Whatever...
I like a clean pipe and a clean smoking experience, and I find that filters and balsa inserts help with both of these goals. I don't expect one could ever exclude all moisture from the tobacco no matter how learned a smoker one is. For me, both paper and balsa inserts help to keep...
I also prefer using filtered pipes. I use the Grabow/Medico paper filters in Grabows, Medicos, and cobs, and also the balsa inserts on a couple of briars that take them.
4 MM cobs, 4 Grabows, 2 Medicos, and 1 each of Barling, Savanelli, Briarcraft, Jobey, Carey, Stanwell, Buescher, Middleton, Molina, and Wellpipe. That's the long and short of it.
John Bull Royal English filled that niche for me. I found it to be mildly flavorful and easy to work with as a beginner. It's available here in the US as a pouch brand - not sure if it's marketed in EU.
Stanwell Vario 29 (billiard).
Medico back-of-the-box special offer pipe (1/4 bent sandblast egg).
Besides cobs, the only other pipes I bought new were a Barling Londoner Dublin and a Savanelli Punto Oro Zulu way back in the '80s, both of which I still have; they were both under $100, but that...
A late-night bowl of Derby Club in a Briarcraft Airo panel number that smokes very nicely with its little stinger - accompanied by a glass of Kahlua on ice.
Interesting thread. Kreteks were, for me, the gateway tobacco. When I drifted into the punk and new wave music scenes in the early 80s, smoking cloves was a big part of the alternative music culture. I never smoked real cigs, but I loved smoking cloves. And as far as the brands, Garams were...
I'm a Granger lover too, and new to this forum. I've only ever smoked the Pinkerton version but I have an STG can on deck. Do you find them very different from one another?
I found this out myself by accident, having left a folded & stuffed flake in a cob for a day or so before I got around to smoking it a few times. Lights and burns much easier as a result - just gotta make sure to take it easy.