Echoing OTD's sentiment about cobs maybe improving the experience of puffing blends you may not like that much, I had my first cob-puff in 45 years this summer at the NYC Pipe Club BBQ. The theme was American Englishes, such as Spillman Mixture and Distinguished Gentleman. I totally love Latakias, but American Englishes put me off. I'm only now getting into Virginias, though I have always liked Orientals and Turkish, usually in conjunction with Lats. But burleys, not so much. Howsoever, I found the cob they gave us at the picnic worked very well with the Distinguished Gentleman, which I normally would pass on in a briar or meerschaum.
Maybe a lot of the American Englishes were first formulated for cob smokers.
hp
les