juanmedusa":fleb8dga said:
I'll know more in mid October. There's a 4th Generation event at the local b&m in early October.
The local shop did have the 4th generation event and I was in attendance! Firstly, I can confirm what Dave said in terms of Erik being a good guy. He was very nice and I enjoyed talking to him. A pleasure. Now the really important stuff.
The accessories: They had accessories in versions. Black and a kind of more natural leather. To me, the natural style really appealed. It was available as a zippered tobacco pouch, a tobacco roll up, a larger bag that can accommodate several things including some pipes and tobacco. There was talk of a one pipe bag with tobacco pouch combo that has a magnetic closure coming into the shop but wasn't present at the event. Personally, I am considering making a purchase in this line. But again, not in the black.
The pipes: They come in several shapes with each shape corresponding to a year or generation much like the tobacco offerings do. Erik explained that the pipes were made by Peder Jeppeson in Denmark. I would then imagine they are comparable in some way to Neerup pipes. I was not going to purchase a pipe at this event so I did not give an intense inspection to them but would expect them to be engineered like their comparable Neerups. Of which I have none. I did look at the shapes and finish and thought there were a couple of cool shapes and the finish and appearance of the smooths was very nice. I did not care for the exterior of the non smooth pipes personally. Not looking to buy so I didn't check prices.
The tobacco: I have had the 1931 flake in the past and thought it was very nice. I echo the positive comments already in this thread on that one. Dutch, I'd give a tin of that a try just as a change of pace to Navy Flake if nothing else. I'd be shocked if you couldn't get through it and you may find you like it. The blend that Neil mentioned above, 1855, I took the opportunity to sample and quite enjoyed. It had the appearance most similar to what I remember MacB's Virginia Number 1 to look like. I don't smoke that stuff by the pound like some but when I get the craving for a nice broken flake of blonde Va I'd pick up the 4th Generation offering to scratch the itch. I also sampled the 1982 which is an aromatic blend with the addition of cubes of navy flake and scented with French Vanilla and Blackberry. This is a blend after my own heart. The aroma happened to appeal very directly to my tastes and the bit of flake in there may make it strong and interesting enough to hold my attention. I really liked the bowl of that I had but require some repeating before I know if it's as monumental to me as I hope it may be. The other tin worth mentioning is the 1897. An aromatic blend with rich vanilla and honey. It's aroma really drew me in so I have a tin to try but have smoked none as of yet. And such is my experience with the 4th generation tobaccos, I have two aromatics which I have hope to enjoy and give me aromatic options. Further research necessary on those. And two tobaccos, the 1931 flake and the 1855 broken Virginia flake which I think are good solid tobaccos. I would at least pick them up occasionally as change of pace tins or something to send of that someone may not have tried but may enjoy.
These are my thoughts and really reflect the impressions all the offerings had on me personally. I wasn't trying to give reviews of each thing. So try not to look at it that way because frankly I did a piss poor job of that. Enjoy!