James and Nick welcome Noel Rojas of Rojas Cigars to the podcast. Noel discusses growing up in Cuba: from working on tobacco farms at a young age, to his military service, and why he went back to tobacco. He gives us an in-depth look into his career in tobacco from Cuba, to the US, and…
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Eli Manning got two superbowls rings, both against the dynastic Patriots and the most successful quarterback of all time, before his more famous older brother – but if you hear about the great quarterback Manning, do you not think about Peyton first? Northwoods is the Peyton Manning of Boswell’s English tobaccos. There are nine English…
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Brad Pitt is never going to win a Best Actor Oscar. Plain white rice tops very few lists of favorite foods. And you rarely see Red Virginia all by itself in a tin of tobacco. These are all things that are good in ensemble but alone tend to be rather dull. There are just a…
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When you are a collector sometimes something lands in your hoard that your hand just shies away from when you look for something new. Maybe it’s a bottle of brandy you bought despite being a bourbon and scotch only kind of drinker. Or you ended up with one, or more likely twenty, games in your…
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I don’t believe I’ve reviewed a Scottish Blend on Simply Stogies yet. Scottish blends don’t get much notice. Scottish blends aren’t even advertised as such. Are you a fan of Dunhill (now Peterson) 965 or Seattle Pipe Club’s Plum Pudding? Well, you like Scottish Blends. A Scottish Blend is simply an English Blend – Virginia,…
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For the Holidays many of us treat ourselves to something a little special. A bottle saved for the occasion. Of course sweets, snacks, and several good meals. If you go pure Victorian, Christmas Oranges. And maybe you’ll pull something from your tobacco chest to help you celebrate. I’ve broken into my rarities cabinet and stolen…
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With the turn of the weather I step back from a pretty steady stream of Virginias to reach for something smoky, so I reach for…Sutliff? For those surprised by my confusion, when you’ve smoked a pipe for awhile you notice that each blending house has a reputation for certain kinds of blends. C&D is known…
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Frequent readers will throw up their hands and ask ‘What! Another Brown Virginia?’ New readers will ask ‘What even is Brown Virginia?’ As we’ve found in previous reviews, Brown Virginias are another name for Orange Virginias, which are in the middle of the stock, above the yellow Virginias at the base, and below the Red…
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For many pipe smokers, Cornell and Diehl, despite their 400+ blends, equates to strong burly blends. Haunted Bookshop, Big’N’Burley, Old Joe Krantz, and their Burley Flakes are recognized for being bold, rough and tumble, and unapologetically strong. However with 40 burley blends and counting, there is a wider range of flavors C&D offers. Among these…
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Growing up my family traveled constantly. We drove from the east coast to the west, from the gulf to Edmonton, up and down the rockies, blue ridge mountains, catskills, and sierras. Invariably we’d pass a truck stop that was bustling and my mom would say “Must be good if they’re that busy”. Solani Virginia Flake…
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Stay smoky, friends.