Tobacco Talk

Tasting Notes: Fathers, Friends and Fire Blends

June 11, 2024 by Shane Ireland

Welcome to another episode of "Tasting Notes" Today I'm tasting four new blends by Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation. This is an exciting collaboration between Erik Stokkebye and Jeremy Reeves, Master Blender at Cornell & Diehl: Fathers, Friends and Fire. We have batches one through four here and I'm going to get into all four of them today and break down a little bit of my impressions ... Read More

The Semantic Discord of Tobacco Classifications

June 7, 2024 by Chuck Stanion

15 Comments

You're probably thinking, what a pretentious title for a tobacco article. It's what I'd be thinking. To be honest, it took me a while to find the term "semantic discord," but it was necessary for an economy of words. The concept takes too long to write out and titles require brevity. I found it by Googling various ... Read More

Tasting Notes: Bob's Chocolate Flake

June 5, 2024 by Shane Ireland

Welcome to another episode of "Tasting Notes." If you've been following the Tasting Notes series recently, you might already be aware that I have decided to revisit a lot of old friends from Kendal. I'm planning to smoke through all of the flakes produced by both of the Gawith houses, Samuel Gawith and Gawith Hoggarth ... Read More

Mystery Review: May 2024

May 29, 2024 by Alan Britt

2 Comments

Welcome to another enthralling installment of Mystery Review, a monthly series in which our panel of experts attempts to identify a mysterious tobacco. This month's inquisitor is Pete Prevost of BriarWorks. Will his selection stump the panel? ... Read More

A Conversation With James Ravenwood: Photographer, Influencer, and Home Blender

May 24, 2024 by Rose Kiser

10 Comments

As pipe smokers, we have an abundance of choices when it comes to tobacco. There's a blend for every occasion, but that doesn't stop many of us from doing a little dabbling by mixing some of our favorites together for a smoke. Whether you use an infinity jar or mix Carter Hall with your Granger, at some point you mix ... Read More

A Smoker's Guide to Palate Refinement

May 17, 2024 by Rose Kiser

10 Comments

If you've ever watched "Tasting Notes" and wondered how Shane Ireland identifies those complex flavors during a smoke, when all you can taste is "tobacco," then this is the guide for you. There is nothing more intimidating than refining your palate except possibly drunkenly signing up for a Russian bear wrestling competition. ... Read More

Tasting Notes: Gawith Hoggarth & Co's Ennerdale Flake

May 16, 2024 by Shane Ireland

1 Comment

Welcome to another episode of Tasting Notes. I wanted to do something a little bit different today: It's time for me to revisit some of my old favorites. I thought that I would begin with smoking through all of the flakes produced by both of the Gawith houses, Samuel Gawith and Gawith Hoggarth. So if you've been ... Read More

The History of Mac Baren Tobacco

April 12, 2024 by Chuck Stanion

34 Comments

In Svendborg, Denmark, on the coast of the Baltic Sea, a very small tobacco factory with the name S. Bønnelyckes Tobaksfabrik opened in 1826 and did business primarily in snuff and chewing tobacco manufacturing. It continued for 50 years, never seeming to have attained much success, and in 1887 its owner lost it in a poker game. ... Read More

Codger Country: Velvet

April 11, 2024 by Rose Kiser

3 Comments

Welcome to Codger Country, the series where we'll be smoking every Codger blend we can find and ranking them in an effort to find the "definitive" Codger blend. From Carter Hall to Super Value, we're giving them all a fair shake. Today, we're taking a look at Velvet pipe tobacco, which if the old ads ... Read More

Mystery Review: March 2024

March 27, 2024 by Andrew Wike

6 Comments

Welcome to another captivating installment of Mystery Review, a monthly series in which our panel of experts attempts to identify a mysterious tobacco deliberately submitted to stump them. This month's inquisitor is Tyler Caldwell, who has sat on the panel for Mystery Cigar Reviews and works as our Junior Cigar Specialist. ... Read More