Is It Just Me?

Absolutely. FVF is a pure conundrum to me. One time it is the best tobacco I have ever smoked, and the next time, meh. Every time I have a transformative, earth-shattering experience with FVF, I go back and analyze exactly what I did in terms of prep, flake cube size, drying time, what pipe I used, etc., with the hope that I can replicate that experience the next time. It is a finicky harlot, but so worth the effort.

Allan
I also have the same issues. Can be very frustrating at times!!! I am always thinking what time of day, what am I drinking, what did I eat, etc..... O well that's what makes this hobby so much fun I guess!!!!

Alan you are not alone. I find that as the day goes by the more latakia I want in my pipe.

Great post allan. Just yesterday I was thinking of starting the same post. I believe I made the comment before on a previous post stating that I didn't think Mississippi River was a good as reviewed. Yesterday I fired up another bowl and WOW, I couldn't believe how good it was. Thanks for the post and you are not alone.

I think a lot of the inconsistency could be in smoking technique. If you pack it too loose or smoke it too hot, that will affect the flavors dramatically. If you smoke it in a pipe and it just does not get you going, maybe it is the pipe. I pay attention like peck so that when I get the magical smoke, I try and duplicate everything that went into it. I finally figured out FVF and now I get a great smoke out of it every time. It took a while but the right pipes, the right dryness, the right sized cubes now produces a very consistent smoke. Time of day for me is important, I like going up the strength ladder as the day progresses and find my taste buds are used to this. I also have the same drinks in my hand every day while smoking, coffee until around 2pm, sweet tea the rest. I make sure my pipes are clean, I make sure my pipes have been rested properly, both of these things will have a dramatic affect on the quality of the smoke. I think if you become a creature of habit, it will produce a more consistent smoking experience.

Kanaia- I can't tell you how many times I've thought about creating a thread about a certain topic, only to find that someone else has already done so- often times very recently. Serendipity seems to favor the pipe smoker.
With that being said, I have yet to experience this "problem".

Yeah, that's one of the rhings I really like about pipe smoking - the shear complexity of it all. In one sense it's just a pipe you burn tobacco in. And that's how it appears to outsiders. But then as every newbie soon learns, there's a heck of a lot more to it than that. There's the choice of pipe, its condition - new or well seasoned - the choice of leaf, the packing, Charing and true lighting. Then there's the piping cadence, hot and fast versus slow and cool. And as if all this weren't enough, there's the weather, your mood, or psychic state, and your entire life history wrapped up into your expectations, and whether you chose - because choice it is - to live in the moment, or the past or the future. Sometimes it just boggles the mind that you can light up a pipe and escape into some sort of time warp or Zen state where you just "uncouple" from the space-time continuum. And the price for admission - a mere 15g of tobacco.

I agree with you, kashmir. My favorite tobacco the past week has been Frog Morton on the Town, but before that, I hadn't touched it for over a month. It just depends on the weather, mood, time of day, etc...
You summed it up well!

Oh, yeah - the variables in pipe smoking are something else. After switching out the stem on my Country Gentleman for a WBW churchwarden "Forever Stem", I picked a blend I was fond of, fired up a bowl, and had one of the most bitter, disappointing smokes I've had so far. Not sure what's up with that - and I haven't had a chance to revisit with my usual English-dedicated cobs to compare. But it was definitely unexpected.

Be sure to record the date, time, location, weather reports, and phase of the moon when you have that one great smoke with the tobacco that is "the one". It may never, ever be duplicated again.

I think it's a common phenomenon.
In the morning I smoke EMP - mellow oriental with a touch of latakia.

During the day, while working Va or VaPer suits me the best. Or a strong oriental, and that would be Rattray's Red Rapparee.

After dinner and in the evening, VaPer or strong Petersn's Irish Flake.