent option, this would be a great addition to any collection. You can check out all of the Neerup Pipes here.

Altinay

One more artisan pipe would be this Altinay Meerschaum tobacco pipe. Meerschaum is a very moldable material, so and every meerschaum is hand carved. Being made this way allows meerschaum carvers to indulge in a lot of freedom with their designs. In this instance, we have a dragon claw grasping a barrel. 

The great thing about meerschaum pipes is how they color with age. You can learn more about meerschaum here, and you should also check out the other Altinay tobacco pipes.

Ser Jacopo

When you want to talk about interesting looks, how about this rustic and smooth combination by Ser Jacopo. This bulldog pipe takes a smooth pipe and adds a rustic look to it in the middle. This makes for a great looking pipe, with a good texture of both a smooth and rustic feel. 

A great Italian brand, Ser Jacopo takes their inspiration from founder Giancarlo Guidi. The company has continued to make some magnificent handmade pipes, and we think you might find something here that you will absolutely love.

Davorin Denovic

Finally, a pipe with a unique material comes in when we showcase the Davorin Denovic pipes. These tobacco pipes are made of morta wood, which is an old wood found in a bog.

This Rhodesian pipe provides an outstanding look. Its black stummel ringed with striations that add a unique texture, while also featuring an acrylic stem featuring wisps of brown that add a smoky look to the pipe. You can find more Davorin Morta pipes here.

Our favorite factory pipe

Remember, a factory pipe can still look amazing. Some of the tobacco pipes we love most are factory-made, and here are a few of those favorites.

Rattray's

You can't go wrong with a Rattray's Outlaw. This one is a smooth, gray pipe that makes the grain take on a smokey look. The short stem features an aluminum band that makes a great divider from the stummel. 

If that's not your cup of tea, there are plenty of Rattray's that can catch your attention.

Savinelli

Another outstanding looking pipe is this rustic finished Savinelli Joker. The dark, rustic finish helps highlight the rich, red amber color of the wood. The black and red stripes on the band highlight the coloring this pipe has. Black and red, this is a dark pipe that looks outstanding and really pops with the finish's texture.

Savinelli pipes are filtered, and this one is convertible with their adapters. We have plenty of Savinelli tobacco pipes available so that you can find a finish, shape, or color to your liking.

Chacom

It is not often you find pipes that have a color other than black or tan. Sometimes you will have a reddish amber but more often than not, the smoking pipe will be one of those two. That’s why we really love this blue Chacom Atlas pipe. To start, blue is a pretty unique color for a tobacco pipe to have. 

The black accents on the bowl help the blue really pop as well. This is a great pipe from an old and very well respected pipe manufacturer. Chacom offers a wide variety of pipes, so you can find something more traditional as well if you prefer.

Old Dominion

Of course, we can’t forget the corncob lovers here either! Old Dominion may be a relative newcomer to the pipe making industry, but they make some very nice looking corncob pipes. We love the look of the Shenandoah, a classic poker with a bamboo stem. 

Old Dominion produces a number of corncobs, as well as clay pipes, so finding something there should not be a problem.

Peterson

Finally, we come to this Peterson Sherlock Holmes pipe. Peterson tobacco pipes have plenty of different lines, and they all look fantastic. We love the Sherlock Holmes line, mostly because of how the pipes look and also because of the tribute to the best detective ever written. In the novels, Sherlock Holmes is always smoking a Peterson, so the company decided to make a line dedicated to the master detective.

The one we are showing here features a smooth, dark wood that has beautiful streaks of the briar's flame grain. Featuring a sterling silver ring, this is a pipe that will look good in any collection.

In conclusion

Artisan or factory made, we love the look of pretty much every pipe. When purchasing a great tobacco pipe, you want to find something that fits your style and what you like. Find a pipe you like, and enjoy it. And don't forget the pipe tobacco too! The choice is yours.

Smoking with a tobacco pipe can be an expensive hobby. There are so many different pipes, and some of them can get very pricy. For those of us that want to enjoy the hobby of pipe smoking but feel hamstrung by budgetary concerns, fear not! There are always plenty of options available to you that will fit into your budget. With a little care and saving, having a nice pipe is possible for everyone. If you're a beginner, here is a great pipe beginners guide to help get you started.

For the year of 2021, we offer you these ten options to fill with your favorite pipe tobacco. They are all reasonably affordable, with the added benefit of each of them being great looking pipes. Meanwhile, they all offer some unique features that allow you to be the proud owner of a brand new tobacco pipe, which will either be the start of your collection or an excellent addition to it. None of these smoking pipes cost more than $140, so with a little bit of saving, any of these pipes can be yours. Here you can learn more about factory vs. artisan tobacco pipes.  This is not a ranking of the smoking pipes; we are listing them in alphabetical order to make it easier to follow.

Altinay

We start our list with this unique meerschaum tobacco pipe from Altinay. All pipes made out of meerschaum are hand carved, meaning every single one is a one-of-a-kind tobacco pipe. Because they are all unique, these pipes tend to be a little more expensive than the rest. This one does not reach the pricy heights of some of the other meerschaum pipes, costing only $132. That does, however, mean that this is one of only two tobacco pipes on this list that cost more than $100 and is the second most expensive pipe here.

For that price, you are getting a beautiful, hand carved tobacco pipe. The apple-shaped bowl is carved to look like a basket, with corded rope up the sides as support. A truly magnificent piece, this will easily be a pipe that stands out in your collection, especially as you use it more often and it gains some of the color that meerschaum pipes are known for and why they are sought out. If you are looking for a unique tobacco pipe, this is the one to get. If you want a meerschaum pipe, but this one is not what you might be looking for, Altinay offers plenty of options for you to look through.

Brigham

A great tobacco pipe to have, the Brigham Santinated smoking pipe is another excellent looking selection from Brigham Pipes. This sandblasted option offers a rough look and texture, allowing you to appreciate the feel of the smoking pipe. This pipe has a dark brown stummel made of quality briar, along with a curved acrylic stem, all at a very reasonable $49.99.

Once you have this in your hand, it will be hard to stop looking at the pits and grooves the sandblasting provides. It really shows off the grain of the wood, keeping you practically entranced.

Since Brigham is a Canadian company, you are getting a unique take on tobacco pipes, where the style is based on the traditional shapes that Herb Brigham learned in Europe, but with a brilliant North American twist.

This is a filtered tobacco pipe and not the only one on this list. Having a filter in your pipe is a personal preference, and there is some debate about which is better, filtered or unfiltered. Whatever you enjoy is the best thing to do, though.

Brigham has a massive supply of tobacco pipes, so even if this one is not your cup of tea, you should easily be able to find something that gets your attention.

Dr. Grabow

The Dr. Grabow Omega Rustic Tobacco Pipe is a great look for an even better price. Dr. Grabow offers you a quality pipe at a reasonable value.

The Dr. Grabow tobacco pipes have been made in the United States since the 1930s, and they have stayed an All-American institution since. You always know what you are going to get with them, as they are a consistent product, with consistently high standards for their tobacco pipes.

The grooves provided by the rustic look give you another tobacco pipe with a great texture. This texture is a great way to get a feel for the wood, and it provides a nice appearance, something you can display whenever you are not using it.

More than just looks, it will feel good too. Held in your teeth, in your hand; however you hold it, it will be comfortable. There are plenty of options with Dr. Grabow smoking pipes, so don't worry about not enjoying the look of this one; there will be other pipes you might get instead, all at the reasonable price this one holds too.

Mastro De Paja

From Mastro De Paja comes this Sandblasted tobacco pipe that fits the Eleganza name. The egg-shaped bowl highlights the grain excellently, with the dark, almost black finish hiding subtle hints of red that will pop out as you look at it from different angles. The aluminum band that connects the stem and the stummel shines, and the acrylic stem rests comfortably in your mouth.

You will find few pipes that look this good at such an affordable price. The briar that the craftsmen at Mastro De Paja use go through a rigorous selection process to make sure that only the very best briar is selected. Even then, if the pipe does not meet their standards, it does not see the light of day.

This can be a wonderful start to an Italian collection or just a lovely gift for someone that appreciates smoking pipes from Italy. There are plenty more Mastro De Paja tobacco pipes available if you want to look through them, so if you don't like the aesthetics of this one, there will be another one you do prefer.

Peterson

A classic brand in the tobacco pipe world, Peterson pipes have a history of quality for a reasonable price. While some Petersons can be very expensive collectors' pieces, this Aran 306 Bandless tobacco pipe chimes in at only $80. For that $80, you are getting a pipe that is steeped in the Peterson tradition while also holding a comfortable piece of briar in your hand.

Not only will it rest well in your hand, but it can also rest on its own. As a sitter, you can leave this pipe lit and sitting down without fear that it will tip over. This makes the pipe incredibly convenient for those smokers who step away from their pipes for a time, only to come back to them later.

Now that we have the function out of the way, how is the fashion? Well, this pipe is very pretty. The rusticated look gives the briar a craggy look and feel. The dark brown finish allows the lighter natural tannish brown to peek through at the tips of some of the crags, leading to an interesting peaks and valleys appearance to an already solid looking tobacco pipe.

Paired with the vulcanite stem with a gold-painted P, and you have an excellent introduction to the Peterson brand. If you want more Peterson pipes, we have plenty. After all, it is rather difficult to only have one of these great pipes.

Radiator

Do you like to mix and match? If so, Radiator pipes might be the ones for you. You can pick up bowls and pipe frames separately, allowing you to change the design of your smoking pipe any time you want.

That said, this does mean purchasing two items to make one, but the pricing is fairly reasonable. This black, sandblasted bowl only costs $60, while this black, curved pipe frame comes in at $80.

The pipe frame is designed with a base that allows moisture to collect, leaving your smoke cooler and drier, which improves your overall smoking experience. Meanwhile, the briar bowls come in traditional shapes and are easy to connect to the frame for a convenient travel pipe.

The $140 total is the most expensive on this list, but since you can mix and match and no bowl costs more than $75, while frames max out in price at $95, so no one piece will really break the bank. This is one of those things where if you pace yourself, you will have a wonderful and interchangeable collection in no time. Feel free to check out the entire Radiator Pipes collection that we have to offer.

Rattray's

Rattray's The Good Deal tobacco pipe is true to its name. At $39.99, this is the second most affordable pipe on the list, but the quality of the pipe suggests it should be much more expensive.

The rustic finish of the stummel is separated from the acrylic stem by an aluminum band, creating an excellent color contrast. The rustic finish works wonders on the briar, with the deep, dark black finish impressively complimenting the rich brown, almost mahogany color.

With the Rattray's history, they have a vast number of tobacco pipes that will look amazing and be great collection pieces. Let this Good Deal tobacco pipe be the first in yours.

Savinelli

Savinelli's history of excellence shines through each and every tobacco pipe they make. The Italian tobacco pipe giants make sure their entire collection is up to their lofty standards, from their $1000 pipes to this $80 option.

This Savinelli Mini is a rustic smoking pipe with a rugged, black finish. This makes for an awesome texture, meaning this feels nice in your hand. A unique feature is the blue acrylic stem for this pipe. Acrylic can come in any color, but you will traditionally see black stems for pipes. The blue stands out and will look great in a pipe stand, resting comfortably in your collection.

One added benefit to the Savinelli Mini is its petite size. At barely over 4 inches in length and not much more than 1 ounce in weight, this is a prime candidate for your traveling tobacco pipe. Having a pipe that you can easily grab and use on the road is something every pipe smoker should do, if only to have something convenient at hand.

As we said earlier, Savinelli has an extensive collection of tobacco pipes, which is thanks to their storied history. There are plenty of options available, and when the time comes that you ever choose to splurge on an expensive tobacco pipe, they are a good option to browse.

The French Pipe

The French Pipe is a newer line from Chacom, created by managing director Antoine Grenard.

Chacom is one of the oldest tobacco pipe companies in the world, and their history allows them to come up with creative designs and imaginative callbacks, which is what they did with the French Pipe line.

This pipe, design number 13, is a sandblasted panel shape. You will enjoy the sandblasted finish, as it does well to show off the briar's grain, which can be a great look and feel for you.

The hexagonal-shaped bowl is a close cousin of the Billiard bowl, but instead of the Billiard pipes' traditional rounded shape, you have six flat sides. The blue and white stripes at the end of the acrylic stem add a good mark between the bowl and the stem.

This pipe costs $47.99, one of the four pipes on this list that are less than $50. A great benefit of picking up this, or any tobacco pipe from the French Pipe collection, is the stuff that comes with it. The equipment you get is a great start in helping you enjoy the tobacco pipe hobby.

Tom Eltang

With over 40 years of experience in making tobacco pipes, Tom Eltang has become a very popular Danish pipe making master. This pipe, part of his Magic line, is another that lives up to the name. Eltang created magic with this uniquely colored pipe and stem.

The carbon fiber stem is a creative take on stems, something that is different than traditional stems for briar tobacco pipes. While most pipes have acrylic or vulcanite stems, the muted gray carbon fiber acts as an accentuator to the swirling green on the bowl.

That swirling green is a combination of the finish style and the grain of the briar. Equal parts bright, vibrant green and deep, rich forest green, you can become entranced by the wispy smoky style.

At $72, this is an affordable pipe to have if you want a unique looking option. Tom Eltang Pipes all have memorable appearances, so you can find something that would grab your attention easily.

So there are the ten tobacco pipes we suggest for you to enjoy on a budget. Remember, tobacco and tobacco pipes are a matter of taste and personal preference. What others like does not have to fit with what you enjoy. If you are looking for something else, there are plenty of pipe options available or cigars to smoke. If you like what you see, feel free to pick it up today.

We are three months into 2021, and there is still plenty of time to find a blend of pipe tobacco you will enjoy. Although you can certainly fall back to your old favorites, there are times where experimentation and trying new things will come in handy. Find something new to experience, something different than your everyday preference. Who knows, you might just find a brand new favorite to share with your friends (or keep to yourself, we won't judge).

There are so many different styles of tobacco, with various tastes, scents, and cuts that make each smoking session a unique experience. Whichever blend type you want to find, we will have enough that you will not be lost for options. However, if you are unsure what you are looking for, we will be releasing a series of lists covering ten different tobaccos to try in each blend; our first list covers English blends.

We will break down our ten into three different strength categories: strong, medium, and mild. Each strength has its benefits and drawbacks, and one is not necessarily better than the other. Some people prefer a full-bodied, strong tobacco that will completely satisfy after one bowl, while others go with a milder blend that you can enjoy multiple times per day. What you enjoy is entirely dependent on how you want your smoking experience to be. Beginners to the world of pipe tobacco would more likely benefit from trying mild tobaccos first, working their way up in strength until they are much more comfortable with a stronger blend. Starting off too strong will most likely turn you off of this hobby, which would be a shame.

Without further ado, here are ten English blends you need to make sure you have tried before the end of this year.

Mild Strength Blends

First, let’s take a look at some mild strength English blends. Mild strength tobaccos are sometimes called all-day blends, as they are more tolerable to be smoked any time of the day and multiple times.

Murray's 1862 Whitehall

If you are looking for an all-day blend, this is the one for you. Scandinavian Tobacco Group, through Lane Limited, has brought back this Irish blend. 1862 Whitehall was first made by Murray and Sons Company, which was founded in 1810 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Murray and Sons created four different blends for the Murray's line, each named for a time in the company's history. This one is in honor of their expansion in 1862, helping the company grow and flourish further than before. The Murray and Sons company would survive as an independent company until 1953, when they were purchased for the first time. There would be a series of mergers and sales until the company was finally shut down in 2005. This is where Scandinavian came in, rescuing the Murray's name from obscurity and giving us this combination of Black Cavendish, Burley, Latakia, and Virginia tobaccos. The mixture is mellow and comfortable, providing a comfortable taste with a reasonable strength, something that will make this an all-day smoke.

F & K Merde De Cheval

F & K offers up this somewhat uniquely named tobacco, something that should instantly gain attention. According to the company, there used to be a customer that would visit the St. Louis, Missouri shop who was routinely disappointed with the tobacco he would get there. Always in a sour mood, this customer was finally given a blend he enjoyed. When he came back the next time, this customer demanded, "I want more of that horse shit tobacco you sold me!" If that is not a solid reason to come up with a name for a pipe tobacco blend, we don't know what is.

Merde De Cheval is a traditional English, featuring a combination of Burley, Latakia, Oriental/Turkish, Virginia, and Perique tobaccos. You get a pleasant room note with this tobacco and a reasonable taste that you should enjoy.

Solani Golden Label Blend #779

Rudiger L. Will came up with the Solani brand in 1997, the second successful line of pipe tobacco he has created. You will get a smooth and comfortable smoking experience with this blend, which is a balance between medium and mild. Many have compared this to Balkan Sobranie, and it is an apt comparison, as it shares many of the qualities of a Balkan style English blend. The flavor is deep and rich, with a lower strength than you would expect. This blend will be a great way to get started with the Solani brand, a way to get introduced to the way R.L. Will creates tobacco.

Medium Strength Blends

Medium strength blends are much more gentle on your system than a strong one. While these tobaccos might not be an all-day smoke, you will not be as likely to get overpowered by them.

Seattle Pipe Club Mississippi River Special Reserve

This is the first pipe tobacco created for the Seattle Pipe Club by Master Blender Joe Lankford. Mississippi River is an English blend that earns high praise in the smoking pipe world. According to Lankford, this blend came to him in a dream. It was so vivid and exciting that he picked up a pencil and wrote the recipe down before he forgot it. After waking up, he went to work, creating a tobacco that launched the Seattle Pipe Club series of blends. This became so popular that when Lankford was offered some well-aged Virginia tobacco, he used it to create a limited edition of Mississippi River, creating a richer, smoother flavor than the original thanks to the new Virginias available. Coming in a plug cut, you will need a good knife to cut it with and fill your pipe.

Cornell & Diehl Tuskegee Airman

As Cornell & Diehl says on the tobacco tin, this is their salute to the United States's first African-American military pilots. The "Red Tail Angels," as the Tuskegee Airmen were known, served both admirably and exceptionally. These pilots were among the best aviators in the world; while they flew during World War Two, they fought and earned a great number of distinctions. Most impressively, they flew on 179 bomber escort missions, losing only 27 bomber total during 7 of those missions.

The Cornell & Diehl blend named for these pilots combines a mixture of Virginia, Perique, Turkish, and Latakia tobaccos that have been pressed together to create a marriage of flavors and were then sliced to fit into the tins. You will appreciate the taste and room note of this tobacco, and this is a medium strength blend you should certainly enjoy.

Peter Heinrichs #30

When Peter Heinrichs was thirty years old, he sold his tobacco company to a more prominent firm for a massive sum. Despite being now independently wealthy, rich enough that he would not need to work another day in his life, he instead used those funds to open another tobacco shop, larger than before, where he was able to create his own blends. One of these blends, number thirty, is a pleasant mixture of Latakia, Perique, and Virginia tobaccos. What is special about this blend is the aroma, like walking into a classic tobacco shop, where you can pick up the scents of great tobacco. The flavor will not overwhelm you, although you will certainly enjoy it in any pipe.

Cobblestone Brick English Plug

A comfortable and pleasant pipe tobacco, the Cobblestone Brick English tobacco lives up to its name. Combining a mixture of Cyprian Latakia, Virginia, Oriental, and Burley tobaccos, you will find a nice tasting tobacco with a comfortable room note. Cobblestone's slogan is "Find Your Path," which is a fitting one, as this tobacco is a wonderful introduction for going down the road and discovering future English blends. This is a reliable start for newcomers; if you wanted to learn about what makes an English tobacco good, this is the first one you should go to for clarity.

Strong blends

We will finish off our list by going through these three strong blends. These are best enjoyed after a meal. On an empty stomach, these blends can be unpleasant.

Peterson Nightcap

A classic blend originally designed by Alfred Dunhill, Peterson acquired the rights to this recipe after the Dunhill company ceased production. English blends carry a mixture of Latakia and Virginia tobaccos, while the Nightcap also holds some Perique for added flavor. This blend's name is very fitting, as it is best to be enjoyed towards the end of the day, after dinner, as a way to relax. If you choose to smoke a bowl of this tobacco without eating, it can overpower you. By eating something, this blend is much more enjoyable. Maybe enjoy this with a drink too. As an evening smoke, this is akin to having dessert, so enjoy yourself with some Peterson Nightcap and some liquor.

Cornell & Diehl Bow Legged Bear

A fitting name, as this blend will leave you bow-legged if you do not respect it. Strong and full-bodied, this tobacco comes in a Crumble Cake cut. Cornell and Diehl make this tobacco by stoving it before pressing and then crafting it into the crumble cake that you see when you open the tin. This gives the tobacco its flavor and strength, shaping how you enjoy this blend. You might feel the need to hibernate if you smoke this on an empty stomach, so make sure you have enjoyed plenty of honey, and whatever was in your picnic basket before you sit down at the end of the day to relax with this tobacco.

Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired Hot Pressed

A company that has existed for nearly two hundred years, Mac Baren, has abundant experience when it comes to preparing and creating blends of pipe tobacco that you will enjoy. The HH Old Dark Fired is one of those tobacco blends, and if you like strong English tobaccos, this one will be right up your alley. However, it is not a traditional English that you might expect. There is no Latakia in this blend. However, Mac Baren classifies this as an English based on how it is produced. The company steam presses the tobacco, which creates a bolder tobacco than you would get during a cold press. By doing this, the dark-fired Burley tobacco comes to the forefront, helping develop a rich, earthy flavor you will enjoy.

Take your time to find out which of these English blends you love, and make sure you check them out. If you like them, great; if not, there are plenty more tobaccos to try.

Next Week: Aromatics

Smoking a tobacco pipe is among those activities—like learning an instrument, or painting, or golf—where you can get started quickly but easily misstep and learn bad habits. But a pipe is also more than just a hobby; it’s a sacred and contemplative pastime, and one that’s poised to serve you with years of pleasure, deep thoughts, and camaraderie with a worldwide community of like-minded pipe lovers. To get these goods, you need to put in the work early and learn the ropes in the right way. It’s not uncommon for the early pitfalls of learning to smoke a pipe to be so discouraging that one gets fed up and abandons this newfound pleasure. Fortunately, there are a few basic lessons to set you on the right course. Some require a deeper understanding of the instrument itself, some are slight tweaks in our framework of thinking about pipes, some are adjustments to technique, and a few are good reminders even for the seasoned pipe smoker who has forgotten the basics. The good news: by the time you finish this series of videos you’ll be eons ahead of the average newbie and save yourself a lot of pain, frustration, and tongue bite along the way. Let’s get started.

I.Purchase a Quality Pipe to Start

Choosing your first pipe can be a daunting process. From Pokers to Churchwardens to Tomahawks to the Calabash, not only are the shapes and the vastness of the selection intimidating, the price range can make selecting a quality pipe challenging as well. The key thing here is to get a pipe of sufficient quality at the outset so you’re not prohibiting your first venture into the pipe world with a cheap instrument that smokes poorly. Take a look at Professor Walker’s video below on how to select a solid beginning pipe and don’t forget the most important rule of all: pick a pipe that resonates with you; your first pipe is something you’ll keep as a memento for a lifetime.

A few of the pipes in Professor Walker’s video below:

Dr. Grabow Big Pipe - Smooth

Savinellii Roma Rustic 320

Peterson Bent Pipe

OMS (One Man Smoke) Billiard

II.Pack it Proper – The Three Step Method

One of the easiest mistakes for a beginning pipe smoker to make is packing your pipe improperly. The result: the pipe can be terrifically difficult to keep lit and can burn too hot. To ease one of the most common frustrations in pipe smoking, it pays dividends to master pipe packing now for cool and consistent smokes every time. Once the pipe is packed, a two-step light and proper smoking technique (more on that below) ensures you’re burning true and in for premium downtime. While the following is not the only approach, The Three Step Method is a popular and effective strategy for packing your pipe with a new pipe tobacco to try.

III.Keep it Clean

Depending on your disposition, maintaining the cleanliness of your pipe is either one of your favorite activities or a loathsome task. Either way, it’s a necessity so get used to this part of the process. A well-tended pipe maximizes the flavor of your tobacco and ensures any leftover tar isn’t ruining an otherwise great smoke. Cleaning your pipe means more than just running a pipe cleaner through the stem during or after a smoke. Pick up a pipe tool to make sure you’re prepared for cleaning out any blockages and that your pipe is ready for use.

Dr. Grabow Classic 3-in-1 Pipe Tool

BJ Long Extra Absorbent Pipe Cleaners

IV.Master Smoking Technique

No rookie pipe smoking mistake is as painful or as much of a turnoff as the dreaded tongue bite. The result of misunderstanding the peaceful cadence of pipe smoking and employing an improper smoking technique, as well as tobacco that is too moist, are two common causes. Tongue bite can be described as a “burning” sensation in the tongue or the roof of the mouth caused by the pipe burning too hot. Fortunately, the pipe smoking community has struck on a novel smoking skill—the Breathe Method—that, when properly incorporating, dramatically improves the smoking experience and banishes tongue bite for good. Additionally, by “breathing” the smoke back through the shank of the type, the Breathe Method has the added benefit of fully revealing the nuances of your tobacco and helping your pipe to stay lit. While it may take a little practice for the new pipe smoker, this technique is well worth mastering early in your pipe journey.

V.Get Comfortable with Relighting

While the Breathe Method goes a long, long way in helping to keep your pipe lit, a pipe smoker views smoking as a wholistic activity: it’s about conversation, reflection, rest, or getting swept into a grand idea or a great book. Pipe smoking should never be rushed and from the outset, and the aficionado ought to fix it in his mind that relights are a part of the experience. This is no cigar you puff away at relentlessly or a quick cigarette. Pipes are the slow and sophisticated smoking experience that recalibrate the chaos of a given day into order through pace and patience. As a benefit of this new way of living, the gentleman exercises a counter-agency to the frenetic demands of 21st century living.

In Closing

The beauty of smoking a pipe is a lifelong journey of distinct and pleasurable experience. From the incredible array of tobacco blends to the nuances of each and every pipe, there is never a shortage of knowledge to learn about and technique to improve upon. Even the greats agree there. In the pipe world, we have masters, but all of us, from the most seasoned veteran to the beginning smoker, are ultimately students of the pipe.

Last week we talked about English Blends, and this week we are going to tell you about ten aromatics that you should take a look at before the end of 2021. Before we get to our list, some newcomers to the world of pipe tobacco might have a question: what is an aromatic?

An aromatic pipe tobacco is one that utilizes outside ingredients to add extra flavors and scents to the blend. This is done in two parts, first by spraying a combination of sugar and alcohol that penetrates the tobacco leaf, which is called a casing. A casing is not what gives an aromatic its flavor; it merely assists as a subtle hint of what could be, more as a way to adjust the natural flavors of the tobacco. There are plenty of non-aromatic blends that have a casing, but the aromatics use them as well; as the first ingredients.

The second is through the use of what is called a top note. Top notes are where the magic of aromatics comes to the forefront. While casings are added to the individual leaves, top notes are added to the blends themselves during the final stages of production.

There are a ton of different flavors to use for aromatics; fruits, candies, and alcohols. You might find plums, cherries, citrus fruits. Meanwhile, others will use vanilla, chocolate, and caramel. Whiskey and rum are also popular choices. The beauty comes in the combinations that are used to make the best flavor.

Just like cooking, if you want to highlight a flavor, you don't just use that one. There are accentuating and complementing pieces, the ones that will make the main flavor shine. Just like you use salt to bring out the most of a chocolate bar, some fig can emphasize a citrus top note.

Aromatic tobaccos are the most popular tobacco blends, especially among beginners, and by a large margin. It is no surprise, really, since the scents brought out by aromatics are more pleasing to other people, the ones that are not enjoying the bowl. Having a smoking session around non-smokers can be a tricky practice since you are trying to spend time with friends or family while not driving them away because of something they might not like. The benefits of aromatics come in that room note that they are much more pleasant to smell than non-aromatics, so you will have fewer complaints from those around you when you enjoy a bowl of tobacco.

Just like last week, we're going to list the tobaccos based on strength, from mild to medium, then strong. Also, note that none of these will be cherry aromatics. There are so many quality cherry tobaccos that a whole list of them will be coming later in the series. So without further ado, here are ten aromatic tobacco blends that you should try before the end of the year.

Mild

Mild tobaccos are great for enjoying any time of the day. They are not as harsh as the more potent blends of tobacco, so they will not be as likely to give you the problems that a strong tobacco can.

Brebbia #22

While Brebbia might be known more for its tobacco pipes, they still are able to make some impressive pipe tobacco. This is a comfortable tobacco, something that would be great any time of the day. Brebbia Quartetto #22 features a mixture of Virginia and Black Cavendish tobaccos, flavored with a mix of citrus and spice. A mild tobacco, but flavored enough that you will get the full enjoyment every time you pack a bowl of it.

Borkum Riff Original

Borkum Riff was founded in 1962, named after a lighthouse in the North Sea that has guided ships for many years. Borkum Riff's Original blend harkens back to some of the earliest aromatics; it is a 60-40 mix of Black Cavendish and Virginia tobaccos harvested all over the world. As with the rest of the aromatics on this list, you will get a pleasant room note thanks to the flavors of chocolate, prune, and other various fruits. When you want to enjoy an all-day tobacco, Borkum Riff is a great option to choose.

Cobblestone High Spirits Sangria

Sangria is a fun, fruity drink made from wine, fruit, and some other ingredients mixed together. These ingredients will steep, resting for hours before being served for everyone's enjoyment. Originating in Spain, you will get a great fruity taste every time you drink sangria, and that's the same exact thing you get when you savor a bowl of Cobblestone High Spirits Sangria. Featuring a combination of Black Cavendish and Virginia tobaccos, you will get a wonderful room note of citrus and alcohol. Perfect for enjoying among friends, especially in the evening when you are all having a drink.

Cobblestone High Spirits Amaretto

Our second Cobblestone blend, this one is different from the Sangria, a different blend based on a different alcohol. Amaretto is a nut-based liqueur, typically made from apricot kernels, peach stones, or almonds. However it is made, you will get a pleasant almond flavor and is a popular addition to coffee or other mixed drinks. Amaretto was first made in Italy, though who and when it was exactly made is disputed. No matter how it was made, its popularity soared in the 1960s when it was brought to the United States during the World's Fair.

The same pleasant aroma you get from the drink is what you will experience when you light up a bowl of the Cobblestone High Spirits Amaretto pipe tobacco. This blend is made from a combination of Black Cavendish and Burley tobaccos. The added flavoring helps bring out the nuttiness of the Burley, giving you an extra touch of almond flavor. Great for morning smoking sessions; you can appreciate this with a cup of coffee, just like the liqueur.

Medium

Medium strength blends are a great strength for many smokers moving past their first tobaccos. There's nothing wrong with staying with mild blends, but sometimes you just want a little more punch, and a medium strength will provide that without being overpowering like a strong tobacco can be.

Sutliff Queen Anne's Revenge

Sutliff is a major producer of pipe tobacco, with almost 200 years of experience in creating blends that people love. With all those years of experience, they were able to create a massive catalog, garnering rave reviews with almost every blend they manufacture. Of those, one of the more well received is their Queen Anne's Revenge pipe tobacco.

Medium strengthed, you will get a nice hit of the rum flavoring with this blend; Sutliff created it with a mixture of Black Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia tobaccos. You will have a rich rum flavoring and aroma with this blend. Some more good news about this blend is if you love it, you will be able to get as much of it as you want since Sutliff releases it in bulk packages.

Cornell & Diehl Berries & Cream

There are not many combinations that are as iconic as berries and cream. So iconic, in fact, that there are lists of recipes for different desserts and snacks that will be a treat whenever you make one. The sweet tastes of the berries pair perfectly with the savory and smooth creams, typically vanilla, that make these such a great pairing.

That combination is what makes Berries and Cream an excellent release from Cornell & Diehl's Master Tobacconist Craig Tarler. Berries and Cream is a combination of Black Cavendish and Burley tobaccos. Flavored with Blackberry brandy, you will get a medium strength tobacco with a pleasant room note and an outstanding aroma. This is a tobacco you can easily enjoy, and picking up a package of Berries and Cream will be one of the better decisions you can make.

Cobblestone Café Vanilla Latte

Our third and final Cobblestone blend on this list, Vanilla Latte is not an alcohol based aromatic like the other two, but instead a wonderful coffee flavored blend, something that would be a great option at a café or relaxing outside on your deck.

Cobblestone Vanilla Latte features a mixture of Black Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia tobaccos, with vanilla and coffee flavorings added in for the pleasant aroma and flavor. The nutty and earthy flavor of the Burley really gets amplified by the roasted espresso coffee topping. At the same time, the vanilla adds a smooth and creamy note, combining to create an overall excellent smoking experience.

Rattray's Wallace Flake

1903 saw Charles Rattray open up a pipe tobacco shop in Perth, Scotland. His skillful blending made it that people went out of their way to visit his store, expanding his business quickly. While Rattray's is now known more for their smoking pipes than their tobacco, you can still get a quality blend from them.

One such blend is this Wallace Flake. Made out of a combination of Orientals along with golden and dark brown Virginia tobaccos, the top note of plum and other fruits mix with the natural aroma of the tobacco to create a pleasant smelling blend, citrus and fruity, with earthen undertones. It is always a great experience when you can enjoy the taste and smell of your tobacco, and Wallace Flake does precisely that.

Strong

Strong tobaccos are not for beginners. If you are not prepared for a strong blend, it can overwhelm you. There's not a lot of things worse than sitting down to enjoy a bowl of great tobacco only to have it be too much for you and wasting a smoking session. Strong tobacco blends are something people work up to, and they are not for everyone. If you are looking for a more powerful blend than something mild or medium, this is it for you.

Peterson The Royal Yacht

Originally produced by Dunhill, Peterson's "Royal Yacht" is a classic blend, something that works wonderfully as an evening smoke. This is a luxury smoke, befitting the name. It is entirely a combination of Virginia tobaccos, with flavored toppings that create a great tin note and better room note. Thanks to the toppings, you will pick up hints of citrus and plum, flavoring that should not wane at any point of your smoking session.

Dunhill pipe tobacco has a legendary history, dating back to the early 1900s when Alfred Dunhill began creating blends based on his customers' desires. They had nearly 37,000 different blends at Dunhill's peak, all noted in the famous Dunhill "My Mixture" book. However, all good things must come to an end, and production on the Dunhill tobaccos stopped in 2017. It almost was the end of the line, but two years later, Peterson stepped in and acquired the rights to the recipes. Thanks to Peterson, we can appreciate tobacco blends that have thrilled and satisfied pipe smokers for over 100 years.

Peterson Hyde Park

This is the second Peterson blend on the list, and it gets the same high marks the other tobacco received. It is named after a royal park in London, the largest of the ones in the central area of the city. Hyde Park was created by King Henry VIII in 1536, initially to be a hunting ground for the royalty. It was later made available to the public 101 years later, and it became one of the most popular locations for people to gather, protest, or just enjoy the scenery.

Peterson Hyde Park is created through a mixture of Burley, Indian, and Virginia tobaccos while flavored with Maple and Rum to give a great aroma. Pressed into a broken flake cut, the sweet taste of the maple balances greatly with the tang of the rum. At the same time, the earthy, nutty Burley combines everything into a pleasant smoking experience, perfectly suited for an after-meal indulgence.

When you want to enjoy your smoking sessions, don't discount the pleasant benefits of aromatics. While far from the only style of tobacco you should try, the level of diversity in this category of blends means you can find any number of tobaccos to enjoy and have different experiences with each. Aromatics are still the most popular version of pipe tobacco and will easily remain that way for the foreseeable future. You will be able to have a great time with any of these blends and any others you are interested in exploring.

Next week: Virginias

The distinct joy of smoking a tobacco pipe draws every kind of person at every stage of life. That’s the power of the leaf. From the seasoned veteran with decades under their belt to the newbie who buys their first Dr. Grabow at the drugstore on their eighteenth birthday, every piper is on their own unique journey learning the basics—and then mastering the techniques—of smoking a tobacco pipe.

The challenge, however, is keeping all of that knowledge in mind at once; it’s maintaining the fundamentals once you’ve been at the pipe awhile. Bad habits, and even simple forgetfulness, are insidious foes that can rob you of an optimal smoke. To help bring a few obvious best practices back to center stage, we’ve compiled a list of eleven pipe smoking essentials that all new pipers need to learn and that every experienced pipe smoker knows but may have lost sight of along the way. Without further delay, the 11 Things You’re Forgetting to Do:

1. Shop Intentionally

It’s a great feeling, laying eyes on some magnificent pipe and knowing it’ll soon rest in your collection. That spark of attraction, like love itself, is a necessary part of the pipe buying experience. Still, when resources are limited and you’re going in on the long-term commitment of buying a pipe, it’s worth stepping back to ask yourself a couple of questions about why this pipe over all the others. All the standard purchasing considerations apply—read the reviews, consult the pictures, handle it if you’re able. Especially if you’re new to collecting, you’ll also want to reference your existing collection. Plan to try out pipe shapes and styles that add depth and nuance to your smoking experience rather than purchasing a shape that you already own. Expanding your collection also affords you flexibility for cooling and tobacco blend dedication. Among the pipe community, there are frequent discusses about setting aside specific pipes for certain categories of tobacco. The thinking here is that the residue from varied blends—your Periques, Virginias, Latakias, and so on—is prevented from compromising the intentional and distinct characteristics found in other blends of tobacco. Perhaps a worthy consideration for the seasoned palate, the beginning smoker can hold off from this strategy for awhile. Lastly, a pipe collection should reflect your evolving tastes. As the piper develops their interests and proclivities, the collection should expand proportionally. Once you’ve smoked a Nose warmer, a Bent Rhodesian, a Bulldog, and a Horn, then you’re poised to build out your collection through a favorite shape by different makers.

2. Cleanliness is Fundamental

Everyone knows the importance of cleaning your pipe. Some pipers are fastidious about their pipe care by nature. For these folks, upkeep is synonymous with smoking and you can bet that there isn’t an untended pipe in their collection. For others, the time it takes to properly clean a pipe may be prohibitive; when we’re ready to pack a bowl, sometimes we’ll skimp on this necessary step for an expedited path to bliss. We get it, but count this entry as a reminder that pipe smoking is after maximal pleasure, not just a quick hit. Whenever possible, as much as possible, the piper ought to consider their cleaning as a ritual. This brings a kind of sacredness back to what can at times feel like routine. There’s the standard stuff. Your bristled and tapered pipe cleaners, your pipe tool to scrape out residue. This part isn’t complicated. The more challenging component is discipline. Instill best cleaning practices, including resting and aftercare, and that intentionality alone improves your pipe process and flavor every bowl.

3. Really Let Your Pipe Cool Down

Just as the act of smoking a pipe brings ease and relaxation, so does the instrument of that pleasure need its own time away from the action. While it can be tempting to run a favorite pipe too often, veteran pipers have developed a preternatural capacity for sensing that a pipe has reached its limit. A soft palm on the briar, the taste of the tobacco, and a cognizance of back to back bowls all aid in this effort. The best recipe of all is rotation. It takes much more than just resting a pipe for fifteen minutes to sufficiently cool it down. Some pipers recommend rotating a different pipe for every day of the week so as to afford a weekly cadence for the cool off period. For those taking increased bowls a day, the collection can likewise be increased to maximize the benefits of a sufficiently rested pipe. See above for thoughts on how to build out your collection in accordance with your stage of smoking and experimenting with different shapes.

4. The Necessary Dry Out

Few things are more exciting than an anticipated tin of fine tobacco. When you’ve got something new from G.L. Pease, or a limited-edition bit of wonder like Cornell & Diehl’s The Beast, who can blame you for wanting to pop the tin the second the package arrives. But veteran pipers know that good things come to those who wait, and that maxim rings true with many blends of pipe tobacco. If your tobacco is overly moist, such that it sticks together when you take a pinch, there’s wisdom to letting the tobacco rest to maximize the ensuing flavor and keep your mouth safe from tongue bite. Sometimes this can be as quick as pulling out the pinches that you’re about to smoke and leaving them in the open air for an hour; other tins may require a longer dry time. Some pipers advocate for packing a bowl in the morning and letting it sit until evening, a strategy that gives you something special to look forward to. Take caution to not let it go too far; desiccated tobacco will lose its flavor.

5. Slow Your Cadence

Pipe smoking is all about intentionality. When you’re setting yourself down with a fine book or gathering with your friends or simply sitting in the solace of your backyard, the ambition is never a rush to burn through the contents of your pipe. Indulging your pipe is a long-game and that means paying keen attention to the time you’ve set aside. It goes without saying that piping is not like smoking a cigarette; it’s not a quick fix. That’s why developing your cadence is so essential. Even when the conversation is roiling, or a scene in The Walking Dead is ratcheting in intensity, the piper has to take control and modulate their smoking to keep the mouth and the pipe cool. It’s a challenge that comes with practice. Seasoned pipers, however, have come up with novel techniques to stave off even the most adrenaline inspired circumstances.

One of these is the Breath Smoking Technique, and it’s a favorite among advanced pipers. By closing your lips around the stem and breathing through your nose, then gently breathing the smoke out through the pipe, a gentle and flavorful mouthful of smoke accumulates without any heavy puffing. This staves off tongue bite and helps keep your pipe lit. Others suggest properly dry tobacco and slow puffing with a consent that your pipe may go out.

Alan Kerslake on the Breath Smoking Technique

6. Broaden Your Collection

Of all the delights in the pipe smoking world, one of the grandest is collecting. And once you’ve caught the bug, this bug will keep on biting. While there’s something particularly satisfying about finding the dream shape, it’s worth remembering that pipe shaping reaches back into history and stretches into the horizon. There’s a veritable infinite to reckon with, and a piper would do well to experiment, to broaden their purview, and to remember that a new favorite shape may be just around the corner. This is especially true of independent makers who are innovating in their own ways, bringing new shapes and perspectives to a longstanding conversation. The important point here is to resist any rut. Know your preferences and indulge them but keep a sharp eye toward new ways to mature your pipe smoking experience.

7. Pick the Right Pairing

Smoking a tobacco pipe is one of those practices that’s enhanced with what you pair it with. Settling on the perfect accompanying material takes a pipe from notes plucked on a guitar to a full-blown symphony. The most obvious is your choice of beverage. While the piper ought to indulge any drink that strikes their fancy, certain libations are recommended for how they bring out the nuance of your tobacco. Many pipe aficionados favor tea and coffee, and it’s easy to see how those robust flavor profiles can interact with your blends. Others say go with sparkling water for a palette cleanser that’s crisp and refreshing in the mouth. To that end, anything cold—like a gin & tonic, iced tea, or iced coffee—helps keep your tongue nice and cool. Next up is music. For a full-blown sensory experience, treat all of your faculties with something nice on the stereo. Pipe smoking is a leisurely activity, so while we love the harder stuff in the right setting, putting on something that slows down the heartrate is always a good choice. And last of all, don’t forget the mind. The contemplative pleasure of pipe smoking renew the psyche and so be conscious of turning it on with a grand novel, a notebook for your best thoughts, or a meaningful conversation with your pipe compadres.

8. Smoke on a Full Stomach

Nothing is worse than sitting down to enjoy a bowl and then finding yourself turning queasy halfway through. While certain tobaccos are much lighter in nicotine, others will knock even seasoned smokers flat if they’re not prepared. To mitigate any potential negative experiences, gird yourself in advance and put a little something in your stomach. Or, in step with the beverage recommendations above, enjoy some light fare while you’re smoking, paying keen attention to the interaction of flavor profiles and how they change. Salty foods, like pretzels, are often popular, while others prefer a sweet pastry or a nice charcuterie board with a lick of Dijon mustard and some sharp cheese. The important thing is to safeguard your smoking satisfaction by ensuring you don’t get green around the gills.

9. Get the Right Mouthwash

Pipers know that while they might exalt their favorite hobby, their spouses, friends, and colleagues may not share in some of the side effects. That’s right, we mean bad breath. Brushing and tongue scrapers do good work but a sometimes overlooked essential is a good bottle of mouth wash. While any mouth wash will improve your breath, certain products are made with aloe vera, which carries an additional benefit. Often labeled as treating “dry mouth,” Aloe Dent and Dr. Organic Aloe Vera Mouthwash freshen your breath while also bringing a gentle soothe to a warmed mouth. Take care of yourself, and everyone else too, and complaints will be few and far between.

10. Dedicate Time

Pipes are for leisure. We all know it. But so often the speed and excesses of life encroach on our time, and even when we’re anticipating a little R&R on the back porch, by the time we get there at the end of the day it’s a rush to light and a rush through a couple of bowls. While it’s true that a benefit of the pipe is it’s a shorter time commitment than a cigar, a little downtime should still be incorporated before lighting up your pipe. This doesn’t have to be long, but it is necessary. Take a moment to recalibrate, to reflect on the day, to write a page in your journal, or to just simply sit. A pipe isn’t a total fix for the day’s troubles (though it certainly goes a long way). Set your mind with intention before lighting up and you’re prepared to appreciate the activity and all its raptures along the way. Similarly, take care to leave yourself sufficient time to smoke. Nothing redoubles your trials like having a smoke interrupted, so as best as you’re able, clear the calendar for a planned time so you might maximize your leisure.

11. Find a Pipe Mentor

One of the most meaningful and enduring elements of pipe smoking is community. From digital collectives on YouTube to that group of regulars that gather on a given morning at your local shop, the collective expertise emerging from these conversations brings exponential growth and depth to your piping. While we celebrate community, there’s also something special about the 1:1 relationship that comes from meeting someone further down the line in their pipe journey who is willing to take you under their wing. Call them a smoking buddy, a confidante, a guide, or a veteran, they’re the seasoned masters who have put in the work. From knowledge about technique, to an understanding of history, to a shortcut on which blends to start with and what’s best suited to your palette, a mentor in the pipe world passes on legacy and enriches your pipe odyssey.

IN CLOSING

The journey to tobacco pipe mastery is all about maintaining the basics while growing in knowledge and moving toward new vistas. Even experienced smokers can fall prey to a neglect of best practices over time. Remembering the essentials helps to enrich the art of smoking, and everyone needs a reminder here and there. Keeping these 11 tips in mind will set you to rights and keep you smoking proper for years to come. 

This is the third list in our blends to try series, following last week's Aromatic's list. Now it is time to take a look at Virginia blends that you should check out before the end of 2021.

Virginia tobacco is one of the most common ingredients in any blend. The nature of the leaf means they work well with the other styles of tobacco, creating complex aromas and flavors that would be lost without Virginia's addition.

So what is Virginia tobacco? Well, as you can imagine, it earned its name from where it was first cultivated. Brought to the American colonies in 1612, John Rolfe planted Spanish tobacco seeds in the rich soil near the James River in Virginia. Since Virginia was the first colony to grow this crop and develop this version of tobacco, the leaves from this plant became known as Virginia tobacco.

What makes Virginia tobaccos special is the sugar content. Virginia tobaccos come in multiple varieties, but they all have a higher than typical sugar content than other naturally grown tobaccos. This allows the tobacco to age, like wine. During the aging process, the sugars will sweeten the tobacco, giving them a more citrus or fruity taste.

Another thing that affects the taste of Virginias is the time when it was harvested. When it is ripe, the leaf will be a light yellow with a weaker flavor. If the farmer lets it sit longer and become overripe, the leaf will be darker and more flavorful.

The final thing to affect taste is how the Virginia tobacco is cured. Curing is the process of drying freshly harvested tobacco leaves. When done under carefully controlled circumstances, you get the excellence that you expect from your blends.

Virginia tobacco was originally air-cured, which meant they were left hanging under a roof until dry. That process took between 40 and 60 days to be ready for production. Later, in the middle of the 1800s, a new process was developed that improved the taste and aroma of the tobacco. This new process, flue-curing, involved a barn with a heat source. This heat source was in the form of a flue that would raise the heat in the barn without exposing tobacco inside to any smoke that would alter the flavor. Later on, new technologies would allow for different forms of heating, such as high-powered light bulbs serving as heat lamps.

Now that we have talked about what a Virginia blend is and what goes into making it let's take a look at the ten blends you should try to get your hands on before the end of the year.

Mild

First, we should talk about the mild strengths. Mild tobaccos are great to be enjoyed any time of the day. Most of them are labeled as all-day smokes since you can pack and light multiple bowls of them throughout the day. Mild tobaccos are great for beginners, as they won't overpower you like the stronger blends. However, just because they are ideal for beginners doesn't mean they are not ideal for everyone.

Cobblestone Chess King

Chess is a game of skill that has existed for more than 1500 years. It has been played by royalty and the aristocracy, becoming one of the most popular board games in the world, with multiple tournaments and a recognized world champion. People use chess to sharpen their minds and develop an improved sense of strategy.

The most important piece in chess is the king. You win a game when you force the opposing king into an indefensible position, called checkmate. It is fitting then that one of the better Virginia blends around is named after this essential piece.

Cobblestone Chess King is a combination of Virginia and Perique tobaccos, a mixture that is known as a VaPer. VaPers have become increasingly popular as time goes by, and they are a great addition to any smoker's collection. The King tobacco is milder in strength, so you don't have to worry about it overpowering you, but it lies more in-between mild and medium, so it might not be an all-day smoke for everyone. The Cobblestone Chess line is full of Virginia blends, with a couple of English blends in there too. You will not regret picking up this Chess set whenever you wish to enjoy a Virginia tobacco.

Amphora Virginia Blend

Virginia tobacco is not just harvested in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The plant has been spread around the world, reaching South America, Africa, and plenty of other locations.

Amphora is one of the Virginia Blends that utilizes tobaccos grown all over the globe, and it is a pure Virginia, with no other types mixed in. You will get a pleasant note of citrus with this blend, and since it is milder in strength, you will be able to enjoy this tobacco all day long.

Mac Baren acquired the Amphora brand in 2015 and has taken its 150 year history to the next level, improving upon the blends and garnering even better reviews than before. It is no surprise that the Amphora Virginia Blend is loved by just about everyone that tries it.

Cobblestone Brick Virginia

The Cobblestone slogan is "Find Your Path," and this is something they truly believe. By finding your own way in this world, you will be able to discover what you love, what you enjoy, and what you want to do. Having your own way creates opportunities for many different experiences, and you should take the time to make certain you know how you want to go.

When you are looking for a comfortable and purely Virginia blend, Cobblestone's Brick line will step up to satisfy you. Utilizing only Red Virginia, you will be picking up a great option for an everyday smoke. Not too strong, but not too mild, this blend is a touch under medium strength, so you can enjoy it without beginners being overpowered.

With the Cobblestone Brick Virginia tobacco, you will be able to "Find Your Path" by enjoying a pleasant smoking experience of pure Virginia.

Medium

Medium strength blends are tobaccos that can be all-day smokes, just not for beginners. They are milder than the strongest blends, so they will not overpower you as much as those, but a beginner might need some time to work their way up to these as they gain experience on how to smoke a tobacco pipe.

G. L. Pease Laurel Heights

When you get a tobacco from G. L. Pease, you are getting something that has been worked on by one of the most well respected members of the tobacco community. Gregory Pease got his start in the tobacco world by working at a classic tobacco shop, Drucquer & Sons, before opening up his own shop after learning all he could from there.

Laurel Heights is Pease's combination of Latakia and Virginia tobaccos, which he first released in March of 2006. As Pease describes it, "the flavors are deep and round, with a smooth, natural sweetness, and subtle notes of orange peel, roasted oats, leather, and peat." This is a tobacco that will progress well, and you will enjoy the darker Virginia tobacco that has been paired well to create a blend that has been praised for fifteen years now.

One great thing about this tobacco blend is the quantity you can get. There are two different options, a two ounce tin and an eight ounce one. For newcomers to this blend, two ounces is a great start. If you love it, eight ounces is waiting for you.

Another benefit is how well this tobacco ages. You can pack a bowl with it as soon as it comes in the mail, or you can cellar it to allow some age to develop the flavors more. Either way, you will be enjoying an excellent smoking session, which makes Laurel Heights a double duty tobacco.

Hearth & Home Virginia Spice

Master tobacco blender Russ Oullette created the Hearth and Home brand of pipe tobacco, using his 35 years of experience to craft excellently made mixtures. He created 47 different blends under the Hearth and Home line, and this one is definitely one of the best of them.

Virginia Spice features a combination of Cigar Leaf, Virginia, and Perique tobaccos, creating a unique VaPer that is bound to satisfy. The Virginias provide a sweet flavor with the added kick that Perique brings to the table, while the cigar leaf adds a fullness that is hard to miss. Pick up citrus and fruity notes with this blend, and when you fill your bowl with it, remember to thank Russ Oullette for it.

Cobblestone Outdoors Hunting

There is something primal about going out hunting. Making sure you bring home something freshly caught that will serve well for a few meals. Hunting has been an essential aspect of human history from the very beginning, before modern humans even existed. It has been so important that it was symbolized in the ancient world through deities and rituals. These deities were found all over the world, with Gods and Goddesses like Artemis in Greece, Mixcoatl in Central America, and Oshosi in Africa.

Even today, hunting is still one of the great ways to spend time with friends and family. Plus, you will only get some of the best tasting meals thanks to the efforts of hunting. Have you ever tried venison? It is a little gamey, but overall one of the tastiest meats around.

Cobblestone's Outdoors series' Hunting blend utilizes a mixture of Burley, Perique, and Virginia tobaccos, which combine to be an excellent smoking experience. The Burley adds some strength to the blend, while the sweet and spicy flavor comes from the Virginia and Perique. When you pack your tobacco pipe with the Hunting blend, you will be receiving a pleasant tobacco with great taste and aroma. Take the time to enjoy yourself with this blend, and you will not be disappointed.

Capstan Original Navy

Capstan is a brand rescued from obscurity. It was initially created by W. D. & H. O. Wills, a small shop in Bristol, England, that was founded in 1786. While the original blenders have gone out of business, their tobacco has stood the test of time, currently being manufactured by Mac Baren.

Capstan was one of the favorites at Oxford university, especially with famous and renowned author J. R. R. Tolkien. The characters in his books would frequently smoke from a tobacco pipe; Tolkien made it a point to write scenes specifically for that. While he never officially named the tobacco the characters would use, it has been generally accepted that they used Capstan's Original blend.

Capstan's Original Navy is a pure Virginia blend. It provides notes of citrus and fig, with some earthy tones. Capstan leaves a pleasant room note, and you should appreciate the strength without it being too overpowering.

Strong

Strong tobaccos are potent blends. These can overwhelm you if you are not careful. Best enjoyed after a meal, these blends are something you should work your way up to and not jump right to it. Powerful tobaccos like these have plenty of fans and will provide great smoking sessions if you are ready for them.

Cornell & Diehl Billy Budd Blonde

Cornell and Diehl is one of the most well respected pipe tobacco manufacturers in the world, and they have accomplished that in a relatively short amount of time. Founded in 1992, their experience comes from the acquisition and salvation of tobacco blends that would have disappeared into history.

Thanks to all the brands Cornell and Diehl have acquired, they have more than 120 years of experience at their hands when they see the notes and recipes left behind.

Billy Budd Blonde is the sequel to an earlier blend and is a combination of Black Cavendish, Burley, Cigar, Perique, and Virginia tobaccos. The flavors all mesh well to create an overall excellent tasting tobacco.

Billy Budd Blonde was created to honor the memory of a gentleman named Sailorman Jack. He was a co-founder and the first president of the New York Pipe Club when it was organized in the early 1980s. He was well respected in the pipe smoking community, where he was known to give gifts to friends and helped spread the word about new and exciting blends when they first got released. Sailorman Jack remained a beloved friend to many until his passing in 2006 and is still spoken of fondly to this day. It is fitting that a great pipe tobacco was made to pay homage to him.

Cornell & Diehl Virginia Flake

Another masterful Cornell and Diehl mixture, Virginia Flake, is a straight Virginia blend. Originally created by the Atlas Blending Corporation, you will get notes of tart and tangy citrus.

Sharp and full bodied, one thing many reviewers recommend is taking your time while smoking this, which will keep the tobacco tasting sweeter.

One great benefit of this tobacco blend is the quantity you can receive. If you only want a little bit, you can get only two ounces in a tin. If you love it, there is a bag full of sixteen ounces instead that is available for you.

Cornell and Diehl's blending ability has let them make more than two hundred different blends, so even if these two are not your preference, there are many more that can be right for you.

Escudo Navy De Luxe

Escudo was created 64 years after the founding of the company that made it. Thomas and George Cope started Cope Brothers tobacco in 1848 and quickly grew the company into a massive success. By the 1880s, they had close to 2000 employees and multiple successful tobacco lines.

The Gallaher Group bought the Cope Brothers company in 1952, and Escudo continued to be made until 1994. Three years later, A & C Peterson purchased the rights to the original recipe, but by 2000 it was not available in the United States. Thankfully, two years after a 2004 acquisition by the Scandinavian Tobacco Group, it returned to the country, and pipe smokers here can appreciate the brilliance of a well made tobacco.

This Escudo blend is a VaPer and is one of the most popular ones throughout the world. With a sweet tin note and pleasant room note, this tobacco is strong but not off-putting. The Virginia tobacco makes sure that the sweetness translates to the flavor as well, with a nice pop thanks to the Perique. If you decide to go with Escudo, you will discover why it is called the "King of VaPers."

The great thing about Virginia blends is that there are so many of them out there. You have a ton of options, and if you do not see something on this list that grabs your attention, there are plenty more Virginia pipe tobacco options available.

Next week: Cherry Aromatics

A fine tobacco pipe can feel like an extension of your person. It’s an accessory more important than a watch or pen; something we like to have close by even if we’re not lighting a bowl at the moment. Protecting that investment is obviously essential. Just like you wouldn’t leave your laptop lying around outside or your journal exposed to the elements, so must the piper take protective steps to ensure their tobacco pipes don’t fall prey to damage. We’ve compiled a list of 11 scenarios that can turn a fine tobacco pipe designed to last for a lifetime into a compromised mess that’s fallen from its former glory. Read on, become aware, and guard your pipes like the premium smoking instruments they are.

1. A Hot Car

For the pipe friends in Alaska, Michigan, the Northeast, and the like, this one may not apply, but for everyone else, take heed. Summer weather, or any swelter, is an anathema to acrylic stems specifically. The car ride to and from work is made infinitely more pleasurable with a bowl on the way. We’d never deprive you of this wind-down pleasure, but we will take the opportunity to issue a word of caution. When you’ve just arrived and are in a hurry, grabbing your briefcase and lint-rolling your sportscoat and cuing up your Bluetooth headphones for a soundtrack for the walk to the office to finish that podcast, the rush can sometimes result in oversight. The last thing you want to do is leave a fine pipe unattended in car. When it’s 90 degrees outside, the inside of a car can reach a whopping 124 degrees after 30 minutes. It’s why you never leave your dog inside and why bacteria can grow so quickly on groceries. Take caution to put away your pipe first of all, then cell phone, then check your wallet, and then grab your briefcase. Covering your bases is pipe care at its best.

2. Smoking a Pipe to Sourness

Pipes are made to burn, and they perform that task masterfully. But a smoking pipe is only as good as its owner, and a single pipe too often taken up without proper rest and sufficient cleaning means a compromised smoke. If you’ve ever lit a bowl that tastes great for your first couple of puffs but quickly devolves into a nasty flavor with chemical overtones, you’re in the dreaded sour pipe terrain. The good news here is there’s a way out of the mess and a way to salvage your pipe. Pursue your normal cleaning routines but add the extra step of disassembling your pipe at the right time (more on this in a minute) and running a pipe cleaner dipped in Everclear or whiskey through the mortise and tenon. Also, pick up a pipe reamer to clean out some of that legacy cake for those pipes you’ve had a while. Then, give your pipe an extra thorough rest, run a bristled cleaner through once more for good measure, and see if that pipe isn’t smoking to your specifications once again.

3. Cleaning While Smoking

The virtues of cleaning your pipe have been previously extolled, but there’s one additional (and essential) step here, and that’s time. Many pipers advocate for running a cleaner through the stem mid smoke. This cleans out inevitable moisture that drips into the stem and takes care of any ash or small bits of char that may have lodged in the draught hole. While this is a benign and useful cleaning activity, the danger comes by undertaking a more comprehensive cleaning while the bowl is still hot. As heat causes the tenon (the part of the stem that plugs-in to shank) to become slightly more pliable, removing the stem and reinserting it can cause an undesirable, warped fit. In the worst cases, your shank can even crack, resulting in a quick trip to the pipe graveyard. An easy thing to safeguard against, simply wait until your pipe has fully cooled before removing your stem for those necessary deeper cleanings. As the Good Book says in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “everything is beautiful in its time.”

4. Keeping ‘em Outside

Nothing beats a home smoking lounge, also known as your porch. This site of personal luxury has no doubt been designed for your maximal comfort, with the good chair, and a blanket for cool evenings, and stereo, and maybe even a nearby fridge with your favorite beverage and highball glasses to match. Your personal smoking section gets our stamp of approval, but we would be remiss in our obligations if we didn’t mention the dangers the elements can pose to your smoking instruments. Pair a sudden Colorado snowstorm with a little bit of wind, and that sturdy seasonal Peterson is covered with an inch of frost (resulting at minimum in a discolored acrylic stem). Heavy winds in West Texas can tip over the ashtray and send a premium Eltang to the concrete for an undesirable gouge. Sunlight over the porch’s lip in Arizona can bake a stem into oblivion. Indulge the outside but don’t forget that extra step of bringing your star players back into the locker room after the game.

5. A Scoring Light

There are many methods of lighting your tobacco pipe. From the soft wispy flame of a Zippo Pipe lighter to wooden matches to a cedarspill to a Bic if you’re in a jam, you’ll ultimately light with what you carry on your person; with what’s accessible. Still, all lighting methods are not created equal when it comes to your pipe. While a given briar carries some obvious resilience to flame, certain lighting instruments can pose more danger to your pipe than others. For example, a butane lighter, perfect for cigars, provides one of these dangers when issuing your charring light. Because of the heat of a butane flame, which fires at 77 degrees Fahrenheit but burns at temperatures close to 3,578 degrees depending on its interaction with the surrounding environment, there’s risk of misapplying the heat and directly contacting the rim of the bowl. While it’s not the end of the world, avoid this contact if possible for aesthetic reasons. A well-broken in pipe with a bit of patina is a thing of beauty, but best to let this happen naturally rather than through a misdirected light that scorches your briar. Opting for a softer flame is one safeguard against these unforeseen marrings, as is general caution if you’re using a butane lighter.

6. An Unprotected Carry

We advocate for having a pipe at the ready at all times. Nothing beats a porch smoke with a friend or an accommodating host with a backyard set of chairs and a chilled bottle of wine. Carry a pipe or two with you, yes, but do so with a measure of preparation. You wouldn’t send precious jewels into the world without proper protection and nor should you pack a pipe for the road haphazardly. If you’re in the habit of carrying a briefcase or a satchel, you may have pockets that can accommodate a pipe tobacco tin and pipe and a couple of cleaners. Otherwise, be sure to invest in some kind of travel case. This will keep all of your goods in one place, especially if you’re packing up after a couple of beverages and more prone to leaving things behind.

4th Generation Black 3 Pipe Combo Pouch

Savinelli Tan Suede Pipe & Tobacco Bag

7. Keep ‘em to Yourself

The old adage of “sharing is caring” is true many life circumstances. Share your sandwich and your pickup truck if a friend is moving. But when it comes to your pipes, choke up on the reins. Not only is the thing in your mouth, it’s now beholden to the habits of whoever is holding the tobacco pipe. The dents, the poor lights, the chomping of the stem, even clumsiness—you don’t want that for a favorite pipe. If you are of a generous spirit, consider carrying a spare (and we’ll trust you to clean it after its use from your uncouth friends). In this way, you’ll spread the good cheer of piping for any newbies who want to try out the art while still preserving your more sacred instruments for personal use.

8. Beware the Back Pocket

If you’re running out the door, if you’re wrestling to unlock the car door while carrying your coffee mug and an armful of bags, or if you’re just an absentminded professor type (and many pipers are), it can be an easy step to find the nearest storage for your pipe. And a back pocket is often that place. And then you plop down in the seat, anticipating that smoke while you drive to work, and then crunch. It’s an awful feeling. An awful sound. The briar has likely survived but the victim is the stem. While stems can be fashioned anew (check with your local tobacconist for their resources) this is a situation no one wants to face. The best practice is an FBI style pat down before you sit down. That way you’ll locate all your essential cargo: keys, wallet, cell phone, and of course, where your pipe is currently resting. Trust us – it’s worth it.

9. Chomping the Stem

Every piper knows the relaxing properties of smoking a pipe, but there are enemies that threaten not only your tongue but the very pipe itself: speed & stress. When psychology spins its wheels, when it’s tax season, when the boss is unrelenting, the pressures of life can interfere with a good smoke. Many pipers also love the feel of a pipe nestled in their mouth even if it isn’t lit. It’s a reminder we’ll be back and lighting up soon and enjoying the full measure of our creature comforts. But take caution here that your smoking technique is proportionate to your emotional state and that you’re taking care of your pipe. Biting down too hard on vulcanite or acrylic stems in moments of stress—say when you’re smoking on the road and someone cuts you off or you’re particularly engrossed in a favorite show that’s kicking it up a notch—can be fatal. Some pipers opt for a small rubber mouthpiece that sits at the end of the stem and provides an extra bit of protection. While a bit clunky in the mouth at first, if you’ve made a habit of really gnawing on your stems, consider this a worthy option.

Tobacco Pipe Tip Grips

10. Losing its Luster!

Even though pipes, with their hearty briar and morta, are resilient to a degree—they do manage flame afterall—that doesn’t mean the instrument isn’t without its weak spots. We’ve already covered the dangers that can befall a stem through heat and clumsiness, but your bowl is another site of potential damage. From the oils on your skin to the nicks and dings that come from everyday carry to plain and simple age, before you know it a beautiful pipe begins showing undesirable wear and tear. While many pipers love a bit of patina on their pipes, proper attention should still be paid to upkeep. As part of your cleaning ritual, periodically incorporate pipe polish to restore your briar and it’ll shine as pretty as a brand new nickel. A buffing rag or bandana can make for a quick and easy restoration. Other products don’t require the buffing step, just the simple application, and in fifteen minutes tops your pipe looks good as new.

And One Bonus: Letting them Sit for Too Long!

Last but not least, the biggest way to ruin a good pipe is to let it go unsmoked! While resting a pipe is obviously essential, and if you’ve read this far you’re likely indulging in our favorite ritual on the regular, this step applies most of all to the ancillary pipes in your collection. Everyone has their favored pipes they gravitate toward. That’s understandable but be sure to pay keen attention to the expanse of your collection; all those pipes were once upon a time your true love. Don’t let these old flames gather dust. Keep them in fighting shape by putting them in the ring here and there and running a bowl or two.

In Closing:

The quality of your smoke exists in proportion to the quality of your pipes; that and fine tobacco of course. Fight the good fight by doing your duty as caretaker and keep those pipes protected, shielded from the elements, stored well, cleaned, and polished. A fine pipe is like an old trusted friend; you put in the work for the relationship and it’s here for the long haul. 

After our previous list of Virginia blends to try, we are now in the fourth of our blends to try series. As we said in the Aromatic list, there are so many excellent Cherry blends that they deserved their own list. Well, here's that list.

Cherry is easily one of the most popular types of Aromatic blend around. While vanilla might take the crown (that list will be coming later), many will argue that cherry is solidly in second place in terms of blends available and sold.

When looking at cherry aromatics, the question becomes how it is made. You might think that the topping will be a combination of cherry, cherry, and some more cherry, with nothing else. That is not accurate since getting the right flavor is more than using just one item. Sure, you will use cherry as the main ingredient, but other top notes will enhance the flavor far better than just having something by itself.

Cherry flavoring is something you will find everywhere in the world. Candy, soda, liqueur, everything has a cherry variant. So, where did cherry flavoring come from, and when did it start? The artificial flavoring was created by chemists in order to add that taste and aroma to whatever they were making.

Most artificial flavors were developed sometime between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Chemists back then did not have the understanding nor the technology to make the flavoring very accurate. Today's artificial flavoring is much more accurate.

The process starts very similarly to tobacco flavoring. The first thing they do is mash up the fruit. This is precisely how top notes are added to tobacco. Create a pulp and then add that to the tobacco leaves, let everything dry, and then blend everything together for people to enjoy.

For artificial flavoring on other products, chemists go a step further, but since the tobacco flavoring is already done, that is not something we need to worry about here.

The most potent thing about cherry blends is the flavor, not the strength, so if you find yourself looking for a great cherry tobacco, here are the ten we recommend you should check out.

Mild

Most cherry aromatic tobacco blends have a mild strength to them. These are not designed to knock your socks off; they are very much intended to be a relaxing time and a pleasant smoking session.

Cult Blood Red Moon

One of the most popular cherry blends around, Blood Red Moon features Burley and Cavendish tobaccos combined with toppings to give you a great taste of dark chocolate and cherry. Rich and sweet, one thing that reviewers agree on is that you will pick up the cherry flavoring of the blend. This is not a tobacco blend that will be overpowering, but the flavor is strong enough that it will linger long after you have finished your smoking session.

Something great about this blend is how the flavor adjusts as you continue. The cherry will be an immediate hit while the chocolate comes in as you progress through the bowl. You are not likely to deal with tongue bite from this Cult release, so enjoy yourself and enjoy your time under a Blood Red Moon.

Lane Limited Very Cherry

An All-American company with an excellent catalog of blends, the Very Cherry tobacco from Lane Limited is one of the best cherry blends around. It starts with an excellent and inviting tin note, full of cherry scents. It is a very pleasant scent, one that you can enjoy even if you are not the one with the pipe.

With a consistent and deep flavor, you will be enjoying this blend for a while. We have heard of some tongue bite from it, but only if you are puffing too fast. So keep it slow and steady to get the best smoking experience you can with this Very Cherry blend.

Cornell & Diehl Cherry Jubilee

Originally from Atlas Blending Corp., Cornell & Diehl rescued this blend from being lost to history. That is a Cornell & Diehl specialty ever since their founding in 1992. Despite not even having 30 years in business, they have over 120 years of experience at their disposal, thanks to the acquisitions of older, discontinued brands. They pick up the rights to the name, the recipes, and the combined knowledge from every brand they purchase, meaning the experience and the beloved tobacco gets a new lease on life instead of being relegated to history books.

Cherry Jubilee is a great option as a dessert tobacco, though it is not as strong as those typically get. It is not really surprising that would be the case, considering the dessert that shares the name. Very sweet, you will immediately pick up the scent of wild cherries that will let you enjoy the aroma in the room. The tobacco is a mixture of Cavendish and Virginia and will be something you can easily enjoy whenever you are looking for a sweet treat.

Cobblestone Cherry Delight

Made with Burley, Virginia, and Black Cavendish tobaccos, Cobblestone's reach into cherry aromatics certainly hits the mark. This is a great combination of tobacco flavor and topping flavor, with the earthy and nutty Burley flavor combining with the sugary Cavendish along with the cherry top note.

Mild in strength, you can enjoy this mellow blend any time you would like, and you do not have to worry about tongue bite as long as you smoke it responsibly. You can enjoy this tobacco all day long, as it will not be overpowering.

Cobblestone is known for high-quality blends, especially its aromatics. When you pick up one of their blends, you will be getting a treat in every bowl. Cherry Delight is undoubtedly a fitting name for this tobacco.

Mac Baren Cherry Ambrosia

In 1991 Mac Baren introduced Cherry Ambrosia to the world. This combination of Burley, Cavendish, and Virginia tobaccos received a boost from cherry and rum flavoring. Since its introduction, it has remained one of the more popular cherry blends around, earning high reviews and praise.

In Ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is the food or drink of the Gods. The tales vary, as it is one or the other, depending on which stories you read. This, it is said, was how the Gods retained their youth and immortality. Many legends have ambrosia falling into the hands of mortals who would become elevated into a higher state of being, such as Heracles being gifted some by the goddess Athena. That, or they faced punishment, like Tantalus' betrayal of Zeus and the attempted theft of some ambrosia to bring back to his people.

Mac Baren's delicious blend brings that divine delicacy to the fore, and everyone who wants to enjoy this blend will appreciate the taste.

Sutliff Z50 Black Cordial

The combination of Cherry and vanilla is loved by practically everybody whenever they are used. The sweet and savory combination of the two flavors creates an excellent treat wherever you find them, from ice cream, soda, candy, or tobacco.

The Sutliff Z50 Black Cordial has been one of the biggest and best examples of the great mixing of cherry and vanilla flavors in a pipe tobacco.

One of the best made tobaccos, Sutliff has done well to make a blend that is easy to handle and does not cause problems. The Black Cordial lights up easily and is not something that will cause tongue bite unless you really work at it. Very mild in strength, this will not be a tobacco that causes a problem on an empty stomach.

As for the flavor, it is mainly cherry, with the vanilla working as the accentuating piece. This allows the cherry to dominate but not overwhelm, meaning you will be able to appreciate this any time of the day or all day long. That is the great thing about cherry and vanilla combinations like this; you will be able to enjoy this for dessert, or as a treat between meals, or just a pleasant distraction while working.

Medium

Just because a tobacco blend is cherry flavored does not mean it has to be mild in strength. Sometimes you want a little more punch with your cherries, and these mid-strength blends do just that. They are not so strong that they become overwhelming, but they have more of a kick than the mild blends.

Sutliff Cherry Cobbler

Cherry cobbler is one of the most popular summer dessert options. Cobblers originated here in the United States, back when we were colonies of Great Britain.

It is not certain how the cobbler name came to be, but it has been called that since the mid 1800s when John Russell Bartlett codified it in his Dictionary of Americanisms.

There are many ways to make a cherry cobbler, but the one thing that will be consistent, and that is the taste and aroma these treats give off.

That is the same thing you will get with the Sutliff Cherry Cobbler pipe tobacco. A mild but comfortable taste of cherry will fill your mouth with each puff, and the cherry aroma will linger pleasantly in the room, which will help anyone that is not enjoying a bowl of this blend appreciate it just as much as you.

Coming in a ribbon cut, this tobacco is easy to fill, simple to light, and comfortable to enjoy. Take your time with each smoking session, not because it will overpower you, but because you should want this to last as long as possible.

Borkum Riff Cherry Liqueur

Cherry is a popular flavor in liqueur, with many alcoholic drinks utilizing cherry to add a pleasant taste to the beverages. This was exactly the same as Borkum Riff's thought process when they created the Cherry Liqueur pipe tobacco.

Borkum Riff created this blend with a mixture of 40 percent Burley and sixty percent Virginia tobaccos while adding the cherry and liquor top notes which make this one of the better smelling aromatics you will find.

You will find the room you are smoking in fill up with the pleasant aroma of cherries as soon as you open the pouch. When you light up, the cherry flavor takes the forefront, and you will pick up further notes from the sweet liquor. As you progress, the tobacco will be noticeable, especially the earthy Burley. This is a blend that a great meeting of two worlds, with Burley and Aromatics being well represented in the same pouch. It should not cause tongue bite if you take your time with this blend.

Another benefit to Borkum Riff's Cherry Liqueur is the affordability. In a pouch that holds an ounce and a half, you will be getting plenty of bang for your buck.

So whenever you are looking for a pleasant smoking session, Borkum Riff is here to provide you with a Cherry Liqueur that you can appreciate.

Sutliff SPS-3 Cherry

Sutliff tobacco was founded in 1849 in San Francisco, California, right in time for the gold rush. For over a century, the company stayed in the Golden State before moving to Virginia to further improve the quality control of their blends, securing its legacy as one of the best tobacco companies not just in the nation but throughout the world.

You have seen two other Sutliff blends on this list, as well as more on earlier articles, with more to come in the future. Their tobaccos are excellent and highly popular thanks to the almost 200 years of experience that the company holds.

SPS stands for Sutliff Private Stock, a newer series that holds a taste of all different types of tobacco, specially made for fans to enjoy whatever tobacco they are looking for at that time.

Their SPS-3 is the cherry addition to that list, with a pure Cavendish topped with the natural cherry extracts that give it a lovely aroma and sweet flavor. With some strength, but not enough to completely dominate, you will have a pleasant smoking session whenever you decide to fill your pipe with this blend.

Strong

While most cherry aromatics will not reach further than medium in strength, there are some that bring some a potent punch. When you are looking for a powerful blend that gives you a great cherry flavor, here is a suggestion for you.

Gawith Hoggarth & Co Black Cherry Twist

Of all the tobacco blends in this series, you will probably have the most challenging time finding Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co's Black Cherry Twist. The company's tobacco is incredibly popular, with a fanbase that demands the excellence that very few other than Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co delivers so when it does come in stock, it sells out very fast. The best way to make sure you have a chance of getting some of this is to enter your email to get notifications when it comes in.

There are various reasons for this shortage, not least of which is the immense popularity of the Black Cherry Twist. The popularity is because of how good the blend is, which comes from the long history that Gawith, Hoggarth, & Co has. The company can trace its lineage through the generations, all the way back to 1792. Since they have over 200 years of experience in tobacco cultivation on hand, they have been able to create magnificent blends practically with their eyes closed.

Black Cherry Twist is a mix of Virginia tobaccos combined with a flavoring from black cherries. Black cherries are similar but not very closely related to the traditional fruit we think of but still provides a sweet taste that we know and love.

Coming in a rope cut, you will need to take your knife and slice enough to fill your smoking pipe, and this will allow you to give yourself exactly as much as you are looking for during each smoking session.

Cherry tobacco blends are incredibly popular and have been since aromatics started. For anyone that enjoys some fruity flavor while smoking, we hope you enjoy every blend on this list.

Next list: Sutliff Brand Tobacco

In our previous lists, we talked about types of tobacco, blends that share the same characteristics like Cherry aromatic blends, Virginia blends, or English blends. These tobaccos have run the gamut, varying from manufacturer and strength. If you were a fan of one specific style of tobacco, you had a number of options for the year. Meanwhile, there are companies that release blends all over the tobacco spectrum. If you want an Aromatic, a Burley, or anything from the above lists, you can find them and so much more just from one company. Our next few lists will go over a couple of those companies, first starting with Sutliff.

The History of Sutliff

The history of Sutliff Tobacco covers almost 200 years. To see the beginning, we need to go to a year before it was founded. James Wilson Marshall was a carpenter working at Sutter's Mill, near the town of Coloma, California. On January 24, 1848, while building a new water-powered sawmill for John Sutter, he found lustrous flakes sitting in the river. After picking up those flakes, he spoke with Sutter, who encouraged Miller to keep quiet about the discovery, lest others learn about gold in the land.

The pair of men did their best to keep it secret, and they managed to keep quiet for over a month, but by mid-March, a shopkeeper by the name of Sam Brannan ran through the (then) small town of San Francisco with a vial of gold from Sutter's Creek. Halfway through June, almost three quarters of San Francisco abandoned the city in search of their fortune, and the California Gold Rush was officially underway. People flocked to the American territory, and the population saw a massive spike from 20,000 non-native Californians at the beginning of 1848 to 100,000 non-natives at the end of the year.

Those newcomers needed something to smoke, and H. W. Sutliff was more than willing to provide it. By 1849, San Francisco was practically bursting at the seams with newcomers, and Sutliff opened up his tobacco shop with the opportunity to introduce a massive and growing clientele to his knowledge of tobacco. Back then, there were not ready-made blends for smokers to pick up fast. Instead, pipe smokers would visit their local tobacconists, who would work with them to determine the best mixture for each client's taste. Many tobacconists would keep a mixture book to help track which customers like certain tobaccos and what the precise combination would be. They used this book to inform future decisions as well; if one specific tobacco proved to be popular, they would suggest it more often. It was especially important to have a good rapport with your customers in those days since you were building their tobacco blend basically in front of them. Today's tobacconists need the same skills in understanding their customers' preferences, but thankfully we don't have to worry about constructing the blend from scratch.

Sutliff's company saw rapid success and soon became a California institution. Up through the early 1900s, the company was mainly a retail business, operating out of their San Francisco storefront. Their popularity soared to new heights nationwide after their signature blend, Mixture 79, was introduced to the market in 1933.

It was around that time when Sutliff started to realize they were in need of more space. Mixture 79 proved to be a massive success, and the demand for the blend pushed the capacity of the San Francisco shop to the breaking point. So the search began for a new location for Sutliff Tobacco.

The company recognized the need to be closer to the crop they were using. San Francisco had been a wonderful home for them. Sutliff established itself as a major player in the tobacco world thanks to the Gold Rush and the population boom it caused, but it was not close enough to where the tobacco was growing. So in 1953, twenty years after Mixture 79 was introduced, the company moved to Richmond, Virginia, in order to both reduce shipping costs as well as be closer to the tobacco plants. By getting closer, Sutliff had better access to the plants, which allowed them to get the best crops.

There were further changes to come. In 1969, the fourth generation of Sutliff's, Gordon, sold the company to Consolidated Cigar Corporation, removing the family from the company for the first time in its history. Though the family was gone, the brand remained, growing larger under the stewardship of Consolidated Cigar Co. In 1987, bulk tobacco became a part of the brand, which proved to be a massive boost to the business. A huge majority of the over 200 Sutliff blends we offer come in multiple sizes, including bulk options because of this expansion.

The time spent under the Consolidated Cigar Corporation umbrella was highly beneficial, but ultimately it did not last. Following a series of purchases, Sutliff finally found their new permanent home with the Mac Baren Tobacco Company in 2013. Mac Baren has its own storied history, so combining with them helped Sutliff maintain its presence as one of the best tobacco companies in the world.

Since there are so many blends that Sutliff creates, limiting it to only ten was a challenge. However, we don't have enough time to list every single mixture, so ten will have to do.

This is not a ranking system of which tobaccos you should try first, so there is no reason one blend is listed above another, but we do like to have things a little organized, so the list will be broken down by blend types. So without further ado, here are the ten Sutliff Blends you should try before the end of the year.

Honorable Mention

Mixture Number 79

Okay, so we cheated a little bit, but you can't make a list about the Sutliff tobaccos you should try without mentioning the one that put them on the map. 1933 was a different time, but tobacco stays the same. What worked then works today because the quality remains the same. This is an aromatic, and you can pick up notes of vanilla and liquor with the Burley that makes up the mixture. So if you are ever up for a classic tobacco that is pushing 100 years old, Mixture Number 79 is certainly one to try out.

Blending Mix

Almost 200 years later and Sutliff still maintains its roots in the original tobacconist traditions. Blending mixes are pure blends, wholly made up of one type of tobacco. This allows you to make your own mixtures, finding new ways to enjoy the hobby you love. You can smoke these by themselves for the pure taste, or you can discover what combinations that you like and make what you want most.

TS18 Latakia

Latakia is not a plant; it's a process. There are two different Latakias, Syrian and Cyprian. Both are made in very similar ways but have slightly different profiles. Syrian is more delicate, while Cyprian has a bolder and more aromatic flavor. Both are excellent and make every blend that contains them so much better because of their inclusion.

The Latakian process involves a few steps. The first is when the tobacco is harvested. It then air cures for a little while before being transferred into a different building where they burn aromatic woods to permeate the leaves with the scent and flavor of the wood. This process lasts until the tobacco is black when it then can be cut, finalized, and packaged for sale.

Here's the thing though, Syrian Latakia is vanishing. There's a valid reason for it since the Syrian Oak, the wood used in the process of creating the Latakia, was almost extinct because of the overharvesting. To protect their landscape and resources, the Syrian government shut down production. With the unrest in the country, it is unlikely we will see it come back any time soon. Thankfully, Cyprian Latakia is still around and has taken over the market, so this style of tobacco is not disappearing any time soon.

Latakia can be fairly overwhelming; it can easily take over a blend. Most of the time, it will only be added sporadically, a small amount in terms of the overall percentage of any mixture. So a bowl full of it can be quite the experience. This is a blending mix for a reason, so we highly recommend finding a happy medium with this tobacco.

TS20 Louisiana Perique

Just like Latakia, Perique is not a plant but a process. There are many special things about Perique, with plenty of ways that this variety of tobacco is a unique and treasured aspect of many blends.

The first thing you need to know about Perique is where it is made. In Saint James Parish, Louisiana, farmers grow Burley tobacco that undergoes specific procedures to become the Perique we know and love. The special thing about this is how it is so location based. Much like champagne only has that name when it is made in the Champagne region of France, Perique is only called as such if it is grown here. Because many of the fields where the tobacco is grown lie so close to the Mississippi River, the soil is moist and rich in nutrients that make the Burley more adjustable to the treatment it is about to undergo.

Just like other processes, there are multiple steps to making Perique. After harvesting, the leaves are dried and air-cured. After the curing process finishes, the main stem gets removed to ensure the highest quality. Before the next step, the leaves are rehydrated and then soon after are bunched together to get placed inside large wooden barrels. Once full, the barrel gets squeezed, which compresses the tobacco and forces the moisture out of the leaves. Because of the increased pressure, the temperature naturally rises, meaning the juices will ferment. The fermentation process gets repeated a couple of times, with the entire procedure lasting about one full year to finalize.

The flavor is what helps Perique stand out. There is a meaty, earthy note to this, but when combined with other tobaccos, the taste can adjust to balance and complement whatever is in the blend.

Perique is another great tobacco to combine with other types, so it comes as no surprise that we recommend experimenting a little bit. Find a combination that you like or fill your bowl just with this; as long as you enjoy it, you will finish the smoking session satisfied.

Aromatic

Aromatics are the most popular type of pipe tobacco. There are so many different flavors that can be added to affect the aroma and taste of the blends. While we have already listed a bunch of different aromatics to look at already, there are plenty more that are worthy of consideration.

MVA-1000 Aromatic

Sutliff took a pure Virginia tobacco and added vanilla, honey, and marshmallow to create a delicious blend. Not many blends can say they used marshmallows to make them, so this is a special treat. Although it is rare as an ingredient for blends, marshmallows have actually been popular for thousands of years. While the name for it did not exist yet, Ancient Egyptians were some of the first to enjoy them.

Marshmallows are wonderful treats, and having them as part of the mixture that you fill your smoking pipe with gives you the taste and experience you deserve.

Like almost every Sutliff blend, there are three sizes you can select from for your purchase. You can get a small amount on only an ounce and a half. The medium amount is eight ounces, or you can pick up the largest size, a bag full of sixteen ounces. However much you want to pick up, you will be getting a great blend worth savoring.

Z92 Vanilla Custard Cream

With a Black Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia tobacco combination, you are getting a great taste with the top notes of cream and vanilla taking charge.

Custard is a dessert treat made from sweetened milk, cheese, or cream thickened with egg yolk. Anyone who prepares it usually uses a double boiler or very gently in a saucepan. This was done gently because if you heat up the egg too fast, it will scramble and not give you the smooth texture that custard is known for and loved.

Custard is used in many desserts, and has been for centuries, with it being made throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. Changes were made as times have evolved, but the basic concept of a custard has stayed the same from the start.

This pipe tobacco firmly takes the smooth, savory vanilla aroma and flavor, filling the room with the delicious scents that everyone loves. This is a great pipe tobacco for anyone looking for a creamy and delicious treat after a great dinner.

SPS-2011 Peach Cobbler

We talked about another one of the Sutliff cobblers before when we talked about the Cherry Cobbler pipe tobacco. However, nothing would be more of a southern delicacy than Peach Cobbler.

Cobblers have a long history. As immigrants came to the United States, they brought their recipes with them. Many of them had to use whatever they could to make their food, "cobbling" together anything they had. While the true origins of the name are unknown, there are some that point to that as to how it became known as a cobbler. As we've seen, there are plenty of cobbler variants, but nothing has been about as popular as the peach cobbler.

The Sutliff Peach Cobbler is a mix of Black Cavendish, Burley, and Virginia tobaccos. Peaches provide the top note and the delicious flavor that anyone who has enjoyed the savory dessert will recognize.

If you take the taste of southern desserts in your pipe, and you will be able to enjoy every smoking session.

B33 Butter Pecan

There are many great aromatics, and there are plenty that will feature a great combination of vanilla and nuts. Pecans, however, have a more distinct flavor profile than other nuts, so any tobacco with a good combination like that is worth enjoying.

Take Black Cavendish tobacco and add that pecan and vanilla, and you get Sutliff's Butter Pecan.

So what is butter pecan? It is a process that involves roasting pecans in butter before combining them with pure vanilla extract to add sweetness to the nutty flavor of the pecans.

That is exactly what you get with Sutliff's blend. With a sweet, nutty aroma that fills the room, you will have a pleasant smoking experience with this wonderful aromatic that comes in multiple sized options.

If you are not sure if you will like it, there is a two ounce option. Once you have tried it and enjoy it as much as we do, you can get a bag filled with eight ounces, or even sixteen for when you know you are going to have it for a while.

English

English blends are some of the most popular pipe tobaccos around. Many smokers advance from Aromatics to English as they develop their smoking habits. Knowing that, Sutliff offers plenty of excellent English options, all worthy of consideration. Here are two of our favorites.

Dunhill Match Blends

This is our second cheat on this list, and we promise we won't do it again. However, we feel like all three of these Dunhill match blends deserve to be on here too, and how can you separate them? Sutliff painstakingly recreated the legendary creations of Alfred Dunhill, working hard to make sure that anyone who was looking for these blends could find them.

The first is their Early Morning match, with a mixture of Latakia, Oriental, Turkish, and Virginia tobaccos. The sweet, earthy flavors paired well with the warm, roasted flavors of a great morning coffee.

For the middle of the day, their 965 Match takes Black Cavendish, Latakia, and Oriental tobaccos into the mixture. This tobacco can be seen as an almost Scottish variant to English blends. Well balanced, the Latakia leads the way with a sweet flavor that you will enjoy. A great lunchtime option, the 965 Match will continue your Dunhill match experience in a great way.

Finally, the end of the day calls for their Nightcap English Match. This blend combines Latakia, Orientals, Perique, and Virginia tobaccos to create a faithful remaking of the original Dunhill blend. Robust and full of flavor, your night will not be complete until you fill your pipe with this great tobacco.

TOB Galleria Fox & Hound

Sutliff calls this a traditional smoke for the discriminating English smoker. A combination of Burley, Latakia, Turkish, Virginia, and Perique tobaccos work together to give you a pleasant and smooth smoking experience. Each of the different tobaccos offers a great flavor to the balance, from the fruity Virginias, the smokey and sweet Latakia, the spice of the Perique, the woody Turkish, and the nutty Burley. When you have this many flavors working together, you can have a different experience with each bowl. Take your time with Fox & Hound, and you will find out how many flavors you can pick up.

Burley Based

Burley is a stronger tobacco than others. This is because it typically contains more nicotine than other plants. So anytime tobacconists needed some more punch in their blends, Burley was thrown in. They had to be careful, though, because Burley can easily overpower smokers, especially newcomers that do not respect it as much as they should.

Ready Rubbed

Virginia and Burley tobaccos combine with a cocoa flavoring to give this tobacco a special quality. The Virginia provides a smooth and comfortable base for the Burley to punch through with the nutty, earthy flavor that it is known for and appreciated.

On top of the two tobaccos, the cocoa flavoring provides the final notes that make this one of the best tobaccos you can find. If you are looking to broaden your tobacco horizons, here is something to try.

VaPer

Virginia and Perique tobaccos and a popular combination that even earn its own name, VaPer. Since Perique's development in 1824, it has become an accentuating piece for plenty of other tobaccos. As times evolved, VaPers have changed and adjusted to match the evolving tastes of smokers that love it.

Va Perique Crumble Kake

One of the most popular VaPer tobaccos, Sutliff's Crumble Kake, brings the best of both worlds. Along with the Virginia and Perique, they added Black Cavendish to add that little extra that makes it as great as it is.

The Virginias take charge here, with a citrusy flavor that pairs well with the spice of the Perique, while the Black Cavendish smooths everything out to an excellent finish. This can be an all-day smoke, especially if you have some more experience with pipes.

Next List: Cornell & Diehl's Ten to Try