I excitedly purchased this tin about a year a half ago, expecting great things from this aromatic that dawned the name of the pipe legend himself. When I opened the tin I was met with a very powerful fig/fruity aroma. I am sad to say that smoking was not nearly as exciting as the aroma, it was almost tasteless, it about charred my tongue and it seemed to burn very wet. Needless to say I was very disappointed. Almost sure that I would never try it again I put it in the bottom of my tobacco bag and forgot about it. Then about two weeks ago I caught a glimpse of the purple tin and thought, who knows maybe 18 months of aging did something magical to old Sherlock. It sure did! I am now a huge believer in aging tobacco, the tongue bite went away, it had dried out enough to make it a cool smoke, and the taste and room note seemed to even change. The smell and taste reminded my of sitting in an elk lodge with friends. It is musty, with a touch of sweetness. If you are a fan of aromatics like I am, buy some Sherlock Holmes and then immediately forget about it. No offense Sherlock. Happy smoking.
Pipe smoking has been a passion of mine for many years, I love collecting, I love the grain, the different finishes, and the endless shapes. And over the past few years I have always wanted to try my hand at pipe carving, and last month I dove into pipe making head first! I still have a lot to learn, and many mistakes were made, but I was overall happy with the first one, and I can’t wait to start on the next. I’d like to personally thank Ron Fairchild of Fairchild Pipes, Simeon Turner of Turner Pipes, Jeff Gracik of J. Alan Pipes, and Kurt Huhn at PipeCrafter.com for helping me out tremendously through the process. After showing it off to a few friends and my Austin pipe club guys I have about 12 orders! So I will be getting a lot of practice coming up real soon. I’d love some honest feedback and you overall thoughts. Thanks guys……and girls. :)
I wanted to shoot out a quick recommendation list of blends that some readers here at pipe-smokers.net frequent during the Christmas seanson. These are not in any particular order…. Enjoy
Wilke #191
W.O. Larsen 1864
Ilsteds Own number 99 & 66
Mcclelland’s Town Topic
Petersons Sunset Breeze
And of course Boswell’s Christmas Cookie
Leave a comment and let me know what we missed so we can all add them to our Christmas list. Thanks and happy pipe smoking.
This tin is a premium pressed Virginia flake tobacco, and is surprisingly my first try of any McCelland tobacco. I was lured in by the beautiful tin, and the fact that it was the “Christmas” blend. I must say that I was not a fan at all, I think they should change the name to McClelland Ketchup Cheer 2009. 
I know many of you like the vinegary ketchup aroma and flavor of the McCelland tobaccos, but I don’t not like ketchup on anything, and I couldn’t get past that when smoking. I did some reading over at tobaccoreviews.com and I think I need to put this stuff away for a couple of years to let it age and then give it a try. Question to my readers: does the ketchup aroma, and vinegary flavor mellow with aging like I’ve been reading? What are your thoughts of McClelland blends?
In a beautiful 50g tin, the Orlik flake comes in long rectangular slices. Upon opening the tin your hit with the aroma of the natural sweetness of the Virginias’ and and like many others say it’s also a bit musty, with a slightly hay or grassy aroma. The tobacco is cross-cut, which gives it a great visual appeal in the tin, it also flakes apart easily and has a soft texture. Golden Sliced flake was very easy to light, and keep lit. This was actually my very first flake and thanks to Dubinthedam it was very easy to pack into the pipe using his method. Thanks Dub!
Now what about the smoke….. it was light, simple, cool, and sweet in flavor. Is was also a very very dry smoke, the taste is a pure tobacco taste with no hint of casing. My only complaint here is that the room note is not pleasant, it smells like cigarettes, which is never a good thing in my opinion. I’ll defiantly finish this tin and most likely get another, it is a great break for an aromatic smoker. My next flake Peterson’s University Flake is on its way and I’m expecting good things. I’ll keep you posted.
Recently I came across the work of J. Alan Pipes and I was blown away! This american pipe maker is truly an artist, I stumbled across him via his twitter account where he keeps his followers updated on his pipe making journey, all the way from sketches to the finished product. I encourage you to check out his work. And J. Alan if your reading does this count for a free pipe? :) Keep inspiring us and keep smoking.
From Start to Finish:
Amazing!
From his web site:
Art has always been part of my life. Drawing with first crayon and paper as a toddler, pencil and paper as a child, and later with paint and canvas as a young adult I was regaled with stories of my grandmother and grandfather, both amateur and passionate artists, and my famous cousin, Andy Warhol.
Perhaps it was blood, but I am convinced it was simply a passion for the creation things—new things, strange things, beautiful things—that ultimately led me to buy two blocks of briar and pre-formed stems during my first year of graduate work in the field of theology. Guided by what little snippets of information that could be gleaned from books and the internet I completed my first pair of pipes with borrowed tools on the wooden floor of my in-laws’ home over Christmas break. They were not very good, but I was falling in love.
I had made several pipes with the helpful guidance of Tyler Beard’s online pipemaking tutorial, he informed me that he was beginning a forum in which pipemakers could gather to share information. This was the beginning of what is now Pipemakers’ Forum, an active online community that is home to all interested in the process of pipemaking.
The following summer I was introduced to Todd Johnson, who generously invited me to his New Haven workshop to teach me about hand making pipes. The rest, as they say is history. His lessons took, and I have been making pipes ever since. Upon the completion of my studies in theology in 2006, I have made pipes my sole vocation.
As with any artist, we are influenced by the world surrounding us. At the beginning designs are inherently mimetic as one explores the medium and designs to which he has been exposed. I am no exception to this process, and am grateful to those whose work has been so influential to the development of my style. I remain an avid student of pipe shapes, consciously studying and being inspired by the work of Jess Chonowitsch, Lars Ivarsson, and Bo Nordh in Scandinavia, Cornelius Maenz in Germany, Todd Johnson and Jody Davis in the United States, and Hiro Tokutomi, Kai Gotoh, and Takeo Arita in Japan. Nevertheless, my work remains my own.
Pipe design is a careful calculus of influence and originality within a fairly restricting medium. It is my desire to continue exploring new territory, simultaneously paying homage to the great artisans of the past and present. As collectors and enthusiasts, you are part of the story as you enjoy, encourage, and collect my work.
After a lot of hard work and a lot of pipe smoking on my back porch, the new pipe-smokers.net is live. I hope you enjoy it! I’d also love your feedback in the comments section with your thoughts. Thanks and happy smoking.