Fall 98 Volume II Issue 2

As the seasons change, so do our tastes. When we trade heavy clothing for lighter, or vice versa, our taste buds also seem to develop a whim for something different. The very satisfying flavor and aromas of favored pipe tobaccos lose interest or appear either too ponderous or too ephemeral. The Beloved Tobacco Maven (TBTM) counsels change. If that full-bodied English mixture is too rich a pudding for hot days, try a lighter one, or a Dutch Cavendish. If your favored, flavored aromatic blend is cloying on an August beach, try a Matured Virginia. When the days turn cooler, add weight to your smoke as you do your garments. Diehard loyalists who always smoke the same thing and never try anything different may derive some comfort from fidelity to a brand, whose makers surely love them, but they close out adventures in taste, and that's what TBTM thinks pipesmoking is all about.

Peter Stokkebye has long been one of the major suppliers of bulk blends to smokeshops, and now is responding to the expanding high-grade pipe tobacco market with three blends packaged in 100-gram tins. Blended with new pipesmokers in mind, these will also appeal to partisans of light, easy-on-the-palate tobaccos.

English Opulence is a soft, gentle tasting mixture of Virginia and Oriental tobaccos with a characteristic "men's club" non-aromatic room note and smoky flavor. An indoor smoke with a rounded taste and no sharp edges. A fine intro to English style.

Golden Dawn is a mixture of Virginia, Burley, and black Cavendish. A light, fruity top note and a fresh clean taste make this an ideal daytime blend. The pleasant nut and berry aroma is good for outdoors.

Evening Treasure combines piquant Virginia's and a mild black Cavendish with a dried fruit-and-spice aroma. With a sweet, gentle flavor and cool bum, TBTM likes Evening Treasure both indoors and out. While sweet and flavorful, it's neither cloying nor tiring to the taste buds.

For at least 40 years Sail has been one of the world's top sellers. It s a good, reliable, old-fashioned Dutch tobacco for everyday smoking. With a classically "pipey" aroma reminiscent of spices, rum, dried fruit, anise, and nuts, Sail goes everywhere, and is sold almost anywhere, from convenience stores to the fanciest smokeshops. TBTM knows a few upscale" premium cigar smokers and pipe nuts who will smoke nothing but Sail, and who buy the large (14 oz) classic humidor tin monthly. For handiness, there's the convenient 50-gram pouch.

Golden brown Cavendish - a blend of Virginia, Burley, and Maryland with a salting of Oriental and Brazilian - is pressed into large "cakes," matured, cut, and "rubbed out" to a size that can be packed in a pipe and smoked.

Available in three degrees of aromatic intensity, reflected in the package color: green is full "aromatic," yellow is "regular" (semi-aromatic), and ivory is "natural," meaning it has no top flavor, just the base blend. Being a "regular" guy, TBTM likes the reliable and cool smoke of the yellow the best.

McClelland makes some of the world's best pressed Virginia tobaccos, and these three will appeal to the seasoned pipe and/or the cigar smoker who prefers full-bodied, well-aged maduros. Rub out before smoking.

Dark Star, a mahogany-colored flake, hard-pressed and stoved, has a rich, deep taste that is completely natural, derived from the interplay of flavor in the different Virginia leaves of the base blend. Dark Star is cool and sweet, with brandy cask overtones, and is rich enough to substitute for an after-dinner cigar. A TBTM first choice.

No. 24 Virginia, a short-cut flake, is the prototype (with many imitators) of Mature Virginia, with a touch of Oriental, for that hint of musk that classical mixture smokers seek. A taste that is full and round, with a naturally sweet flavor and a light ambience, makes this a good afternoon smoke.

St. James Woods is a dark brown flake, partly rubbed out, with a healthy measure of Louisiana Perique, which adds a dusky sweetness to the blend. TBTM likes this one outdoors, because the flavor doesn't fade.

A classic with partisans worldwide, Three Nuns is made by the traditional old navy method of spinning the tobacco in a long, cigar-like rope that is tightly twisted as it is spun. After coiling, it sits for several weeks so the tobaccos will "marry, and then sliced into penny-sized “coins" across the width, each with a spiral of dark and light tobaccos. Hence the generic names "Twist" and "Spun Cut."

Three Nuns combines several Virginia's and a good measure of Perique, the latter imparting the heady, fermented taste that permeates this completely natural blend In the old days, sailors would make their own twists and leave them uncut until the moment of smoking. Then out came the clasp knife, and a couple of cuts later there was a pipeful. Today it's done for you, but that deep, rich, deliciously full-bodied and ripe taste redolent of stewed fruits is closer to the 19th than the 21st century. Three Nun has a woodsy aroma, and is ideal for the hardy smoker. It's perfect for the great outdoors, especially in cool weather, or as an after-dinner treat, best enjoyed in a small to medium pipe.