With the blends that I smoke, more Virginia flakes than anything else these days, I get the most flavor from gentle sips that result in mere wisps of smoke. Big bellowing clouds would cause a lot of heat to build up, damaging my pipes and giving me a far less delicious smoke. Perhaps there are blends that allow great clouds of smoke without heating up, maybe burley blends? Not the stuff I smoke, for sure. Of course, some smokers don't care about incinerating their pipes, but I can't afford to trash mine.