Laurentiu M.

Reviews


Five Brothers - Five Brothers 1.25oz
Prefect, for what it is: no nonsense consistency. (WTF!? Don't skew the ratings!)
I discovered this blend when my Ropp J06 arrived, lo these many years ago. That thing is tiny, which is perfect for this blend. I always rehydrate it, since it's so dry. I don't smoke it often, but there are those times when nothing else will do. I always have some available. Sometimes, lack of sleep will dull my palate, but this blend consistently delivers. Until right now, I've never managed to think of blend I'd want to amp up with this (see below). Before that, though, I gotta say, I hate it when a reviewer's opinions, beyond their thoughts of a blend, are reflected in the rating. I'm fine with complaints in the title/body of the review about price, or whatever, we all want to be heard. There was a lot of griping about C&D We Three Kings availability recently, when it first dropped. Ironically, it was back in stock quickly (by the time I looked), but there were so many one-star ratings, for it being out of stock. It needed to be restocked at least once again, but it was readily available for quite a while. I didn't feel right about mentioning an unrelated blend, though I just realized I should try mixing this with We Three Kings. I think that could work nicely.

Books - Peterson's Patent Pipes: A Facsimile of the 1906 Catalogue
There's only one way this could be better...
The only realistic way this book could be better, is for it to be a hardcover book. I don't say this lightly. I can be quite difficult to please. I was a little concerned about paying this much for it. When it arrived, I was surprised by the weight of the box. "What else did I order," I thought? The book is sizeable. The quality is superb. If you love Peterson pipes, get this book while you can. If you get the book, I suggest you google, "how to open a book so it lays flat."

Gawith Hoggarth & Co. - Curly Cut Regular Sliced
I loved this stuff!
I loved this blend, the little I was able to smoke of it. Nice, clean Virginia flavor, though it would bite a bit if you weren't careful. Smoked gently, it was great. I bought some Curly Cut Deluxe in its place, but much of that is still in the jar, from about five years ago. Someday, I'll unpack that jar, and give it another shot. Regardless, I'm oh so hoping they make it available again.

Stands & Pouches - Neal Yarm 7 Pipe Stand - Tilt Head Mahogany
Quite nice, but a bit narrow
The styling of the pipe rack is great. I really like the mahogany. The design is a mixed bag. The distance to the supports may not work for some of the shortest pipes and the angle may not be great for some bent pipes. Also, it would be nice if the recesses were chamfered. However, the biggest issue is that the spacing is a bit tight. It doesn't accommodate just any pipe that I want to place in it. I have to be judicious and alternate a bit between wider and narrower pipes. It can just barely fit my family of Rossi's 3 Prince pipes (Piccolo, Vitoria, Lucca) in ascending order. I have to put the largest one (Lucca) on the end, or put a smaller pipe next to it. Overall, it looks great, but has some, not quite minor, functionality issues.

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Blog's Commented on

Pipe Smoking Desktop Backgrounds: January 2024
  • ► Love the backgrounds, so I feel bad about griping. However, you really, really need to release the calendar backgrounds earlier. How about releasing everything a week before the new month begins?