Tobacco Talk

Cornell & Diehl's Wintertime Reserve

November 3, 2020 by Andrew Wike

9 Comments

Cornell & Diehl's Wintertime Reserve is a special, seasonal line of pipe tobaccos — all crafted by hand, one small batch at a time, from recipes specially developed by C&D's head blender Jeremy Reeves for the holiday season. From fragrant aromatics to English and Virginia staples, all eight of this year's blends are ... Read More

Mystery Tobacco Review: October 2020

October 28, 2020 by Andrew Wike

5 Comments

Welcome back to another episode of the Mystery Tobacco Review. It's officially spooky season, and with Halloween just days away, we kicked off the festivities with a special treat! For this month's episode, C&D's Head Blender Jeremy Reeves served as our Inquisitor, choosing one tasty mixture for us to sample. ... Read More

Classic OTC Blends: Carter Hall First Impressions

October 22, 2020 by Jeffery Sitts

25 Comments

Since I started working at Smokingpipes, I've had the opportunity to sample exquisite blends that have aged for years from colleagues and have been able to find my favorite mixtures using the Tobacco Locator and reading reviews online. Upon realizing that I've never smoked any of the classic over-the-counter (OTC) ... Read More

Tasting Notes: Gold Block

October 13, 2020 by Shane Ireland

6 Comments

Welcome back to another episode of Tasting Notes. In this installment, I continue my journey down Memory Lane, exploring Aromatic mixtures that I haven't smoked in ages. You see, for the past several years, the main focus of my rotation has been Virginias and Virginia/Periques, and before that, I was obsessed with English ... Read More

Classic OTC Blends: Sutliff's Mixture No. 79 First Impressions

October 7, 2020 by Jeffery Sitts

14 Comments

Sutliff pipe tobacco has become a staple across the pipe smoking world, filling personal cellars as well as tobacco shops since 1849 when H.W. Sutliff founded the Sutliff Tobacco Company in San Francisco, California. From the mid-19th century until the early 1900's the company primarily operated as a retail establishment, selling cigars, pipe tobacco, and providing other retailers with high-quality blending components and premixed pipe tobaccos. ... Read More

Tasting Notes: Chacom No. Three

September 30, 2020 by Shane Ireland

3 Comments

Welcome back to another episode of Tasting Notes. Over the last several weeks, I've been tasting my way through four newly available blends from Chacom. I began with Chacom No. 4, because it was the blend I was most interested in. What's been really interesting about this exercise, however, is that it forced me to get out of my own comfort zone in terms of what I normally smoke and try blends like Chacom No. 1, a delicious medium-bodied and well-balanced English Mixture; Chacom No. 2, which renewed my interest in Aromatic blends in general; and now Chacom No. 3, a genre-bending Aromatic that I'm excited to review today. ... Read More

Mystery Tobacco Review: September 2020

September 23, 2020 by Andrew Wike

2 Comments

Welcome back to another episode of the Mystery Tobacco Review, a fast-paced blind taste-testing game show that'll have you hanging on the edge of your seat... Eh, probably not, but it's still good fun. For this month's review, our Customer Service Supervisor Steve Mawby served as our Inquisitor ... Read More

Nicotine And Pipe Tobacco Blending

September 18, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

26 Comments

I once smoked a bowl of 1792 on an empty stomach first thing Saturday morning at a Raleigh pipe show. A friend recommended it and offered me a bowl and I thought, sure, why not? But I soon learned why not, and I've not smoked a bowl of it since. I was unable to smoke another pipe that whole weekend ... Read More

Classic OTC Blends: Five Brothers First Impressions

September 16, 2020 by Jeffery Sitts

13 Comments

When someone decides to take up pipe smoking, it can be overwhelming trying to decide which blends to try first and find what mixtures or tobacco varietals are the most palate pleasing. There are several blends many experienced pipe smokers swear by and those mixtures have endured for decades, primarily ones ... Read More

A Closer Look At Latakia Tobacco

September 4, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

35 Comments

Latakia, like Cavendish, is the result of a process; there is no tobacco plant that grows Latakia leaves. And Latakia production, like that of Perique, is a tiny industry; its annual yield of about 60,000 pounds is vanishingly insignificant when compared to overall global tobacco manufacturing, which is focused on cigarettes. ... Read More