It’s comforting to know that we still have John to carry on his legacy through these videos. He was such a relaxing story teller and will always be sadly missed. R.I.P Sir

I miss this man. He was one of the first KZfaq pipers I watched when I first started. I’m a young 33 now, but was 27 when I started. Matches, Bradley, and Muttnchop Piper were the three I watched religiously. I still come here to watch Matches’ old videos, feels like I’m listening to my old man telling me these stories. Never gets old no matter how many times I watch them…can’t believe it’s been 3 years already.

I like the way John smoked his pipe. Traditionally “freight training” is not the preferred method, or the proper way to smoke a pipe, but it worked for him which is all that really matters. A testament to the old saying there is no one way to smoke a pipe. R.I.P. ole son.

One of uncles used to smoke nothing but Half&Half,I gave him once a pouch of Harmony by MacBaren...he filled his old weary pipe and after a half a bowl the told me it was crap. Thanks again.

It's December 2022 and I'm loving how soothing all these videos are

Newbie here, Got my 1st pouch of Half & Half arrive Saturday, wich was a sunny cool day in Massachusetts and I had a day of yard work and leaf removal ..seems the stars were aligned! Pouch was sealed and once I broke the seal I was in love with the sweet, nutty, earthy hay like scent.. Damn, I had 3 bowls total and even ditched my expensive red max blower, I was in heaven raking and puffin this classic tobacco! Perfect cut and moisture!

Hi John: Half and Half takes me back o 1967. Bought a big old sandblasted billiard from Arthur Leonard's pipe shop in Portland, Oregon and then proceeded to borrow a bit of Half and Half from my dad's humidor. I can't really remember my reaction (48 years is a long time) but I do remember showing up on campus smoking my new pipe and one of my pipe smoking professors assured me that smoking a pipe would automatically add 40 points to my I.Q., at least in the eyes of those around me. I don't think it really worked but I do remember that Half and Half in those days was considered one of the better drug store pipe tobaccos. Regards, Doug.

Drank miller high life beer! Had cut and scared knuckles from working on his prized machine. My dad was a worker! Never complained about his circumstances. Just worked hard Monday through Friday. Never worried about what other folks thought of him. He is a real man, hard calluses on his hands. Scars from years before. Always had a great story to tell to us youngsters.

I’m a new piper and this is the first comment I put on one of Matches videos. I’ve seen probably 15 or so of his videos now. What a gem this guy was. Everybody’s friend. I want so badly to interact with him but this is just the way it is. I’ve tried about 10 or 12 different tobaccos in the month and a half that I’ve been smoking a pipe and I love them all. It matches his right when he says half-and-half is a bit of an odd duck. The flavor is so unique and I like it very very much. Matches smoked like a freight train, didn’t he? I want to ask him if he smoked this feverishly for his own enjoyment when he wasn’t recording a video. Maybe someone knows this and can tell me. I didn’t know of you when you were still around, Matches, but I feel like I sure miss you buddy. I will keep enjoying your videos.

I have been a pipe smo,ermsince 1986, I have really enjoyed watching, and learning things I did not know from him. He was a real treasure to YTPC, his stories, his reviews, his life experiences he shared, his calm easy going personality all pure gold! I really miss him, even though I never got the chance to meet him. He was such a kind fellow. We are all a little less without him physicqlly with us. Thankfully though, we can still watch all of the treasure that was Matches860! I am ery grateful for that. In this way he is still here with us, just a click away, anytime we want to remember him. That also, is pure gold, and yes I am still,learning things from him. Thank You Matches 860!

This gentleman is a great story teller. Even when it’s just a story without and ending. God Bless

Hi Matches. Just came across your channel because of the Dagners. You smoke in the nicest looking places. Really enjoying how peaceful these videos are. Thanks for making them for us.

I just picked up my first pouch of H&H yesterday and you’re so right about that first whiff when you unseal it...unique and sublime simplicity. After smoking two bowls of it now, it’s going to be in my regular rotation for sure!

White bread and sugar sandwiches. The old man working on his Harley Davidson in the garage. Remember my buddies dad with wheel grease on his hands and then grabbing a glazed donut , eating it ! And the saying Wheel grease ads another layer of flavor. A man ! A true man .

Thank you for your time and sharing your experiences! Another lurker.

Thanks for the review, John. I've seen Half & Half on P&C and have considered getting a pouch but haven't done it yet. Your positive comments make me want to try it.

Thanks for the vid..I've been sitting on a pouch of half and half for awhile now...after seeing this I rushed home and packed a bowl..delicious!

Three classics Matches, a custombilt and Half&Half. Salute! Even a story of a flood is interesting when he told it.

Awesome video john. We share the same thoughts about the past when it comes to pipes and tobaccos. I enjoyed every second of this video. Thanks Regards Mark

Diane plowed over Long Island and took out enough timber to build 125,000 new homes. Love your videos and your video reviews sir. Thank you!

Lovely lovely spot. And a mighty fine pipe :) Glad you got to have some peace and quiet today. Thanks for the mention my friend. Talk soon! Peace

I have tried and enjoyed many tobacco brands and mixtures and Half and Half is my favorite.

Great video...brings back memories of my Dad smoking Half and Half.. Enjoy your smoke!!!

Thanks for the review and the bit of history. Great setting as usual. Lurking in the shadows (for now). Safe Travels.

Thanks again for another great review. I really enjoy your videos because you show just as much enthusiasm for an old blend like Half & Half or Carter Hall as you do for a much more expensive tin tobacco. Half and Half and Velvet are the two "different OTC's" for me. I like them both but more as a every now and then smoke as opposed to Carter Hall which I keep a tub handy. I recently tried John Patton's Moe's Confetti and like it very much. Congrats on all the views, looking forward to your Lurker video. Take care, Phil

Nice review and so is the view over the valley. Really great place to life there. Greetings,, Kitty.

Another fine review Matches! I became a fan of Half&Half about a year ago. I wasn't crazy about it when I first tried it, but my tastes changed and I gave it another shot. Now I smoke it almost everyday. After watching your review of Velvet I'm going to give it another chance. I ordered some the other day. That's a beautiful park you were in.

It's cased/topped with coriander, cardamon, and maze, how cool is that!

He’s like a man thinketh! Just a raw man telling about his pipe and tobacco experience. Love this gentleman!

Haha, long time lurker here. I had a custom-bilt exactly like the one that was from my ex father in law I sold on the bay a few years ago. Interesting pipes that have a history here in Indianapolis. I had s Captain black pipe I sent away for off the coupon on the pouch back in the the 90's. I enjoyed half and half in that pipe. It was wonderful. One day I got brand new a Virginia Colonial long stem clay pipe. I fired that clay up with a bowl of half and half. The horrid taste that came through reminded me of Welch's grape juice but in a bad way. I haven't look back on half and half since but after watching this video I'm thinking about giving it another try but this time in a briar.

I’m smoking some in my Savinelli 673KS Rusticated Tortuga, aka Friday Savinelli, as I’m watching this video! I had it sitting in a jar for two years. Tastes great! Don’t know if it Aged, because it may have some preservative in it, not sure! I would sure love to get me one of those Custombilts! Great video and scenery! Happy Smokes! 💨

Hi John: Thanks for the review, and the history. That's always interesting!! When my father smoked a pipe (which was infrequent; he mostly smoked Chesterfield cigarettes), he would choose this, or Edgeworth RR. I remember that he enjoyed it, when he did, though. Have a fine weekend. Stay clear of the rain. Be Well. Ed

MMMMATCHESS 860.... Good afternoon John happy Friday to you..... Great video as always..... I agree with Joshua great spot...I Appreciate the mention about his videos.. Great Channel great message he has on things..... I enjoyed the story about the hurricane.. I'm a history guy... By the way I love that pipe! I wish I could get one....! Have a great weekend my friend thanks again

What a great video, and what a handsome pipe! Love it. Yes, my own grandfather smoked half and half, and I could smell it in his pipe years after he passed away. Cannot wait for your "tribute to lurkers" video. That'll be a gem!

Love the birthday shoutout, Happy Birthday Matt McGill!

Have been pondering placing some H&H into an upcoming order. Your vid convinced me to give it a go. Thank you and have a great weekend!

I have a small collection of custom built I really like them ..what do you think

Beautiful place for your talk. Thanks for the Half & Half review. I very occasionally buy a pouch for a change. Fruity confectionery flavors is the closest definition I can give for the top note. Except for the black Cavendish, STG/Lane's Ole Shenandoah Bootlegged has a very similar mystery flavor to me.

Hurricanes isn't nothing to play with but I tried half and half for the first time today. Good stuff

Yes, whatever flavoring there is, is extremely subtle, to me. I like Half and Half, and all the other drug store blends, too. But Velvet, not so much. Thanks for posting.

smoking half and half at the moment, though I would just on KZfaq and watch a review or two. Matches pops up as the top video. Damn, I miss this guy. Watched him for a few years and think of him often. I am just going to sit back and have a smoke with my old friend.

Yo John,I just got some Latakia Junction which I don't particularly like,so I put it next to the vanilla cream which I also don't like much .Then I had an idea,I took a pinch of each mixed them together and I love it.Maybe you can do a review on my new blend,what u think?

Relaxing video. I'm doing a little reminiscing myself this afternoon. I'm smoking some Amphora Red in my Ropp Cherrywood. Outstanding!

Looking forward to May 20th! I consider myself a lurker, but I do comment from time to time, and I've made a video or two, with the intent to make more soon after I get over this persistent cold. So I guess I'm not really. Happy Birthday Matt! Early in my pipe smoking career, I tried H&H and I can't say I liked it, but maybe on account of you, I'll go buy another pouch and give it a more thoughtful chance. Thanks for the company John.

i can remember my first pouch of half&half i enjoyed it so much went and bought another pouch and cellered it

Wonderful setting and sounds like a nice blend. Cheers!

Watching your blog and seeing your mustache come and go reminds me of when I grew a lip awning and then shaved my upper lip. I grew a full beard back in 1960, to recognize the hundredth anniversary of Kansas statehood. I liked the beard and stash but I became acquainted with a woman who told me "Nothing Doing" unless I shaved. Always being a man of no principles whatsoever, and being given to frolicking with people of the female persuasion, I hastened to a barber who brandished a sharp instrument and proceeded to bare my soul. When my garnishment had been removed the barber handed me a mirror. Zounds! I beheld what seemed to be a forty-seven-acre upper lip. I immediately re-grew my trimmings and I've worn a beard ever since. I was 24 at the time of "The Great Denuding" and I'm a hirsute 81 now.

Fine video John. So many names I don't recognize in the comments. What a great way to include the "lurkers" I have a few that I encourage to jump in and make a video due to their fine comments. I need to re-visit my Half and Half. Not to thrilled the first time I tried it, but its been in the jar awhile and maybe got a little tastier. Loving the Custom-Bilt. I like so many are on the hunt for one, thanks to Tom, hehehe. Be well my friend, Stephen

a Matches video. Must be Friday! I know what you mean about Joshua. He manages to turn the slightly mundane into a magical event. Great to watch. Thanks for the views from on high and for the extra education.

back to the first Matches video I ever watched

Half Half is about the only " drug store" I haven't tried. I guess we get set in our ways. My grandpa only smoked Prince Albert. When I started smoking pipes I learned how to smoke using Prince Albert. Now I've explored all these different blends, flavors, ect.....I always have a tub of Prince Albert on the desk. Perhaps being a Kentuckian who worked in Tobacco as my first jobs it reminds me of that Burley aroma coming from the barns in the fall. Prince Albert has that same chocolate smell to it. Ill have to check out the half and half soon though.

Another great review bro. I picked up a pouch today, even before watching this review. And was doing some research as well. And your right. Nothing on what the flavor is. I love this baccy though. Stay well and sweet smokes.

Nicely paced video. I think the smell I get from Half n Half is a cherry sort..though not a thorough aromatic, more in the codger line. It took me longest to appreciate of the big 4, those being SWR, PA, and CH, along with 1/2 &1/2 from the days of my youthful experience, which only intermittently took the form of a pipe.

A great tobacco John. Have a nice Weekend. Best wishes from Bavaria. Christian

Half & Half was my grandfather smocked next to his White Owl Cigars. As a new bee in the late 70's it was my first Tabasco.

Ordered a pouch earlier this year and never opened it. You've motivated me to give it try this weekend! Hope you have a GREAT weekend, my friend! +PP

Moin Moin John, having a great trip with my Burgman to Motzeks tobacco shop in Kiel, now i smokeked a pipe and watched Matches 860, tonight I have some drinks with my british frien Alistair. . . . the day can't do any better:-) In 1969/70 when i was stioned with the german navy at the east coast of the US, I smoked only Half and Half. Because the PX did not have anything else. Since that time I cannot stand this tobacco anymore. But still, a lot of smokers love this stuff. So You do:-)) Have good time best wishes Wolfgang

Miss you John 😔

I could hang out and have smoke with this gentleman. Great story teller. I liked the one about the girl. Takes me back to when I was a kid. My girl , that lives behind me two houses down. She was the shit! Wonder where she is now. Roller skates, street lights , block parties. The smell of our old mans cigarettes, food on the grill, the cracks of beer cans opening.

Interesting matches, I haven't tried half and half yet. Based on your recommendation I did get some carter hall and lane ready rubbed. Very impressed with the lane, but the CH was a little to sweet for me. However, 50/50 CH and Lane is a great combo! On another note I tried Peretti 333, now I have the huge jar of Lane RR that's being neglected! Sweet smoke! Kent

Over the years, I've watched many times as an older fella would walk into some tobacco shop I was at, go right past all the great blends we have now days and pick up a pouch of half & half. I often wondered why. I guess I still do lol. It's not a blend for me John...you know me and burley but I sure did enjoy this video of you in the woods! Take care my friend!

Awesome video John and yes my dad use smoke half and half and I do to it is a good tobacco

I just got some for the first time and it’s amazing definatly my favorite otc blend

Nice scenery, grate video.

Out of all the otc pipe tobacco blends which one is your favorite and do you have a collection of yello bole pipes ?

Nice review. Side question. What tobacco do you go through the most of? It doesn’t have to be your favorite, but just the one that you find yourself smoking the most often.

Hello John! Great review - as always! Is it some kind of "good by"? ...because, some days ago, I was at Ronny`s place...and one old man ( he was only smoking Half & Half for over 50 years) ordered a pouch...and we got the information, that STG just shut down the complete production of Half & Half (without any announcement)...so...its not available any more ... at least on the German market... Thank you so much for sharing! And take care, John! Mark

Hi John. I have to admit that I haven't tried half and half yet. So thanks for the reminder. Have a nice weekend, my friend. I am allready looking forward to may 20th :-) Be well Björn

I enjoyed watching this! I was wondering, Is half and half anything like Velvet? That's a nice Custombilt. I finally got myself a couple of them. Good God, they sure smoke great!Take care! Keith

They got a giant tin of this at smoker friendly. I'm wondering if its worth its weight and if it will last cause its like a coffee can. I forget how much it was but im going back today to get some of the house flavors and a whiskey flavor of some sort.

Enjoyed the vid immensely, both for the review and the scenery. Smoked a new Savinelli bulldog with "Bat With a Hat" 'baccy whilst watching. You have a good weekend also, and God bless! ~ Guy

Nice review, i use to smoke Half &Half all the time in my cobs. I never could figure out the topping neither lol. I still have a half a tub in my cabinet. I've always liked the OTC burley blends and like to switch them up over time. I have been on a Granger kick now for a while. Lane has done a really good job on the old OTC blends. The old blender of Half & Half you were thinking of was Pinkerton . I never did care for their version of Half &Half .The lane version is so much better and truer to the original recipe.

i love half and half,the only way i cxan explain its flavor is it reminds me of russian tea

This stuff is so nutty for me, I love it.

Very nice review, John! I do like the flavor of this blend. I do find that it can be a bit on the bitey side though. Do you get that as well, or no? Cheers, Eric

One of my favourite tobaccos that I always seem to have hanging around. It's a toss up for me between Velvet and Half & Half. Stay well mate.

Half and Half - it’s what Grandpa smoked in his old rusticated squat bulldog straight stem sitting on the back porch under the Concord grape trellis. As a little boy I knew I would someday be a pipe smoker...

Back in the sixties Half and Half was the first tobacco I ever smoked. For some reason it left me a little green around the gills. I switched over to Velvet. Might be time to pick up a another pouch since the one I have is probably a little dry by now. Thanks

I smoke half and half almost daily...it has a cherry and menthol flavor..i blend 50 percent h&h 25 percent carter hall and 25 percent sir walter and its really good in my opinion..smoking the blend right now..love it

How did he pass away? RIP

love it, I am still working on what half and half is for me too.

Great video, John. Now I feel like hitting up the smoke shop for some OTC blends.

love me some half n half. great videos man

I believe this to have been one of my grandfather's favorite. I haven't tried it yet

Is it just me or do some of these video's feature gurgling pipes? To me some video's sound like the pipe's need a pipe cleaner run through them but it may be my speakers...

The only drug store blend I see around here is Prince Albert. It is really interesting that I can't find any others around here (Montana). I will keep my eye out for some Half & Half.

Hello John! Interesting video as always!! I do not have a question about Half & Half since we cannot have it here is Quebec (only through tobaconist in the USA), but I have been wondering for quite sometimes how you manage to keep your pipe lit while talking for 10-12 minutes about no tamping!! That has been intruiging me !! Take care!

Master John the Story raconteur.....;-) absolute great ! I smoke Half&Half 1970 . 2 pipes----nevermore. Have a nice Time, Joseph

I've never had any of the drugstore blends, which probably means I've skipped a huge rite of passage as a pipe smoker! I've been looking for that shape of custombilt for the longest. I have to assume that Tom gets them all!

I just had my first bowl of H&H in a cob. Very smooth and mild. No bad after taste. Milder than Carter Hall but I also enjoy CH. I believe H&H will be in my rotation which also includes 965 and English Luxury. H&H lit easily and stayed lit. 45 minute smoke that I enjoyed. Enjoy your next bowl, I know I will.....

My dear friend Matches860. I just receive my package from SmokingPipes. And I have my Half and Half here with me. From my point of view, It taste like smell! Amazing for me. Maybe a poor man blend. Mike Jagger says in cases like this, "but I like it!" Thank you friend for teaching me so many things. Glad to found you here in internet.

John believe it or not I just finished my first Bowl of half and half and it was pretty darn good was just like you said it was very cool I enjoyed it I still think I would pick SWR over this but it would be my second choice I definitely like it better than Carter Hall all the lane Limited RR it's going to be one of my go to tobaccos... Thank you

hey if your ever in northern California check out trinidad real nice work out and a great view of the ocean

I never tried the half & half, I'm interested in giving it a shot. That hurricane sounded like it really messed up Connecticut WOW

great video john

Hi, just like to say, thanks for the details on this blend. I am thinking of buying some off a guy on eBay. Your review has given me more of an insight into what is likely to happen during its smoke. It sounds like a good one for the newbie, like me and others. Your channel is full of descriptive info and the name, how did you come to choose this one Matches860? All the best for 2019, Lee and family.

I swore off Half & Half and Bali shag after using them for hand rolled cigs when I was a kid haha. Now that I converted over to pipe smoking might have to give it another try.

I can't figure out if you are inhaling the smoke or not. You do great videos - keep 'er up. btw, I continue my infatuation with Haunter Bookshop Jim

Im curious on how your review would be on mixture 79??

Enjoy your weekend sir. You've definitely piqued my interest in Custombilts. Recently picked up one in great shape for less than the price of a bucket of KFC chicken, lol.