Learning to smoke a pipe has not necessarily been easy for me. I would imagine this generally is the same for everyone. I bought an S. Yanik Meer about 1 1/2 years ago. Not wanting to smoke out of this pipe until I became what I believed proficient enough to use it, I left in my cabinet with my tobacco only smoking it once. A few days ago I was sitting outside with my kids enjoying the day. My wife came out of the house with a glass of wine and she was also carrying a little bag with some tobacco in it and my S. Yanik meer. When she gave it to me she said, "have not seen you smoke your pipe in a while thought you might want to." My wife generally does not do these things to often and I did not want to piss her off and tell her I don't smoke this pipe, I went a head packed in the tobacco and lit it. I tell you what I should have been smoking this thing since day 1. I have decided to smoke this pipe exclusively for the month of July.