Holidays Are Here

That's right the holidays are here. We started off with Halloween, then Thanksgiving and now we are heading to Christmas and Hanukkah. All three holidays speak of gratitude and the art of giving.

The gift is the expression of gratitude for a friendship, a job well done, a family member or just the expression of caring for a special someone.

If you want to be lavish look to the Italians and the French. They are able to give with

sophistication and exquisite design. The Germans are good engineers, so what they make is created to last. The Japanese too have developed great skills in engineering and packaging. Their gifts are among the most sophisticated. Apart from the real big stuff like cars and anything with motors the gifts handed to friends, family and clients are treated as personal projects.

For us here in the US, the DIY is big on the Santa list. But if your friend is a smoker, like so many of mine, I still like to give them something related to their hobby. Depending on the pocket, you can go from a box of cigars to the great holiday samplers. Ashtrays are great ideas and we've got several for the outside patio, as well as for the interior. We've just got in a great line of beautiful humidors! The prices are beautiful too!

If your intention is in the right place you will find the right gift, which will make your friend or relative happy. From a few bucks to hundreds of dollars, there is always something for someone.

What about the guy or gal who has everything? No such thing! With these guys we need to use our noggin a little bit more. Be creative... cook, bake, sew, carve, sculpt, etc. People who have everything would go nuts if you give them a single cigar with a miniature bottle of cognac!

A gift certificate for their favorite store or restaurant. Even just a special dish accompanied by a great cigar will make their day!

The pipe smoker is most of the time the person that thinks outside of the box. He or she is the thinker. Therefor if the gift has had some thought put in to it so much the better.

6 Days Until Turkey day!

Thanksgiving will be the 1^st official day of the up coming holidays when we “officially” (well most of us…) go off our diets and “officially” over do it! In Food, drinks, cider, mead made of apples (very renascence), stout beers, rum concoctions… starting with the spiced rum! The best recipe is from Emeril! I love Eggnog! Who doesn’t! People stuff the bird ever which way, from the traditional stuffing to chestnuts, truffles, caviar and so on… And please don’t mention the pies… Apple, pumpkin, mincemeat, strawberry, peach, banana, if there is a fruit there is a pie for it.

Not to mention the smokes…. On the pipe side all the nutty and fruity aromas are a great welcome with the cold weather. Chocolate, caramel, sugar and spices from all over the world.

Villiger / Stokkebye came out with a line of great tobaccos to compete with some of the tobaccos of Dunhill line. It’s called the 1888 line, and we already have it in store.

1888 Early Day would correspond to the Dunhill Early Morning

1888 After Dinner would correspond to the Dunhill Night Cap

1888 Late Night would correspond to the Dunhill My Mixture 965

Then there is the 1888 Mid Day and the, which has been a smash hit! Everywhere I look on the net, people just raves about this blend! We have it!!! Lol

And last but not least the 1888 Cocktail Hour, which is a very mild blend. Perfect for the occasional puffer or for the beginner.

Macbaren has the 7 Seas line: Regular, Royal, Black and Gold. All aromatics

On the cigar side all the companies have their cigar samplers out! Ashton has two: the VSG sampler and the Classic Ashton.

The makers of Montecristo have the Classic Montecristo with an ashtray, The H-Upmann with ashtray, the Romeo Y Julieta with Ashtray and the Operation Hope Selection with a torch lighter. Great buys and selections for the holidays!

We have our own Miami cigar! The Cuervo Rojo! Red Crow for the English tongue …lol. A great medium smoke at an affordable price created in Miami by a Cuban master for Benningtons.

So whatever we will be eating or drinking these holidays I always recommend Zino Davidoff’s advice. Smoke less but smoke the best, which I think also fits for everything else we do in life… Long Ashes all....

Jim

How much does our environment influence us...?

Mary Tolkein

JR Tolkein was influenced by two important people in life. His mother, who was a teacher and had Tolkein reading in Latin and English by the age of 12. She passed on to him her love of books. After her death Tolkein and his brother were raised by a country priest in England. The good father gave Tolkein his love of pipes and good tobaccos. Which of course appears in the characters of the “Lord of the Rings”.

Father Francis Morgan

JRR Tolkein

Who then shapes our lives? In my family, the love of pipes and tobaccos came from my paternal grandfather, my father after he opened our smoke shop. At the time more of a pipe shop, with “some” cigars, imported cigarettes, hand crafted pipe tobacco (by us), briar made pipes, lighters and so on.

My father had been in retail most of his life and decided to open a smoking shop in St. Armand’s circle in Sarasota. Located in the North West side of Florida. He called it Bennington Tobacconist. A nice old British name with a stout ring to it. Had a crest made for it and the smoke shop “Bennington’s” was created. He knew nothing about pipes, tobacco or cigars except for how to smoke them…lol But he knew what was good customer service, which was the basis of any retail business.

In those days, boxing promoters, writers, armed forces offices, professors, baseball players, gangsters and politicians were the characters in our society who appreciated a good cigar (Cuba didn’t get kicked to the curb until 1961), or a quiet thinking bowl of tobacco.

I firmly believe that our environment pushes us somehow to do or to walk the same paths as our parents, mentors or even best friends.

The terms… “ the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree…” or “cut from the same cloth” sums up in a few words the history of most families…

Long Ashes………..

Jim Bennington

Where do they go from Here?

What is the attraction of the cigar and tobacco events for the cigar or pipe smoker?

Once a cigar smoker becomes an aficionado and a pipe smoker a collector, the next step is to visit a cigar or pipe event, locally, which will usually be sponsored by a cigar or pipe (or tobacco) company at a local smoke shop or cigar (or) pipe club.

Smokers at the Big Smoke in Las Vegas

This will give the smoker the opportunity to deepen his or her knowledge of the hobby of choice.

- How are cigars made?

- How are pipes made?

- Are there other kinds of woods used in pipe making (other than briar)?

- What types of tobaccos are used in a cigar?

- How are pipe tobaccos grown?

- How are pipe tobaccos treated?

These are just some of the many questions these serious smokers make.

The next step up, are the national events or trade shows. In the cigar world the cigar smoker is not permitted in the inner sanctum. But there is one national event, which

happens once a year, one in each coast. The Big Smoke. Today a $250 ticket for one evening or $550 for the weekend. Marvin Shenken, publisher of Cigar Aficionado magazine could never imagine that this event would last so long… 20 years after the amazing “Big Boom” of the cigar industry. The Big Smoke is celebrated in Las Vegas and in New York. In one evening the cigar smoker can go home with at least 20-premium hand rolled cigars, samples of high-end spirits in miniatures or experience the sampling of fine wine and champagne at the liquor booths (different vineyards, vodka, scotch and brandy manufacturers) and the sampling of great food from the best local restaurants.

For the pipe smoker, it’s about the pipe makers and the tobacco blenders.

If the pipe smoker steps back and forth from Aromatics to English tobaccos or Non-aromatics, the smoker will then enjoy a nice variety of different blends. But if the smoker is an appreciator of English or non-Aromatics only, the smoker will tend to prefer one or two blends at the most. It’s the nature of a non-Aromatic smoker. Very true to his or her tobaccos!

Each hobby has its various collector’s objects and tobaccos, and as each person finds a personal pleasure in its use, the smoker will share it and find other ways, places and moments for its appreciation.

Raffle winner at Pipe Club Meeting James Schneider & Neerup