Author: thepencilandpipe

Significant Smokes

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As summer winds towards a close here in northern Nevada and we prepare for cooler weather and shorter days I can’t help but feel a sense of anticipation. The falling leaves of the crabapple trees in the yard bring with them seasons of celebration and festivity and part of the celebration for me, is bringing out particularly special tobaccos to help mark the significance of these days.

The first celebration of the cooler season for my family falls on October 31st, Reformation Day! On that day in 1517, Martin Luther had his famous 95 Thesis posted to the door of the Wittenberg Church . This event is credited with sparking the Protestant Reformation and a return to the Bible as the final rule and authority for faith and life. We usually go to a party with friends where we eat traditional German pastries named for the day, tell the story of how the Word of God shook the world and this year I’ll be smoking a bowl of autumn evening. I normally hate aromatics because I despise low quality leaf drenched in chemicals and artificial flavors but autumn evening is one of the few aromatics I actually enjoy. (more on that in another post.)While it smells like an aromatic to everyone around, it tastes like tobacco to me.

The next holiday in the line up is Thanksgiving. While the origins of the holiday are somewhat suspect and hypocritical, we celebrate it as a day to give thanks to God for His many blessings and faithful providence throughout our lives and eat some crispy skinned spatchcock turkey. On this day the special smoke is a bowl of 2017 McClelland Dark Star. I have about 12 flakes left so that’s 12 years. I think that’s enough time to age a suitable replacement when it’s gone.

Now it’s Christmas. The day we celebrate the Incarnation of Christ. Immanuel, God with us! We meditate on the fact that God Himself stepped into a fallen world that He might redeem a people for Himself. I have a bowl of 2016 McClelland Christmas Cheer on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I have 100 grams minus two bowls. I believe at this rate, my son’s will be able to share a few bowls as well when they’re old enough.

My birthday is next on December 30th. I have a bowl of Cornell and Diehl Kajun Kake from 2009. I’ve thought about having a special smoke on my wife and kids birthdays as well but it doesn’t seem fitting to have a personal celebration that they can’t partake in.

Next up and last on the list is my wedding anniversary on January 4th.(I haven’t found a blend for New Years yet.) My anniversary smoke is actually the one that sparked all the other traditions. Morgan McKinniss told me that he has a tin of Cornell and Diehl Bourbon Bleu, from their cellar series that’s designed to be aged, that he smokes only on his wedding anniversary. Me, being the originator that I am, copied him exactly. I bought a tin of Bourbon Bleu and I smoke it each year on my wedding anniversary.

As of now those are my Significant Smokes. I do intend to find a blend for New Years and may eventually add some others. Are there any blends you have that you only break out on special occasions? I’d love to hear about your tobacco traditions in the comments.

Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation: Small Batch Aged Virginia- Tobacco First Impressions

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“A limited offering from 4th Generation, Erik Stokkebye’s Small Batch Aged Virginia is comprised of a number of high-grade Virginia tobaccos which have been aged for a full decade before being hot pressed, sliced, and tumbled into ribbon form. Manufactured by Samuel Gawith in northern England, this robust blend of fully matured tobaccos is neatly presented in a collectible, special edition, humidor-style box.“- Description from smokingpipes.com

I bought some.

I was doing my usual window shopping at my favorite online tobacco retailer when I saw this special edition collaboration between Erik Stokkebye’s 4th Generation and Sam Gawith. There are a couple of things I really like, Sam Gawith Virginia’s and aged Virginia’s. I’ve never actually tried a 4th Generation product of any kind before this. When I read that this blend was comprised of a variety of Virginia leaf that had been aged for 10 years my interest was piqued. The $25 price tag was a bit of a deterrent and I couldn’t help but think that a majority of the cost was because of the somewhat gimmicky humidor style box. I didn’t buy it that day. The next day I was still interested. I checked back at my favorite retailer and it was sold out. At this point I believe I was being driven mostly by the fear of missing out. What if this tobacco was really something special and I’d never have a chance to try it. A quick Google search turned up my 2nd favorite retailer with the limited edition leaf in stock. I didn’t hesitate and snagged a box. When all was said and done I spent a total of $31.25 including shipping. That hurts to think about. Especially considering the fact that I once paid less than that for 8 and 10 year old tins of Union Square and Kajun Kake respectively. Anyway, moving on.

It arrived

I cut the tape on the cardboard shipping box and dug out the cellophane wrapped, cardboard sleeved, humidor box. Inside the box, wrapped in gold foiled paper, a dark brown, red, mahogany, mix of broken Flake and ribbon. I do have to say that to the eye, this stuff looks old. On the nose I’m met with the customary sweet hay and then a light bready molasses note. Moisture content is just north of where I normally like my Virginia’s but not quite as wet as a typical Gawith blend.

Before I had a chance to smoke any I went ahead an jarred it up because outside of the cellophane wrapper on the humidor box there is nothing sealed about the packaging.

I slightly rubbed out enough for a bowl in my $4 billiard and let it dry.

It took a light easily. Now at this point I wish I could wax eloquently about the depth and complexity of this blend but I can’t. It is delicious. It is rich and bready. But from start to finish that’s all. Rich, dark, bready Virginia. I think if you go into this expecting a natural sweetness and some complexity from the various types of leaf you will be disappointed. I do not think we can expect what 10 years does to quality Virginia in a tin or a jar to be mimicked and mirrored in leaf that has been aged for a decade and then processed. I think this is definitely a unique blend and a delicious blend. Do I feel like it was worth $17.85 a gram? I don’t today. I do however think that this is a solid Va and that a few years in a jar will do wonders for it and that it may be worth that price in a few years. I mean who really knows what happens when you age a leaf for a decade, process it into a broken flake/ribbon and then age it in a jar? Time will tell.

On the unique nature of Tobacco and Faith – Guest Post By Morgan McKinniss

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I began smoking when I was 17 and a senior in high school. It started as a ritual after winning football games and some of us on the team would get gas station cigars and celebrate. Yes, we did think we were cool. Turns out, that was false. Shortly thereafter I began a degree in English literature, having been fascinated with writing and great story telling since I was a boy, and thus began the natural correlation of smoking a pipe and reading. Tolkien was introduced to me in those years and that sealed the deal, I wanted to be a Hobbit, live in the Shire, live a simple life and enjoy my pipe.
While that may not be the case (as much because of my 6 foot frame as my suspicious lack of foot hair) my pipe smoking remained fairly tame during those formative years and college. About the time I was married a friend introduced me to an online group that had intertwined faith and tobacco. The next four years were spent growing in my cellar, collection of pipes, diversity in my palate, and of course a far deeper appreciation of finer tobacco. I personally and specifically relate my growth in this one area of my life to my personal growth as a Christian, which follows a much similar path. Nominally a believer in my high school years, introduced to some greater aspects of faith during those college years, and then a downright explosion around the time I was married.
Now, you may ask such questions as “why are you writing this and why do I care? I have my tobacco, I don’t need your Jesus” or even “good for you pal, but my Bible says you can’t smoke and be saved!”
To the first I say, you have little idea of what you are missing. Allow me this brief moment to make an analogy. One time I was given a 12 year old tin of Ashley’s. It was a delicious, full, amazing, unopened tin of joyful English tobacco. Once I finally opened it and smoked the first bowl, it was amazing. The room note, the texture and flavors that seemed to have no end changed how I view and enjoy smoking. But, every bowl after that got better and better. Where am I going with this? Jesus is much the same as that 12 year old tin of Ashley’s. In the drawer, it was an old scuffed and faded piece of golden painted aluminum with a scratched up label and a sharpie marking the date of purchase. Nothing of great remark to most. But once opened, you begin to sense the greatness of what is inside. Once smoked, you confirm your suspicion that it truly is worthwhile and brings great joy. After the tin is empty (a thing that Jesus never could be) you realize how much better it got with time and with every encounter. Jesus, while he may be visually unappealing to many, once you begin to open up to him and experience who He really is, only gets better and better with time. There is much to be gained from knowing and enjoying Christ.
To the second, I say nay! Your nonsensical misinterpretations of the Bible leave much room for growth and grace. Do as your conscious binds you, but hold no others to it. Hold only to the Word of God in this manner, that we can do such things to God’s glory.
Now, I know I have rambled a good bit, and you may tire of this one opinion, but I have a final thought to produce. The great reason pipe smoking and the Christian faith go together so well is not because of the great believers of the past who also partook of this fine craft, but more so about the spiritual nature of the hobby. Consider, what practices can we take up that purposefully and inherently cause us to pause and think? That bid us to shut our yaps and open our hearts? Pipe smoking, by its very nature calls us to somber thought and pensive prayers. Many great mornings have been spent with a pipe in my mouth, a great book or my Bible in my lap, and a sincere prayer in my heart.
This is all I have to say, that God would be glorified in us, even us dirty pipe smokers.

Pulling the Plug

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July was an eventful month for me. I went on a 3 week trip to the mountains of Western North Carolina to visit family and friends, preached twice, attended a 3 day Bible seminar with my wife and no kids, caught 8 trout, attended a wedding, found an 8oz bag of Penzance at my favorite tobacconist along with a year and a half old tin of SixPence and a 2018 Savinelli Christmas Pipe, and then when I got home I deleted my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

For 5 years I’ve found myself repeatedly trying to manage my social media usage, but time and again my self imposed restrictions fail and I’m mindlessly scrolling through memes, videos, and pictures for untold hours. (Did you know you can read the whole Bible in 72 hours?)

Last week something changed. Ironically a man who I only know through Facebook, posted a Ted talk to Facebook, about the pitfalls of social media and announced that he would be leaving social media. This started me thinking. What real benefit does social media provide me? Do these said benefits justify all of the wasted time, and not being present? I was beginning to think not. The next day I visited my home church and a friend told me that he had been off of social media for a year and didn’t miss it. This conversation reinforced the growing suspicion that what ever perceived benefits of communication and connection that were achieved through Facebook and Instagram, could be had apart from these platforms and that the necessity of these networks was actually an illusion.

Let’s be honest. You think about an old friend from high school you haven’t seen in years, you look them up, you send a friend request. The obligatory “haven’t seen you in years, how you been?” messages commence, and then…. You occasionally see a post from them and give it a like. There is no real connection made, no authentic relationship re-established. Most of our internet connections are the equivalent of running into someone at Walmart, having a quick surface level conversation and then strangely receiving tid bits of personal information from them throughout the day. It’s weird. I would also go out on a limb and say that the people we actually know in real life, and are close with are people we call on the phone, send text messages to, and actually spend time with in person. We’re not close with everyone we know, we don’t actually have 457 birthdays written in our personal calendars so we can send out cards or gifts, and those same 457 people who posted happy birthday on your wall only did so because it came up in their feed. When my wife, kids, mom, dad, siblings, cousins, close friends, have birthdays, I tell them in person, attend their parties, and give them gifts. If they live on the other side of the country, I call or text. All that to say, these internet connections are mostly synthetic, we don’t actually care as much about everyone as we pretend online, and we’re not really that close with everyone.

I do value a lot of the connections I made online and am grateful for the genuine interactions I’ve had. I was a part of a couple of great groups with great people, who if they lived in my neighborhood would probably be real friends who came over for dinner and shared tobacco. Before I left social media I gave out my email and received a couple so that I could stay in touch with some of these people. But the value of these people’s character and personality isn’t dependent on whether or not we stay in touch online, it doesn’t mean they aren’t people I wouldn’t genuinely enjoy hanging out with, it simply means our real world lives don’t actually intersect and we don’t actually have opportunities to hang out.

I don’t really know where I’m going with all this. This isn’t to encourage you to quit social media, it’s just my ramblings on the subject and a little bit about why I left. I haven’t been away long enough to enumerate the effects it’s had on my life or to even say it’s had an effect. But I do know that at this point I don’t miss it, I don’t need it, and in it’s absence I intend to live on purpose in real time with real people.