Sykes Wilford and I recently discussed a really special entry into this 25th anniversary project that we've been working on, collaborating with some of our closest friends within the industry who have really helped make Smokingpipes what it is today. We are proud to introduce our 25th Anniversary Claudio Albieri tobacco pouches.

[Andy Wike]: Sykes, your relationship with Claudio really goes back many years to when he was first getting into the tobacco industry with his leather goods. I think you purchased one of his prototype briefcases, which was actually one of the first products that we brought into Smokingpipes. What's been your experience with working with Claudio and also using his products on the daily?

Sykes' Connection to Claudio Albieri

[Sykes Wilford]: Claudio and I first met in 2008 or 2009 in Chicago, and I'm not sure what he was working on at the time but he was just scoping stuff out. We really got to know each other in Dortmund in 2011 or 2012. He brought these pipe briefcases to the show, four or five of 'em, and some of his other accessories, like his early magnetic stands. I was, first of all, super in love with the idea of these briefcases because I thought everybody travels with their computer and eight pipes, but apparently not everybody does. So I thought, everybody's gonna need these.

What I really loved about Claudio was that he was a guy who deeply understood pipe culture and that world, but was working in a different medium, and he took his craft as seriously as an artisanal pipe maker does but wasn't making pipes. It was really fun listening to him talk about leather working. It was super nerdy. I know nothing. It was like discussing small-scale artisanal manufacturing but not of pipes.

He and I became good friends and over the years, we've carried his leather goods. I go visit him and his family when I'm in the neighborhood, and we've done little tourist trips together to cities in Italy. Even though he's not a pipe maker, he, like many pipe makers, has been a big part of our story at Smokingpipes, and Smokingpipes has likewise been a big part of the story of his brand. We were his first real customer and we continue to be his largest customer through all these years.

[AW]: Yeah, definitely. It makes total sense that we would ask him to commission something for us, for this very special occasion.

25th Anniversary Roll-Up Tobacco Pouches

What have we got here? It looks very familiar to me. I think I've seen a similar model.

[SW]: Yes. There's a very similar one that lives in my pocket. Roughly 10 years ago, Claudio gave me one just like it but this is a newer version of the exact same thing. He gave me a leather roll-up pouch that I have carried in my pocket every day for a decade.

I'm not a big stuff pipe smoker. I don't have a lot of accessories. I can never find a tamper and I bum pipe cleaners from whoever happens to be nearby. But the tobacco pouch just lives in my pocket and has for a decade.

Shane Ireland had an idea. Shane and Claudio are also good friends. He thought about doing something different with the roll-up tobacco pouch. First of all, the thing I insisted on in this design was that it have the longer flap so that you could roll it one extra time, which, in my experience, having used both the shorter-flap version and the longer-flap version, I prefer the longer-flap version. It's a little bulkier, but the trade off is that the tobacco is more secure.

Claudio also made this a double pouch, so it will actually hold two different tobaccos in separate latex pouches in one roll up, which is a super cool feature for those of us who like to carry more than one tobacco at a time. He sat with this idea for a while because it was not immediately clear to him how he was going to solve the construction issues of not making the piping on the sides too thick and making sure that it was all structurally sound, and he ultimately decided that they needed to be set on top of each other so the front pouch sat a tiny bit below the back pouch. As a result, he made what I think is the coolest tobacco pouch that has ever been made.

[AW]: It is pretty cool. I think having the ability to store not just one blend, but two blends makes it more functional without really adding a whole lot of extra bulk. Side by side, it's very similar to the one that you pulled out, and I do think the extra flap just gives it that extra bit of security. It's such premium leather and it feels so nice. It's one of those things that you really just wanna hold and feel the texture. Everything's made with such quality materials. All the stitching is just perfect. To see something like this that's also so functional and that doesn't take up a lot of space in your bag or pocket is a very beautiful merger of form and function.

Of course, they feature Smokingpipes' colors. There's red stitching, beautiful black leather, and then, of course, the Smokingpipes' logo debossed on the front. There's also only 25 made, one for every year of the company. They're all individually serialized as well, which is really neat.

Make sure to go check these out on-site now and I hope that you pick one up. Thanks so much, guys.

[SW]: I'm excited about 'em. Thanks, everybody.