Newbie--Too Much TAD, Not Enough PAD

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pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
Hello everyone,
As a recent lurker and now new member, this will be my first but certainly not last post to this amazingly cool community. I've always enjoyed reading everyone's posts here, and the friendly and helpful nature of all members is refreshing and welcome when compared with many places on the Internet.
Ok, enough praise--now for my dilemma.
I am a new pipe smoker and recently I have acquired lots of tobacco but not many pipes. I currently live overseas in South Asia and most of the pipes available are incredibly expensive and significantly marked up in comparison to US prices. They have quality pipes like Savs and Petersons, but the cheapest pipe I can find is about $150.00. A Zippo pipe lighter one can find on Amazon for $12 costs around $40 here. However, tobacco is very inexpensive compared to US prices. Also the vast majority of tobacco available at my shop are aromatics. So I've gone a little crazy with the tobacco purchases as of late, and now I find myself in a dilemma--what to smoke in my 3 pipes?
My three pipes consist of a MM corn cob, a $15 basket pipe, and a $50.00 Jobey (all purchased in the States) The War Department (love this euphemism--stealing it from Lawrence) has since restricted funds for my TAD and any PAD and therefore purchasing one of the aforementioned pipes at a high price is not grounds for discussion at the moment.
Here are the blends currently in my arsenal:
1Q

BCA

MacBaren 7 Seas Gold

MacBaren Vanilla Cream Flake

Larsen Signature

Davidoff Danish Mixture

Peterson Deluxe Mixture

Peterson Sunset Breeze

Peterson Irish Whiskey

Thomas Radford Sunday Fantasy

Peterson Special Reserve 2012

Peterson Old Dublin

Dunhill Nightcap

Dunhill EMP

Dunhill Royal Yacht
Based on what I've read in previous posts, many pipers like to dedicate one genre or range of blends to a pipe to limit ghosting. Given the range of tobacco and my small number of pipes, are there any blends I should be careful of? Can I smoke anything out of my corncob (e.g. EMP one night, 1Q the next, Royal Yacht on the third)? Should I put all aro's in one pipe? I have yet to smoke the Jobey and since it's the most expensive of the lot, I don't want to prematurely ghost it--I'd much rather ghost the cheaper pipe if necessary. Thus far, I've smoked 1Q and BCA in the cob, and the 7 Seas and Larsen Signature in the basket pipe. I welcome all of your expert advice!

 

erichbaumer

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 4, 2012
738
5
Illinois
Most of those that I recognize are aromatics. However, your Dunhill blends are the potential "ghost" offenders or victims. The Nightcap is heavy in latakia and will ghost a pipe very quickly. I'd dedicate something to it. The Royal Yacht is a VA, and its performance will suffer if it is smoked in a pipe that regularly sees an aro or English-it should also have its own pipe. Those two dedicated burners will work fine with other blends of the same genres. The EMP is a hybrid of sorts but should work best in the "English" pipe.

Whether or not cobs are immune to ghosting is up for debate, I can't say anything definitive either way. Perhaps one of our favorite Cob Snobs could.

The English will replace the aromatic ghost with its own if that's desired.

The more experienced are, of course, free to add their more complete knowledge or correct me, but to me it seems you could make do with the three by smoking English in one, VA in a second, and all aros in the third, depending on how often you smoke.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,459
Can you recruit a family member or friend to do your pipe buying and send them along to you? That

would seem like the direct solution. If they are sending you MM cobs, the customs would be minimal,

I think. Also, cobs are not complicated, so it wouldn't be like asking someone to buy a briar in a certain

shape, of a certain brand, etc. etc.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
@erich--thanks for the reply. If all of those aros can be mixed, it probably makes most sense to put them in Jobey since they constitute the majority of my supply. If I take to the English (and that's a big "if" since some people love 'em and some people hate 'em due to the latakia) I'll use the basket briar and replace the aro ghost with the OD, Nightcap, and EMP. Since it appears I have only one VA, I'll put that one in the cob since the cob has the most potential for breakage. If I break the cob, I'll do my best to cellar the VA until I can find another pipe. Are there any other genres of tobacco I should be aware of?
@mso--that's certainly a possibility. I would need to look at import duties as well as shipping costs. Another idea is to order some cobs online, send them to my relatives, and then try to hold out until they bring them over during Christmas. Thanks!

 

numbersix

Lifer
Jul 27, 2012
5,449
53
Welcome pipefish.
I am one of those who feel pipe dedication isn't very necessary (tho I respect those who feel differently). At this stage, with only 3 pipes, I personally wouldn't worry about it too much.
As you smoke more blends and develop a more discerning palate (and even more pipes), then you may wish to do some dedication.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
@rothnh--Thanks so much for the link! I will be looking in to this to find out what kinds of fees, tariffs, etc. may be applied. Great idea on the MM seconds for $30!!

 

erichbaumer

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 4, 2012
738
5
Illinois
Lakelands. They aren't very common, but are potentially more ghost-y (and also more polarizing) that latakia. It's doubtfull you'll run into one any time soon, but the are the other usual suspect.

That sounds like a good plan, at least until you increase your rotation.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
@numbersix--well, if I manage to break one of the briars then pipe dedication goes out the window! That, or I'll have to beg the War Department for an increase in revenue to purchase a Peterson or Sav!!

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
You should take a look at 4noggins.com. Rich has some nice pipes priced right and he does ship world wide. For example here is a nice Savinelli that is priced pretty good.

http://www.4noggins.com/SavinelliRoma603.aspx
I am a believer of dedicating pipes to at least certain categories of blends as I believe you will get more flavors out of your blends if you are not having to deal with a ghost. I will also take the dedicating to the point where I have a certain pipe for a certain blend and that is all that pipe ever sees. Sometimes you hit on a magical combination and I say why mess with a good thing. Of course you need a larger number of pipes to be doing that but in the beginning, dedicating to categories does not take that many pipes.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
Thanks Dr. Carlo and Harris; will look into both of those options as well. Really unsure what the shipping costs will be like. I checked Amazon and the cost to ship an $11.00 MM Country Gentleman is $57.00!! Not sure if that includes additional duties once it arrives here (doubtful)!

 

zonomo

Lifer
Nov 24, 2012
1,584
5
I would love to dedicate pipes but I cant keep them all straight. Do you have a list on the wall or what?

 

wnghanglow

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 25, 2012
695
0
The MM grab bag tht Roth mentioned would probably be your best bet. I would call the company and ask what they can do about shipping cost and customs.

 

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
I would love to dedicate pipes but I cant keep them all straight. Do you have a list on the wall or what?
I keep mine in an egg carton, and simply label the cups with a pen... :D

 

bryanf

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 16, 2013
742
8
Definitely dedicate pipes. If you have a lot of pipes, and can't remember what they are dedicated for, can't you just smell the bowl? My latakia and aromatic pipes are pretty obvious, as are my Lakeland pipes. Burly and Virginia/VAPER's, I'll smoke in just about any pipe because they really don't ghost, and I don't mind other flavors coming thru from previous bowls.

 

pipefish

Can't Leave
Aug 25, 2013
341
8
@ Bryan--my only VA right now is Royal Yacht, but would like to try others available here like Gawith's 1792 Flake and Westmoreland. So, I should feel free to smoke these in any pipe?

 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,185
33,533
Detroit
I dedicate two rotations. I have 3 racks - one rack for my Va/burley rotation of 6 pipes, and the others for latakia - 16 pipes. Not hard.

 
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