Blend of the White Hand
NASPC 2008
For the eighth year, it is again my pleasure to have been asked to "bottle" the special, limited edition pipeweed for the NASPC show in Columbus. I say bottle, because this one was discovered in what appeared to be old whisky casks, so it seems apropos. Every year, I think it's the end of the road, that no more of this rare and wondrous Hobbit weed will be found, but John manages to find something. (Truthfully, I think he drank the whisky, and shoved some old tabak in the casks to cover his tracks. Marathon, indeed.) But, in any event, it's always a good story, is for a good cause, and the tobacco ain't bad, either, as evidenced by the astronomical prices earlier editions have fetched on ebay. I wonder if Saruman is selling his stash to raise money for repairs to his tower…
For this year, it's The Blend of the White Hand. John has quite a story to tell about the possible origins of this one. From the label:
Casks of this pipeweed were found under the Steel Bridge in Oregon, at mile 25 of the Portland Marathon, likely hidden in Middle Earth times by the Urak-hai, Saruman's Orc creatures. It has been skillfully resurrected and packaged in 300 tins of 2oz, and ten of 8oz. Analysis reveals this dark and mysterious mixture to be comprised of fine Cyprus Mountain Latakia, New World Red Virginias, and a bit of rare and exotic small-leaf varieties from the Orient.
Those Urak-hai are some ugly and creepy things, but they do seem to like their Latweed. This blend is similar to last years Fellowship, but a little sweeter, and a little spicier.
As always, my hat is off to C. D. Regan of MaelstromGrafx for his illustrations work. This one is a little scary, even though the tobacco isn't.
NOTE: This blend, like all the NASPC special editions, was produced for the pipe show in Columbus, will only be available at the show. This page is provided for historical purposes only.