Just before sunset, loaded up my rusticated Nording with JA English Mixture. About half way through as I type this, also sipping on a cup of hot Twinings Irish Breakfast tea. Despite my post just a couple of days ago that this was not my favorite everyday smoke, I find myself continually reaching for the JAEM. Goes especially good with unsweetened hot tea. I never sweeten it anyway. Sometimes a bit of milk in it, but mostly black.
I know Gallahers was founded in 1952; the article I read said that the Honeydew wasn't introduced till the 80's; but they may have been mistaken. But it also doesn't have any flavoring; it was just a name. But that is also a moot point. Because again, this period was during the Tobacco Purity laws; so there would be no flavored tobacco; unless it was small, illegally smuggled amounts. And McClelland says that the 221B series would be deduced from "The preferences of Mr. Holmes". But Mr. Holmes; who actually had a preference for a strong, pungent, unflavored Black Shag on unknown name (and which may not have had one whereas he had a tobacconist on retainer who specially blended it just for him). I see P&C lists the McClelland Honeydew as a Non-Aromatic; but I've had it before; probably 10 or 12 years ago, and it was an Aromatic. You could smell the fruit topping and it even had that slightly more oily feel to it that is typical of flavored tobacco as opposed to pure tobacco. I suppose you could say they put their own artistic twist on it; but then it would to strongly fall away from any real attachment to the history of the stories. They did very well with the Arcadia; a latakia blend that was Watsons favorite. I haven't yet tried the Black Shag; but I feel they failed a little there too, as it's not even a shag tobacco. I still want to try it though. It's a strong, dark, ribbon cut, pure Virginia. I wonder if it will smoke like Homes favorite though. The Black Shag he so favored was said to be pungent, and leavy heavy clouds of acrid, blue smoke. Of course Holmes also smoked heavily; going through a pound in a few hours, and preffering to smoke in closed spaces; so that could be part of it, lol.
Pardon my ignorance of Holmes, but was it actually a real brand? Pretty much everything I smoke is from Denmark.
Truth be told, I do not know. It may be that Sir Doyle was a fan of Gallahers Honeydew if it was around at the time. Being as it wasn't actually flavored at all; it would have been available. He may have simply used the name Honeydew Tobacco in a generic manner. Or perhaps Honeydew was meant to be an individuals last name; i.e. Mr. Honeydew owned a tobacco company named Honeydew Tobacco. It is also possible that it WAS meant to just be Honeydew Tobacco! However even if it were so, it would not have been flavored at all and would have been akin to Gallahers; as again, no flavored tobacco was permitted by stringent laws. May be a good topic of research though! You have gone and piqued my interest Chris, lol.
PA in a MM Mark Twain on a cool crisp morning. For some reason PA and CH just seem suited for a cob. Consumer Reports gives a high rating to the Sam's Club dishwasher pods, which are a lot cheaper than the brand we've been using. Most of the other reviews for things I'm not currently considering for purchase (washers, dryers, lawnmowers, luxury SUV's and sedans). I think my next subscription will be to the online version, so I can just search for the reviews when I'm considering a purchase.
Esoterica Peacehaven in a Chacom Lumberman, while reviewing financial records for a church meeting shortly.
Last night I did a salt cleanse on the Lorenzo pictured above, as smoking anything in it had a sour/foul taste to it, and the bowl smelled pretty bad. On past salt cleanings, I would just keep wiping away with a Q-tip or rolled up piece of paper towel to get all the now nasty rock salt out of the bowl. This pipe has a very deep bowl, so I got a wild hair and decided to rinse it with water. I immediately dried the exterior, and pushed a roll up up paper towel into the bowl. Just curious how you all clean all the salt residue from a bowl. Any thoughts on ill effects on the pipe with a quick water rinse followed by a quick external drying, and to the extent possible drying the interior? It's quite amazing how much gunk the vodka soaked rock salt will pull out.
Never used water, only bristles to remove salt cake after cleaning. This Kaywoodie Drinkless Carved Billiard just got cleaned like that Friday... Pipe O the day... PS Luxury Navy Flake
I use compressed air. Either a can or a compressor. That get all of it out for me. I've tried wiping and rinsing. wiping and brushing seems to miss a little every time and rinsing means I can't smoke it until it dries a day or 2 later. No pipes lately. My throat is sore and until I can decide if I'm getting sick or that my new job has me talking that much more and it'll get better as I get used to it.
Sorry about the sore throat, in addition to being miserable, it pours a dent in the pipe smoking. Hope you feel better soon. I like the compressed air idea. I too hve some problems getting every little piece of salt out just by wiping. It's really not a problem for me to wait 2 or 3 days for the pipe to dry out good, but even though I dry the exterior and get most of the water out of the bowl, I still worry about potential damage to the briar. The compressed air sounds like a good solution.
After dinner, Davidoff Scottish Mixture in the Matt Van. The seller said it was litely smoked and he was just thinning his collection, he must have a very nice collection or just didn't like the style.
Some Balkan Sasieni in my Dr. Grabow Royal Duke (Bent Bulldog). I really need to get a new camera. =/
Front yard grass cutting pipe - Newminister Superior Round in an old Rossi bent. Only had time for the front yard.
Drew Estate Central Park Stroll in the Stanwell Trio with a carbon filter. I don't know what to think about the 9mm carbon filters. The smoke was dry, the filter definitely absorbed the excess moisture and a lot of gunk, but it also seemed to absorb some of the flavor.
That was what I thought too. Try Balsa. It lets the flavor through but traps and absorbs the moisture too.
I feel like balsa is a tastier smoking experience than paper, never tried a 9mm carbon. Pretty pic of that pipe.
