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Packaging Tips for Tobacco-Related Gifts
Russ enjoys a smoke Recently I posted a gift-buying guide to help people who aren’t cigar or pipe smokers, in an attempt to make things easier for holiday shopping. It occurred to me that, after...
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Some Cold Weather Smoking Tips
The only pipe smoker I know who prefers to light up outdoors during the winter. For those of you who live in Florida, the deep Southwest, southern California and Hawaii, ignore this information. For...
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It Stretches Credulity
Proof that this man’s blood runs pure black! The title of this post is a paraphrase from Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Caribbean Part 3. The fundamental meaning is that the subject is very hard...
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Blends, People, and Moods
Russ Ouellette, the man behind the blends I was recently thinking about the hobby of smoking pipes, all the different kinds of blends we make and sell, and also about all the pipe smokers I know, and...
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Tongue Bite in Pipe Smokers
Don’t let your tongue get bitten! Tongue Bite is a fairly common problem among pipe smokers; even veteran smokers can experience it from time to time. Aromatics tend to be the biggest villains when it...
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Tobacco Legislation and The “Social Creep”
Russ Ouellette, the man behind the blends We’ve all heard the truism “Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile”. It’s usually in reference to children regarding self-discipline, but I’m coming to...
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Lighters vs. Matches
Jim Murry, our resident Artisan Pipe expert I can remember a time when the only option for lighting a cigar, pipe, cigarette, gas stove, etc. was a wooden kitchen match. Lighters were very...
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Vulcanite vs. Acrylic
Jim Murry, our resident Artisan Pipe expert As with pipe and tobacco selection, the choice between vulcanite and acrylic is a subjective decision. There are a number of pros and cons to both materials....
View ArticleFrom Father To Son
Have you ever noticed that fathers pass on more than genes to their sons? In my case, my father was a pipe and an occasional cigar smoker. Many of my fondest and earliest memories of my father are...
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Tools of the Trade: All the Toys for Enjoyable Smoking!
Jim Murry, our resident Artisan Pipe expert Have you ever noticed the tools that professional use in their chosen line of work? A chef has knives, pots and pans, cutting boards, measuring cups, place...
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The Disrespected Tobacco Chamber
Russ enjoys a smoke As pipe smokers and/or collectors, we pay a lot of attention to grain for smooth pipes or ring grain for sandblasts or the type and execution of rustication. We all have certain...
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A Grain of Truth
Straight grain Briar is an amazing material, and is ideally suited to making tobacco pipes. It’s a hard wood that polishes beautifully, it’s heat-resistant and it has a relatively neutral flavor. But...
View ArticleRediscovery of a Pipe
If you’re a pipe smoker like me and have been collecting pipes and related paraphernalia for as long as I have, you’re bound to have come across a pipe in your collection that you’ve forgotten or...
View ArticleNot Just Talking Tobacco Today
When Scott Bendett opened the Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe in the Colonie Center mall in Albany, NY, he could have scarcely imagined where things would go from there. After a few years of selling cigars...
View ArticleIt’s the Big One!
The title doesn’t refer to Fred Sanford having another heart attack, rather, it’s about the Chicagoland International Pipe and Tobacciana Show; my favorite place to be the first weekend of May. This...
View ArticleI Got an Upgrade
When I was a kid (around the time of the invention of water), we were only allowed to use the eight color box of crayons because some families couldn’t afford the bigger selections and the school...
View ArticlePipes and Cigars
Despite the title, this isn’t about our website. This is about my thoughts on the differences between pipe and cigar smoking. Some are obvious, others are less so. All of them are just my opinion, but...
View ArticleThe Process
With a great new area to work in and all the resources I need, it’s time for me to switch gears and get back to my Laboratory of Doom ® and begin to develop some new tobaccos. While I’m working on some...
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