Pipe Versus Cigar Experience

[mso489]

I like both pipes and cigars, but they are different. Even cigar leaf in a pipe is a totally different experience. I think of it similar to comparing a restaurant meal, where it is all prepared and presented to you, which is like a cigar where the smoking experience is built into the stick, to a home cooked meal where you have a series of choices and the application of technique and skills to get the particular smoke you want. How do you compare the two experiences?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I don't put a lot of thought into smoking a pipe, so the only real difference for me is which flavor and duration of smoking I want between the pipe and cigar.

 

[crawdad]

To get a consistent even burn line with a cigar is the only difference to me, that and the pure convenience a cigar brings.

 

[verporchting]

I enjoy both but at different times and different ways.

Cigars are for outdoor enjoyment only, but pipes are fine indoors. My wife likes the smell of a pipe and the house never smells like a dumpster fire doused with copious amounts of stale mouse urine the next morning.

I smoked a cigar in the house once. Had to sell that damn house. Horrible stench that lingered. Plus the wife threatened me with bodily injury if I did that again. Hard to disagree with her. It was rank.

 

[warren]

I like both pipes and cigars, but they are different.

That's it in a nutshell!

A good cigar puts the "coda" on a good meal for me. My pipe is part of my daily routine, not that special, a provider of nicotine if you will. But, I'd never take one over the other, like cigarettes and a chew, they all serve a purpose and, as the Bible states, "A time for everything ..."

 

[alaskanpiper]

I’ve always viewed as steak vs sushi. One hearty, strong, in your face, and fairly similar across presentations. The other lighter, much more diverse, and full of endless complexity.

 

[mau1]

I've pretty much given up cigars, even though my humidor is half full. Smoking a cigar doesn't come close to pipe smoking, for me.

 

[danimalia]

I like both, and seem to really alternate which one I favor at a given time. Right now, I am kind of in a pipe phase. For me, a cigar is more deliberate, with a slower puffing cadence. Because they suffer in terms of taste from relights, when I sit down to smoke a cigar, I expect to finish it, so I am usually looking for a good 60-90 minutes. A pipe can be shorter, or longer, depending on the pipe and blend, and if you have anything else going on, but I find it far more tolerable to do other things while smoking a pipe. Smoke production is generally much higher with cigars, so I prefer to smoke them with some decent ventilation going on. I find cigars to be a bit more social, and pipe smoking more solitary, though that might just be me. As a rule, cigars are way more expensive than pipe tobacco. A single cigar can easily cost as much as an entire tin of tobacco or even more, though the major expense with pipe smoking is the pipes themselves. It is probably easier to be a pipe smoker on a budget. I'm glad I don't have to choose one over the other.

 

[cshubhra]

I smoke both. There are some times I prefer a cigar and other times when I prefer a pipe.

I smoke more cigars in the summer, more pipes in winter

 

[Jacob74]

I much prefer a pipe. Cigars make me salivate too much.

 

[mordy18]

I like both, but cigars are more of an occasional thing. Anything bigger than a corona is usually too long of a smoke for me. Much easier to control the length of a pipe smoke. However, i do find that pipe smoking often irritates my mouth and cigars dont.

 

[jttnk]

I just recently got into cigars, about three or four months ago. I really enjoy both. Exploring different blends, reading about different types of tobacco, much like pipe tobacco discovery. i for sure do not like really mild cigars, nor strong peppery cigars.

 

[craig61a]

Over the years I have focused more on one than the other, but over the last 5 years or so, it's been more exclusively pipes. As some have mentioned, the versatility of pipes is endless, while cigars are pretty much static in terms of the experience.

I prefer a cigar in the warmer season, when there is humidity in the air. And once I light up a cigar, I'm committed to the time it takes to finish it. With a pipe, I'll set it aside for a time and come back to it, whether it be 15 minutes or a few hours or overnight. Just me.

My cigar of preference is usually Nicaraguan, in 6x54 ring.

 

[Rockyrepose]

I enjoy both. There are similarities in both experiences but it's probably a matter of degrees. I just finished a bowl of WIndjammer and there were quite a few transitions throughout the smoke. There are cigars that do that too. I've had some very nuanced experiences from cigars.

There are one dimensional cigars and pipe tobaccos, this isn't a bad thing necessarily but it just highlights how the experience can be similar between the two. Hanging out at a summer social bbq I'll more than likely pack a handful of cigars and a torch with a punch built into it depending on the local. I find that very utilitarian even though the smoke from a pipe is usually more accepted for the room note. I take more than one cigar because there tends to be a few people at those gatherings who like to join in on a cigar as the evening activities progress. At home it's a toss up and it ends up being whatever I'm in the mood for.

I find equal enjoyment in both N delivery devices. I do find that cigars tend to be more forgiving on the palate, that is until the next morning when I'll sometimes have ashtray mouth which is much less likely from the pipe.

 

[shanez]

It's weird how much of the two are the same yet they're totally different experiences. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I can say the same about cigarettes. They're all burning tobacco.

Yet I hate cigarettes, love a good cigar, but neither is as relaxing or pleasurable as a good pipe.

 

[OzPiper]

I smoked cigars exclusively for 15 years, and thanks to the Internet, was able to indulge in a wide range of Cuban, Dominican and Nicaraguan cigars. These past 3-4 years I have been smoking my pipes mainly, even though I still enjoy cigars greatly.

The nuances in cigars are a lot more subtle than pipe tobacco, because cigar leaf is cured naturally with no added flavourings - I don't think anyone on the Forums would include flavoured cigars in our discussion.

Pipe tobacco are cured in different ways, all resulting in very different tastes. They can be cased or topped. Several tobaccos can be blended together or just left as singly. This results in an infinite palette of flavours/tastes.

When it comes to smoking a pipe, you then have to decide which of your pipes you are going to use with which tobacco - increasing your choices again. I don't think there are too many Forums members who limit themselves to just 1 pipe and 1 tobacco.

My contention is that pipe smoking is more interesting than cigars (not necessarily more enjoyable or satisfying) because of the choice you are presented each time you decide to have a bowl.

 

[burleybreath]

My cigar consumption is WAY down, as I much prefer the pipe, with its endlessly variable nuances, and with the difficulty of late with finding cigars I like. But two activities, for some reason I can't comprehend, draw me toward cigars, namely movie watching at home and taking day trips. Good cigars for the movies, lesser ones for the car. I might even take cigars on a trip knowing I'm probably not going to smoke them, due to this and that. But the thought of suddenly craving one without having any on hand frightens me, even more so than an out-of-control semi coming at me sideways. We all have our priorities.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I enjoy both, especially cigar leaf in my pipe. But, I think of my pipe as playing an instrument for enjoyment, and cigars as turning on the radio for enjoyment.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It's pretty simple for me. If I'm doing an activity, such as golf, not conducive to smoking a pipe, I'll smoke a cigar. Or multiple cigars. If I'm easily able to smoke a pipe, I smoke the pipe. I enjoy smoking a pipe much more than I do a cigar. Cigarettes used to be in the mix but I quit those nasty things in 2007 and haven't had a puff off of one since.

 

[Jaylotw]

I enjoy both, especially cigar leaf in my pipe. But, I think of my pipe as playing an instrument for enjoyment, and cigars as turning on the radio for enjoyment.

I like that analogy.

I like cigars, but my knowledge of them is really limited. They’re easier to deal with and smoke and are nice in the summer while playing bocce or hanging out around a fire, or any time really. I just don’t find them as nuanced and they’re a less fun than a pipe, but still enjoyable. They’re too pricey for me to buy any more than a couple at a time, and the whole thing with people displaying them as some type of status or power symbol really irks me.