Hello all,

I am not to ashamed to say that when it comes to classifying a pipe or blend of tobacco i am fairly ignorant.

I was wondering if their were any decent books that will explain the classification of pipes and tobacco's, sort of an encyclopedia if you will.

If you know of any worth checking out please let me know.

I think every pipe smoker, especially a new one should read "The Ultimate Pipe Book" or "Pipesmoking in the 21st Century" by Richard Carleton Hacker.

Excellent books!

Mr. Tweed,

There are numerous internet articles on pipes... such as

http://www.fujipub.com/ooops/pipeshap.html

as well as tobacco...

I'll see if I can find a few for you

Actually, why not visit

http://www.glpease.com/

and enjoy the various articles. Most would say you can't go wrong with the thoughts or his tobaccos.

Thanks! These sites have helped a bunch and i've already ordered the ultimate pipe book.

Thank you both for the suggestions.

A must read is Milton Sherman's "All About Tobacco", which is generally available on line for under $10.00 (used). To make it better you can access it on-line for free, with photo-reproduction of the pages and a must frustrating (many typos) typed text. [Thank goodness the photos are there to clear up the typos!]

Go to:
http://tobaccodocuments.org/nysa_ti_s1/TI56720085.html?pattern=&ocr_position=&rotation=0&zoom=750&start_page=1&end_page=75

Topics include types of tobacco, curing, blending, smoking characteristic, etc. including and up to and including typical pipe tobacco blend recipes and how to buy a pipe. (It also covers cigarettes and cigars.)

Here is what Sherman has to say about the use of "casings" in tobacco:
"English law prohibits the use of artificial flavorings and hygroscopic agents in the manufacture of tobacco products. Practically all processed American tobaccos do contain a hygroscopic agent, plus some casing sauce, however light it may be, and this will be the closest that a pipe smoker in the United States will come to a "pure" tobacco.
"...Pipe Tobaccos Manufactured in the United Kingdom EI,~GLISlt pipe tobacco manufacturers, by virtue of restrictions placed on them by the government in the matter of casings and flavorings, must of necessity use the finest grades of leaf tobacco procurable.
"...It is estimated that less than half of one percent of the weight of any given brand manufactured in the United Kingdom is composed of flavor- ings, as contrasted with some brands manufactured in the United States in which easing sauces constitute as much as 25% of the gross weight of the tobacco product, or in the ease of Dutch tobaccos, as high as 35 %. In view of the preceding paragraph, it is apparent that in order for a manufacturer in the United Kingdom to put a brand on the market, he must not only use the finest tobaccos available but also must have a great deal of skill in blending, to give the consumer a product having an excellent taste, pleas- ant aroma and good burning qualities. "

Ever why Dunhill and other English manufacturers moved their production off the island and to places like Germany? Wonder why your Dutch tobacco seemed so "wet"?

As was suggested I believe that Hacker's "Ultimate Pipe Book" should be considered the bible for new pipesmokers! This volume helped launch my own intrest in pipes and tobacco and I still occasioally revisit it from time to time.

Now, please buy it (through amazon, alabris or e-bay as it's outta print) read it and await further instrustions as to what books you should read next!

I have read somewhere (I'll look out for the citation) that the Lakeland blends use actual plant material to achieve the "floral" component of the taste as contrasted to a "casing", which is an added artificial flavouring.
But the British "Tobbaco Purity Law" was repealed in the 1980's, so that American tobaccos could be sold in England. Sorry I omitted that in the first post. It should be why the difference in the older productions. I guess we all know its not the same any more.

D.P.G.

In the process of re-reading "The Ultimate Pipe Book" to prepare a review on a new forum I am involved in, and it is a good book. Interestingly dated with its comments which so obvious predate today's anti-smoking laws; the assumption that Balkan Sobranie would be available anywhere at any time(oh that were true); and perhaps a bit naive with his comments about no pipe smoking criminals before Watergate
That picture of Herman Goering in his liederhausen with pipe pops to mind.

But a lot of good information and not just for the beginner.
Having read your book list posting I would love to spend a couple of afternoons sorting through them.

Al (in Canada)


DEFINITION: A "rare" book- " a book that's lent and is returned"

Before Hacker, et al, there was The Gentle Art of Smoking by Alfred Dunhill. Still the comprehensive treatise on the subject.

Al in Canada!! I completely agree about Milton Sherman's 1978 book, All About Tobacco ! He is particularly clear on what made English blends English: English Law. (The regulatory elements he quotes, by the way, were all abolished by the Margaret Thatcher government in the 1980s.)

Sherman was himself a blender and importer and he is particularly good on how and why tobacco is manufactured/processed in specific ways. His book is indispensable.