It's April 11th and I'm sure this month is going to go by very fast because it always does. On May 11th I will be on a plane heading to Indiana to visit with my parents and to celebrate my 30th birthday, then heading up to the Chicago pipe show on May 12th. It seems like such a long time away but this month always goes by in the blink of an eye.

The trip is always an exciting one. John Crosby and I enjoy driving up to the show together on Thursday to meet up with friends and customers, make our rounds, and sell a few pre-show pipes. Pretty much every pipe maker I know look towards April as their busiest month of the year. While the calendar begins in January, pipe carvers tend to mentally mark Chicago-to-Chicago years. We all want to show up with a spread of good work, new designs, and popular classics. This is the time when everyone tends to work after they get home, a bit longer during the day (sometimes well into the morning), and is optimistically thinking "I still have plenty of time". The Chicago pipe show is the biggest in the world. In the weeks to come, parcels will begin flowing into our building from many high-grade makers in preparation for packing up to take to Chicago. Not only will we be meeting up with our carver friends again, prospecting new ones, and buying pipes to share with all of you when we get back, it's a perfect blend of business and pleasure.

For the carvers, it's time to be on our toes with our business hats on with new customers and old friends. At the same time, it will be the first weekend we will be able to relax in months, which makes it even more enjoyable. It really is a joy for everyone involved. In the meantime, though, there is plenty to do.

We have some Augusto Reyes cigars tonight, which is our first cigar update in a good while. And for the pipe enthusiasts, we have pieces from Brigham, Dunhill, Luciano, Savinelli, Peterson, and Vauen.

Adam Davidson: Quality Control & Pipe Inspector