McClellan Frog Morton Cellar is rare not only because it’s hard to find, but because of its unique characteristics. Founded in 1825, Chapuis Comoy is the oldest pipe manufacturer still in existence. Situated in the middle of the French Jura lies the pipe mecca Saint Claude, where the first pipes were made out of Erica Arborea root wood, chacom tobacco pipes better known as briar. Innovations in shape and finishes continued from the 1970’s to this day.
One is aware of the capital that is still dormant here, because these bowls are mostly made of old Algerian briar. This wood still has the reputation of the very best smoking quality. Unfortunately, this source is not inexhaustible, because briar suitable for pipe production no longer grows captain black tobacco in Algeria. It was harvested intensively until the 1960s, when it finally disappeared. Seeing a dirty and damaged pipe come back to life makes me extremely happy.
Surely, if you have been smoking a pipe for a while you have no doubt reached the point where you want to try something that’s off the beaten path. So in this guide, the team at Paykoc Pipes will set our sights far afield in order to track down some of the rarest pipe tobaccos that are commercially available, somewhere. Antoine has made it his mission to significantly revise the design of the pipes and increase the quality without neglecting the roots and core business. So Chacom is still in demand today as a supplier for pre-turned bowls, mouthpieces and the execution of complete production processes. Several tens of thousands of pre-turned bowls from old brands that have been taken over are still stored in the factory. Every now and then a series with these bowls comes on the market and enjoys great popularity.
The brand of the pipe was marked on the bowl – ‘Chacom coin osseu’. For a beginner, who most of the time is a dummy, reading all the posts in different forums to learn a general procedure how to do the work is extremely important. In rebornpipes I found a lot of information and suggestions on how to proceed. I prepared a fresh mixture of CA glue and activated charcoal and applied it to area to be filled.
La Bruyere employed over 450 workers, producing 100,000’s of pipes annually for the world markets. In 1945 at the end of the Second World War, Chacom got its independence again and began working on more modern designs with some of St Claude’s more skilled artisan carvers. Various name changes and wrangling with the owners didn’t stop Chacom from becoming on of the biggest names in France, Belguim, Japan, Germany, Scandinavia and America. Christie’s Custom Blended Pipe Tobaccos are all one hundred percent natural tobaccos. Chacom pipes from the storied Chapuis-Comoy & Cie pipe company in the Saint-Claud, France pipe area.
I almost passed it by had it not been for the vendor who was cleaning his case, he was kind enough to say ‘hi’ and ask what I was looking for. He just so happened to have a few pipes hiding in a glass case in the back of his store. The carving looked good but was also too amateurish to me to have come from Chacom who are known as innovators and fine craftsman of great pipes but I thought maybe there would be something. The brand Chacom Chacom, créateur et distributeur de pipes turned up (1934) after fusion of Chapuis-Comoy with La Bruyère.
Following grading, the various stages of manufacture are carried out by master pipe craftsmen. We can recommend Chacom pipes to those pipe smokers who appreciate modern tradition and pay attention to the smoking quality of a pipe. The fact that the pipes are also traded in an affordable price range makes the choice for a Chacom particularly easy. An engineer by trade, he also has a great talent for graphic design and a wealth of international experience, gained in Ireland. Chacom now only employs 25 people in production, which is still relatively high compared to other manufacturers. Antoine looks at the job cuts in the pipe industry in Saint-Claude with nostalgia, but also with an analytical eye.
Puff your pipe slowly and steadily to get a soft smoke without heating the pipe. The tobacco must be packed regularly to maintain a moderate puff and prevent the pipe from gurgling. An average pipe usually lasts 40 minutes (the world record in slow smoking is more than three hours!). If your pipe gets blocked, let it cool down and take another one. Graduated from a Design University, he creates several new models ( Sphère, Vulcano, Monza… ) all modern shapes with keeping the renowned know-how and quality of the CHACOM pipes. Christie Handmade Pipes are hand crafted right in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania with world class craftsmanship by Pipemaker Eric E. Christie.