I want to smoke them all...

[milehighpiper]

Hello everyone! I am a new pipe smoker and have only smoked two different blends from my local shop. I was advised to not get a bunch of different blends and smoke them from the same pipe. I was told this was in an effort to “not confuse the pipe”. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how you enjoy different blends throughout a week. I liked both the vanilla and strawberry blends that I tried. I bought the Peterson Irish Whiskey tin and have three other blends in my cart on a popular pipes and cigar store online. I know I will find at least two more blends that sound great and i will wind up buying them.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Also this is my first post so I apologize if this has been asked and answered before.

 

[woodsroad]

Hello Mr. Mile and welcome to the PipesMagazine forums! Other folks with more experience in these things than I will chime in here, but basically, the reasoning behind not smoking different blends in the same pipe is twofold:
First, some tobacco blends, particularly aromatics such as you have been enjoying, tend to leave a "ghost" aroma and taste in a pipe. That's OK if you really like that flavoring, but it can taint your enjoyment of whatever else you smoke in that pipe. Many folks will dedicate one pipe to a blend that tends to ghost.
Second, many people feel that a pipe needs to "rest" and dry out after being smoked. For corn cobs, this may be true, but I disagree with resting for briar pipes. I flush the pipe with warm water, auger out the bowl with a twisted up paper towel (or microfiber cloth), let it sit for a short time and it's good to go again. Impromptu testing has shown that water doesn't penetrate briar much at all. YMMV.
I do suggest that, as a new piper, you buy a bag of the Missouri Meershaum corn cob "seconds" so that you always have new, clean pipe to try a new blend in, or as a second opinion when you hit a blend that doesn't ring the bell for you.
Again, welcome!

 

[seacaptain]

One pipe to smoke them all

One pipe to find them

One pipe to bring them all

And in the forum bind them

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Some will dedicate their pipes to specific blends, but I dedicate them to genres... Virginias, VaPers, and some burleys for one genre. Latakia and heavier burleys and a couple of Lakeland’s for another, and a few pipes I have dedicated to aromatics. But, my aromatics are limited to vanillas and some lightly topped premium aromatics.

Some folks will just silly billy smoke whatever in just one pipe. That’s fine, but you are just getting into tobaccos, so the idea of a bag of cobs is probably a good one. Or, maybe look for a handful of Briars in an eBay lot, but then you will have to prep them all first. So, whatever floats your boat.

 

[milehighpiper]

Thank you guys for the quick replies. I like the idea of having one pipe per “genre”. I have been all over ebay the past few weeks and have several pipes on the way from several lots.

 

[techie]

Welcome to the forums. I'm new to pipes too and learning to work things out. Folks here have been a great help.
I know what you mean about wanting to try them all. I've been smoking mostly English blends, but I've been now trying Virginias, a few Lakelands, and one aromatic. Next are VaPers.
I found it real helpful to get what are called Blending tobaccos to understand their aromas and tastes in order to pick up those flavors and aromas in blends. These would be straight Virginias, Burley, Cavendish, Latakia, etc. You only need an ounce of each and it's inexpensive.

 

[woodsroad]

Michael, I was going to suggest that Mr. High look for a nice lot of dead man's pipes on eBay, but the complicating factors of getting them de-ghosted and cleaned up seemed to make the idea of MM Seconds a better choice. Heck, I've bought two bags of seconds so far....

 

[milehighpiper]

I have learned a bunch from “stalking” the forums and decided to join last night. I have a Peterson Whiskey Blend tin that I am going to work through next. I never thought of trying the separate “ingredients” to these blends I have read many reviews suggesting Virginias and Latakias so I will add those to my cart as well. I am glad I spoke up and asked you guys!

 

[woodsroad]

Techie's suggestion of trying separate blending tobaccos is a very good one. I did the same early on.

 

[milehighpiper]

I am not a wealthy guy but I believe in “buying nice or buy it twice”. I found some great deals on ebay and have some excellent pipes (excellent to me) on the way. I look forward to getting into a decent rotation soon. Next step is meeting some local pipe smokers and see what they reccomend.

 

[seacaptain]

Ok, serious reply. Welcome to the forum and yes, I dedicate pipes to blends, English, VA, VaPer, etc. My worst pipe gets Capt Black.

 

[bnichols23]

Hiya, milehigh, & welcome! Me, I'm kind of an outlier from the purist field. Years ago (70s/80s) I'd dedicate a particular pipe to a particular blend, but these days I really don't, so one of my Armellinis or Nordings or cheap no-name French bowls may get a curly cut one day/bowl, & the next two might be my favorite aromatic, a stout English, Black Frigate, or God-only-knows-what. Yea, true, that prevents me from being the "co-noy-see-er" a lot of people are, but I enjoy them just as much. So I guess my pipes are nearly all "mutts" but they're *my* mutts & they make me happy. ::
Bill

 

[jpmcwjr]

I don't dedicate pipes but I also don't smoke aromatics nor Lakeland tobaccos.

 

[milehighpiper]

Thanks for the carefree input Bill! Like many other hobbies there are so many rules and etiquette which are often ridiculous. I invested in some pipes and don’t want to completely ruin them. I am just trying to find the balance between trying new blends and not ruining pipes.

 

[mso489]

Dedicated pipes are important for aromatic Lakeland blends, English blends that have an distinct soapy floral scent. With those, just dedicate a good MM cob. Some also find Latakia bothers them when tasted as a residue with non-Latakia blends. I don't but quite a few do. Starting out, with just a pipe or five, you may do well to smoke specific types of blends like aromatic, Virginia, English, etc., in separate pipes as you learn the differences in taste. For many of us, we accumulate "quite a few" (too many) pipes, so any carry-over doesn't bother us much or at all. Others prefer to keep the genres separate. Just mind those Lakeland aromatics; with them, you keep a separate pipe.

 

[saltedplug]

I used to dedicate as many as three pipes to one blend so that even if I smoked the tobacco daily I'd rest each pipe for three days, and with about 100 pipes I could do that, but that was when I was most invested in that process. At the other end in the last few years, if I smoked the same pipe more than once in a day, I might rest it for a few days before smoking it again. Another guy smokes the same pipe for a week without injury to the pipe or smoke. It seems to me that resting pipes is another pipe myth.

 

[bnichols23]

[/quote]so many rules and etiquette which are often ridiculous

Fortunately around here everybody's got their own ideas of what works for them, & while some may [ahem] "have decided opinions" about some things, for every one of those there'll be at least one & usually two-three who'll be the exact opposite. Some things we all agree on & a lot we don't, which is why this crowd is always entertaining. }
Some don't even like Black Frigate though God only knows why! :mrgreen:

 

[woodsroad]

It seems to me that resting pipes is another pipe myth.

Well, if you are in the business of selling seven days sets...

 

[bnichols23]

Woods, I swear I think one of these days some enterprising maker is going to come out with a "vacation set" of 14. Makes me think of Otto Ludwig Pifl in the great Cagney flick, "One, Two, Three": "We need to look *beyond* the 6-pack! Why not a 9-pack, or a *12*-pack?!"

 

[woodsroad]

Joe Six Pack is a wuss.

Just six?, Really?