How Important is One Pipe per Blend Type

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Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,942
Metro-Detroit
I only have a couple "dedicated pipes" for aromatics in general.

I'm not too particular although, for consistency purposes I tend to smoke Virginias & Vapers in sandblasted pipes, Burleys in rusticated pipes & English Blends in smooth pipes. (Not always, but more often than not)
Out of curiosity, how did it become to be this way?

I find it unique to group by finish.

I tend to smoke burley in my Charles Towne Cobbler, English in a Dublin, Virginia's in Bulldogs or a bent billard, and aromatics in a bent billard. I also have some smaller pipes for non-English blends.

It's just what worked right, although subject to change.
 

krizzose

Lifer
Feb 13, 2013
3,100
18,013
Michigan
I don’t smoke Lakelands or Latakia blends, but I’d dedicate pipes to those genres if I did.

I have one straight Virginia pipe, several VaPer and/or Virginia forward pipes, one Va/Or pipes, several “any non aromatic” pipes, one burley/burley forward pipe, one aromatics briar, and a handful of cobs I smoke everything in. I do not have any single blend dedicated pipes. That works for me, but each smoker will to find the best way for him.
 

Streeper541

Lifer
Jun 16, 2021
3,043
19,228
43
Spencer, OH
Out of curiosity, how did it become to be this way?

I find it unique to group by finish.
I don't know exactly. I remember one time hearing about people dedicating particular pipes to certain blends and I thought that was alot of unnecessary memory work. As I grew my collection I started to realize my English blends were overpowering anything else I smoked in my pipes. I think I had bought a new Donegal Rocky Pete and promised myself I wouldn't smoke any English in it... as it turned out, my Burleys started to taste better. I tried it with Virginias on the next new pipe I got, which happened to be a sandblast. Maybe I just rolled with it?

Like I said, I dont always hold to that practice... but in general, it's something I do most of the time.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,340
Florida - Space Coast
I don't know exactly. I remember one time hearing about people dedicating particular pipes to certain blends and I thought that was alot of unnecessary memory work. As I grew my collection I started to realize my English blends were overpowering anything else I smoked in my pipes. I think I had bought a new Donegal Rocky Pete and promised myself I wouldn't smoke any English in it... as it turned out, my Burleys started to taste better. I tried it with Virginias on the next new pipe I got, which happened to be a sandblast. Maybe I just rolled with it?

Like I said, I dont always hold to that practice... but in general, it's something I do most of the time.
Also seems like an easier way to remember!
 

warren99

Lifer
Aug 16, 2010
1,943
23,275
California
I primarily smoke English/Oriental blends but have a few pipes that I dedicate to Virginia Flake/Virginia Perique blends, as the latakia in the English blends flavors the pipes and overwhelms the VA Flake/Perique blends if smoked in the same pipe.
 

Hovannes

Can't Leave
Dec 28, 2021
355
847
Fresno, CA
Sometimes a ghost can be tasty, especially a haunting of a Balkan and an aromatic.
Sometimes not.
Lakelands however are the devil's weed and I avoid them at all costs.
There is no ghost scarier than a Lakelands ghost!
 

OldWill

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 9, 2022
690
3,877
74
Blanco, Texas
None of my pipes are dedicated to a specific blend. Dedicating a tobacco to a pipe is a purist approach, which I do not care to partake in.

Watch out for Lakeland tobacco’s though, they do ghost your pipe somewhat.
I subscribe to this same school of not dedicating pipes to specific blends. Even Lakelands (at least the new ones), if smoked to the bottom and the pipe cleaned as soon as it cools, don't seem to linger in my experience.
But, as I'm sure many others will point out, this is all dependent on your refinement of taste and/or personal quirk.
 
Dec 3, 2021
4,791
40,288
Pennsylvania & New York
Out of curiosity, how did it become to be this way?

I find it unique to group by finish.

I tend to smoke burley in my Charles Towne Cobbler, English in a Dublin, Virginia's in Bulldogs or a bent billard, and aromatics in a bent billard. I also have some smaller pipes for non-English blends.

It's just what worked right, although subject to change.
I don't strictly adhere to this, but I find it easier to select lighter finished pipes for Virginias and Burleys, and dark finishes for Englishes. It's a simple way to keep track of what to use when smoking. I have few dedicated pipes for aromatics.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,759
13,781
Humansville Missouri
i can't find a good way to put this in google so i just made a new thread. As a new pipe smoker i've mainly been smoking arromatics. these aros in mostly corn cobs anyway. I'm stepping up to briars next week and i wonder how well that will work. I'll be starting off with a three briar pipe set from smoking pipes, but want to get myself a modest peterson or savinelli for my birthday in a month.

Should i be worried about easily ghosting a briar? Or should i just do an english, aro split where i keep my aros to one and english to others and lats to there own.
I have such a ridiculous number of pipes in my stash I do usually smoke Latakia rich English blends in pipes with bent stems, and aromatics in straight stem pipes.

Yes, English blends will ghost a pipe. Some of the syrupy sweet aromatics will also, but to a lesser extent, ghost a pipe.

It’s a very first world problem. A few bowls of another blend and the ghost disappears. He’s usually a friendly ghost when he’s detectable.

There really aren’t many different tasting (overall) groups of pipe tobacco. There’s the drug store codger burley group, the pipe shop fancy blend group, the candy flavored cavendish group, the Virginia group, Va Pers, and English.

There is one completely unique pipe tobacco on the market today, so strong it’s guaranteed to kill ghosts the first bowl.

Five Brothers, probably the oldest continuously produced blend in America.

—-
Old fashioned, real honest tobacco flavor with a kick, these phrases describe Five Brothers to a T. This is straightforward dark Burley, cut in a fine ribbon that's almost a shag. Although a lot of people smoke this on its own, it also makes a nice addition to mellow tobaccos to give them more body. If you like your tobacco to be robust and bold, but don't care for added flavorings, Five Brothers is just what you're looking for.
—-

Don’t be cheap, buy four packs of Five Brothers for $20 so you’ll not soon run out, and you can have a ghost buster in your tobacco stash.:)
 
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CallMeSangy

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 12, 2022
131
362
Central Virginia
I have such a ridiculous number of pipes in my stash I do usually smoke Latakia rich English blends in pipes with bent stems, and aromatics in straight stem pipes.

Yes, English blends will ghost a pipe. Some of the syrupy sweet aromatics will also, but to a lesser extent, ghost a pipe.

It’s a very first world problem. A few bowls of another blend and the ghost disappears. He’s usually a friendly ghost when he’s detectable.

There really aren’t many different tasting (overall) groups of pipe tobacco. There’s the drug store codger burley group, the pipe shop fancy blend group, the candy flavored cavendish group, the Virginia group, Va Pers, and English.

There is one completely unique pipe tobacco on the market today, so strong it’s guaranteed to kill ghosts the first bowl.

Five Brothers, probably the oldest continuously produced blend in America.

—-
Old fashioned, real honest tobacco flavor with a kick, these phrases describe Five Brothers to a T. This is straightforward dark Burley, cut in a fine ribbon that's almost a shag. Although a lot of people smoke this on its own, it also makes a nice addition to mellow tobaccos to give them more body. If you like your tobacco to be robust and bold, but don't care for added flavorings, Five Brothers is just what you're looking for.
—-

Don’t be cheap, buy four packs of Five Brothers for $20 so you’ll not soon run out, and you can have a ghost buster in your tobacco stash.:)
Thank you for that Five Brothers reccomendation. I was thinking about getting something rather neutral, since that three piece set i got seems to have come pre-carbonized. Oddly funky taste that seems to go away after smoking for a few minutes. Probably will just go the five brothers route, and get about 4 ounces like you said, to try and break them in without using up a decent amount of what i really like to smoke.