Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where I lived for 40 years before moving to Israel. I still work in NYC, so needless to say my "commute" is quite unconventional (although COVID made that a lot easier!).

I started smoking a pipe in my late teens and, over the years, gravitated to cigars for the better part of the next few decades. I picked up my pipes again once in Israel and discovered that my bi-national presence gave me the advantage of a cellar with great US-based labels (e.g., C&D, GLP, etc.) as well as many others (e.g., Samuel Gawith, Rattray's, etc.).

I've used this incredible site so many times for researching new blends to try that I finally bit the bullet and created this account so that I can finally weigh in on some of them myself and "pay it forward" to others who might be looking for new blends—or even just new opinions!

Wishing all my fellow pipe smokers good health and good smoking! (Yes, I recognize the irony in that, but hey... you can all surely smile at and appreciate the irony yourselves!)