Finally Understand Why People Dedicate Pipes To Blend Types

[chopsie]

I've only smoked Irish Oak in my new Peterson Aran 150 and after about 12-14 smokes in it I'm really starting to taste a sweetness in the blend that was only slightly noticed every now and then in any pipe that I had previously smoked it in. I'm not sure if I'll keep this pipe just for VaPer blends or not yet; but I must say that it is a really nice smoke without the hindrance of other blends showing muting the taste of the one being smoked at the moment. After how long it took to break in my last Peterson pipe I decided to coat the bowl in honey and let it dry before I smoked out of it and the break-in process definitely seems to be happening faster, but the first few smokes were definitely hotter than without the honey in the bowl and had a taste imparted by the honey, the cake build up seems to have definitely accelerated without being too quick in my opinion. I'll see how this cake build up holds up over time before making a decision either way as to whether I'll use honey again or not; but if it holds up and the break in on the Peterson proves to be properly I don't see why I wouldn't use it on every new Peterson I buy in the future.As per usual with everything pipe related YMMV

 

[zonomo]

I think you may be on to something. I haven't been disciplined enough yet to do this but I'm sure I can start and over the years it will all settle itself. Good post.

 

[thesmokindragon]

Some Pipers do this and some don't , really no right/ wrong here

it is all part of the wonderful pipe smoking journey...
Now I for one dedicate pipes-to-blend types and have done so from

day one. Now for some that don't have a large enough rotation to

do this (I was one of them starting out) you can add some cobs,

clays and Meers to the mix( depending on budgets) to help.
Just to apply some logic here; If you smoke heavy Lat blends

as well as Vs and VaPers, one might miss the very subtle

flavors the Vs & VaPers have to offer, so dedicating blends

to specific pipes really does do the trick here. Now when you

really have enough pipes in the rotation you might even feel the

need to dedicate pipes to a specific blend

 

[kashmir]

It's funny, but I used to smoke only heavy Latakia forward blends, and so most of my pipes, by default, were dedicated to these blends. I have a set of Comoy Blue Ribands and although all were very good smokers, four of the twelve were not as good as the others with Lat blends. No matter how many bowls I put through. I liked the pipes so I never figured on selling them. But last summer I began experimenting with straight Virginia and VaPer blends, and, wouldn't you know it, these same four Comoys that didn't do well with Lat blends, all began to sing with my VA blends. Almost like they were waiting to be discovered. I have no explanation for this. Different shapes and wall thicknesses involved. So I figure it must be due to the different blocks of briar, grain and porosity differences. Getting to know your individual pipes, and the blends THEY like to smoke is all part of the fun and discovery process of piping. I've had musician friends tell me certain guitars and mandolins are suited to different styles of music. And they figure its due to the different woods involved. They tell me different woods have different resonances and that this affects the harmonics involved. No doubt its the same in piping, where the different harmonics and resonances of the wood's grain structure and orientation influence the nuances of the flavor profile. Especially in complex blends.

 

[kalvort]

A few days ago I smoked ONE bowl of Ashton Guilty Pleasure. It was sweet but I didn't really enjoy it. Then yesterday when I tried to smoke a VaPer (Davidoff Flake Medallions)in the same pipe I got that chemical sweetness coming through instead!!! I think from now on I will dedicate a pipe for aromatics atleast!

 

[delkhouri]

I use a pipe per style instead of per specific blends

One pipe for aromatics (it rarely gets smoked)

One for Virginia's

One for VA-PER

One for Lat blends

etc...

 

[captainbob]

It's a great reason to own more pipes. I have 36 pipes. Over the years I have given hundreds away. Half my collection (18) are Bob Hayes Artisan Pipes. I totally agree with dedicating specific pipes to specific (or very similar) tobacco blends. In my opinion, you will never regret doing that.

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[andrew]

Yeah I just keep Va's to a few pipes, english to a few pipes, etc.. I don't really dedicate a pipe to a specific blend, more similar blends to a few pipes.

 

[judcole]

I have dedicated lat and non-lat rotations. I have one dedicated pipe, a Stan 3/4 drop egg dedicated to Murdock's Pipe, simply because it smokes that blend like a dream, and it's one of my fave blends.

 

[brdavidson]

I have my first 2 Brigham pipes dedicated to aros, the maple filter helps with the wet smoke. I have one Trypis dedicated to Bob's Chocolate Flake (seems to ghost other pipes) then I have 3-4 pipes for VA's or burleys, and 2-3 pipes for Lat blends. So far so good.

 

[Perique]

I'm a big proponent of dedicating pipes to blends. I dedicate pipes to blend styles and then go a step further and dedicate specific pipes to specific destinctive tobaccos blends.
However, once in a blue moon I like to intentionally ghost a pipe with a given blend and then some another, specific blend that I think benefits from the ghosting.