Saturday at the Hut - 2/19/11

Sammee! (click to enlarge)

Congratulations to Joe and his wife Val! They have a new addition to their family - Sammee! Their new bundle of joy is part corgi and yellow lab and was adopted just today. Joe e-mailed me the picture tonight and I showed it to Paula who promptly said that she needs to adopt him from Joe and Val, he's that cute. I don't think that Sammee's new parents are going to let him go, so our house will remain a cat-only household for now. Anyway, enjoy your new puppy guys!


Joe actually didn't stay too long at The Tobacco Hut today as he had just gotten the puppy and was anxious to help Val get Sammee settled into his new digs. Maybe next week he'll bring Sammee to the Hut for a meet and greet! By the way, Joe, when you come next week, we're running low on the peanut butter pretzels!


Ed B came earlier in the morning but by the time I arrived around 12:30 or so, he was getting ready to leave for the day. It was great weather for Ed to be driving his orange Jeep around town, too. Finally, we're getting some average temperatures. Today was a perfect day to be outside, so I naturally chose to spend most of it inside at the Hut.


The only other regular to show up was Adrian a little later in the afternoon, but more about that later. We had two new customers who found Lou via his website. One of the gentleman was visiting from Chicago, Paul F. I think the other fellow was his brother-in-law, or friend, or something, and unfortunately I didn't catch his name. But Paul purchased a cigar and stuck around to enjoy it. He's also a pipe smoker and we chatted a bit about all things pipes. Chicago has some world-famous pipe and tobacco shops, including Iwan Ries & Co., one of pipe smoking's meccas. With over 15,000 pipes in stock, you can tell why I drool a bit just thinking of it. Every pipe smoker should make a pilgrimage there sometime in his life. Unfortunately, I haven't made mine yet, but someday. BTW, Paul, I hope you can make time in your trip for another visit to the Hut!

My Mauro Armellini Fatte A Mano
(Click to enlarge)

Today found me puffing on a Mauro Armellini filled with Tinder Box Reserve 1928. I purchased the pipe from a Tinder Box in Savannah, Georgia back in 2005 and it has always been an excellent smoker. Mauro Armellini was a self-taught pipe carver who worked for Savinelli before opening his own studio in Italy in 1960. Although there are no distinguishing marks on the pipe to indicate when it was made, my guess it was made by Armellini himself. He passed away in 2004 and since then his daughter Wilma has taken over the business, not only the administration of it, but crafting the pipes as well. Whoever made it, hats off to you for carving a beautiful pipe!

Mauro Armellini
(Click to enlarge)

Lou informed me that Bret came in earlier in the week to pick up the pipe I gave to his son, Blake. Lou had cleaned and sterilized it and got it all ready for this new smoker. I hope you enjoy it, Blake, and hope to run into you soon at the Hut to talk shop!


As I mentioned, Adrian arrived a little later in the afternoon, and it didn't take long for the chess rematch to begin. I had lost in our last meeting over the chessboard and was eager to avenge my loss. Adrian was just as eager to add a second victory to the records. Adrian brought a beautiful marble chess set with him (probably looking for a home court advantage) which we played on. I sometimes have trouble playing with highly decorative chess sets, like Revolutionary soldiers or Middle Earth pieces, but the men weren't overly stylized and stayed pretty close to standard Staunton pieces. 


How did the game go, you ask? We started off fairly even, although I picked up two pawns early on. Being up those two pawns would prove decisive much later in the game, but moving into the middle game it didn't make much of a difference. In fact, Adrian had his pieces doing a full court press on my king's position and I was getting more than a bit nervous. After quite a few tense moves, I was finally able to drive his queen back to a defensive position and could go on offense. In the end, we were exchanging pieces back and forth, and my two extra pawns proved to be an overwhelming advantage. It was an excellent game and really could have gone either way for quite a while. Can't wait 'til next week, Adrian!


Cheers!
 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 2/6/10

I had received a new shipment of tobacco from the Tinder Box this week, as I was out of my favorite tobacco, Reserve 1928, so I was quite eager to light up a pipeful of it today. I arrived at The Tobacco Hut, greeted Lou and Joe K, and promptly filled my Mauro Armellini and lit up. What a fine combination...this part straight grain and part flame grain pipe burns the Virginia tobaccos in the Reserve 1928 so smoothly and evenly, every sip is a treat.

As usual, Joe was struggling to keep his cigar lit, complaining loudly to Lou about stems and whatnot and trying mightily to wrangle a free cigar from Lou, but no dice. Methinks it's just operator error.

Peter and Steve arrived after awhile and we talked about, in no particular order of importance, politics, women, and sports. The Two-Kidney Boy Wonder, James, called in for his weekly dose of abuse, and he was amply rewarded by Lou spitting out a string of epithets that would embarrass a sailor. Apparently, James is coming into town in a couple of weeks and he and a buddy are taking Joe's boat down to the Everglades. Joe doesn't know too many details, so we are left to assume that this is probably some sort of gun-running adventure James has embarked on.

At around 4:00, Barry came in complaining of Swine Flu-like symptoms. Of course, he mentioned this after he shook everyone's hand. As of this writing, I'm feeling okay, but I'm sure I'll wake up with a fever.

Knowing that Barry is a big Emmitt Smith fan, claiming that he was the game's best running back, I had done a little research comparing his stats with Jim Brown's. In overall yardage and rushing touchdowns, Smith is clearly the leader. Of course, he also played far more seasons than Jim Brown did. I think it's more telling though that Jim Brown averaged 5.2 yards per carry vs. Emmitt Smith's 4.2 yards. Jim Brown is also the only player to average 100+ yards per game. Also, according to NFL.com, Emmitt Smith fumbled the ball 38 times while Jim Brown never fumbled.

In all fairness, Barry brings up a reasonable objection to that last statistic: perhaps the NFL didn't keep such statistics while Jim Brown played the game. But I'm happy believing that Jim Brown never fumbled the ball and Emmitt "Butterfingers" Smith couldn't hang onto it 38 times.

Finally, Sporting News named Jim Brown as the greatest football player to every play the game.

I must say, Barry did a fine impression of Peter whose arms tend to be overtaken by demonic possession when he gets into heated debate mode. And Barry regaled Steve with his story of meeting Derek Jeter. It is a good story, and one that has been reported here in an earlier blog posting. It's also worth noting that Peter and Barry actually agreed today on bit of sports opinion. I can't be sure exactly what it was, because if it doesn't involve the Cleveland Browns or Indians, I can't be bothered with paying close attention.

Joe didn't witness the late afternoon frivolity as he had gone home to take a nap.

By the way, as the irregular visitor to the Hut may not be aware, Lou & Dotty are looking to sell the shop. It is with a heavy heart that I report this, as it means a weekly way of life for me could come to an end. My wife is not happy about it either, as it could mean I will be underfoot for her on Saturday afternoons. Things are still up in the air at this point, but I wish Lou & Dotty well. 


Until next week...


 - Bob

Saturday at the Hut - 7/18/09

Today saw a pretty good sized crowd at The Tobacco Hut - some of the Saturday regulars were missing, but some infrequent visitors are becoming more regular. As long as they spend money, Lou doesn't mind!

Joe K is still dodging icebergs on his Alaska cruise but we expect him back next week. Hopefully he'll bring pictures and video to show and some cool stories about how he narrowly escaped the jaws of a polar bear.

Kevin S was there (the guy who made Lou the table), his friend Tom, their friend Paul, as well as Darryl G, Ed B, and fellow LEO Scott. With three cops in the room, the stories were about as thick as the smoke.

Speaking of smoke, I heard an interesting story on Joe's favorite news source, NPR. It was titled "An Industry Icon's Quest for the Signature Cigar", about Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, a third-generation cigar maker in Miami. The creator of the La Gloria Cubana cigar is on a quest for another "hit", this time with Nicaraguan tobacco. It's a great article that can be read or listened to, and offers a lot of positive press about cigars at a time when it's desperately needed.

Today I smoked some Tinder Box Reserve 1928 in my Mauro Armellini smooth finish pipe. The flame grain and birdseye is particularly nice in the briar and the tobacco smoked all the way down with just a couple re-lights. I bought the pipe at a Tinder Box in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago and it has never disappointed.

Until next week...cheers!

- Bob