Old Dominion Cobs

appointed · May 1, 2014

Living in Southwest Virginia, I just had to have a pipe hand-crafted in my home state. When I read an article about the Old Dominion Pipe Company on here and how good their cobs were, I ordered me some. Now, I love cobs, but I am wary of quality and therefore only smoke Missouri Meerschaum. I would never smoke those Chinese cobs that I have heard so many horror stories about. I am pleased to say that I have two cob companies now.
I ordered one of each of their pipes: the Virginia Planter, the Laughing King and the Chesapeake. I love all three of them. I was worried about the bowl size of the Laughing King and the Chesapeake, but both have ample space and provide a long smoke. The Laughing King is not that much smaller than the Virginia Planter. Smoking these pipes I feel a strong connection the past that I have only felt while smoking a clay colonial tavern pipe. Old Dominion pipes feature a reed stem and the corn variety they use is descended from the Bloody Butcher variety that was grown around here. Now, the reed stem appears to be rather uncomfortable; it is not! It is actually very comfortable to clench and I am not a clencher. The bowl is very light-weight and provides a cool smoke. Smoking a slow-burning tobacco slowly, I can even get over forty-five minutes from the Chesapeake pipe. Their prices are more than reasonable and I recommend everyone, especially cob-lovers to try one.
The only other thing is I would like to advise the folks at Old Dominion Pipes to maybe reword their description of the Chesapeake pipe. I almost didn't buy it because it sounded to small and with it being described as a possible party-favor, I thought it more of a novelty. Despite its small size, it still can deliver a good and long smoke. I am very pleased with all three of them and have loved them so much that I have only smoked them since they arrived. I will definitely be buying more in the future.

fadingdaylight · May 1, 2014

Great review, I have been thinking about giving these a try for a while now, guess I need to go ahead and do it. Thanks for taking the time to tell us what you thought of them.

antbauers · May 1, 2014

Happy to hear OD has good cobs. I have heard only good things but haven't bought one yet. After reading your post I think I will have to change that.

macattack · May 1, 2014

Count me in too. Nice review. Thanks.

shutterbugg · May 1, 2014

What in your opinion makes them worth 3 times the price of an MM?

pruss · May 1, 2014

What in your opinion makes them worth 3 times the price of an MM?

I think that your pricing estimate is a little high. When comparing apples:apples with regards to sizing, the pricing is a LOT closer to parity. MM has a wider range of pipes, in varying sizes, and with varying bits. Can you get a $3.95 cob from MM? Yep, but you can get a cob of equivalent size from OD for $4.95.
I prefer the bamboo/reed stem and bit on OD to the plastic bits on MM pipes.
I've smoked both, and enjoy pipes from both companies. I like the look and feel of the OD pipes, and their customer service was top notch. I've heard the same of MM but I've had no direct interaction with the company.
I am happy with OD's pricing. I think their prices are competitive to MM, even though OD is a newer company with (likely) significantly lower production levels, and the product is differentiated enough from MM to make the smoking experience and pipe look-and-feel different.
-- Pat

mso489 · May 1, 2014

I bought a Laughing Chief and a Chesapeake at an April pipe show and am breaking them in. Nicely made and

fine smokers. OD's prices are comparable to MM prices at many online and B&M retail places, just a little higher

at some others. OD is a start-up family business, and MM is a national institution that turns out large numbers of

pipes. I think they are both great. I operate four MM cobs, with three Forever stems. The "must-have" so far

as I am concerned with the OD pipes is that I haven't seen a natural stem since my dad smoked them in the

1950's. Since they are well-made pipes, I can't imagine not owning one. And yes, the small Chesapeake, like

other small pipes, is ideal for short smokes, dessert and appetizer bowls, sampling, extra strong tobacco, etc.

MM and OD corncob pipes -- I recommend them both.

cobguy · May 1, 2014

What in your opinion makes them worth 3 times the price of an MM?

It's made from an heirloom Indian corn variety that was on the verge of extinction.
The size and thickness of these unique cobs is much thicker than modern yellow corn hybrids.
It's a "Grass Roots" start-up company doing everything by hand.
The founder is an active member of this forum.
One more thing I'd like to add is that Bob (virginiacob here on the forum) was very helpful and

fast to respond to e-mails.
If you have not read the story of how this company came to be I highly recommend it:
http://www.olddominionpipe.com/#!about/c786

shutterbugg · May 2, 2014

I think that your pricing estimate is a little high. When comparing apples:apples with regards to sizing, the pricing is a LOT closer to parity.

I was comparing the OD Virginia Planter @ $15.95 to the MM Legend @ $4.65 (smokingpipes.com). Aren't the sizes roughly the same? I do like the look of reed stem of OD though, much more authentic-looking. For me I've always thought of a cob as a disposible smoke, maybe I need to get past that

virginiacob · May 2, 2014

shutterbugg,
Our pricing really has more to do with supply and demand. While MM turns out thousands of their Legend pipes each year, our Virginia Planter is in very limited supply and based on our current production and current supply of cobs will probably be limited only to a few hundred this year (we typically will only get enough large cobs per bushel to equate to about a 1/2 dozen Virginia Planter pipes). In contrast, we are able to produce our Laughing King and Chesapeake cob pipes in much larger quantities and therefore are able to offer them for less. Also, each and every Old Dominion cob pipe is individually shaped by hand with very limited mechanical automation meaning that we have more labor hours in crafting our pipes. Bear in mind that we are a small "cottage industry" business working out of a wood workshop and not an automated factory.
Our pipes do run much smaller than MM pipes, but this has a lot to do with the heirloom Indian corn variety that we use compared to the white corn hybrid variety that was developed by the University of Missouri specifically for making cob pipes. Based on original 19th century cob pipe examples in my collection, our pipes are much more in line to the traditional reed stem cob pipes of Henry Tibbe's day. Like I expect Mr. Tibbe and his competitors did, we are carefully selecting the seed from our largest, thickest cobs from our Fall harvest and will be planting this seed during our Spring planting in the hope of gradually increasing the size and thickness of our cobs over time.
In the end, our goal with our cob pipes is to produce an historically accurate Indian corn cob pipe from the latter 19th century and early 20th century and provide our customers with the enjoyment of smoking a traditional bamboo stem cob pipe that hasn't been produced since at least the 1950's.
Sincerely,
Bob Savage (virginiacob)

Old Dominion Pipe Co.

cobguy · May 3, 2014

I'm bumping this thread for my initial review.
My OD Virginia Planter arrived in time for a b-day weekend.

I asked for the bowl to have a darker chocolate / rusty red coloring with the darker green bamboo stem.

When I opened the box it was EXACTLY what I wanted.
For the first smoke I thought about how it should all come together. The cob is from Virginia

and called a Virginia Planter, so Virginia tobacco it is. Going through my current Va choices I grabbed

a tin of F&T Vintage Flake. It was made in Germany and imported through Illinois. I have German ancestors

and was born and raised in IL. Add to all this that the tin was acquired through a fellow forum member and it's a perfect pipe storm.
I folded and stuffed 1 1/2 flakes into the bowl and rubbed out the "left overs" for later.

For the next 40 minutes it was nothing but cool sipping, full flavored goodness. The cob stayed

cooler than even expected and the draw through the bamboo stem is effortless. A few hours later I poured

myself a small amount of Speyburn 10 year old single malt scotch and loaded up the remaining Vintage Flake.

This cob was MADE for this tobacco I kept saying. Another 30 minutes or so of cool smoking bliss.
The corn cob tamper that Bob threw in for free (B-day gift!) worked perfectly. The angled cut

allowed me to tamp and scrape from the outside edges in - like a concave but better. Also, the natural roughness of the cob tamper kept the inside of the bowl "even" as it's breaking in.
So far I am VERY pleased with this pipe and how it smokes. It took a little adjusting to get used to

the smaller round bamboo versus a normal stem but that was easy since this pipe is feather-light.

In no time at all it found a natural sitting spot 2 teeth over from the usual spot.
Thanks again Bob and OD Cobs! :clap:

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