Do you have dedicated pipes for smoking certain blends or kinds of blends?
How do you decide which pipe you are going to smoke each time?
How do you decide which pipe you are going to smoke each time?
Dedicated Pipes
- Thread starter Jahman7
- Start date
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Yes, for each type of blend.
The pipes were determined by what seemed to smoke best in them.
My aromatic pipe is primarily for vanilla tobaccos and the oils have seemingly seeped into the briar to enhance the experience.
The pipes were determined by what seemed to smoke best in them.
My aromatic pipe is primarily for vanilla tobaccos and the oils have seemingly seeped into the briar to enhance the experience.
I always smoke my first bowl of Sir John's Flake Virginia each morning in my Altinok . I haven't smoked any other blends in this pipe for several hundred bowls and this has convinced me of the benefit of signing a pipe to a specific blend. All my other pipes are assigned to a specific blend type. There's no question in my mind this practice is beneficial to my smoking enjoyment. People should give this a try for awhile to determine if they find the same benefit.
I have a couple of pipes I smoke latakia blends in. Other than that, I smoke any blend in any pipe.
The question about how I choose a pipe is a tough one. I really don't know.
The question about how I choose a pipe is a tough one. I really don't know.
I’m not obsessive about it, but do dedicate pipes to categories.
I do a quick “sniff test” - obvious which are the aromatic or Latakia/Oriental pipes. The rest are “anything goes” pipes
Beyond that, NO
I do a quick “sniff test” - obvious which are the aromatic or Latakia/Oriental pipes. The rest are “anything goes” pipes
Beyond that, NO
I long for VaBur and Burley flakes, not English or Oriental blends, so de facto I have all my pipes dedicated to VAs, VABur and VAper tobaccos: with these I just grab the size of the pipe bowl for the smoke-time I desire. Anything with Latakia or other 'exotic' tobaccos (to my tastes) is smoked in pipes like corn cobs ... there's no way I want a lakeland ghost haunting the chamber in one of my burley bowls...
When I find a favorite blend, I dedicate a pipe to that blend. The pipe will then take the nuances of that blend to the next level. Sometimes multiple pipes to one blend if I like it that much. But in the meantime, some blends get smoked in all my pipes minus those already dedicated.
Dedicating to genres doesn’t work for me. Lets say I want an English pipe. Well each blend has different amounts of Latakia. One bowl will be a 50% Latakia blend, the next a 10% Latakia blend. That Latakia ghost will carry over and i’ll think that 10% blend has more than it actually has.
The way I choose which pipe is dedicated to a certain blend: When the pipe is new to me, I smoke a lot of favorite blends through it. When one clicks, thats how I know
Dedicating to genres doesn’t work for me. Lets say I want an English pipe. Well each blend has different amounts of Latakia. One bowl will be a 50% Latakia blend, the next a 10% Latakia blend. That Latakia ghost will carry over and i’ll think that 10% blend has more than it actually has.
The way I choose which pipe is dedicated to a certain blend: When the pipe is new to me, I smoke a lot of favorite blends through it. When one clicks, thats how I know
I smoke VaPers out of a set that I keep away from my English pipes. In other words, yes, I have some that I smoke only VaPers and some that I smoke Englishes.
I dedicate pipes to Virginia/Burley blends, Latakia blends and aromatic blends.
Then I do dedicate a pipe to delicate Virginia blends that can easily be overwhelmed by ghosts.......Va#1, PS Luxury Navy Flake, 5100.......
When I get a new pipe I start them with either a VA blend or a Burley blend. If it smokes those fantastically, they get dedicated. If they are less than stellar, I try a Latakia blend. Most pipes smoke heavy Latakia blends pretty good in my experience. Its much tougher to find a great Virginia smoker for me.
Then I do dedicate a pipe to delicate Virginia blends that can easily be overwhelmed by ghosts.......Va#1, PS Luxury Navy Flake, 5100.......
When I get a new pipe I start them with either a VA blend or a Burley blend. If it smokes those fantastically, they get dedicated. If they are less than stellar, I try a Latakia blend. Most pipes smoke heavy Latakia blends pretty good in my experience. Its much tougher to find a great Virginia smoker for me.
All of these are blend specific but most of my others are genre specific.
I used to have a loose colour code for different genres of tobacco, i.e., light finish for Virginias, dark finish for Englishes, etc. As time has gone on, I have amassed enough pipes to dedicate specific pipes to specific blends (and their variants). Some are used more broadly.
Sometimes my choices are playful, where I’ll pair a pipe that is wrapped with Pony Hair covered leather (or a figural horse shaped pipe) with a blend that has a horse element in its name; or I might have a pipe made for a particular tobacconist and smoke blends from that tobacconist in that pipe.
Sometimes my choices are playful, where I’ll pair a pipe that is wrapped with Pony Hair covered leather (or a figural horse shaped pipe) with a blend that has a horse element in its name; or I might have a pipe made for a particular tobacconist and smoke blends from that tobacconist in that pipe.
It is just a clay pipe.
My pipes are divided into categories of aromatics, non-aromatics (non-lat), and latakia blends. Occasionally I'll smoke a non-aro in an "aro" or "lat" pipe just to see what happens.
I'm not overly cautious about ghosting as I once was, but I do like to have some separation. Who wants to smoke Nightcap in a pipe previously used with Captain Black Cherry?
Any odd blends I'm trying out (deertongue, Lakeland, any other aromatics with unusual/strong flavors) are smoked in my current "beater" cob.
I'm not overly cautious about ghosting as I once was, but I do like to have some separation. Who wants to smoke Nightcap in a pipe previously used with Captain Black Cherry?
Any odd blends I'm trying out (deertongue, Lakeland, any other aromatics with unusual/strong flavors) are smoked in my current "beater" cob.
Yes. Pipes are dedicated to genres. Some blends within a genre are dedicated to certain pipes, not the other way around for me. It's determined by a process of a lot of smoking and paying attention. 
Of course. Cobs are for the burleys of all kinds. Bulldog/Rhodesian are for English. Billiards are for VA. Pots are for Scottish.
But I don't follow those pairings other than for the cobs. I throw in codger blends to cobs also. Generally pipes with wide chambers will get more complex blends. Narrow chambers get VA related blends.
But I don't follow those pairings other than for the cobs. I throw in codger blends to cobs also. Generally pipes with wide chambers will get more complex blends. Narrow chambers get VA related blends.
Nope. I smoke what I want to in any pipe I have. I ain't afraid of no ghosts. A couple pipes or a light cleaning will get rid of most ghosts for me. If I do worry, I start in a cob and go from there. In my opinion inexorable ghosts are another myth of the pipe world.
LOL
Ghosts exist, but sometimes they can generate interesting blends.
I have a Castello that has only seen Virginia and a Dunhill that has only seen Latakia.
I need these two fixed points, then on the others I can be more random.
I have certain pipes that are dedicated to specific individual blends.
I have certain pipes that are dedicated to specific genres.
I have certain pipes that are designated for sampling new/different tobaccos.
I assumed that my system was somewhat unique because, until quite recently, I had been smoking L.J. Peretti blends almost exclusively for nearly thirty (30) years.
Having read the other comments in this thread, I now realize that unique is a relative concept.
I have certain pipes that are dedicated to specific genres.
I have certain pipes that are designated for sampling new/different tobaccos.
I assumed that my system was somewhat unique because, until quite recently, I had been smoking L.J. Peretti blends almost exclusively for nearly thirty (30) years.
Having read the other comments in this thread, I now realize that unique is a relative concept.
No dedication whatsoever but I'm thinking about moving towards genres eventually.