What's new

My Journey into the Leaf

Leaf: Amphora Black Cavendish
Pipe: Leonessa Dublin
Notes:

I need to give this one another shot. It was really windy out, and I was messing around with some chores while smoking. The main takeaway was the smoke felt smooth and silky - definitely had a different mouth feel from the others. Not a lot of flavor notes, but I was distracted.

I packed the bowl about half of what I normally would because I didn't have tons of time, and stopped around the 30 minute mark. When I emptied the bowl, there was still a decent amount of tobacco left, and a fair amount of moisture. After smoking my corn cobs, I actually think I prefer a smaller bowl right now (the dublin is 2" tall and feels like a big chamber... too big for me at this point).

Aftertaste dissipated almost instantly.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
I can't smoke outside in windy conditions. I have a little porch with a wall to my left and big arbor vitae trees to my front, and I can still smoke out there for a few more weeks before it just gets too danged cold. I think I may go try Presbyterian tonight out there for the first time. :D
 
Cavendish deserves another chance. It me a little bit too get over it doesn't taste like what it smells like. But there's good flavor in there nonetheless. And if you're smoking around people, that's what you want.

I understand what you mean about your Dublin. Between my wife, the kids, and the mutt a half hour is about all I get at a time. I have gorgeous pipes I'd love to smoke more, but I just don't have the time.

But there's hope! You can put out a pipe and come back to it with no negative consequences. There's some here that do it quite regularly. Including me throughout my work days. So if you find yourself only feeling half your bowl of English, you aren't committed in the way you are with a cigar.
 
Leaf: Amphora English Blend
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

I didn't get TONS of flavor out of this, but I enjoyed it. When I first lit the bowl, I got some sweet notes that dissipated quickly, leading to a bit of a spiced mouthfeel. Retrohale hit with some strong cumin notes.

Bowl smoked down to fine ash with little effort - first time that has happened for me.

Light campfire aftertaste.
 
Leaf: Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Incredible.

I've never worked with coins before, but I saw a video on folding and stuffing... so I folded and stuffed two coins into my little corn cob and hit it with some fire. Almost instantly, I tasted sweetness, and a few grassy notes. My initial light caused the tobacco to climb out of the bowl, but it somehow stayed lit for a bit. Once it went out, I tamped and re-lit... and then had an enjoyable hour plus long smoke with no relights needed. The sweetness varied from light to heavy bread.

After a few bottom of the bowl relights, with the bowl feeling like it was getting hot - and when I was positive I had to be done with the bowl - I knocked it out and found that I still had the center of a bullseye left! What a bummer to have wasted it... but no regrets on the experience! This is the first smoke I've been excited about the whole way through.

Aftertaste is kind of sour. I feel like the smoke is sticking more to my clothes and hair than previous varieties... but that could be in my head.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Thanks for that writeup! SP was out of that but I got some of his Luxury Twist Flake instead, and can't wait to try it. I think the bullseye you have is his most popular, though. Your writeups are great, keep 'em coming!
 
LBF is well represented in my cellar. I'm glad the fold and stuff worked for you, it's something that has always eluded me.

Peter Stokkebye makes some exceptional blends for its price. I'm constantly taken aback by the quality and value of that label. If you like the Bullseye, be sure to sample the rest of their flakes line.
 
Thanks for that writeup! SP was out of that but I got some of his Luxury Twist Flake instead, and can't wait to try it. I think the bullseye you have is his most popular, though. Your writeups are great, keep 'em coming!
I'm glad you are enjoying them! I am having a good time enjoying a smoke and thinking about what I can write about it. It is helping me be slow down and really think through the moment to moment.

I know I'm not getting all of the nuance and flavors in this initial foray, but that is part of the fun. Hopefully I'll look back years from now and get a smile from these original assessments.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
A year ago I was doing the very same thing.

Me too. I started writings thing up, as I wasn't confident I would recall my opinions accurately enough. After a short while though, I got a good enough bearing on my tastes and preferences, to not need the "map", so to speak. However, I don't think I would have grasped it so quickly, had I not gone through that write up phase, and gone through the exercise of trying to find the right words to express the smoke.
 

JCinPA

The Lather Maestro
Had Stokkebye’s Luxury Twist Flake last night and got positive feedback from the War Department! Very good stuff! Cobs are great, aren’t they, Pro? Light weight, clean smoking, inexpensive, I have yet to burn one out, which I worried about at first. Low maintenance, too.
 
Leaf: Haunted Bookshop
Pipe: Leonessa Dublin
Notes:

I enjoyed this one. It was spicy, and kind of musty. Predominate notes I got were pepper - and the retrohale was a pepper punch to the face! Smoked to ash even in my (in my mind) giant dublin!
 
Leaf: Squadron Leader
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Thick smoke, hints of sweetness, mild spice notes, and a little earthiness. I kept thinking "if I wanted to smoke all day, this would be hard to pass up!"

Really enjoyed it down to ash. I will note - I relit when I was pretty sure the bowl was almost up, and I was right. There was maybe 5mins left of tobacco left... and I wish I hadn't relit. I've found that relighting that late almost always leads to a bad finish for me, which makes me hesitant to relight after a certain point - but also leads to some wasted tobacco!
 
Leaf: Seattle Pipe Club - Mississippi River Special Reserve
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Bready sweetness and a tiny bit of peppery spice were the main notes I got from this one. Admittedly, I was running around and doing stuff while enjoying, so I didn't have the same focus I've had on other bowls. I really enjoyed it, though! (Is this because I'm becoming a pipe smoker?)

For the last half of the bowl, I had a cup of coffee and sat and was hit with extreme relaxation from this one. I don't know if it was just where I was at in the day or the tobacco.

I read some reviews just now and didn't get almost any of the flavors other people mention - I'll definitely return to this one soon and give it the attention it deserves.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Leaf: Squadron Leader
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Thick smoke, hints of sweetness, mild spice notes, and a little earthiness. I kept thinking "if I wanted to smoke all day, this would be hard to pass up!"

Really enjoyed it down to ash. I will note - I relit when I was pretty sure the bowl was almost up, and I was right. There was maybe 5mins left of tobacco left... and I wish I hadn't relit. I've found that relighting that late almost always leads to a bad finish for me, which makes me hesitant to relight after a certain point - but also leads to some wasted tobacco!

Tobaccos from Samuel Gawith can often benefit from a little extra drying time. Sometimes, if a tobacco is consistently leaving excess dottle, I was drop in a couple of Denicool crystals before packing, to take some of the extra moisture out... or smoke them in a Falcon or cob.
 
Tobaccos from Samuel Gawith can often benefit from a little extra drying time. Sometimes, if a tobacco is consistently leaving excess dottle, I was drop in a couple of Denicool crystals before packing, to take some of the extra moisture out... or smoke them in a Falcon or cob.
Good tip! Thanks!
 
Leaf: Seattle Pipe Club - Mississippi River Special Reserve (round two!)
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Revisited this today with some actual contemplation.

Started out similar to yesterday. Bready sweetness, a little spice. About halfway through the bowl I actually had a few moments of fruitiness which was really nice, followed by some light floral notes. It was tasty!

I also changed how I loaded it today - instead of rubbing out the cake, I left it is small chunks (with a bit rubbed out just from pulling the chunks off). I thought I made a mistake by doing that, as getting it to stay lit initially was a huge pain, but it ended up hitting a stride and smoking great after the first few lights.
 
Leaf: Samuel Gawith - Full Virginia Flake
Pipe: Bent Missouri Meerschaum
Notes:

Could only fit about 3/4 of a flake into my pipe - wadded it up into a ball and jammed in what I could (I thought about rubbing it out, but wanted to try something a little different). Took a few lights to get going... and then it just kept going. Long and slow smoke with rich brown sugar flavors. I was outside and it got a little hot from wind a few times, which was unfortunate... but overall, REALLY enjoyed it.

I think it is time to start acquiring a few more pipes. I'm obviously enjoying myself and the tobacco @Whisky sent my way has opened my eyes to some incredible flavors.

I'm eyeing some of the vintage Ropp line (love the look of the horn stems), the Rossi Piccolos, and keeping an eye open for a smooth billiard meerschaum at a decent price. Or maybe a Rattray Goblin or Chacom Turbo - which are nothing like the other pipes I'm interested in, but that is part of the fun! Or maybe I'll buy an estate lot and fall down the refurb rabbit hole............
 
Top Bottom