Favorite Virginia Pipe

[damacene]

My favorite Virginia pipes are honestly my Briarworks briar calabashes. Other than that, a group 3 bulldog works great for me.

 

[gervais]

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

Lmao perfect comparison

 

[Sig]

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

Thanks, that is a great pipe, and the only way I could afford a Rad Davis pipe back then.
I'm positive he lost money on these "Pipe of the Year" pipes. It is made from great briar and handmade stems. If memory serves me right, it was $110. For a pipe made by a top 10 carver at the time was a no brainer.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I've dedicated this old Charatan pipe to smoking Virginias. No particular reason, I just needed a pipe not used to smoke latakia or aromatic blends, and it does a great job at it.

 

[sablebrush52]

Any pipes that I own.

Pretty much the same. 95% of what I now smoke are Virginias and their variants. Since I don't dedicate a specific pipe to a specific blend the lazy approached works well for me. I don't buy into the "this pipe shape is for Virginias while this pipe shape is for English" stuff.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

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!

Thank you for sharing and guidance!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

Savinelli Bing’s Favorite and Roma 706.

I have heard great things about Bing’s Favorite!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

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

MM’s are great pipes; and sounds like another vote for a narrow bowl.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

Any pipes that I own.

Love it!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

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 )
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Thank you and a vote for smaller bowl!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

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

View attachment 378604

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.

That is a beautiful pipe, but I also really like the bull dog shape!

 

[Zamora]

Pretty much the same. 95% of what I now smoke are Virginias and their variants. Since I don't dedicate a specific pipe to a specific blend the lazy approached works well for me. I don't buy into the "this pipe shape is for Virginias while this pipe shape is for English" stuff.

In my experience the cut is far more important the style as far as bowl shapes go. I have a meer with tapering bowl and it smokes Balkan Sasieni great but not Plum Pudding, conversely it smokes Dorchester great but not Sutliff VaPer CK.

 

[sablebrush52]

In my experience the cut is far more important the style as far as bowl shapes go. I have a meer with tapering bowl and it smokes Balkan Sasieni great but not Plum Pudding, conversely it smokes Dorchester great but not Sutliff VaPer CK.

Cut is certainly a part of it. Moisture level is a part of it, as is packing. After all the years of this filthy yet immensely enjoyable habit I've come to support the "It's 25% equipment and 75% technique" point of view.

In any case, I'm going to experiment with an approach that entirely disposes of the cut as a factor, supposedly ensuring a tremendously flavorful and no issues smoke. The gear is on its way.

 

[Waning Embers]

In any case, I'm going to experiment with an approach that entirely disposes of the cut as a factor,

I started using a coffee grinder when my hands started going bad. Just a couple of short bursts and it's good.

 

[Zamora]

I started using a coffee grinder when my hands started going bad. Just a couple of short bursts and it's good.

I haven't heard of doing it that way, I know Pipe Stud always uses a blender

 

[Waning Embers]

I haven't heard of doing it that way, I know Pipe Stud always uses a blender

Just started doing it out of necessity. Hand grinders cause me too much pain.

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

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.
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Appreciate the guidance!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

I've dedicated this old Charatan pipe to smoking Virginias. No particular reason, I just needed a pipe not used to smoke latakia or aromatic blends, and it does a great job at it.

View attachment 379014

Great looking pipe!

 

[Dr. Van Loafer]

Ap

Pretty much the same. 95% of what I now smoke are Virginias and their variants. Since I don't dedicate a specific pipe to a specific blend the lazy approached works well for me. I don't buy into the "this pipe shape is for Virginias while this pipe shape is for English" stuff.

Thanks for keeping me from overthinking this!

 

[Mr_houston]

I’m with @Sig . Every pipe I buy gets tested with VA and VAPer blends. If that works, great. If not, they are used for English blends. That’s as far as I go with dedicating pipes.

I haven’t found many particular shapes that fit into one category or the other. Except, tall thin bowls work really well for Virginias.

However this is my most smoked pipe, and it is for Virginias. Radice twin-bore Rind.