There are only so many books on pipe smoking. While the vast majority are fantastic, many tend to cover the same topics: material types, break-in strategies, packing methods. You know, the necessities. I am incredibly grateful for those that have taken so much time to help illuminate such issues, but it’s not always what I’m looking for when I want to read about pipes.

That’s why I could not resist when I saw Mark Irwin’s book about pipes in the Lord of the Rings (and only ten bucks!).

According to the back of the book, you should “Pack your pipe with your favorite blend, sit back and enjoy the first thorough exploration of Middle Earth’s pipes, tobaccos, and pipe smokers. Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth recounts the way Tolkien literally frames his Saga in smoke rings, then devotes subsequent chapters concerning what can be known and what can reasonably be inferred about pipeweed or leaf (tobacco), the pipes of Middle Earth, smoker’s equipage (or accessories), the fellowship of the smoke ring (the pipe smokers of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) and the art of blowing smoke rings. It concludes with a complete concordance to every reference to pipes, tobaccos, and pipe smokers in Middle Earth.”

This tiny book, a mere 112 pages, is absolutely jammed with information about the pipes enjoyed by the hobbits, dwarves, men, and others who populate Middle Earth. Mr. Irwin clearly did a great deal of research, including citations for every single instances that he mentions. He even went to far as to analyze the recent movies (though I would hazard to say that he wasn’t the biggest fan).

Pipe Smoking in Middle Earth covers many topics, from the smoking habits of individual characters — a group Mr. Irwin affectionately calls the Fellowship of the Smoke Ring — to the preferences of different race, Tolkien’s own pipe, and even a page or two helping people learn how to blow smoke rings, an absolute necessity if you’re going to survive in Middle Earth.

Mark Irwin does not pull punches in his critique of Peter Jackson’s depiction of the books, particularly on the issue of pipe smoking. His main qualms seem to be about the amount of pipe smoking shown (not nearly enough) and the types of pipes shown (not accurate). Irwin cautions, however, that many others exaggerate the amount of pipe smoking in Lord of the Rings and that it is important to find balance.

The second half of the book is primarily references, where Irwin pulls out of the books (including The Hobbit) the most important mentions of pipe smoking and quotes them directly. This is very helpful for someone like me who has a Lord of the Rings related pipe-project going with Stephen Downie. One of my favorite parts of the last half of the book was a correspondence between Tolkien and a pipe-smoking fan, where the fan asks for more information about the pipes and tobaccos in the books, only to receive a classic Tolkien response.

The short book does repeat itself from time to time, giving the impression that the chapters were written independently, without regard for the content of the previous ones, thus leading to needless repetition. The book itself felt a little rushed, lacking some of the proper editing that will come with further editions.

On the whole, this little gem does a wonderful job wading through the sometimes never-ending writing of Tolkien to find the information concerning pipes and tobacco. If you’re a fan of Lord of the Rings or just want to learn more about pipes in popular culture, you should not pass this book up. After all, it will probably only take an hour or two to read!

On the 20th of February, we pipe smokers gather together, sometimes literally and sometimes just in spirit, to raise a bowl and celebrate International Pipe Smoking Day.

This might seem peculiar to anyone outside of the hobby, just as I am sure Dress Up Your Pet Day seems strange to anyone not obsessed with putting Fido in an Ewok costume (but that would be awesome).

International Pipe Smoking Day (IPSD) is really quite simple, though. Pipe smoking is rare now, very rare. We are fortunate enough to have online means of brotherhood and some of us even find solace in the monthly pipe club, where fellow Brothers of the Briar gather, talk tobacco, drink freely, and laugh loudly. On no other day, however, is there such a feeling of a world-wide family.

More than the mushy-gushy, transcendental stuff, IPSD allows us a time to sit back and appreciate how much this simple item can bring joy and peace into our lives. A simple piece of wood, combined with plastic (or rubber or some other material), stuffed with a dried, combustible plant manages to bring us such immense amount of happiness. That is what IPSD means to me: appreciating how much joy these pipes, pipe-makers, tobacco blenders, and fellow smokers bring into my life every single day, even if they don’t know it. To all of you who are at all involved with the world of pipes: thank you. It would be hard for me to express how much you have improved my life through your hard work.

Smoke on, my friends, and have yourself a happy, healthy International Pipe Smoking Day.

The pipes looked like they were floating there.

I was walking down the lanes of the Chicago Pipe Show main room in May, 2012, with Lauren by my side. Near the table of Cornell & Diehl, there was a table with a number of drool-inducing pipe stands, with pipes held on by magnets. I won’t lie, I don’t remember much about the pipes on that table, nor do I remember much about the person behind the table.

Months later, I found the card for the artisan who created those stands and started hearing his name more and more: Grant Batson. Grant’s name wasn’t being mentioned because of his pipe stands, however, but because of his pipes. Since November, I have become enthralled with Grant’s work, gobbling up almost anything that he has to offer. I have also realized that he is an incredibly talented and kindhearted man. Even when he’s had a rough day in the workshop, I can always hear Grant smiling over the phone.

It was while in college that Grant was first introduced to pipes. “In 1995, I was in college, and thought pipe smoking would be a cool hobby.  I’m terrible with times and dates, but I do remember that one of the very first pipes I bought was during a missionary trip to Uganda.  It was a solid hand-carved pipe made exclusively from Gaboon Ebony.  I also began collecting (bordering on hoarding) pipes from ebay.  I had fun finding little gems in assortments of estate sales.”

After graduating with degrees in PR/Marketing and Spanish, Grant took his years of woodworking experience, combined it with his passion for music, and started the Batson Guitar Company with his brother, Cory. Grant and Cory not only created a successful company, but a highly innovative acoustic guitar that is extremely popular with many guitar enthusiasts.

Recently, Grant Batson changed his focus. He has turned the guitar company over to his brother and has started to hone his skills in pipe making. I was shocked to discover, after owning and being very pleased with three of his pipes, that he has only been making pipes since April, 2012. In less than a year, this man has learned the craft and has found incredible success, with his pipes being sold on some of the most esteemed high-end pipe websites around.

Though both guitars and and pipes involve woodworking, it might not seem like the most natural transition for a craftsman. When I asked Grant how guitars and pipes related, he mused that they are “very similar industries. Pipes and guitars are both ‘functional art’with huge collectibility.  The tooling for the manufacturing of these is vastly different, but both take both sides of your brain to pull off, if you know what I mean.  For me, pipe making is much more enjoyable, as the science is relatively simple.  The art portion leaves much more room for creativity.”

This room for creativity has led Grant to discover a signature shape within his first 100 pipes, even if he didn’t mean to. The blowfish is a shape that seems to be only increasing in popularity and allows for a great deal of artistic license. Grant Batson’s unique creation, however, is quite different from any other rendition that I have seen and I would imagine H.P. Lovecraft would have loved it.

He calls it a “Tormented Blowfish”. No, this is not a pipe that has many personal demons. Rather, the blowfish has more sharp edges than the typical, rounded shape, and features roughed, gnarly outlines. I find this rendition of the blowfish to be attractive and captivating, mostly because, much like the accentuated outlines in comic book art, the rusticated edges emphasize the flow of the lines that otherwise would be more difficult to appreciate.

When Grant was designing my individual TBF, he seemed ecstatic, yet anxious at the same time: ”The grain on this one makes me not want to rusticate it.” That had me a little nervous that the grain would be totally obscured, but my fears were unfounded; in actuality, I found that the rustication emphasized the splendid grain. Grant’s other last minute addition was the red stem: brilliant! I was also surprised by the incredible amount of tobacco that the bowl could hold. While smaller than my Ardor giant, the chamber is still enough to occupy me for a fortnight!

Now, the pipe might appear slightly cumbersome at first. Initially, I struggled to find the most comfortable grip, as a result of the little fin that sticks out on the side. Once I found the right hand position, however, it became a very comfortable pipe.

As a result, Grant has recently found himself overwhelmed with commissions for his Tormented Blowfish, or TBF. Grant seemed quite surprised by the shape’s recent popularity: “a good client of mine in Wisconsin, requested a blowfish that looked a little dark and evil.  So, I rusticated the edges or lines of it, stained it gray and black, added deer antler (Jim, the client, is a big hunter) as the shank ring and put a funky stem on it.  The Tormented Blowfish was born.  Since then, I’ve had more orders for the TBF than any other shape.  Crazy.”

As a testament to the high quality of Grant’s work as a whole, and his Tormented Blowfish specifically, Dustin Babitzke is one of the TBF’s biggest fans. As perhaps the world’s foremost blowfish collector, and one of my closest friends, I hold Dustin’s opinions on pipes and the blowfish shape in extremely high regard. Here are his comments on Grant’s work and his own Tormented Blowfish:

When I hear the word Tormented the last thing I tend to think about is Pipe Smoking. In general, our hobby is a fairly stress free one where we go to tear ourselves away from the torment and stress of day-to-day life. So when I heard that a pipe maker I’ve had my eye on since last May had made a “Tormented Blowfish”, I had to find out what was happening.

Grant Batson came on my radar last year at the Chicago show. Todd Johnson had been telling me for months that Grant was going to be the next big carver. I was intrigued and upon meeting Grant, instantly realized that this was a guy I could get along with. He’s a heck of a guy and an amazing Luthier. He showed me a guitar he had made and I was blown away. Then he pulled out a pipe stand that instantly captured my heart (and my pocketbook). The man obviously had skill as a wood worker, but as we all know, knowing how to work with wood does not a pipe maker make. With my limited budget at the pipe show I opted to just buy the pipe stand and not purchase any of Grant’s pipes (a mistake in hindsight, but read on).

So as the months went by I kept receiving updates from Grant on new pipes he had been working on and the pipe makers he was getting training from. I watched his carving skills emerge and his eye for grain was impeccable. And then, on a fateful day in Autumn, I saw the Tormented Blowfish, a combination of sandblasted and smooth briar with a gnarly finish around the shank. I had never seen someone capture the beauty and grain of a pipe with such a fearsome and rugged look.

(Photo by Dustin Babitzke)

Being a Blowfish fanatic, I find that many makers seem to think that any old crossgrain apple can be called a Blowfish, but Grant realized that the Blowfish needs an organic look and feel that captures the spirit of Lars Ivarsson’s original concept. It should look alive and almost ready to swim out of your hand. Grant captured that perspective perfectly. I was awe struck and on the phone the next morning to Grant. Within two weeks a package arrived at my door with the Tormented Fish ready to be lit.

Before I speak of its smoking characteristics I have to mention the pipes outward beauty. Weighing in at less than 60 grams, the first thing I was surprised by was the feel in the mouth. The button was comfortable to clench, the balance was perfect, and the awkward weight I usually feel from the bowl of a Blowfish was not apparent. Both side panels of the pipe feature gorgeous birdseye so he left both smooth to showoff the grain. He then blasted the rest of the pipe with a deep blast that brought out the crossgrain on the bowl and then amazing tight birdseye rings along the shank. He finishes the shank off with a deep black stained piece of briar Plateaux that has been made to look almost burned or charred. The overall appearance is a pipe that has been through the flames of Hell and back and survived the journey. But upon lighting a new story erupted.

I packed it with one of my favorite tobaccos, Blue Mountain, and struck the charring light. The draw was perfect, not too much but little to no resistance. The engineering could not have been better if Cornelius Manz himself finished the pipe. Through an entire 1 hours and 7 minute (yes I timed it) bowlful I was transported not through Hell, but through a Nirvanic bliss that words cannot do justice. No relights, no gurgling, no nasty pipe water in the mouth, nothing to ruin the enjoyment of this sweet pipe ever emerged. At the writing of this article I’ve probably enjoyed another 50 or so smokes with a similar experience. How could a pipe maker with less than a year of pipe making under his belt do something this wonderful? He’s damn good, that’s how.

I love to buy pipes from new makers and love to chat with them on things I would do to make the pipe better. I love watching new makers emerge and improve their skills. But with Grant Batson I have no critique, I have no tips, I have no requests except put me on your commissions list right away, I’m ready for the next one. For anyone considering what Artisan Pipemakers they should be putting their “must-buy-from” list this year, Grant needs to be #1.

Here’s another reason that I — Ethan again! — would add Grant to your list: plateau. Those of you that have read a few of my pieces might know that I absolutely love plateau on a pipe. When I first started inspecting Grant’s work, I noticed that many of his pipes featured a decent section of prominent plateau.

“I love plateau,” Grant said happily. “I’m a country boy and love things rustic, raw, and real.  Whenever I’m able to leave plateau on a pipe, I do.  Not only does it look great, in my opinion, but it serves as a reminder to me of where this shiny, expensive luxury item came from: dug out of the earth by hand and thrown into a wooden wheel-barrow.”

Grant’s appreciation of the rustic is clear in his work, but so is his experience with making musical instruments. The result must be functional just as much as it must be beautiful. “If it don’t smoke great, it ain’t a great pipe.  Grain Schmain.  And I love grain.  Shapes are fun, too, but smokability is the only real factor of importance, I think.  The stem should be comfortable and the draw should be open.” I can testify from personal experience, Grant’s opinion on the importance of engineering is clear in the smoking quality of his work.

This particular pipe that you see to the right is one that Grant made even before he made my Tormented Blowfish. It is a gorgeous sitter with a good deal of Japanese aesthetics. Slight asymmetrical, it leans to one side, as if it is attempting to burst out of its perpetual seated position.

I’ll admit, I kind of feel bad sharing this with you. Grant is a remarkable artist and I have no doubt that he will quickly become a universal name in the pipe world. Until then, however, I feel like being selfish and hiding this genius. But I can’t (dammit). If you have not checked out Grant’s work yet, I highly recommend you do and keep an eye on this guy.