Lee S.

Reviews


G. L. Pease - Chelsea Morning 8oz
My new daily driver
This is absolutely fantastic. It has enough complexity to be a mentally & flavorful engaging smoke, but not so far as to be off the deep end. Don't let the 'Morning' fool you, this is a fantastic blend for any time of the day, however I wouldn't call it an all-day smoke as it could exhaust the taste buds. I like to alternate it with Westminster throughout the day. Mr. Pease is a national treasure.

Lighters - Kiribi Pipe Lighter - Kabuto Mizo Black Matte
Crap quality
I bought one of these on vacation at the best tobacco shop in Denver. It's given me problems since day 1 & I even sent it in for warranty repair. It came back still not working right. Edit: The folks at SP replaced it for me, but with a different finish of my choosing. I just received it today, but it's night & day compared to the Mizo. Not sure if I got a fluke, or if it had been manhandled at the shop, but SP made it right & so far I'm happy with the replacement.

Vauen - Auenland Almar Smooth Churchwarden (9mm)
Low quality pipe that's massively overpriced
First, they stopped doing individual photos for $330 pipes. I can understand the cheap cobs, not this expensive of a pipe. They publish a gorgeous pipe in the photo. You will NOT receive a pipe that looks a quarter as good as the photo. Upon delivery, the pipes stem has a considerable bend to the side & the joint between stummel & stem is really sloppy & has a noticeable gap. I like the aesthetic, the shape of the bowl & the wood cover acrylic stem. What I would like more is for the price to reflect on the quality or craftsmanship. This is a $180 pipe at absolute most. $330 for shoddy manufacturing is a joke.

Tampers & Tools - Tsuge Reamer - Carbon 23mm
No.23 not 23mm
This is a very nice reamer. However it is a No.23, not 23mm as stated in the description. Using high precision machinist calipers, mine measures close to 20mm or .78". I also have the No.21, which measures 18mm. This No.23 works perfectly on a meerschaum bowl that I've measured at 21mm.

Tampers & Tools - Larry Blackett Tamper - Pewter .410 Shotgun Shell
Wow
I've been eyeballing Larry's pewter tampers for quite a while now. I used to have social media & even followed him at one point. He seemed like such a great guy & an incredible craftsman. I used to shoot competitive trap & even held a state champion title back in 2016, so a shotshell tamper seemed like a perfect idea. Until it arrived today. The quality is... bad. Beyond bad. The seam from the mold is worse than a toy from a dime gumball machine. The crimped end is just a mess of a blob. Looking at the primer/tamping end, you can easily see at a cursory glance that's it's not round & is at a bit of an angle instead of being 90 degrees square to the length of the tamper. I expected rustic imperfections as a handmade item, but this is on the level of cheap mass produced Chinese garbage. I nearly ordered the 45-70 tamper to go with it, but I'm glad I did not. I will not be purchasing any more of Larry's tampers again. This level of quality from a supposed 'artisan' is an insult at best.

Sutliff - 203 Coffee
My Daily Driver
Are you looking for a Starbucks coffee? Do you enjoy espressos & lattes & mochas? Do you really want an intense, over the top aromatic? Do not buy this blend. It is none of those things. It's called 'coffee' for a reason. It's got the perfect level of flavoring as to not be over the top or goopy or gurgling away in the bowl. And that flavoring? Coffee. Hard stop. No milk, no chocolate notes, no espresso notes, just simple, simple coffee that's not in your face or overdone. I feel that a lot of the unfavorable reviews are because the expectations were something other than... wait for it... coffee. I also see a lot of complaints about bite - it only will bite if you really, really try to rush it (or try to really puff on it because expectations of an in your face flavor which just isn't there). Pairs perfectly with a lovely pour over Sumatra & an early morning drive to work before the traffic gets heavy.

Missouri Meerschaum - The General Bent (6mm)
Cheap plastic stem
Stem is cheap plastic, not Vulcanite or acrylic as advertised. Otherwise it's a quality $5 MM cob. Just not worth more than a $5 MM cob.

Stands & Pouches - Peterson Classic 2 Pipe Bag
Quality bag at a fair price
First the good: decent leather, smooth zipper & it does what it says, carries 2 pipes. Now the not so good. The side for holding pipes is fine, but the 'cargo' side is a mystery. I was expecting a loop for a lighter & a tamper, but found neither. There is an elastic loop under the leather strap, but I could have 5 lighters & a dozen tampers under that strap with room to spare. It will not keep even the largest of lighters from free ranging all over your pipe's finish. Not only are they useless, but they're a bit in the way. I keep my tobacco in a separate leather roll-up & the whole pouch can fit inside this case, which is convenient. Although it would fit nicer if those useless straps weren't in the way. Even though the cargo side is a terrible design, for the price, you're still carrying 2 pipes in a padded leather bag.

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