Smoking Va and Burley Blends in the Same Pipe

[alialansari]

Hello Folks, hope everyone is well.

I was just wondering if it would be possible to smoke Virginia blends along with Burley mixtures in the same pipe. Any ghosting issues?

For example, could I smoke Capstan blue and Haunted Bookshop in the same pipe or would one blend overshadow the other?

Many thanks!!

 

[shanez]

I don't find any issues smoking various blends in the same pipe. Even with blends that can strongly ghost, as long as I don't smoke them repeatedly, I find after a few puffs of a different blend I can't tell anymore.

 

[Servant King]

I only dedicate pipes for aromatics, and latakia blends. I smoke everything else in the same pipes, and haven't had any ghosting issues whatsoever. For the record, "everything else" for me is VAs, Burleys, VaBurs, and VaPers. Plus the occasional kitchen sink blend, like Warped Kings Stride or C&D Folklore, as long as there's no lat. Also, I don't smoke Lakelands.

 

[bullet08]

More or less same as others. Not by choice or design. It just worked out that way. I think certain shape pipes goes well with certain type of blends. Not because they taste better or smoke better, but in my head, it just do.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Not because they taste better or smoke better, but in my head, it just do.

Like a three peaked volcano pipe and KBV Sakura.

 

[phdaemon]

It depends on the blend. Some VA blends are heavily topped, the same with some Burley blends. One that comes to mind as an example would be Mac Baren's Burley London Blend. For heavily topped blends, you **can** run the risk of ghosting. In those scenarios, I would use a separate pipe. However, most VAs, VaBurs, VaPers, and Burleys aren't necessarily heavily topped and in those instances, you should be fine.

Btw, as you continue down the rabbit hole that is this hobby, you'll probably eventually have more pipes than you'll know what to do and this will become moot. At least, that's what happened to me.

 

[Streeper541]

I'm quite liberal with what pipes I smoke Burleys & Virginias in. It doesn't concern me much.

I pay more careful attention to English and Aromatic blends.

 

[brooklynpiper]

In my dearest pipe, I smoke everything from MacBaren’s Symphony to light/oriental forward englishes and all the Virginia and Burleys in between.

 

[alialansari]

Thanks a million folks. I almost exclusively smoke VAs, VaBur and VaPer blends which according to many responses should be ok to smoke in the same pipe. Thanks again!!

 

[cigrmaster]

I am very particular about how I dedicate pipes. For example if one of my Virginia flakes is just a straight Virginia, that is all I smoke in it. I have 2 Rad Davis Lovats that only smoke 2007 Stonehaven. I have 2 pipes a Scott Thile Bulldog and a Rad Davis Billiard that only see well aged Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky 1998-2005. In 4 years I will have 100 tins of the DSK that are all 10 years old. I will use one of my DSK pipes to see how it is doing.

If I want to smoke a Virginia/Burley or Kentucky, I don't smoke a vaper in that pipe. I have my vaper pipes and they have years of it in the cake.
I have one blend I am still aging, Savinelli Doblone d'Oro which is a combination of Virginia/ Perique and Kentucky. I have nothing else like it in my cellar so once it hits a certain age, I will experiment with a few pipes and try to find one that matches it really well. My batch is only from 2018 so in another couple of years I will give it a test and see where I am.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I find the best results come from dedicating pipes to a specific genre. It would likely even be better to dedicate a pipe to a specific blend but I'm not that picky. YMMV.

 

[mso489]

I have ninety some pipes and lots of open blends, so I certainly wouldn't notice any ghosting from Virginia and burley blends of various kinds smoked in the same pipes. I don't consider myself to have a particularly sensitive sense of taste or smell, good but not exquisite. Since I don't smoke Lakeland aromatic blends, I just don't worry about ghosting. A little carry over from Latakia or aromatic flavorings doesn't concern me at all.

 

[seanv]

You may lose the subtle nuances of the Virginia blends if you mix and match different genres. I like to dedicate pipes to genres and a handful are dedicated to blends. All of this said, there is no wrong answer. Experiment and do what is best for you

 

[alaskanpiper]

It’ll be fine.

 

[phdaemon]

I find the best results come from dedicating pipes to a specific genre. It would likely even be better to dedicate a pipe to a specific blend but I'm not that picky. YMMV.

This is exactly what I do now that I have so many pipes. I have some dedicated to specific genres, and then a few special pipes that I dedicate to specific special blends. IMO this is probably the best approach if you have pipes to spare.

 

[cigrmaster]

Even though I only have 38 artisan pipes in my total collection and don't smoke anything else my memory is getting to the point where I am going to have to make a list so I know what pipes go with what blends. I dedicated one of my Jack Howells to be a vaper pipe and now I have no idea which pipe it is.

I have 3 meers but they just sit so I don't count them.

 

[phdaemon]

Even though I only have 38 artisan pipes in my total collection and don't smoke anything else my memory is getting to the point where I am going to have to make a list so I know what pipes go with what blends. I dedicated one of my Jack Howells to be a vaper pipe and now I have no idea which pipe it is.

I have 3 meers but they just sit so I don't count them.

What I did for mine is create labels for each pipe that's used for a given blend type.


The Unsmoked ones don't have a label underneath. I'll post a picture later.

 

[phdaemon]

Here's some of my pipes with the labeled racks. I have a few others in different displays that aren't labeled but, there are the ones I use the most.

@cigrmaster @hoosierpipeguy

 

[vosBghos]

I’m a total freak I have a colored electric tape system for my jars and pipe rack been working on , but basically , English pipes , Burley pipes, Virginia pipes,Lakeland pipes, getting my birth year Dunhill in the post hoping to smoke SG FVF in it exclusively

 

[alaskanpiper]

I basically have 3 categories. Pipes that get Latakia, pipes that get aromatics, and pipes that get neither.

And then 2 other very small groups. Lakeland pipes and pipes that get anything (except lakelands).

Have never once worried about VA based and burley based blends sharing pipes though.