Flavor from my pipe seems dull

[unkleyoda]

I got an estate pipe thrown in on a purchase I made. It's a briar, bent billiard. The stamp says "Benton" on it. It smokes very well, dry, and really just ash at the end. But the 2 bowls I had out of it were blah, not bad, just kind of muted in flavor. Why? I tried two different tobaccos I know well, and both were kind of flavorless.
When i got the pipe, I gave it 3 alcohol/salt treatments to rid it of a ghost it had. It reeked of something like 1-Q, or something equally unsettling. I have let it sit 4-5 months since the cleaning. Is it the cleaning that took it back to 'non-broken in' status? I didn't ream it to the walls, just to a little less than a dime thickness. Or do some pipes just smoke muted?

 

[cranseiron]

Some pipes do. Although, before giving up on it rotate as many Tobaccos through it as you can. Briar is mysterious and you never know what tobacco will match well with a particular pipe. Some pipes smoke just about anything well and others are finicky. I have a very nice Castello Pipe of the Year and of all tobacs I've put in that thing it only excels with G&H ropes-- go figure.... I've had pipes that I given up on for this reason and throw in the towel after rotating all my tobacs through them-- sometimes this hobby leaves you just scratching your head. Rotate, rotate, rotate

 

[kanse]

Try something with overwhelming flavor, maybe your pipe will tame it?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

+1 on what Cranse and Kanse says.

I've had pipes that it took a while to get a hang on what smokes best it in also. On my seemingly dead flavor pipes, I was smoking latakia blends through, and a few I switched back to Virginias in, and now they seem to shine better now with Virginias. It's really weird how pipes will do that. Just keep experimenting.

 

[aldecaker]

I'd get rid of the estate cake. If it's low-quality cake, it isn't doing you any favors in the taste department.

 

[monty55]

^^^ +1
Get rid of that cake. Then do the salt treatment.

 

[crashthegrey]

Strip that cake out of there.