I woke up bright & early yesterday morning at 5:30 to make the trek to Columbus for the annual NASPC pipe show. Joel & Dave came along for the ride to experience their first show. We got there about 10 minutes after the show started and started to browse the selection.
My initial reaction was “woah, there’s definitely less vendors here than last year” and that was a bit sad to see. Smokingpipes.com, the old “bag of pipes” guy, and some other great dealers from last year were not to be found. Another disappointing fact was that many of the returning vendors were selling many of the same exact pipes that I was looking at last year. Again this year I was seeking my first Castello, but there really weren’t that many estates present that weren’t there last year.
Enough with the bad news; I’ll get on to the good stuff. Pipes & Pleasures from Columbus was there, and just like last year she had a pipe I simply couldn’t pass up. I picked up an absolutely gorgeous Charatan Distinction with beautiful straight grain. It is incredibly small, but I prefer a small pipe much to the dismay of many of my colleagues. In my typical fashion, I debated much too hard over the decision of what other pipe or pipes to purchase, and in the end I ended up buying a lovely blasted Parker Poker.
Dave picked up two great estate Don Carlos’, while Joel snagged two estate Parkers and an incredibly tiny Kaywoodie Campus with a screw in tenon. We all came home with our pockets full of tobacco samples from C&D and particularly Hearth & Home, where Russ Ouellette was more than gracious in handing out samples of his fantastic blends. I already tried out his ‘Ten to Midnight’ and was blown away by it.
Overall the show was a success, but I think I may start going every other year to see more of a new selection given my experience this year. Well, it’s time to go try another Hearth & Home blend in the new Charatan.
