Great article Russ!
I can see where some may take a ribbing for their choice of pipe. Those that seem more artsy-fartsy than functional are a bit over the top, and though I wouldn’t dare say anything about it, It would linger in the back of my mind: “Is all that really necessary?”. In my opinion, it falls along the lines of a fella wearing his ballcap backwards while squinting because the sun is in his eyes. Hes wearing it that way to look cool, not because it serves any purpose.
As far as your choice of tobacco, I don’t think a person could be faulted for that in the slightest. All have characteristics that I enjoy, so I can see why any given smoker would prefer their particular choice over another.
“Like what you smoke, smoke what you like”…indeed.