Taste Of Different Pipes

Richard, you will notice a difference simply between the cob and the.briar. It won't be dramatic, but cobs do impart a bit of cob flavor, especially when they are still relatively new. Briars have a slightly different flavor that they impart. The difference from one briar to the next though is subjective. Some tobaccos may taste better in different shapes, but it seems to me that has more to do with how hot or cool the smoke is in each pipe than anything else.
Play around with it. Enjoy doing so. As you collect more pipes and more blends, mix it up. Matter of fact, I have been stuck in a routine lately, I think this is a good time for me to mix it up some too.

The individual history of each briar pipe has a lot to do with modifying the taste of a particular blend.

A Virginia blend in a pipe that was seasoned by Latakia and/or Orientals will taste different, (possibly better!),

than from a dedicated Va pipe. And think of the possibilities presented by all the various blend types!
Also, (and because Mrs. Cortez is looking over my shoulder), my high grade pipes smoke far better than my "everyman" pipes.

It really depends on the blend that you're smoking, IMO. But, yes, I taste a difference, but not just in the briar, but also the pipe design. For example, Virginia #1 is more intense in a tall narrow chambered pipe, whereas in a wide pot shaped pipe, it mellows out and loses a bit of it's bitey-ness, and has a richer deeper taste. Also, I notice a difference in pipes with a thick amount of brair surrounding the bowl, verses a thin walled pipe.
However, on the briar itself, I notice that my Savinellis have a more twangy taste to the briar. It is very subtle, very very, but it's there, whereas my Ferndown and one of my Beckers has no taste at all, as if it was cooked out of the briar. I also have a few very old briar stummels (+100 years) that I used to make custom pipes for myself with, and they the most mellow aromas, which seems to have shifted as I use them, getting better as I smoke them.

I did get a Peterson about a year ago that had a very green taste to the briar. Although I have heard that this is not the norm, probably a fluke, but it made me sort of sick, with it's cloyingly sweet green taste to the wood. It was probably not aged or something.
But, for the most part, there are differences. I don't think that there is one taste for any particular region of briar harvest. I don't exactly know what effects the different tastes, but I enjoy discerning the differences. Also, the briar flavor changes as you use the pipe, probably driving out the oils of the wood and adding the tars and bi-products of smoking to the wood. IDK, just a guess.
But, yeh, I notice differences in tastes.
That said, if you are smoking aromatic or latakia blends, you may not notice. Maybe I notice because I prefer very light Virginias, which have a very subtle flavor to begin with.

It's a bit like wine or beer (or cognac or . . .) The right glass can enhance the experience, and alter the taste in subtle ways, but a fancy glass is not going to turn jug wine into Opus One. The pipe you smoke will influence the taste a bit, but beyond the corn taste of a new cob, the differences will be subtle.

I'm another one who notices big taste differences from pipe to pipe, especially with VAs. The biggest factor, usually, is the width of the chamber. The next factor (for me) is usually the shape of the chamber (i.e. U-shaped or V-shaped). Beyond that, the aforementioned Ashton brand has a distinctly nutty taste, especially with VAs. I was planning on selling one of my Ashton pipes recently, but I smoked it just "one more time" and thought "Hmm, that IS different. Maybe I'll keep it."
If you mostly smoke Latakia blends or aromatics you probably won't notice as much difference from pipe to pipe. For me, a shallow pot or prince will bring out the best in certain Latakia blends.