Articles by Chuck Stanion | Smokingpipes Daily Reader

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

Elements of the Pipe: Rims

August 20, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

1 Comment

Every pipe has one. Pipes have tobacco chambers; chambers have rims of one sort or another, and there are many sorts. Some smokers are particular about rims, especially given that, after the internals of a pipe, they require the most care and cleaning, and the different styles provide different levels of care to keep carbon ... Read More

Bertrand Russell: Mathematician, Philosopher, Pipe Smoker

August 14, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

34 Comments

Bertrand Russell's parents, Viscount and Viscountess Amberley, were progressive for their era in the late 1800s. They were advocates of birth control, for example, and Lord Amberley was an atheist. The couple asked John Stewart Mill, an English philosopher and political economist, to be their son's "secular godfather." Theirs was an ... Read More

A Closer Look At Aromatic Pipe Tobacco

August 7, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

36 Comments

Until recently, I had little interest in aromatic tobaccos. I considered aromatics to be a category of tobacco best left to newcomers, remembering how I had insisted on smoking them exclusively when I first started pipe smoking. I had wanted the most impressive-smelling tobacco possible and had terrible experiences with aromatics in those days. ... Read More

BriarWorks: The Handcrafted Factory Pipe

July 17, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

16 Comments

BriarWorks is a company dedicated to producing very high-quality pipes at affordable prices. Those are not easily combined elements, and it took enormous effort and expertise to achieve that goal. It was an idea that had been evolving for years in the mind of Todd Johnson, a world-class pipe maker who is accustomed to making ideas reality. ... Read More

6 Mistakes Every New Pipe Smoker Should Avoid

June 24, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

26 Comments

Beginning pipe smoking can be an intimidating ordeal. Many people try smoking a pipe and give it up because they aren't experiencing the way a pipe should smoke. But if you can avoid these common mistakes, you'll find yourself enjoying pipe tobacco much more quickly. ... Read More

Edwin Hubble: Pipe Smoker and Astronomer

June 12, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

8 Comments

We used to think that our own galaxy was the entire universe. Edwin Hubble expanded that understanding to unimaginable distances. Before Hubble, we didn't know about distant galaxies. Telescopes of the time saw only fuzzy areas of what were deemed gas clouds and dust, referred to as nebulae. ... Read More

The Very Best Worst Pipe Ever

June 3, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

9 Comments

I have a weird pipe and don't know what to do with it. I like it because it was carved by a pipe maker I like a lot, and he went to enormous trouble to make it. His skills are impressive. But I despise it because it's a pipe sculpted to resemble someone whose image I avoid: Me. ... Read More

G.L. Pease: The Man Behind the Blends

May 29, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

14 Comments

At a Columbus pipe show in the late '90s, I found myself talking with a very tall, very articulate gentleman wearing a fool's cap. He was brilliant and interesting. He knew more about tobacco than I could ever hope, and he was knowledgeable about the intricate details of pipes, from engineering to design and from classics to modern artisan interpretations. ... Read More

The Admired Matriarch of Cornell & Diehl Passes

May 12, 2020 by Chuck Stanion

13 Comments

When Craig and Patty Tarler launched Cornell & Diehl in 1990, they did so as a loving partnership, christening their new company with Craig's middle name and Patty's maiden name. They were in this thing together. They took a few pounds of tobacco and some recipes, and they built a tobacco company. ... Read More

Chuck Stanion