July 3, 2013

Awesome Austria

View from our Austrian holiday-house on the Dachstein-plateau

Grüß Gott! After a relaxing two weeks I am back from holiday. Because my girlfriend Ellen and I have not been on vacation last year because of financial reasons we really wanted to go this year. But to where? At first I was thinking about the cottage in the south of France where I have been before. But actually I wanted to go to Austria, the country where I was conceived (my parents went their yeeaars ago and my mother came back pregnant).

Our holiday-house

So the search began but it was a lot harder than I thought. A wide range of holiday houses, yes, but all (far) above or below our budget with no shower, electricity etc. Eventually I gave up. After fruitless having browsed through a lot of websites France was once again a good option. A little after New Year the movie “The Sound of Music” just had been on TV and parts were filmed in the Salzkammergut region. I did one last search for a holiday house in that part of Austria and finally found a picturesque cottage outside the town of Bad Goisern! And it fit all the “requirements”: budget, remote location, quiet, traditional appearance, toilet, shower and hot water. Only thing: no internet .. Oh well, I like to read so with some books I was sure I could bide my time.

The pipes that made the trip

The evening before departure it was time to pack. Clothes and toiletries were sorted out quick enough, but pipes and tobacco… On my holiday to Belgium two years ago I took almost every pipe and tobacco with me that I owned back then. This year I gave it some thought. From what I could see the weather would be nice so the tobaccos I would be smoking the most would be Virginia’s, VaPers and aromatics. And perhaps some latakia in the late evening. In summertime my use of the dark leaf is very low. So some of the tobaccos I took with me were Capstan, Luxury Bullseye Flake, Germain Medium Flake, HU Tobacco Olaf’s Favourite English, My Own Blend Arno Mixture 665, Sweet Vanilla Honeydew and Planta’s Black Vanilla Mixture. A couple of months ago I bought some new corncobs at Aristocob with my vacation in the back of my mind. They smoke well, can take a beating, if one is broken or lost it isn’t a big deal. So, ideal. Further I brought along three of my favourite latakia pipes, two Dunhills and one old Peterson. Those pipes gave me a big scare by the way. When we left it was approximately 18°C in The Netherlands. When we arrived in Austria a heatwave just had begun. So the first days it was about 35°C! When I wanted to smoke one of the Dunhills late on the second day I saw to my horror that the pipe had begun to sweat. There was moisture on it and the black of the ebonite stem was fading. Both the Peterson and the other Dunhill had the same. Luckily I remembered that wood is subject to temperature changes. Travelling orchestras with wooden instruments often have difficulties to keep those in shape. The next evening the moisture was gone, the stems were black once again and they smoked great. I had no problems whatsoever with my corncobs.

Inside our holiday-house

One of the advantages of the holiday-house was that indoor smoking was allowed. Well, actually I did not ask if I could light up a pipe inside but there very clearly was an ashtray on the table. Also the owner paid us a couple of short visits and he could not have missed pipes and tobacco lying around. He said nothing of it. Luckily Austria is a pretty tolerant country towards smoking. Where the rules in Germany recently have been tightened up (Grrr…) their Southern neighbour keep things pretty relaxed. Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed public spaces with certain exceptions for eating and drinking establishments. A law from January 2009 mandates that all restaurants, bars, discos, and pubs larger than 50 m² must either be non-smoking or introduce separate smoking rooms. Below 50 m² the owner has the option to make the establishment a smoking or non-smoking place. I really wished the Dutch government also opted for this, just let the owner decide. The Austrian smoking ban has been a subject of controversy. This because the rules are widely ignored by bar owners and are not actively enforced by the authorities (just as it is in The Netherlands).

Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi)

In Bad Ischl Ellen and I went to the Kaiservilla, the summer residence of Emperor Franz Joseph I (of Sissi fame) which he described as “heaven on earth” for himself and his family. The Imperial Villa was also a stage on which the great powers of the 19th century carried out their diplomatic manoeuvrings. It was here, on July 28th 1914, that Franz Joseph signed the declaration of war on Serbia thus starting World War I and changing the world.. I looked at the desk in his office on which he wrote that ill-fated piece of paper and to my surprise I saw on the right something that looked like a small meerschaum pipe. It turned out to be a long cigar-holder because when the Emperor was working he did not like smoke in his eyes. Well, well, Franz Joseph smoked!

The Emperor’s cigar holder

Of all the monarchs of his time, Emperor Franz Joseph I was perhaps one of the most modest as far as his personal needs were concerned. His daily routine was strictly regulated (he got up every day at 3.30 AM!) and his private life was free from any extravagance apart from the occasional visit to the theatre and the pleasures of the hunt (you can see MANY stuffed animals in the Kaiservilla). He drank and ate only in strict moderation. Nevertheless, he did have one vice: smoking. One Ketterl, the emperor’s personal servant, reports this in his memoirs: “When the Emperor sat alone with Count Paar in the train compartment, intercourse between the two was limited to the creation of huge billows of smoke, with the result that emperor and general adjutant were hardly to be distinguished any longer in the thick fog of tobacco smoke”. Tobacco had already played an important role for the Austrian monarchs long before the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. The first Habsburg to appreciate the financial advantages offered by tobacco was Leopold I. In 1670 he needed money in order to fund his expensive hunting excursions. Count Khevenhüller, his Grand Master of the Hunt, suggested leasing the monopoly for the cultivation and sale of tobacco to him to cover the imperial hunt expenses. From then on (whatever the personal preference was for tobacco of the individual rulers) the tobacco monopoly was placed under varying degrees of state control. Joseph II eventually decreed an exclusive state monopoly over tobacco production in 1784, thus founding the Austrian Tobacco Monopoly (Austria Tabak). But because of European Union requirements it was partially privatized in 1998. Austria Tabak was acquired by Gallaher, a member of the Japan Tobacco International family, in 2001.

A Tabak Trafik sign

In Austria you can buy tobacco in shops called “Tabak Trafik”. They are a point of sale for (of course) tobacco products, newspapers, magazines, stationery, postcards and other small goods. In Vienna, for example, these can be parking tickets and tickets for public transport. Only Tabak Trafik shops are allowed to sell tobacco products at the regular price. Only when there are not enough shops available in an area, other businesses get a sales permit. Since restaurants and gas stations refer to the Tabak Trafik prices, pubs are at least 10% more expensive. I visited every Tabak Trafik shop I could find in Bad Goisern and other nearby towns. And I found that their pipe tobacco assortment was somewhat.. Disappointing.. Maybe I am used to the well-stocked German tobacco-shops. Ok, it is wonderful that those little Austrian shops have pipe tobacco in the first place. But they only sell pouches from brands like MacBaren, Clan and WO Larsen and some shops carry some of the Dunhill tobacco tins. I could only find one positive exception in Bad Ischl. There was a Tabak Trafik which had some Wellauer Latakia and a couple of Rattray tins. I also saw a pouch of DTM’s Sweet Vanilla Honeydew. I never knew that was sold outside of the Danpipe store in Europe. Tobacco is pretty expensive in Austria, only just below the Dutch prices. As far as pipes goes I also grumbled somewhat. A couple of souvenir pipes and a few shops in Salzburg had some Vauen and Savinelli smoking gear. Also pretty expensive..

Souvenirs from Salzburg

When Ellen and I were in the beautiful city of Salzburg we walked into a fantasy/souvenir shop. Besides cuckoo clocks, swords and tankards they also had some nice ashtrays. Since I have something with skulls I bought an ashtray with a skeleton inside. Smoking is lethal right? But I still wanted a pipe.. On the Mozartplatz there was a Tabak Trafik which had some souvenir pipes made by Salzburg-based company Kemperling. They all were (yes you guess it right) expensive and not really well made (some plastic pieces) so I picked the cheapest one. A nice looking pipe with an engraved Edelweiss flower and the word “Salzburg”. And I don’t know what got into me, I really must have been tired, but I forgot to haggle and paid the full price of €34 ($44). Waaaay too much for a pipe I could not even smoke. The stem was made of cheap plastic and the smoking channel.. Well.. The drilling was off and it was so narrow I could barely put a pipe cleaner through it.. But back home it looked nice in my pipe-cabinet! Really!

My girlfriend Ellen and I

All in all the two-week holiday to Austria really had been a total blast. Apart from two days of rain Ellen and I had beautiful weather and we saw and did lots of things throughout the Salzkammergut area and a bit beyond. If you visit the region do not miss Salzburg, Bad Ischl and Hallstatt. If you travel a little further go to the Admont Abbey with its stunning library and take a day-trip to the awesome panoramic Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Auf Wiedersehen!

February 2, 2013

Precious Penzance

Penzance

Background information: The range of Esoterica tobaccos was founded by Steve Richman, the owner of the Piedmont Tobacconist in Oakland, somewhere halfway the 1980’s. He was looking for someone who could produce his blends. Tobacco company JF Germain and Son on the British Channel Island Jersey heard about his interest and made contact through the British embassy. They must have been what Steve Richman was looking for because they started doing business together immediately. For the evaluation of the created blends Steve Richman founded a panel in which GL Pease also took place. The tobacco about which this review goes, Penzance, was fashioned after Smokers Haven Krumble Kake (which was already made by Germain). The only difference was that Penzance contained more latakia. Later Steve Richman found that just running his business was enough for him and he wanted a bigger and better distribution for the Esoterica range. So he sold everything to Mike Butera who, according to mr. Pease, did not change the recipes. In 2009 Butera Pipe Company’s entire line of pipe tobacco blends, plus the rights to the Butera Pipe Tobacco names, was sold to US distributor Arango Cigar Co. Yes, the same company who now holds the right to the Balkan Sobranie name in the US.

07.30 am on a weekly day. *Beepbeepbeep* I awake startled, set off the alarm and smack a few times with my mouth. Jeepers! What a smell, what did I do yesterday? My sleepy brain sits down to work. What did I ate last night.. Noodles with chicken. No it’s not that. What have I been drinking? Water from the tap, it’s not that. Did I do certain things with my girlfriend Ellen? Yes but no, not that. Oh wait! I remember! Yesterday I smoked Esoterica Tobacciana Penzance! The tobacco that you enjoy extra long no matter what you eat and how well you brush your teeth.

Package: The by JF Germain and Son on the British Channel Islands made Penzance comes in two packages. 1. A tiny gold tin of 2 oz. with a label that could be printed on a standard house, garden and kitchen printer. 2. An airtight bag in which the loose tobacco occupies 8 oz. Personally, I use a tin which I fill up with Penzance from the bigger bag when it is empty.

Contents/composition: “Finest English mottled flake” says the tin. It is a wonderful complex secret recipe of the finest Virginia, choice Turkish, Orientals and Cyprian Latakia. All hand blended together, hard pressed and broad cut into thick flakes. This is what they call a crumble cake (no not THE Krumble Kake) and it is a rightful name. The tobacco already crumbles when you shout too hard at it: Clan (by Theodorus Niemeyer) is the best tobacco ever!!

Smell from the tin: Wow, uhm .. Fierce, penetrating, leathery, earthy. If you know the smell of a freshly ploughed field when it has just rained just know what I mean. Seasoned pipe smokers who can not smoke in the vicinity of their girlfriend / wife, you simply have to smell it to get a kick out of it. I think that when you leave it half open on the ground it would make a fine ant-exterminator.

The old press at Germain in which Penzance is made

Taste: The first time I lit it, I just thought: Whoa! Greasy smoke and flavor! Latakia! You can say that other tobaccos are coffee but this is espresso. I also tasted an after-taste that I could not place until a number of pipes later: salty licorice (a candy in Holland)! Not that that dominates in a nasty way, it actually belongs to the whole experience. The smoke is very smooth (Penzance will not bite even when you step on it) with ever present Virginias waving in and out and hints of orientals coming forth halfway the bowl. A class act from the creators! According to Robert Germain the secret is the time that Penzance stays in the press: 14 days. Disadvantage, oh well, disadvantage, depending on how you look at it, the taste lingers in your mouth for a loooong time. As described above, you have fun of it the next morning and afternoon. Avoid actions and intimate conversations with family and colleagues.

Combustibility: The flakes are very moist / oily. It is recommended that you let them dry out a while before smoking. The flakes from the large 8 oz. bag are even more wet / oily. Once you’ve lit the pipe they burn a long period. I lit a pipe at the beginning of a soccer match. At the end of the match I was not through yet. Life can be good.

Roomnote: Too bad the tin is so small. Otherwise they could have added: This tobacco scares away mosquitoes, birds, rats, nagging wives and door-to-door salesmen.

Miscellaneous: The tobacco crumbles easy so filling the pipe is even for folks who are not used to flakes not too difficult. If the pipe is filled you need to gently treat the tobacco and when smoking don’t tamp too hard. If you are too heavy handed with the tobacco, you get a wet lump at the bottom of the bowl. Talking about the bowl, I discovered that this tobacco tasted the best in a somewhat larger, relatively shallow bowl. I liked Penzance best in a prince model pipe. That is when you give the tobacco the opportunity to really shine. As for the vitamin N, I found this tobacco to be spot on. It makes me nice and relaxed but without any side effects.

Price: Penzance is very difficult to obtain, and that is going on for years now. Occasionally a small shipment is sold in a (online) tobacco shop but when the great crowd of Penzance enthusiasts discovers that, it is sold out in no time. If you have the luck to be there on time than you pay for a tin ± $ 10.15 and a bag ± $ 28.95. Of course you can often buy Penzance on ebay, but those prices.. *pheww* And as it takes longer for a new shipment to arrive, the prices only get higher..

Conclusion: Because of the scarcity of the tobacco people begin to make comparisons with Balkan Sobranie and Bengal Slices. There is great fear that Penzance also disappears (Ok, Balkan Sobranie is back now). Although that is not true and there is no evidence for it. The thing is that there are so many fans that JF Germain and Son can not keep up with the production, they are only a small company. But the large fan base does point out one thing: This is good stuff of great quality! Not for everyday use, but if you’re sitting on your own in the evening in your living room or porch without having anything to do, Penzance is your best friend.

Oh Penzance, my Penzance,
What penitence I pay for my Penzance.
And yet what puissance I have for my Penzance.
To hold and to love, to long for and to wait,
As my pince-nez falls, I note:
For where there is a presence, there is Penzance,
A renaissance of prescience required,
Fore there shall I wait, for my penitence
For my love, my Penzance.

February 2, 2013

Humble Beginnings part 1.

Young me with a pipe.

As far as I know I always had a fascination for pipe smoking, even in my younger years. I think because of 2 family members and the father of a life long friend of me who practised the “art”.

An uncle (who I really looked up to) of me smoked pipe. He was (and still is) a very intelligent man and studied anatomical pathology which he practised at the hospital in Groningen in the far North of The Netherlands. Being a well respected and well earning doctor he lived together with his wife and some dogs in a large house in a picturesque town nearby the hospital.
As a kid my parents and me visited him once every 2 years and for me it was a big happening every time. I grew up in the fast urbanizing town of Uden in the South of The Netherlands. The journey to the peaceful and quiet North with it’s still almost unspoiled nature felt like going to another country.
My uncle and his wife spend their evenings reading books, painting and listening to classical music. They did not have television and that fact flabbergasted me as a child. No TV?? Whaaat?? I can still remember my uncle sitting on the sofa, fuming away on his pipe (often a straight billiard) while at full volume listening to The Bolero of Maurice Ravel. I was impressed.
He did take his pipes everywhere together with his favourite tobacco: Amphora. Walking, cycling, sitting, I always saw him smoking.

Another member of my family who smoked the pipe was my grandfather. Well, actually he was not really a member of the family. He married my grandmother several years after my real grandfather (who I never knew) died.
My grandfather looked like a relaxed kind of guy to me who enjoyed life. Besides smoking pipes and cigars he also liked to drink Dutch gin once in a while. Typical things to do for old men in those years.
Because of his pipe smoking I always called him “opa van de pijp” (grandpa with the pipe) and it was from him that I got my first pipes: A plastic Falcon rip-off and a nice small pipe with a metal cap on it. See the picture below.

First pipe given to me by my grandfather.

Of course I was way to young to smoke but playing with the pipes was fun. Nowadays people would be shocked when they see a kid playing with a pipe but in those days it was pretty normal. Unfortunately I do no longer have the pipes my grandfather gave me. The Falcon rip-off got lost and the one with the metal cap broke and I threw it away..
I can’t remember which tobacco my grandfather smoked but I guess something like Voortrekker or Clan which were very common tobaccos in those days.

The father of my long time friend.

The father of a life long friend of mine also smokes pipe. As a kid I visited them often but I can’t remember him smoking in the house. Probably because his then wife (he is divorced now) hates smoking. But the times that I saw him puffing away he smoked Amphora in a straight billiard.
Nowadays I don’t see him very often any more because he moved to Brasil a long time ago. But just a couple of days ago I met him at my friend’s place. He is moving to America for a couple of years because he found a job there and had to finish off some business here in The Netherlands.
Of course the subject of the conversation soon steered towards pipes and tobacco. To my surprise he never liked the typical Dutch tobaccos. “Blah, too sweet!” he said. “But why did you always smoke Amphora?” I asked. “Ha! Because it was the cheapest tobacco that was widely available.” Later I asked him about his pipes. I remembered him smoking Big Ben pipes. “Oh I don’t care about brands. I just care about the shape. I want a straight billiard with a large bowl. Preferably as cheap as possible hahaha!” Later he asked me if I could mail him some good online tobacconists in the States. “You will be delighted when you order there” I said. “In the States the assortment of natural tobaccos is far better than in The Netherlands. And besides that, it is a LOT cheaper then here..”. So yesterday I mailed him all the info he wanted. Very interesting because he can buy tobaccos for me in the States that I can’t buy from here hehehe.

This story continues in Humble Beginnings part 2.

Dutch Pipe Smoker

Tag Archives: clan

Awesome Austria

Precious Penzance

Humble Beginnings part 1.