Right Pipe Right Tobacco Right Delicious

[buck17]

I know this is a topic of debate but I was wondering if there are any general favorites out there for which tobacco pairs with which pipe?
I have been enjoying Maltese Falcon from a cobbit, getting flavors from the breath method and really starting to taste it. I then tried it in a briar apple that isn't much shorter and it was not even close. On the other hand, Navy Flake tastes great in that apple and not as flavorful in all the other cobs I've tried. I guess it's a heat thing but I am in general smoking as cool as I can at my current ability.
As you can see, I'm figuring it out my own way but just interested in others thoughts!

 

[mso489]

Most blends have their favored pipes, or the pipes have their favored blends. Some blends remain pretty good, but not as good, in a different pipe, and others just shut down.

 

[jazz]

This kind of thing remains a mystery to me. Some tobaccos just seem to love certain pipes and dislike others. I'm currently smoking Germain's Brown Flake in a Savenelli 614 and it is delicious and slightly sweet. If I put it in my favourite Virginia pipe it's harsh, acrid and slightly bitey. Normally this Sav mutes a tobacco. I don't seem to know of a tobacco that smokes as well in all my pipes and I don't think I have a pipe that smokes all tobaccos brilliantly. Figuring out what works well with what is part of the pleasure for me and something of a voyage of discovery.
When you know your pipes and tobaccos quite well you can use this knowledge to engineer the experience to your mood. I do anyway.
I tried explaining this to some non-pipe smokers once and they looked at me like I was mental and talking pish.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

 

[cortezattic]

It's all hit-or-miss with me. Fortunately, even the less than optimum pairings are still quite enjoyable.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Sorry, when I googled that wonderful colloquialism, I saw the meme, and couldn't help myself.
I agree with all of the above, but sometimes I will have a pipe that I have found to be a wonderful smoker for straight Virginias, and then one day I just realize that hey, this doesn't seem to be smoking straight Virginias very well anymore, and then I try a blend with Dark Fired, and it starts to sing for that one. I like that things aren't static. That would get boring quick. I want to mix it up, shuffle my pipes and what I smoke up a bit. Move the cheese, so to speak... as the scientist have found that when the mouse finds the easiest path to get the cheese from the maze, and things get easy, life for the mouse starts to shorten drastically.

 

[jpmcwjr]

My pipes and tobaccos are agnostic to one another. But then, I smoke only English as a rule, but do use flakes, coins, and mostly shag or ready rubbed.

 

[Civil War]

I like certain pipes for specific tobaccos. It comes down to experimentation and personal preference.

 

[cigrmaster]

I buy pipes based on how well I think they will smoke my favorite flakes and plugs. I have found many magical combos with certain pipes and certain blends and when I do find them, I stick to them. It definitely takes time and experimentation to find great combo's but that is half the fun.

 

[saltedplug]

Pipe and tobacco pairings are rubbish, IMNHO (in my not humble opinion).

 

[buck17]

Thanks, yeah it's been a pleasure sorting through. I wasn't sure if I was making it up in my head so go to hear that I'm on the path here.
Cosmic, I like that you've found that even after getting the equation it can change yet again. Hadn't even thought that far ahead.

 

[jazz]

Sorry, when I googled that wonderful colloquialism, I saw the meme, and couldn't help myself.

Apologies not required. It gave me a giggle and that was pretty much the look I received.

 

[cigrmaster]

salt, maybe if you smoked pipes other than Dr Grabows, you might sing a different tune. :mrgreen:

 

[saltedplug]

mister master, I've smoked hundreds of pipes, not a one a Grabow, both briar and cob. The blend I've smoked the most is Dark Flake, and I've probably smoked it in 20 different pipes, and not once did I notice it purring because the pairing was optimal. It doesn't make sense for us to opinionate about this or any other subjective perception we've had in pipe smoking. All of it is subjective. But from time to time I get tired of being an always agreeable citizen of the board and say that this or that just ain't so.

 

[perdurabo]

One day I'm in total agreement with Saltedplug, the next I'm not. I've often wondered if the stain used on pipes give the tobacco a different flavor. Cobs seemed to be completely neutral when completely broken in. My meerschaum tends to be better for mixtures than say straight virginias, making the straight Virginia taste sweeter than I like. I prefer virginias and Englishes in a cob. Briars do better for orientals and dark fired mixtures, burley, or vapers. But sometimes a good malty Virginia is better in my Virginia dedicated briar than a cob. See, I'm all over the place. Which is why I routinely come to Saltedplugs conclusion.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Pipe and tobacco pairings are rubbish

Yep

 

[64alex]

As said there is no perfect or even approximate equation also because I think at the end it is a matter of personal taste preference as a combo tobacco/pipe which is great for one guy might not be so for another.
Said that I think there are a couple of general ruled which can help at least as a guide.

The first is the diameter of the bowl, I find that complex blends are better in wide and short bowls while more monochrome blends are better in strict and tall bowls. So for example I find an English/Balkan better in a wide bowl and Semois better in tall less wide bowl.

The second thing I consider is the material of the pipe and I divide them in two main groups, on one side the "organic" wooden ones (mainly briars but also others as olive wood, lemon wood and so on) and on the other ones the "inorganic" ones (clay and meerschaum with the morta which are for me closer to be put in this group) with the cob as something in between. I find the inorganic ones, being mainly neutral and not changing too much the taste of the tabacco, are good for any blends but they have an edge to pick up subtle flavors as particularly in Virginia. The organic wooden ones can complement positively or negatively some strong tasting blends particularly English/Balkan and Dark fired and it is a matter of experimentation to find the right combo. For me leaving aside the aesthetics of some very beautiful wooden pipes, I find easier to use a clay or meerschaum as they are more consistent in deliver what I would expect. But it is all a matter of personal choices and experimentation.

 

[saltedplug]

material of pipe, cob/briar/meer - no

finish - no

shape - no

bowl geometry/chamber diameter, depth - no

wall thickness or shank/stem length, as regards a cool smoke - no

length of stem in relation to shank - no

open bit - no

chamfered tenon - no

weight - no

stem butts against shank without a gap - no

tenon fits snugly in mortise - no
We all have our requirements for some of the above that causes us to feel we have bought a quality pipe, but my feeling is that they aren't worth a damn in how the pipe smokes or whether it will announce its pairing with a certain tobacco. I think that we primarily choose a pipe by shape and finish, and if we smoke it for a period of time, bond with it.
Shape, finish and bonding are, to me, the best explanation for the certainty that such and such pipe smokes with excellence or that it pairs with a tobacco, especially as the first two are most of the reason we buy the pipe in the first place.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

So... some of us pick out pipes with a list of requirements and specifications that we like for what we like to smoke in them. And then some, just buy any old pipe and smoke whatever. . Ok, I get that. ::

 

[Chasing Embers]

And then some, just buy any old pipe and smoke whatever. .

Not just any old pipe. We pick one we like, and really any tobacco can be smoked in it. I used to use a new pipe as an excuse to try a new tobacco in, and whatever genre that blend fell into is what got smoked in that pipe.