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| 26 December, 2001 |
It's been a while since news was posted, and
news there is! First of all, I am very pleased to present some
wonderful pipes by Søren Refbjerg Rasmussen and by Brian
Ruthenberg. Brian is a newcomer to the world of pipe making,
and shows amazing talent. Søren is a veteran, but his
pipes have not been imported into the US for many years. I'm
very pleased to represent the work of these two wonderful craftsmen.
On the tobacco front, Stonehenge
Flake, a joint effort between G.L.Pease and Gawith Hoggarth
& Co., will be released in late January, as will Odyssey,
our latest, fullest Balkan blend. I hope the new year brings
abundant blessings to all of you. It certainly promises to be
an exciting one for GLP! |
| 19 September, 2001 |
On 11 September, America, and the
world, was shaken by the tragic action of terrorists. As I as
I was contemplating the horrors of this event, drifting through
the surreal haze that wove in and out of my consciousness, I
found myself wondering what I could do to help, what we as a
community could do. A lot of people are, and will be, effected
by this tragedy. What can we do? An call came in from my friend
Ernie, back east, asking, why not a tribute blend? A couple phone
calls later, the ball was rolling fast. I called Craig and Patty
immediately, since their crew will be doing the tinning and order
fulfillment. They were instantly ready to go, ready to do whatever
was necessary to get this going. We're working towards getting
the blend out by mid-October. People are rallying with amazing
support. You can pre-order the tobacco from Cornell & Diehl.
(More Details...) |
| 5 September, 2001 |
Well, the NASPC show has come and
gone. Sadly, I wasn't able to attend in person this year, but
I was certainly there in spirit. I made the special show blend
again this year, this one being "Southfarthing," a
fuller English style blend than last year's "Southern Star."
I'm told the 250 tins that were produced sold out quite quickly.
I'm currently working on a couple new blends for general release.
No hints, but they're coming along nicely... On the pipe front,
a few Kents arrived, and many of them sold nearly immediately.
This guy's work is fantastic, and getting better, however that's
possible. I've added a "Gallery" to the Peter Heeschen
page, to preserve for posterity some of his beautiful pipes that
have come and gone. |
| 14 August, 2001 |
My buddy Bear sent me an image of
a fantastic British Airways advertisement. I just HAD to put
it up for all to see! |
| 10 August, 2001 |
I could regale you with endless tales
of my tortuous move, sing my lamentations about having WAY too
many boxes cluttering my new living space, wax proudly about
the new office space that I just completed building, or tell
you that a bunch of new Kent pipes have just arrived. I suspect
I know which thing you'll be most interested in, so have
a look at them... Prices to come soon. |
| 17 July, 2001 |
More BACKORDERS...I've had a little
trouble getting one of my Virginias, but it's on the way, and
I can begin blending as soon as it gets here. I suppose this
should be considered a "positive problem," since it
means the demand for GLPease tobaccos is high, but it sure caught
ME by surprise! On other fronts, I've lowered the prices on some
of the estate pipes. I'll
be putting a few more up soon, as well. |
| 7 July, 2001 |
Everything has arrived, Haddo's has
been blended and shipped, and backorders should be filled within
the next couple of weeks. Let's hope THAT doesn't happen again!
I launched a FAQ page tonight. It's a
little sparse, but I hope it will grow into something truly useful
at some point. |
| 29 June, 2001 |
First, the bad news...due to backorders
of perique, and increased demand, Haddo's Delight is now on backorder.
Many dealers are currently out of stock. I'm really sorry. The
good news is that my perique supplier has assured delivery soon,
(it's on the truck) so the backorder condition will only prevail
for a little while longer. |
| 14 June, 2001 |
A complete redesign of the site.
Pfew! There are still a few things to do, some details to work
out, but it's up, it works, and it's quicker and easier to navigate
than the old one. Best of all, the new architecture allows easier
expansion. I'll be adding more content soon - more articles,
more pipe reviews... |
| 31 May, 2001 |
Caravan is shipped! It will begin
to reach stores next week. I've heard that many stores have backorders
already, so who knows how long it will stay on the shelves, but
I'll TRY to keep the pipeline full! I can't wait to hear how
people like it! |
| 28 May, 2001 |
Some new pipes by Peter
Heeschen and by Kent Rasmussen
have been put on the site. This is a wonderful batch of pipes!
I have also listed a group of Estate
pipes. Enjoy! |
| 18 May, 2001 |
I've added a link (on the LINKS page,
curiously enough) to Jon Tillman's wonderful on-line Tobacco
Review database. Thanks, Jon, for a great service to the
community! |
| 4 May, 2001 |
The new blend is called Caravan,
and there's a page up for it. Things are on schedule for shipment
to begin early June. I can't wait for everyone to have a chance
to try this one. Of course, I'm a little biased, since it's my
newest "baby," but I 'm lovin' it! |
| 1 May, 2001 |
Wow! What a show we had in Chicago!
I managed to get a whole 12 hours of sleep over the 4 days I
was there, but everyone knows I do't go to shows to sleep. There
were too many highlights to list here, but a couple of things
really stand out. Meetng Peter and Kent was a great joy. Peter's
outgoing personality and warmth were well suited to the spectacle
of the show, and everyone loved him. Kent was a little overwhelmed
by the crowds and the attention, but maybe now he'll believe
me when I tell him how much people appreciate his magnificent
pipes - he heard it often enough from others at the show. Another
real thrill for me was the time my friend Toren and I spent with
Tom Eltang. Tom's pipes are beautiful, and his passion for the
art is obvious within mnutes of meeting him. His stories are
wonderful, and I learned a lot about the history of some of the
Danish pipe masters from him. And, then there's Reiner Barbi,
who is always entertaining and educational. He shared his thoughts
on briar and pipe making, captivating a few of us until 4am.
It goes on and on - far too much for this space. Thanks to everyone
who made this show such a wonderful experience for me! Oh, the
Balkan blend was also very well received! Thanks to all who tried
it and commented! Expect it soon. |
| 25 Apr, 2001 |
I'm running about madly in final
preparation for the Chicago show. I'll be arriving sometime tomorrow
evening. I can hardly wait - this show promises to be the most
exciting yet! If you come to the show, stop by for a bowl, and
meet Peter Heeschen and Kent Rasmussen. See you in a couple days! |
| 15 Apr, 2001 |
The Heeschens and the Kents have
arrived for the show. This is a stunningly beautiful bunch of
pipes! I feel blessed beyond words to be fortunate enough to
represent two such extraordinary pipe makers. They are also wonderful
gentlemen, and the friendship that has developed through our
association means more to me than I can say. I'm excited about
the new Balkan blend I've been working on for SO long. I'm now
confident that I'll be able to preview it at the show, and will
be releasing it in May. It's big and full, presenting loads of
Latakia flavor, and lots of wonderful layers from all the Orientals.
Just a bit of Virginia provides structure and balance. Yep. I'm
liking this one a lot... |
| 1 Apr, 2001 |
This morning, I burned my entire
cellar of tobacco in ritualistic offering to Ishtar. The veils
have been lifted, and I have finally found the spiritual truth
I've been seeking for most of my life. So, this afternoon, I
donated my entire pipe collction to the Hare Krisna Benevolent
Society and Thrift Store. I've decided to take what little money
there is in the GLP bank account and move to a small village
in Kashmir, where I will spend my time divided between contemplation
and hunting wid bore using only sharpened bamboo stakes. I'm
sure this news will catch many of you by surprise. But, it's
a new month, and this just seemed like the appropriate day to
make let y'all know what will be going on. You better get what
GLP tobaccos you can now, 'cause shipments from Kashmir are bound
to be painfully tardy, as they must first make it to the slow
boat via Yak train. I'm so sorry... |
| 29 Mar, 2001 |
I've been working on this pet project
for a while, a monsterous, in fact a BEASTLY Latakia/Balkan mixture.
I've code named this one Beelzebub for the time being. I'm pleased
to say it is now VERY close to what I would consider a "finished
blend." The distance between the idea and the manifestation
of a blend is always unpredictable. I suppose, in some sense,
I've been working on this one for about 3 years. It's fuller
than Raven's Wing, and not as sweet. It's really predominantly
Latakia and oriental tobaccos, with just a bit of some red Virginias
to give it structure. It's spicy, full flavored and devilishly
complex. The hard part was ensuring that the flavors would hold
up through the entire bowl! I'm very pleased with the current
prototype, and will preview it at the Chicago show, and release
it some time in May. |
| 1 Mar, 2001 |
Barbary Coast! The labels are done,
the tobacco will be tinned next week! Several dealers have pre-ordered!
It always takes a little while for new ones to get into general
distribution, but I'll be making lots of phone calls over the
next couple weeks...it's a pretty exciting time. And, it's not
long until the Chicago Pipe Extraveganza is upon us. I'm really
looking forward to it. Peter Heeschen and Kent Rasmussen will
both be at the show with me. I can hardly wait! |
| 23 Feb, 2001 |
It's a couple weeks behind schedule,
but the final work is being completed on my newest blend, Barbary Coast. I'm really
excited about this one, and early reviews have been extremely
positive! It'll start wending its way to dealers' shelves within
a couple of weeks! (One of these times, I'm going to get a blend
out on TIME!) |
| 3 Feb, 2001 |
Enough people have asked for my pipe
reviews to be put on the site, so I've done it, and have added
pictures in most cases. Have a look! |
| 1 Feb, 2001 |
It was only a matter of time. After
nearly three years of facing yearly cost increases from suppliers,
I am finally forced to raise prices. I put it off as long as
I could. Effective today, the suggested retail price of all current
blends is $8.25. When you take into consideration the fact that
I pack a full 2oz of smoking pleasure in the tins, which is 13%
more than the now common 50g, GLP is still an excellent value
in the world of premium tinned blends. |
| 29 Jan, 2001 |
I've been working on a couple of
new blends. One is a wonderful Burley/Virginia/perique blend.
I'll be describing this one in more detail soon, and plan on
a February release. The other is a big secret for now....The
editors of Pipes
& Tobacco magazine have graciously allowed me to republish
their reviews of my first
blends, which appeared in the Summer 2000 issue. Thanks, Chuck! |
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