Finally finished with the cigar smoker’s blend. The new version retains the basic character of the first draft without the overpowering nicotine blast. It’s tasty, smoother than I first expected, and pretty much bite-free.  I’m sampling it to some of our pipe club members, and the response has been good.

Summer must be approaching, since the orders to our site, www.pipesandcigars.com, are trending toward more Virginia and Virginia/Perique blends.  I can also tell from the fact that I’ve had to make over 50 pounds of Anniversary Kake in the last month. Probably the next major product will be a navy flake and a Perique-added version of the same .

I heard back from the gentleman who I had spoken to about the availability of other tobaccos than those I have been using. I am really pumped up about some of the components that I may have access to. There are a number of rare domestic and Oriental tobaccos that I saw, and with some of the items, I might be able to create some new blends that will be reminiscent of older tobaccos that haven’t been around for a while.

We just announced that we will be moving our primary B&M (brick and mortar) location to a much larger building, and there’s enough room that we will be able to move our shipping into the same building, which will make things much faster and more convenient, especially for cigar smokers, as our entire inventory will be under one roof. We will also have a separate area for the tobacco blending, which will streamline things for me. This should all happen by fall, so we’re pretty excited.

For the first time in awhile, I have the holiday off, so I’ll be away until Tuesday, and I’m looking forward to the break after a hectic couple of months. Enjoy a burger and a brew, and I’ll drop a line next week.