Recent Articles | Smokingpipes Daily Reader

6 More Pipe Smoking Desktop Backgrounds

August 5, 2016 by Andrew Wike

17 Comments

A while back, we posted a number of high-resolution, pipe-smoking desktop backgrounds for you all to download for personal use, featuring some of the banners and advertisements we've created over the years. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and some of you even asked for more images. ... Read More

Just Hanging Around

July 22, 2016 by Adam O'Neill

3 Comments

We're a few weeks into Pokémon Go fever, and we here at Smokingpipes.com have been no more immune to the zeitgeist than anyone else. Lunch time talk has turned to trading stories and, in the absence of a nearby gym or Pokéstop, trading tips on the best places to hunt in the area. ... Read More

No More Bad Smokes: 5 Tips For A Perfect Daily Pipe

July 15, 2016 by Adam O'Neill

37 Comments

As we'll mention a couple of times in this post, there is no definitive way to enjoy, or even smoke a pipe "correctly". I mean, if there were, the various pipe forums out there would have very little to talk about outside of new tobacco blends and how hipsters are ruining everything. ... Read More

Tasting Notes - G.L. Pease's Temple Bar & Regents Flake

July 12, 2016 by Shane Ireland

9 Comments

Temple Bar and Regents Flake are the two latest pipe tobaccos in G.L. Pease's Old London Series. Both blends feature a base of bright and red Virginias, with varying proportions of Oriental leaf. Though working within the same basic theme, make no mistake: these are two very distinct blends, both in cut and flavor profile. ... Read More

Cavendish: Chameleon of Components

July 1, 2016 by Daniel Bumgardner

9 Comments

With the release of the latest Small Batch projects and the Small Batch Blending Kit, there's been a lot of conversation about tobacco blends around here lately. Not that this is all that unusual; we share the same building with Cornell & Diehl, and their head blender, Jeremy Reeves, often makes his way around ... Read More

High Risk, High Reward: Morta Pipes by Il Duca

June 28, 2016 by Andrew Wike

Morta pipes have become increasingly common in recent years, but what is morta, really? Essentially, it is semi-petrified oak found underground beneath large bodies of water. One of the best sources for morta is peat bogs, where the acidic and oxygen-poor environment ... Read More

In The Workshop With Claudio Cavicchi

June 22, 2016 by Shane Ireland

2 Comments

It's always a treat to be able to visit pipe makers in their workshops. Sykes and I make a lot of stops while traveling, and since most pipe makers have a workshop in or at least adjacent to their home, we're not only fortunate enough to be able to curate the best possible selection of pipes straight from their source ... Read More

Summer Blend Rotation

June 21, 2016 by Daniel Bumgardner

5 Comments

The temperature is steadily rising here in the southeastern US, and with it, across the office, the usual aromas of our typical cold-weather smokes are slowly evolving into a melange of sweet, delicious clouds. Naturally, this got me wondering: What tobacco says 'summer' to you?

Behind the Scenes at Peterson: Sterling Silver Spigots

June 20, 2016 by Andrew Wike

4 Comments

Silver smithing is one of the more delicate and heavily guarded processes in pipe making. Whether the end result is a gleaming "wedding band" or a stout military mount, shaping and fitting the silver to fit flush with the briar is no easy task. Even if a pipe maker is using pre-cast rings, the medium still ... Read More

Tasting Notes: C&D Small Batch - Carolina Red Flake

June 10, 2016 by Shane Ireland

3 Comments

Another installment in Cornell & Diehl's Small Batch Series, Carolina Red Flake is sure to be an instant hit. It's the most honest and straightforward Virginia blend that I've ever tried. Comprised of only one varietal, and made from only the highest grades grown, harvested, and blended in the Carolinas ... Read More