New Pipe Over New Tobacco

[Humblepipe]

"Give a man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he can read, And his home is bright with a calm delight, Though the room be poor indeed."

- Alfred Dunhill -


5 of my pipes are from the 40's - 60s
1 is a Dead root from the 70s
Only 1 is a new White Spot Grp 3 Cumberland

Mayhap my perspective may be skewed, but 'tis the truth I speak.

First, tobacco or pipes? I choose both! I have been blending my own tobacco over the past year and it has been a lot of fun. Some hits and quite a few misses, but a lot of excellent knowledge gained along the way.

Dunhills... I have 5 (all old souls) and they all smoke like a dream. However, I had to purchase around 20 or more (sold 15 or so off) to find my "perfect 5". But, indeed, that is how it has worked for all the pipes I own. I have had to acquire many of even the most touted pipe brands/makers to find the right fit for me. My remaining Dunhills are all outstanding IMHO. That's all I have... an opinion, but it is mine - LOL.

 

[anotherbob]

In the beginning of my pipe journey, I thought pipes were pipes, some a little better, some not so much. I was wrong. I recently acquired a new estate pipe, my first straight billiard. Previous was big bend freehands, a bent corn cob and a Rossi 1/4 bent Author. This smallish straight billiard is a mediocre smoker, nice ebonite stem, manages to pass a pipe cleaner. But it coaxes new flavors out of the tobacco. Interesting subtle tones. It has made Haunted Bookshop taste interesting and almost fruity. It has made CS Parson’s Blend taste even better. It won’t hold a light well, and that may be where the magic lies, right on the edge of going out. Before you invest in too many tobaccos try a few different shapes figure out how you like to enjoy the tobacco.

TLDR: Try a few different pipe shapes before trying too many tobaccos.

seriously some pipes just have different flavor profiles. Why I have no idea so I'll say it's magic.

 

[sandollars]

First, tobacco or pipes? I choose both! I have been blending my own tobacco over the past year and it has been a lot of fun. Some hits and quite a few misses, but a lot of excellent knowledge gained along the way.

Dunhills... I have 5 (all old souls) and they all smoke like a dream. However, I had to purchase around 20 or more (sold 15 or so off) to find my "perfect 5". But, indeed, that is how it has worked for all the pipes I own. I have had to acquire many of even the most touted pipe brands/makers to find the right fit for me. My remaining Dunhills are all outstanding IMHO. That's all I have... an opinion, but it is mine - LOL.

If my math is correct, that's a 25 percent success rate. Yikes! A 250 batting average won't get you into the big leagues. That kind of failure rate on a World renowned pipe maker would not be acceptable.

Maybe I really did just get lucky......

BTW, That was about the same odds for me with Peterson's... I sold or gave away all of them so now they are someone else's problem...

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I chased that idea for a couple of decades but for myself, all well drilled pipes smoke identically.

I tend to agree, but it didn’t take that long . Lol!!

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

I've been smoking pipes and cigars for 25 years or so. I collected some expensive pipes over the years. This may sound odd, but I discovered cobs only in the last two or three years. I just avoided them all those years. Picked up a cob on a lark and it just blew me away. I realized that pipe tobacco tastes better for me in cobs. English, vapers, va's, anything. No idea why, but it just does. I thought at first it was a fluke, but nope. It hasn't changed for me. The flavors just shine for me in cobs. I still have three or four briars, but I almost never smoke them. I sold all of my expensive briar pipes and used that money to buy more tobacco. I don't regret it one bit. So to address this thread, for me anyway, the shape or any specific feature of a pipe really didn't make a difference for me. Switching to cobs certainly did.

Welcome to Cob County

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

If my math is correct, that's a 25 percent success rate. Yikes! A 250 batting average won't get you into the big leagues. That kind of failure rate on a World renowned pipe maker would not be acceptable.

Maybe I really did just get lucky......

BTW, That was about the same odds for me with Peterson's... I sold or gave away all of them so now they are someone else's problem...

You just saved me $

 

[saltedplug]

I tend to agree, but it didn’t take that long . Lol!!

This is the great secret about expensive pipes. Can Eltang drill better than Ashton or Chris Askwith? What are you paying for when you pay more, or more and more? Fit and finish. Prestige.

I'd like to discuss Dunhill in this light but won't to keep the peace I won't.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

This is the great secret about expensive pipes. Can Eltang drill better than Ashton or Chris Askwith? What are you paying for when you pay more, or more and more? Fit and finish. Prestige.

I'd like to discuss Dunhill in this light but won't to keep the peace I won't.

Just today someone was posting their positive comments about a corn cob pipe, having previoisly never used one. In the old days my grandfather and I would make them out of cob and cane. God did a great drill job on those canes.

I do understand not wanting to discuss that brand, but I figure there is a collector market and a user market.

 

[karam]

My best smoker for flavour is my very first pipe, a Savinelli 106 straight billiard, got it for 10 years or so, snapped the shank but it still smokes perfectly. Don't know why but as you say it coaxes nuances others don't. As many said above, if you're sold on pipe smoking then get tobacco, lots of it. In terms of affordable good pipes you can do worse than Savinelli, never had or heard of a dud.

 

[mso489]

I too love billiards for their traditional classic simplicity. I don't detect any predictable superiority of any shape, brand, or material of pipe. The ones that don't do well I trade off or give away. Some pipes do improve over time, and a rare one, now and then, declines. I do have some brandy and bulldog and Dublin (etc.) shapes that smoke as well as my good billiards. It is not predictable.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Sorry for the thread drift in advance, but what about old used pipes vs brand spanking new?

 

[Humblepipe]

Sorry for the thread drift in advance, but what about old used pipes vs brand spanking new?

Speaking for myself, I get fixated on the story behind a pipe, the mystery, the history. Who smoked it? What was happening in the era it was created in? I could have 2 top shelf pipes, one newer and one decades old. All things being equal, I would gravitate to the vintage pipe. And, for me, the older the better. There could be an argument made that aged briar has qualities newer briar does not and that the vulcanite of old is distinct from the vulcanite of more recent times. But I can't say I have the experience or knowledge to truly appreciate those nuances.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've kind of done both. If I had to choose between the two, I'd have chosen tobacco. As it stands, I have more of both than I'll ever need. I do expect I'll add a pipe here and there moving forward when I see one that tickles my fancy. Or just get in the mood.

 

[craig61a]

Well, it's been just over a month since I've bought either... and God knows I need another like I need a hole in my head.

I've got enough tobacco to last me, and at least a one year rotation in pipes...

 

[olkofri]

Many of those out there from the bottom up to the top grades. My prime reason for hating Dunhill.

View attachment 81898

Why, I hope THAT thing IS drilled right. What a mess otherwise. ?

 

[RookieGuy]

I'm to the point now where I have enough pipes. Doesn't mean I'm not going to buy more, but I have enough. Anything else now will be something interesting and unique that catches my eye. And I'll be culling the herd soon afterwards.

Tobacco, on the other hand, I'm buying what I can afford when I can afford it. I'm just jaded and/ or cynical enough to fear what may happen in the future. Having a cellar well stocked with what may have become black market tobaccos is appealing.

 

[mikebjrtx]

I smoke mostly unfinished cobs. I even patch the bottom of the bowl when they wear out because they smoke better and better with time. I don't like the turpentine taste of the first use charring the end of the stem but after that I do enjoy them.

 

[saltedplug]

Pipes or tobacco? False choice. Both!

 

[fightnhampster]

Congratulations on your mediocre smoking wonderful pipe!

At this point in space/time I put tobacco purchases before pipes. A lot of tobaccos blends may be riding off into the sunset before the end of the year, prices and taxes are bound to rise. Ease of access to online orders is the next natural target. I would be focused on stocking up on the available blends I would not want to be without.

Pipes will be around, a great many blends may not.

I'm happy that I bought blends when I did and can enjoy some no longer produced favorites.

+1

 

[cigrmaster]

I have plenty of tobacco and I recently moved out about 50 pipes to make room for more.
I was sick of looking at pipes that I rarely smoked so I moved more than 50 percent of my collection. I haven't done a big pipe move like this in a while so I will have a lot of fun moving more pipes into my cabinets. I have a 36 count and a 15 pipe count cabinet. I plan on filling both and then I have a 6 count round pipe holder for my biggest pipes. I only have 3 pipes in that one and it is enough for my group 6 and ODA pipes.