Ruminations on the Individuality of Pipes

[Briar Lee]

Finally had to address a typo, "Individually"- while a word, don't think it fits here.

This evening I’m smoking Granger in a Four Star Lee Bulldog and a Ben Wade Preben Holm Golden Walnut Danish freehand.

Granger is delicious in both pipes but it tastes slightly different in each, or I think it does. I don’t mean cooler, but a slightly different flavor.

As an experiment I’ve filled a Lee Three Star Prince with Granger, and I think it tastes slightly different than the other two.

One explanation for this might be all three pipes have different bowl dimensions so the Granger is burning slightly different in all three, and that accounts for the subtle taste difference. In other words, it’s construction that causes different pipes to smoke differently.

Another way to explain this, is that each piece of briar is slightly different and imparts a different flavor, however slight, than any other piece of briar.

And, it could be the six inches between my ears that is the cause of why I think they taste differently.

I own close to a dozen medium Lee Three Star Billiards, all in excellent shape.

If I load up a few of those, will they taste differently?

Surely I’m not the only pipe smoker to have wondered, if each pipe has it’s own individual taste.

What are your thoughts on this smoldering issue?.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The only time I've noticed a difference between flavors in pipes is when there's remnants of another blend. Some swear by the pipe affecting the flavor but I've never noticed it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

May I sum up this frequent topic?

Some report there are differences.
Some report there is no difference.

 

[Briar Lee]

The only time I've noticed a difference between flavors in pipes is when there's remnants of another blend. Some swear by the pipe affecting the flavor but I've never noticed it.

I wish I had the ability to write a review like jiminks but I seem to always agree with him,,,, after I’ve read his review.

This tends to suggest I’m suggestible, and I only think there’s subtle differences between pipes.

But I have noticed a tiny bit more difference when smoking a monochromatic burley blend like Granger between different pipes.

Jim's Updated Granger Review. :: Pipe Tobacco Reviews - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/threads/jims-updated-granger-review.53253/

And the explanation each pipe tastes slightly different because of previous ghosting is a valid explanation.

 

[Briar Lee]

May I sum up this frequent topic?

Some report there are differences.
Some report there is no difference.

And maybe they are both right, in this regard.

I cannot remember being so young I didn’t love the smell of tobacco smoke, all of it, cigarettes, pipes and cigars.

But I can remember asking my parents why they made butterscotch ice cream, as nasty as it was.

Individuals have different tastes and preferences.

Or else no anchovies or blue cheese or Limburger cheese would be in the stores.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I wish I had the ability to write a review like jiminks.... << Snipped bits out >>

....And the explanation each pipe tastes slightly different because of previous ghosting is a valid explanation.

Yes it is. But why bring in Jim or refer to another article?

And they are both right in regards to themselves.

"Individuals have different tastes and preferences." One of my favs is " Diff strokes; diff folks", typed quite a few times.

 

[Briar Lee]

Yes it is. But why bring in Jim or refer to another article?

I’d sure like to know his opinion on this issue.

A man with such refined taste is an excellent source reference.

I included him because I read his reviews, and agree with them. I ought to be able to taste them on my own, but his opinion must sway mine.

So would pipe makers.

Let’s say a pipe maker completes five pipes as close to identical as he can, from the same briar source.

Will there be slight differences in taste?

 

[Chaukisch]

I know that my first and smallest optically perfect 25€ bruyere Capitello acts a lot more differently than my bigger 25€ sandblasted bruyere Jean Claude that has some visual flaws.
The small one likes to get hot and wet and leak inbetween its wood and vulcanite stem.
If I don't stick some tissue paper or piece of pipe cleaner inbetween, it whizzes all over itself and my fingers.
If that doesn't have a factor on taste I'll eat my clay pipe with tobac fill, hemp twine bind and all!

Probably another thing to mention:
The small pipe fits together very tightly, the big one more losely.
No matter how I approach the small one, it's a bitch. Plain and simple. The bigger one is a cool and dry smoke
all the way through and my shot up palette believes that it's the better smoke every time,
no matter what kind of leaf I put into it.

 

[craig61a]

The question of the ages…

You know, I always wondered how a Thermos knows how to keep something hot or cold.

 

[brian64]

May I sum up this frequent topic?

Some report there are differences.
Some report there is no difference.

I don't think that counts as a rumination.

 

[didimauw]

Ghosting
The beverage you drank or are drinking
Humidity
Pipe size
Cadence
Farts near by
So many different things. Some more important than others.

I used to think for months that one of my favorite blends tasted citrusy, but then one day realized it was because I'm a habitual mountain dew drinker. Coffee brings a whole new level to things.

 

[burleybreath]

I've had pipes that tasted bad. Very bad. No matter what you do to them. They're "nicotinic" or something. Green wood, maybe. But in general, my pipes taste the same. Any slight variance I would attribute to prior tobacco smoked in them. I have a Savinelli "Handmade" (a quasi-Autograph that didn't make the grade) that I use for aromatics. No way would that pipe burn something like Granger and not have the taste affected. That's maybe an extreme example, but mutatis mutandis and all that. Further rumination hurts my skull.

 

[Searock Fan]

The question of the ages…

You know, I always wondered how a Thermos knows how to keep something hot or cold.

Ask Edith Bunker....

 

[bassbug]

You know, I always wondered how a Thermos knows how to keep something hot or cold.

It doesn't....Just the other day I filled a thermos with some hot coffee and a popsicle. Didn't work worth a damn.

 

[craig61a]

Maybe he should have his own section…



Kinda like Jack Handey had his 30 seconds on SNL, or Andy Rooney on 60 minutes.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

I've not noticed a different flavor between pipes. Maybe an enhanced flavor. Like I've smoked a blend from a pipe and said "oh that was nice". Then smoked it from a different pipe later and said "that was the best smoke I've ever had. Wow".
This is why folks like @cigrmaster pair specific blends with specific pipes. They've found a pair that works really well.
Maybe I'm misreading the ruminations

 

[Briar Lee]

Once upon a time I owned a huge squat and stubby Custombuilt, with a bowl so wide and short it was a chore to keep it lit. I sold it.

There is some “golden mean” of chamber measurements the makers must obey. The wider at the top the deeper the pipe chamber must be.

In the case of cigars, the cigar magazines claim a big double Churchill will taste a little better than a Panetela. More burning area is why.

I do believe my very largest pipes smoke the best, in some cases so much better it may not all be my imagination and pride to own such an impressively large and beautiful pipe.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I believe mr pease wrote an article on this subject not long ago—2 nearly identical pipes tasting different. For what it’s worth, every pipe I have—not too many by standards here—makes a given tobacco taste slightly different.

 

[RudyH]

This evening I’m smoking Granger in a Four Star Lee Bulldog and a Ben Wade Preben Holm Golden Walnut Danish freehand.

Granger is delicious in both pipes but it tastes slightly different in each, or I think it does. I don’t mean cooler, but a slightly different flavor.

As an experiment I’ve filled a Lee Three Star Prince with Granger, and I think it tastes slightly different than the other two.

One explanation for this might be all three pipes have different bowl dimensions so the Granger is burning slightly different in all three, and that accounts for the subtle taste difference. In other words, it’s construction that causes different pipes to smoke differently.

Another way to explain this, is that each piece of briar is slightly different and imparts a different flavor, however slight, than any other piece of briar.

And, it could be the six inches between my ears that is the cause of why I think they taste differently.

I own close to a dozen medium Lee Three Star Billiards, all in excellent shape.

If I load up a few of those, will they taste differently?

Surely I’m not the only pipe smoker to have wondered, if each pipe has it’s own individual taste.

What are your thoughts on this smoldering issue?.

You're speaking my language. That's part of the essence of pipe smoking.

One example is that I do not like the strong flavor of Elizabethan in the small bowl of my Peterson 406, but it's great in larger bowls. Another example is that I like Peterson De Luxe Navy Rolls in my small Peterson Belgique, but it's not that interesting in the largest bowls, in which I prefer Elizabethan instead.

 

[Briar Lee]

I believe mr pease wrote an article on this subject not long ago—2 nearly identical pipes tasting different. For what it’s worth, every pipe I have—not too many by standards here—makes a given tobacco taste slightly different.

I respect very much the opinion of a man who can become a household word among pipe smokers by taking exactly the same tobaccos other blenders have access to and marketing them successfully in expensive little two ounce cans.

If me and Pease are right, the difference between identical pipes is the soul inside each individual briar is different.

Harry Hosterman first had to select good white oak trees to be made into bourbon barrel staves. There was another man at the Independent Stave Company in Lebanon that stood at the gate approving Harry’s load. Another sawed them into staves, and another fashioned them into whiskey barrels and charred them.

But because every barrel is different, we can enjoy single barrel whiskey made from “honey barrels”.

—-

What Is A Honey Barrel?

The term gets used a lot in the whiskey industry, but what does it really mean?

www.whiskyadvocate.com

At Wild Turkey, they’re called sugar barrels. Master distiller Eddie Russell says these barrels are usually in the middle floors of the rickhouses, a location that offers the ultimate aging conditions for a “smooth” flavor profile. “Not all of them are identical because each one has a different taste,” he explains. “However they all have a great texture and feel when they hit your tongue. They start with a sweetness of honey, butterscotch, and fruit, then give off a nice spicy character in the middle, finally finishing clean and long.” He adds that most of Wild Turkey’s sugar barrels are used for the Russell’s Reserve line or for limited offerings like Master’s Keep.
—

Of course that might just be a way to sell pipe tobacco and whiskey, but if it’s not true, it should be.