Pipe dedication

[rotschefeller]

I've been thinking about whether or not I should post this in the pipes general discussion or beginner questions section, but here it goes!
How do you all dedicate your pipes to certain tobaccos/groups of tobaccos?
As some of you know now I am a new pipe smoker so I don't have much experience with this. I have decided to dedicate a pipe to aromatics, a pipe to primarily virginia blends and a pipe to latakia heavy blends. When I am a more experienced pipe smoker I will likely have pipes for my few favorite blends only - if I can ever make up my mind - and maybe even a few "smoke anything" pipes.
How do you all choose to dedicate your pipes? What do those of you with more experience think about how I dedicate mine? I am especially wondering if maybe I should have more pipes for more sub-categories other than aros, virginias and latakia/english.

 

[cortezattic]

I think the scheme you worked out is pretty much how I inadvertently organized my rotation.

I don't know if I could actually keep track of things if it was more specific. By all means

have a pipe or two set aside for Lakeland blends.

 

[cajundad]

+1 to rothnh . I do it like he explained .

 

[numbersix]

I haven't gotten to that stage myself. I know that some pipe smokers don't do any dedication and right now I find myself in that camp for a number of reasons:
1. I don't own enough pipes to really pull it off.
2. I don't smoke any tobaccos that seriously cause any ghosting of flavors.

 

[mrenglish]

You can have ghosting if you smoke an English blend in a pipe then switch to VA's or vice versa. Like rothnh said, if you can dedicate a pipe to a specific genre of tobacco, you will be better off in the long run. Aromatic tobaccos should definitely have their own pipe.
When breaking in a pipe, I like to go with VA's first. If it turns out to not be a good VA smoker, it is much easier to switch to an English than the other way around.

 

[lordnoble]

When I am a more experienced pipe smoker I will likely have pipes for my few favorite blends only

I've yet to get to this point. If this is the mark by which we're measuring experience, I've got a long way to go... LOL!
-Jason

 

[igloo]

I think Virginians get thier own pipes every thing else will fall in line if left to its own defenses . Or you could build a elaborate system with numbers and codes .

 

[kris]

Lakelands are tobaccos (mainly) produced in the Lake District of England. They have their own distinct flavour, which most people equate to soap or possibly flowers/nettles. Condor is the most extreme example of this I have yet smoked. Alot of the Sam Gawith & Gawith/Hogarth blends have some of this "Lakeland flavour". Also it will ghost the HELL out of your pipe!

 

[captainprophesy]

I haven't gotten to that stage myself. I know that some pipe smokers don't do any dedication and right now I find myself in that camp for a number of reasons:
1. I don't own enough pipes to really pull it off.
2. I don't smoke any tobaccos that seriously cause any ghosting of flavors.

This is me as well. :|

 

[rotschefeller]

Good tip about the lakelands, I will be careful if I ever find any!

 

[judcole]

What ghosts Lakelands are the added flavoring from the tonquin bean, which is added to some of those blends. I have only smoked blends without tonquin added, so it's not an issue for me.
To the original question, you have it correctly sorted out, as the guys have noted. I have one dedicated pipe, a 3/4 drop Stanwell egg that smokes McCranie's Murdock's Pipe so beautifully that's the only thing I smoke in it.

 

[rotschefeller]

What about flake tobacco? Should I separate say a virginia flake from my other virginia tobaccos? I've heard of some people recommending a pipe for flakes.

 

[cigrmaster]

In my experience flakes smoke best for me in group 4-5 sized pipes and in shapes like Dublins, Billiards, Lovats,Balls and Apples. I dedicate my pipes in two categories because that is all I smoke. I have my VA flake pipes and my Vapeer flake pipes. I do have 2 pipes set aside for aromatics, but I hardly ever smoke them anymore. I don't think you need to separate va blends and va flakes blends, both are va's so you will not get any ghosting. I think dedicating pipes helps significantly to the over all enjoyment of a particular blend. I did experiment with dedicating each blend to a certain pipe, but that was such a pain in the ass. When I wanted to smoke a certain blend, I might not have felt like smoking the pipe that corresponded to it so I gave it up. I know some people do this and when all is said and done, it really comes down to what works best for you. There are no definitive right or wrong ways in any of this.

 

[rotschefeller]

Thanks for sharing how you all dedicate your pipes.
As someone attracted to variety I think eventually I will do all kinds of dedication. I will likely have some strictly dedicated pipes, some pipes dedicated to a genre and even a few smoke anything pipes.
But I am still pretty new to this so first I'm going to have to let my pipe collection grow!