Michael and President Lou Carbone discussing pipes
Hi all, just got some time after a busy week and week-end to bring you up to date with the latest happenings in the New York Pipe Club. This month we were fortunate to get two tins of Solani Pipe Tobacco, courtesy of Steve Monjure from Monjure International, for the club to sample.
The blends we tasted were:
Blend 633 - A classic flake with bright Virginias and perique. This cool, slow burning blend has a natural sweetness and a wonderful room aroma.
Solani Aged Burley Flake - Blend 656- A skillful mixture of three aged Burley's - dark brown Burley from Kentucky, light Burley from Brazil, and white Burley from Malawi - Southeast Africa. A very natural blend with absolutely no additives or flavors - a true Burley blend.
I had the opportunity to try the Blend 633 and as a fairly novice virginia smoker it was refreshing to try another virginia blend. I found it an easy smoke and took care to smoke it slower than I normally smoke other tobacco blends. For those not familiar with pipe tobacco blends Virginia blends have Virginia tobacco as either the only tobacco or one of the components (as was the case with the Blend 633). The Virginia component is high in sugar which can lead to tongue bite if smoked too quickly. Also the flavor component is not as sharp as other blends so smoking it slowly allows the subtle flavors to develop.
We had a great turn out for this meeting so a lot of folks got to try the blends as well as peruse the pipes Hank brought to sell. i looked thru the pipes and purchased another Brebbia pipe (guess I'm drawn to this brand).
A great time was had by all. Up next I'll be reviewing the NY Pipe Show that took place earlier this month in Newark NJ.
