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A Bakker's Dozen

Yeah, that was sort of where I was going with the "recipe breakdown" comment. I do find myself favouring the "tried and true" in a lot of things other than pipes, so it makes sense that I would do so here, too.

Still, the only thing I am certain to rebuy is the MacBaren ODF. And likely either the Half & Half or Carter Hall.
 
Stokkebye is a consistently decent brand. And yeah, those little coins in a cob is a little slice of heaven. A little nippy if gently pushed.

Thinking about it, I probably should have mentioned this earlier. Yeah, I do love a pouch of Carter Hall. But to date, the only still around American burley brands (as opposed to Stuliff matches) I've smoked are CH. Towards the end of September, after you started this thread, I treated myself to a pouch of Amphora Original. I do have a pouch of Half and Half, but I'm waiting to open that. I already have 2 open pouches of CH (one in the house, one in the car), Amphora, open jars of Stokkebye Cube Cut, OJK, Field and Stream Match, and Ready Rub (and would Revelation Match count?).

Oh! Something I wanted to ask you. Did you ever stumble upon Mrs. Bakker1964's (grand?)father's blend?
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I think there's room for both, in my cellar anyways. Sometimes it's fun to pick apart components. Or to pull something apart to see what it is I like or dislike. Other times, yeah, I don't want to think about it.

I seem to only want to do that on the first couple of smokes of a blend/sample. After that, it's just another nice smoke.
 
So . . . I did a thing today.

After crapping out in the auctions up top, I was wandering around IG and Twitter and came across a picture of an interesting looking artisan pipe. Long story short, I have been going back and forth on Twitter with the Maker, and will be getting some prelim sketches for my soon to be Custom Pipe.
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Stokkebye is a consistently decent brand. And yeah, those little coins in a cob is a little slice of heaven. A little nippy if gently pushed.

Thinking about it, I probably should have mentioned this earlier. Yeah, I do love a pouch of Carter Hall. But to date, the only still around American burley brands (as opposed to Stuliff matches) I've smoked are CH. Towards the end of September, after you started this thread, I treated myself to a pouch of Amphora Original. I do have a pouch of Half and Half, but I'm waiting to open that. I already have 2 open pouches of CH (one in the house, one in the car), Amphora, open jars of Stokkebye Cube Cut, OJK, Field and Stream Match, and Ready Rub (and would Revelation Match count?).

Oh! Something I wanted to ask you. Did you ever stumble upon Mrs. Bakker1964's (grand?)father's blend?
The H & H won’t dry out quickly so don’t worry about opening it. Another codger blend I highly recommend is Sir Walter Raleigh. It should be easy to find in local markets due to its popularity. I’ve been smoking it several times a day for over a week and have come to really like it a lot. I’m half way through a 14 oz. can and am picking up another in a few days. Top notch burley.
 
Tried some C&D Burley #1 this morning . . . no bueno. Started fine, but quickly started getting a bitterness through the stem. It persisted, so I bailed on the pipe. Not sure if it's just an inadequate job taking care of the pipe after the last smoke, or the blend itself. Pipe has cooled and I have cleaned the stem thoroughly, and run a pipe cleaner through the stummel and bowl. The bacci is airing on my dresser and I will be trying some more later this afternoon. Just an odd occurrence.
 
Plans for my pipe.
custom1.jpg


Briar construction with a faux tortoise shell stem. Staining to highlight the grain in the briar, while complementing the stem. Band accent will be Ox horn fitted to the tenon. Proportions as shown, with minor adjustments allowed for proportionality at the artist's discretion. She's going to be a big girl, but I have big hands.
 
Tried some C&D Burley #1 this morning . . . no bueno. Started fine, but quickly started getting a bitterness through the stem. It persisted, so I bailed on the pipe. Not sure if it's just an inadequate job taking care of the pipe after the last smoke, or the blend itself. Pipe has cooled and I have cleaned the stem thoroughly, and run a pipe cleaner through the stummel and bowl. The bacci is airing on my dresser and I will be trying some more later this afternoon. Just an odd occurrence.

So my second attempt was unsuccessful. Checked the blend ingredients between this and other Burley blends I like, and I am now wondering if the issue might be Perique. C&D #1 is different from MacB HH only in the use of Perique instead of DFK. Is Perique known to be "bitter"?
 

steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
So my second attempt was unsuccessful. Checked the blend ingredients between this and other Burley blends I like, and I am now wondering if the issue might be Perique. C&D #1 is different from MacB HH only in the use of Perique instead of DFK. Is Perique known to be "bitter"?
Perique is known to be spicy and raisin like. I find that to be so with Sutliff Victoria (a VePer). I’ve tried several C & D blends and haven’t been pleased with any. To my taste, they just seem to be a bit rough and a touch too much with one thing or another. Of course, that is just to my taste and many love them. Tobacco is just a “to each his own” kind of thing. My tastes are very simple I suppose. Just smoke whatever gives you the most pleasure and when that stops being pleasurable, then try something else. There shouldn’t be any hurry about pipe smoking. It is about relaxation. 😊
 
C&D is very much a love-or-hate brand. And that goes further into the blends themselves. The Haunted Bookshop I really like, but it does taste and smell a bit musty. Like grandma's attic that nobody has been in for 25 years. Not in a bad way (for me), but it's there. Otherwise, it's a good burley plus vaper. Autumn Evening is a flavorful aromatic, according to the packaging. I haven't had any luck personally with maple flavored aros.

And in the end, if it's not for you, put it away for a couple years and find something you love. There's hundreds of blends out there, your favorite is among them.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
I would caution you not to judge the entire C&D catalog based on a few offerings. They have well over 200 blends available and writing them off entirely would close you off to a whole world of wonderful flavors. I'd also recommend putting them away and revisiting later. If I didn't revisit blends I initially didn't like then I would have deprived myself of so many excellent smokes. Your technique improves, your tastes evolve, any one of the many variables of a good smoke could have gone wrong on you initial tasting.
 
Did not mean to imply writing them off completely, simply that, beyond what I already have, I have plenty of other brands to work through. It is highly likely that I enjoy one of the remaining C&D products in my inventory. Just odd that this one particular Blend seemed so harsh.
 

brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
Did not mean to imply writing them off completely, simply that, beyond what I already have, I have plenty of other brands to work through. It is highly likely that I enjoy one of the remaining C&D products in my inventory. Just odd that this one particular Blend seemed so harsh.
C&D Burley can be a bit rough around the edges. I personally enjoy that element but it isn't for everyone. I have some cellared and I'll find out soon if some age helps to round them out...but I'm okay if it doesn't. One disappointment with one C&D blend in particular though. Bayou Morning used to be one of my favorite blends when it was brand new. It has sat in the jar being dipped into from time to time over the past year and it seems to have gotten less enjoyable. The flavors just aren't there as they were from the fresh tin. I have some cellared and I'm interested to see if the entire batch has turned for the worse or what...only time will tell. I have some choices to make in the near future though.
 
And this is why I mention "moving on". I want to find a few non-codgers to order for purpose of putting aside to age. And I like Burleys, as well. But who knows, maybe something off in the pipe, maybe just a blend that did not suit. No harm done in the long run.
 
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