I dream of a Bang…

A rainy day somewhere in Australia….dark clouds and biting cold. A real treat! Not often do we have this much rain….glorious and wonderful…time to smoke a pipe!

Raiding my tobacco cellar, and among all of my latakia and english blends were two tins of danish tobacco! I haven’t had aromatic tobacco for a long, long time, perhaps today would be an apt time to marry the aroma with the scent of rain and wet grass…so after much deliberation, out comes an irish pipe, a Peterson’s military spigot in the 999 shape. I wish I have a danish pipe to go with this tobacco….much to my surprise, a lovely flavourful blend from W O Larsen….Old Tradition…a beautiful tin, excellent presentation.

The usual trepidation in the unwrapping of the packaging, breaking the seal and a whiff of the aroma. Yummy! What is this? I have not remembered enjoying an aromatic this much….I was expecting disappointment, having read the damning reviews from tobaccoreviews.com regarding this blend. Did I have an exceptional batch? A mis-labeled tin? I am almost ashamed to admit that yes…I truly enjoy this….was this the beginning of a new adventure into the world of aromatic tobacco?

I puff slowly, concentrated and controlled….allowing the thin smoke to fold after itself in layers, before rising to the gods. I close my eyes to savour the flavours, dissecting in my mind the flavouring….placing a finger on this and that….I give up. I am just going to enjoy this, without judgment or reservation.

Now I turn to my pipe….a trusty Peterson…not a high grade but a solid performer. I have taken this pipe to places that may be inconvenient to smoke a pipe (pubs…the bush), and it always delivered a cool flavourful smoke each time. I clean it painstakingly after every smoke, careful not to leave any dottle, hell, even any residue if I can help it…as much as two or three pipe cleaners soaked in vodka will alow. I appreciate how it can be dismantled without a care and chucked into a pipe bag…a pipe worthy of the battlefield indeed.

But having smoked this offering from W.O. Larsen makes me want to marry the same tobacco to a danish pipe. I am sure that there are far better tobaccos out there….but today, this tobacco sings! I have started to wonder what danish pipes are all about….not having one in my mini cache of tobaccania.

Looking at the myriad of pipes out there, I chanced upon an image of one by S. Bang….a beautiful bent freehand with a double band and ivory shank…a beautiful piece. At the price, I can only dream. I hope the person who owns one of these appreciates it as much as I would…sigh.