A Passion for Pipes

A Masterful Collector

2013-05-10T13:54:06Z

Although a pesky illness prevented me from attending this year’s Chicago pipe show, friends who did attend made it possible for me to see, in photographs, George Amrom’s astonishing collection of bamboo-shanked pipes. Although photos rarely do justice to a collection, in this case it was possible to discern that George’s is a collection the quality of which has very few rivals, and not just because of the quality of his pipes, but for the rigor and consistency with which he has applied his sensibilities and standards.

My friend, Jon Guss, told me, “I doubt I will ever see a collection like this again in my lifetime. It made my jaw drop. It was a signal experience.”

I have known George for a number of years and have often admired those pipes that I have seen him smoking when we meet at shows. Almost always George is smoking one of his Jess Chonowitsch pipes. While Chonowitsch’s pipes are always beautiful, George’s specimens have always seemed a cut above most other pieces I’ve encountered. They are always superbly cut examples of pipes where form and function merge with the singularity of a Petrarchan sonnet. It seems impossible to imagine that they could be any better than they are. But, what is really remarkable is that he has managed to assemble a collection where the standard deviation in shape quality and grain quality is so narrow, regardless of who crafted his pipes.

A pipe for one last smoke.

2013-05-05T14:17:07Z

“You can have one last pipe smoke.”

Now, those are dreaded words. They conjure up visions of midnight on Death Row and one long, last walk into oblivion. Or worse, my wife having grasped the last straw before separating me forever from my beloved briars.

In any case, were those words ever to scuttle like earwigs into my external auditory meatus, I have found the pipe for my final puff: the Castello Vergin Sea Rock stack depicted at the top of this post.

At five and a half inches tall, I have no idea how much tobacco capacity this pipe possesses, but I know that there is likely at least two days of non-stop puffing with the thing packed and tamped – a week if Claudio Cavicchi were smoking it (Cavicchi is a legendary slow-smoking champion).

I came upon this pipe during a recent visit to Memphis. As is my habit, I had stopped by my Memphis pipe-smoking haunt, The Tobacco Corner, to refresh my insulting and prevarication skills among its regulars. After inquiring how long I’d ago I’d been released from jail, Ken, the skipper of the old smoke-filled scow, rushed into the shop’s back room, muttering that he had something to show me.

Guest Post: The First Phoenix

2013-04-30T19:53:48Z

Image: Stephen Downie, © 2013, All Rights Reserved, Used with permission

The First Phoenix by Toby Ornaught and Stephen Downie

Copy and Photo-editing by Neill Archer Roan

Toby: The Pipe’s Story

The pipe which was manufactured in Italy and sold under the Stone Age brand was originally purchased in the spring of 1971 from a tobacconist, Stag Tobacco, located in a mall in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the first pipe I purchased that year, and it brought my number of pipes to three.

I was doing graduate work at the university and, to pay the bills, was also working as a clinical technician in a large teaching hospital. There I encountered a culture of pipe smokers. Its number included what seemed like most of the interns and residents as well as a substantial representation of the physicians who comprised the hospital’s house staff. There were pipes galore.

I was smitten by one pipe in particular: a Dunhill poker that was possessed by one of the chief residents. I visited the Stag Tobacco Shop on a regular basis hoping to find a similar pipe, but over a year’s time, they stocked not one poker of any kind.

It was early in April that I discovered a pipe of a brand that nobody at that time – nor since – had ever heard of: Stone Age. Because of its flat bottom and its straight (although slanted) sides, I asked to see the Stone Age volcano in the glass case at the front of the store. It looked poker-ish to me.

The pipe was fairly large in size, but it was a good deal lighter in weight than I expected it to be. Its surface was smooth, but not shiny – it had kind of a matte finish. The left and front sides of the pipe were solid birdseye, and the right side had a grain that was pronounced and fairly straight. It had a rusticated rim and shank-face that was crudely machined to resemble plateau. There was a fill towards the base of its right side that splayed out more than a quarter inch. And it had a manufactured acrylic stem that met the pseudo-plateau of the shank in what resembled a truncated round, black marble.

The salesman at the store had been a mentor to me. He’d guided me to my first pipe: a Digby Prince (“Too heavy, but not too expensive in case you don’t take to the pipe.”), and my second: a small Comoy Dublin (“This is a good pipe. It’s as good as any Dunhill in the store, but it’s not going to break the bank.”)

The salesman – my mentor – looked askance when I said that I wanted to buy the Stone Age volcano. He asked me, “Are you sure?” Then, he advised me that if I’d just be patient, eventually a real poker would become available. He added that, for about the same money, I could purchase another Comoy – not a poker-ish pipe, either.

I was not dissuaded. I wanted a poker even if it was, in fact, a volcano.

Otherwise Occupied for Now

2013-04-13T12:46:43Z

Taking a Pipe from Good to Great

2013-04-08T12:59:49Z

Bamboo Pot by Jess ChonowitschThere is no little irony that a pipe’s monetary value decreases by approximately half when it is smoked because a pipe begins to deliver value to its owner when it is smoked. Some pipes are great smokers from the first light. Others require a breaking-in period to come into greatness. Regardless, when a flame kisses the tamped tobacco inside the bowl chamber for the first time, the journey begins. Will the pipe become a beloved favorite, or will it rest, dust-laden, on a rack next to its owner’s better friends? To some extent, the answer depends on you.

As much as pipemakers concentrate their efforts on making beautiful pipes, they know that, over time, most pipe smokers become inured to a pipe’s beauty. Smoking quality, however, is a very different matter. A pipe that repeatedly delivers wonderful flavor–especially from the first light–endows its creator with favored-maker status. Pipemakers sweat that first smoke. They want it to be superb. The desire to deliver a great first smoke drives decisions ranging from where briar is sourced to how it is drilled to whether or not a bowl is coated.

Most pipemakers I know don’t want their customers to have to endure a break-in period. They want their pipes to immediately satisfy their owners. However, this doesn’t always happen, and sometimes one’s best smokers start out poorly. In my experience, even wonderful pipes improve when they are skillfully developed.

Bent Apple by Peter HedegaardAlmost every pipe – regardless of cost – requires stewardship and skill in being developed from good to great. While there is the occasional pipe that is a superb smoker from the beginning, most pipes can be improved no matter how humble their beginnings. While I’m not particularly a touchy-feely type who is inclined to make sense of the unknown with metaphysical rationales, I do believe that affection improves pipes. This is probably because beloved pipes are smoked more often, with greater care, and with more preferred tobaccos than are others. However, this is an incomplete explanation. Affection makes most things thrive, and pipes are no exception. And while love may make a good pipe better, it’s not a prescription to improve every pipe. It is nigh impossible to conjure love when it is absent.

NeatPipes' AeroBilliard takes flight

2013-03-23T13:19:10Z

Last Wednesday, I received my AeroBilliard, the latest opus in a series of collaborations between NeatPipes’ Luca DiPiazza and Luigi Radice and sons.

Before I go one word further, I wish to emphatically state that my two-hours and three bowls of tobacco with this pipe left me absolutely amazed with its smoking quality. It is no overstatement, whatsoever, that I have never had a better first three bowls of tobacco from any pipe. The pipe delivered it all: smooth, concentrated flavor and a cool, dry smoke. In short, this pipe has forced me to reconsider many opinions I’ve held about what is and is not a great smoking pipe.

Sam ColwellI was so excited about the pipe’s smoking quality that I removed it from my mouth, cleaned the bit, and handed it to a good friend of mine, Sam Colwell, to taste. Sam was so astonished by the flavor (he was smoking the same blend in one of his favorite pipes), that he asked me to help him immediately buy one for himself.

A chubby billiard measuring 110 mm (4.35 inches) in length, and 50 mm (2 inches) in height, the stout little pipe weighs in at only 56 grams (2 ounces) – quite a feat given that the shank diameter is a full 25 mm (1 inch).

Get 'em while they're hot!

2013-03-21T10:26:32Z

I’m thrilled to announce that the 2013 Passion for Pipes Pipe of the Year is based on Comoy’s classic, compact bent Rhodesian: the 284. As Jack Howell said when he finished the prototype, “I took one look at it and said, it’s just like the 283, only better. I really just wanted to keep this pipe and smoke it myself.”

That was my take when I plucked the pipe from its bubble-wrapped enclosure: “I want to smoke this pipe right now.”

Carpe Pipem

Rear and Button ViewIf you have ever tried to purchase a classic, chubby-shanked Rhodesian on eBay or at a pipe show, you know just how difficult it can be. As classic shapes go, they are among the hardest to find. And when you do find one, the condition, grain, or engineering almost always leave something to be desired. While it’s possible to reburbish, there are some problems that can’t be fixed without making the pipe no longer original: over-reamed chambers, scorched and banged up rims, buffed off buttons. We’ve all been there.

Undiscovered Country

2013-03-14T16:59:19Z

A week ago this coming Saturday morning, I attended the New York Pipe Show. While it is a relatively small show compared to some others, I’ve always enjoyed being there, principally because, in addition to artisans and pipe vendors, it is a place where collectors come to show and trade pipes. I’ve found it to be a show where I’ve been able to pick up some marvelous pipes at very good prices or for trade. One of the collectors who I always look forward to seeing is the noted Comoy collector Bob Herbert.

Bob and I had been in touch via email before the show, and I had been looking forward to seeing him because he always brings interesting and unusual pipes. I’ve bought several unique Comoy Blue Ribands from him and one of the most beautiful old BBB silver-inlaid cuttys that I have ever encountered.

Early Saturday morning, I ran into Bob at the hotel’s Starlight Restaurant when my friend, Jon Guss, and I met for breakfast. Ever the thoughtful friend, Bob invited me to come and share a chair at his table when I tired of wandering the show floor looking at pipes.

Bob has been a reliable and credible source when I have needed to learn about or confirm some Comoy historical esoterica, but his expertise extends far beyond Comoyiana. He also possesses a great deal of expertise regarding old English and French factory pipes. Bob’s knowledge is rooted in his own collection, one that is both high-quality and reputedly rich in both scope and numbers.

There is nothing like seeing, holding, or comparing many pipes, especially when one’s collection is not limited solely to the big names like Dunhill, Comoy, GBD, BBB, etc. There were many other pipe-making concerns in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many of which are relatively unknown to most of us. The fact that they are unknown to us does not in any way minimize the quality of these pipes, however, or the extent to which their owners loved them.

Charles Cole

2013-03-03T17:17:00Z

Wyoming Artisan Charles ColeWhen I first took a look at Charles Cole’s pipes at the Chicago Show a couple of years ago, I realized that my home state, Wyoming, had arrived – at least in pipe terms. Charles’ work really spoke to me. It is quiet. Lustrous and beautiful, it makes the most of its materials, incorporating them into the shape in an organic way. I like the lack of ostentation. There is decency in just being enough without trying too hard.

I don’t own a Cole pipe, which is not to say that I haven’t tried. The right piece just hasn’t come along yet. I’m willing to take my time. It is important to me to have a pipe that was made in my home state.

I’m not sure why I’m having trouble believing that a pipemaker from Wyoming can make a living making pipes, but there it is. A Wyoming pipemaker seems as exotic to me as a Wyoming gazelle, having grown up there.

A Visit to Raven's Grove

2013-03-02T13:38:36Z

NAR and DJ Basset before dinner. Photo: Magalena BassetOver the years, I have increasingly come to understand how important the friendships and community I have experienced in the pipe community are to me. Because my work requires me to travel considerably, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know a lot of people in real time that I have come to know in online pipe communities. It is amazing how much fun I have and how rewarding these friendships are to me.

The wild Olympic range. Photo: lassi kurkijarviOn my recent visit to the Pacific Northwest, while I was out in Washington’s remote Olympic Peninsula region, I drove out to Sequim to meet and visit DJ Basset, a man who has become a friend in my online pipe community. Sequim is a strikingly beautiful community on the Dungeness River located near the base of the Olympic Mountains–a wild and rugged snow-capped range that towers over the region.

Clark’s Chambers in Sequim, WashingtonAlthough Sequim is remote from Seattle (where I was staying during my visit) because it is on the Juan de Fuca Strait just across the water from Victoria, British Columbia, it is one of the earliest settled regions of the Pacific Northwest. While I was there, I stayed in a first rate bed and breakfast: Clark’s Chambers. This B&B is situated on the oldest family-owned farm in Washington state, a farm that the Clark family started carving out of the wilderness in 1850. My hosts, Bob and Glenda Clark, gave me one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had during my visit. You all know I’ve had quite a few great breakfasts in my 60 years, but never one that was better. The large, old 1870s era farm house is gorgeous, in impeccable condition, and furnished with not just taste, but also with warmth.

If you’ve ever had the experience of meeting someone who has seemed like a lifelong friend, you will understand what a great time I had with DJ and his lively wife, Magdalena. A pipe smoker like me, DJ is also a photographer, but unlike me he was a professional and an extraordinary one at that. For many years, DJ was Ansel Adams’ assistant. After that, he founded his own practice and lab in Jackson, Wyoming where he continued to work with many of our era’s fabled shooters. Today, DJ directs the museum in Sequim. How great is that? More museums need accomplished artists at their helm who understand people, story, place, and community.