Favorite Virginia Pipe

[Dr. Van Loafer]

What is your favorite pipe to smoke Virginia or VaPer blends? (Latakia not allowed).

This is absolutely a selfish request, as I look for a pipe to dedicate to Virginias and VaPers.

Thanks!

 

[PaulRVA]

Man this is gonna churn up some reactions
Im going to be honest and say that Vapers in smaller diameter chambers and in stacked bowls perform really well for me and even more so if the pipe is dedicated to it.
Now that’s out of the box I smoke them in any and every type of pipe as well so there’s that too!

 

[Douglas]

Savinelli Bing’s Favorite and Roma 706.

 

[Zamora]

I have an estate MM Select that smokes VAs wonderfully, nice narrow bowl

 

[Chasing Embers]

Any pipes that I own.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Partial to this lil guy I got from P&C about a decade ago. Their story was they were from a bunch of well aged, unfinished vintage pipes they found in a warehouse somewhere and stamped with their "university deluxe" label to promote their old university blend tobaccos.

Idk if it was just deceptive marketing like most of their shtick but I like it. I loved it's stately paneled look but assumed it was gonna be larger so.. once I got it and had heard smaller bowls favored VA's that's how it's been consecrated.

(P.S. that's actually a half gallon jar of 2lbs of 507c, not a quart with 1... my hands aren't that tiny )

 

[Servant King]

My pipe for straight VAs is also my only Pete, an Irish Harp 80s sandblasted bulldog:



Tiny pipe, got a fairly wide but shallow chamber. Perfect for my preference in keeping VA smokes on the shorter end, lest I end up freight-training the damn thing into a soggy mess.

 

[VDL_Piper]

Either one of these…………………

 

[OzPiper]

Had 2 bowls of straight VAs today



Both most enjoyable.
I suspect if I had chosen 2 different pipes, they would have been just as enjoyable

 

[gervais]

I have a meer dedicated to Virginias


I'll smoke them in some of my briars as well. I'm only really picky with this particular pipe, when I want an extremely clean Va experience. In most cases I'll smoke Virginias, burleys, dark fired Kentuckys, Orientals in the same briar. I just really try and keep the strong latakia blends and heavy lakelands in a separate pipe.

 

[gervais]

Partial to this lil guy I got from P&C about a decade ago. Their story was they were from a bunch of well aged, unfinished vintage pipes they found in a warehouse somewhere and stamped with their "university deluxe" label to promote their old university blend tobaccos.

Idk if it was just deceptive marketing like most of their shtick but I like it. I loved it's stately paneled look but assumed it was gonna be larger so.. once I got it and had heard smaller bowls favored VA's that's how it's been consecrated.

(P.S. that's actually a half gallon jar of 2lbs of 507c, not a quart with 1... my hands aren't that tiny )
View attachment 378578

That jar or 507c looks beautiful

 

[Peter Turbo]

My Savinelli 409 shape is what I smoke VaPers out of most of the time.

 

[burleybreath]

 

[NookersTheCat]

That jar or 507c looks beautiful

Thanks, I hope it def will be in another 5-10 years lol

 

[gervais]

Thanks, I hope it def will be in another 5-10 years lol

Are you enjoying it on the fresher side at least?

 

[PaulRVA]

View attachment 378666

A little bit of Renaissance Wax and that might buff out

 

[Sig]

I generally start all my new pipes on Virginia blends. If they taste great and smoke well, that's that.
If they don't, I try Latakia blends in them. If that doesn't work, the get dedicated to aromatics which don't get used much.
I have everything from tall deep chamber pipes to shallow fat Pot shapes that smoke Virginia well.
Generally really huge bowled pipes don't do great with lighter Virginias and Burleys but do great with heavy English and Balkan blends.
Huge bowls of Va/Burley can get acrid and ashy in my experience.
Your "standard" sized Billiard, Apple, Pot and Bulldog are usually great Virginia smokers.
My absolute best tasting VA pipes are a cheapo basket "LaStrada" TALL Billiard I got NOS from a now defunct cigar shop and my Rad Davis Smokers Forums POY 2008 I'm smoking right this minute.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Are you enjoying it on the fresher side at least?

Believe it or not I still have to try it!
I basically just went out and straight panic bought 2 pounds and horked it away before I even could lmao.

Now to be fair, it's not like I don't already know I like other VA flakes haha.. but yes, in the heat of this recent debacle, I am slightly ashamed to admit my insane-ass bought pounds and pounds of tobacco recently that I haven't even tried yet lol

Fortunately when it comes to pipe tobacco I've found it to be like sex and pizza... even when it's bad it's still pretty good

 

[NookersTheCat]

Generally really huge bowled pipes don't do great with lighter Virginias and Burleys but do great with heavy English and Balkan blends.
Huge bowls of Va/Burley can get acrid and ashy in my experience.

Couldn't agree more!

I think alot of it just has to simply do with the amount of dang HEAT that's created by Virginia's AND Burleys (I think one of the greatest crimes of pipe advice is suggesting burley heavy blends to complete beginners when a well done cavendish heavy blends is usually far more forgiving)

But I think just with all that extra mass of a big bowl it lends itself to just creating too much heat no matter how careful you are.. whereas on the other hand, the far cooler smoking latakia and orientals in good English and Balkans can warm up a bit more and really sing in that larger space.

P.S. WOW I love that 2nd pipe.. I'm a sucker for Dublins and that ones got such an awesome flow and quality rustication to it

 

[wyfbane]

Consensus when I started was VA blends were better smoked in a narrower bowl. I dedicated a fun pipe I got from the Tinderbox in Tacoma that I converted to a churchwarden. It works great. But I am not afraid to toss some in a cob, either. I ain't no snob!