On Being Cavalier

Updated on Friday, June 26, 2015 at 5:01PM by Neill Archer Roan

Cavalier (Extraordinaire) by Comoy’s

The classic cavalier by Comoy’s that you see depicted above is a rare bird, the only version I’ve ever seen of the shape by Comoy’s. An Extraordinaire, it is a large pipe that is beautifully grained and impeccably made. I acquired the pipe from the Bisgaards, hitting the buy button the minute I saw the pipe. It was only upon receiving it that I realized that it was likely made in the 1950s. It has the old, arched, serifed Comoy’s type stamp.

As with other consumer products, fashion flexes its muscle in the pipe world, too, especially with respect to the waxing and waning of pipe shapes. For example, for a number of years nosewarmers have been fashionable. So have chubby rhodesians. As a result of this year’s Kansas City Pipe Club’s North American Pipe Carver’s Contest, interest may be renewed in the cavalier shape.

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News on my Blue Riband Chicago Show Exhibit and Update on Book Availability

Neill Archer Roan and Jon Guss in front of Blue Riband Exhibit, photo: Mark IrwinA week ago this morning Gary Schrier (my book’s publisher) and I spent the day at our table at the Chicago show with four big cases of books next to my Comoy Blue Riband display. I inscribed the books while Gary sold them. It was really a great experience–one of those very memorable stitches of time that I expect will stick with me forever.

Comoy Blue Riband Exhibit, photo: Mark IrwinThe preceding afternoon, Jon Guss and I presented a session on Comoy, addressing some surprising (and intriguing) results of our research for the book. We had a wonderful audience and a good time. There was food and drink and some great conversation. I felt great about the amount of interest that was shown to my collection exhibit which (immodest as it sounds) turned out to be both lovely and impressive. It is one thing to see three or four Blue Ribands; it is quite different to see 54 of them arrayed in a wide variety of shapes. To really grasp the character of a brand, there is nothing like experiencing critical mass.

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Is there HBO in Heaven?

I spend a lot of nights alone. As I sit here at my fluorescent-lit, formica-topped Hampton Inn desk listening to the air conditioner buzz, I find myself ensconced in yet again one more hotel room in a blurry long line of hotel rooms. I wonder about the fellow travelers hived around me. Is their experience like mine? Are they at home among the silk plants and plain-vanilla bird prints that feebly attempt to offer some succor to the credit-card homeless? Does the business of business numb them more effectively than it numbs me?

Don’t get me wrong. It only reads like I’m grumbling. I chose this life and while I might hate little pieces of it, I love the whole. I’ve been a road warrior so long that I can honestly say that I’ve wondered whether heaven comes with room service. Is there HBO?

Alone comes in many flavors. At home, after a frazzling day, few things are sweeter or more rejuvenating than some alone time. In a crowd - especially a crowd of boisterous friends - alone is a little bit awkward and embarrassing. Ironically, warmth and attention don’t help much; they just make me feel ungracious, like someone with a terminal illness who squirms at compassion. And then there’s motel alone.

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2012 Throwdown aims to reincarnate John Cotton's Nos. 1&2 Medium

The Seattle and New York Pipe Clubs–organizers of the 2011 Balkan Sobranie Throwdown–announce a new edition of the event for the Chicago Pipe Show this coming May.  This year’s competition is the John Cotton Throwdown, featuring John Cotton Nos. 1&2 Medium. 

The John Cotton Throwdown is sponsored by Sutliff Tobacco Company,
an Altadis company.

Do pipe smokers love vintage tobacco blends? If heated pursuits of old favorites on eBay are a reliable indicator, you betcha.

Prices have reached nearly unimaginable levels. Nine days ago, on March 4th, a sealed, full, 2 ounce tin of Balkan Sobranie 759 sold for a whopping $1,325! Although this is a recent high, it is not at all uncommon for 759 to sell for $300 to $700 for a sealed flat tin.

Throwdown Organizer and Emcee Matt GussHow the Throwdown came to be

Great tobacco vintages are highly sought after. It is precisely for this reason that the concept of a tobacco-blender Throwdown was conceived by brothers Matt and Jon Guss. Would it be possible for today’s master tobacco blenders to recreate legendary vintages? If so, imagine how happy today’s pipe smokers would feel to be able to enjoy ready access to them.

Russ Ouellette’s Black House - 2011 Throwdown WinnerIf Russ Ouellette’s Black House or McClelland’s Blue Mountain are among your favorite English pipe tobacco blends, thank the producers of last year’s BALKAN SOBRANIE THROWDOWN. These two spectacular blends emerged from a blending competition that was the runaway hit of last year’s Chicagoland International Pipes and Tobacciana Exposition, aka the Chicago pipe show.

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