The Dedicated Pipe Dilemma

[JRW11b]

I have a savinelli 673 and a MM Legend. The Savinelli has seen nothing but English blends since I got it last week. Do most of you find it necessary to dedicate a certain pipe to specific blends? Will the flavor of the old dark Birdseye I just got be diminished if smoked from the Sav? I guess there is only one way to find out, but I'm curious as to what most of your thoughts are in regards to this.

Thanks to those who have given me great suggestions on blends, I'm having in incredible time with my pipe and tobaccos I have so far.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

It's ultimately your decision, If you ask 100 pipe smokers that question you'll get 100 different answers.

I personally don't dedicate pipes to specific blends, but everything I smoke tends to play well together and none of it tends to ghost. I also keep my pipes pretty clean which helps a lot.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I don’t dedicate pipes to blends mostly because I doubt I’d even pick up on any ghosting that may occur. I just haven’t got that sensitive of a palate. Maybe someday I will, but I sure as heck ain’t there yet.

 

[pipingfool]

I generally smoke Latakia blends in specific pipes and Virginia Blends in another group of pipes. But not always. Sometimes I just really want to smoke a particular pipe for whatever reason and a specific blend and sometimes they aren't my "usual" pairings. But the way I see it, they're my pipes and my blends, so whatever I want to do is fine by me.

Bottom line, try mixing it up and see what happens. If you don't enjoy the DBE out of your Sav, then use the cob until you get another pipe. Or just get a bunch of cobs to beef up your selection while you build up your briar rotation.

Great thing about this hobby is that it is 100% customizable to your tastes and preferences.

 

[verporchting]

Heavy Latakia blends, Lakelands and strong aromatics will leave a ghost that can affect the taste of the next several bowls (or even longer - Lakelands perhaps forever). If that doesn’t bother you then it’s no problem. It’s most noticeable if you’re smoking straight Virginia and the ghost can be unwelcome. If you’re smoking primary aromatic blends you may not notice or care much. For many years I used the same pipes for everything and it was fine. I did not smoke heavy Latakia or Lakelands then so a mild ghost was fine. Also my palate wasn’t developed enough to detect the nuances of straight Virginia.

Now I have some pipes dedicated to only straight Virginia blends, and others for Latakia, Lakelands or aromatics although I’m not terribly strict about it. Mostly I smoke what I want, when I want, in whatever pipe I want at the moment - but I’ve got several pipes that will probably never see anything except straight Virginia or VaPer/VaVur. That’s about as close to a rule as I get.

The other day I smoked a peach burley and Virginia blend in a pipe normal used for Lakelands and the ghosting was noticeable but pleasant so I didn’t mind a bit. Just felt like that blend in that pipe so I did it and it was fine.

Hope that helps you but remember: it’s your pipe adventure so however you want to enjoy it is up to you. There’s no wrong or right answer. Except smoking moldy tobacco. That’s just gross, don’t do that.

 

[mso489]

If I had taste buds as discerning as jiminks, I would certainly designate pipes to some degree. I don't for several reasons. I have a lot of pipes, so they get long rests, which reduces the probability of ghosting. I do not build cake because I scoop out the ash and wipe out the chamber with an abrasive paper towel, which reduces any cake-based ghosting. And I do not smoke the strongest ghosting blends, aromatics from Lakelands.

If there is any carry over from one blend to the next, I don't notice it, or I actually enjoy it adding a little extra kiss of the "I do not know what," to translate the French idiom.

I would find extensive dedication of pipes laborious and confining. I like having the choice from all my racks of pipes for any particular smoke. If I wanted to smoke Lakelands, I would have that one designated pipe, maybe with a dayglo tape band around the shank. No, I think I'll pass on that.

 

[BarrelProof]

It’s going to be an expensive endeavor this early in the game to dedicate pipes to blends/styles. While there may be some impact, most of what you’ve mentioned you’ll be smoking won’t have any egregious traits. I’d say rock out in the 673 & MM until YOU notice it. Then go pipe shopping. But I really think it’s more of something that people like to talk about and make it out to be a big deal when it really isn’t that big of a problem - unless you get into certain types that have been mentioned; Lakelands specifically.

That said, cobs are cheap and smoke wonderfully. I don’t think any pipe smoker - seasoned vet or completely new - is creating a disadvantage by adding a half-dozen small cobs for tasting different blends. If you were so inclined, you could grab a few more cheaper/smaller cobs and dedicate those to certain styles, learn what you like, what you don’t, what will ghost, and what won’t, and then move out.

 

[bullet08]

Yes, no, maybe. Typically, my bulldogs/Rhodesians/pots get used for Latakia blends. But if I feel like using one of those pipes, and don't feel like smoking Latakia, I might load up Va or Va/Per. I don't "dedicate" pipes, but I end up using certain shapes for certain blends.

 

[LeafErikson]

If you are concerned with it I would just get a few more cobs while you figure out what to smoke. Everyone is different and you will get all sorts of answers. Without a doubt, the flavors will be more defined if you dedicate a pipe to a blend family (Virginia/vaper, Latakia, aromatic etc.).

 

[Lumbridge]

I personally wouldn't worry about dedicating a pipe to a specific blend, but I do so with blend categories. I have a cob that I only smoke latakia blends from, one that only gets heavily cased aromatics, etc. Basically, anything that ghosts heavily or has the potential to do so should be smoked in a pipe that is only used with blends of a similar style, IMO.

I do, however, have a couple of pipes that I only smoke Carter Hall out of because I smoke a lot of Carter Hall - more than any other blend by far. It's just an idiosyncrasy, I suppose.

A vanilla or cherry cavendish is probably not going to taste best out of a pipe that has been used with heavy latakia and/or perique blends. Then again, some pipe smokers don't care and will smoke any blend out of any pipe. Sometimes ghosting can be pleasant and give you a unique experience too - ex: I've smoked a bourbon whiskey aromatic in my "latakia" cob and it imparted a nice smokyness that I felt enhanced the experience. It's your call - there are no rules.

 

[Grangerous]

I always tell myself, when I leave half a bowl to finish later, that “I’ll remember” — I seldom do remember.. So rather than light it and taste what it is, I’ve started smoking “P”egasus in my two “P”etersons. Crooner In a Chacom.

Nothing to do with ghosting. Only a simplification as I often have multiple unfinished pipes.

I don’t smoke blends that ghost. Some would argue Crooner, but to me it’s just sweet and pleasant.

Enjoy!

 

[BarrelProof]

I always tell myself, when I leave half a bowl to finish later, that “I’ll remember” — I seldom do remember.. So rather than light it and taste what it is, I’ve started smoking “P”egasus in my two “P”etersons. Crooner In a Chacom.

Nothing to do with ghosting. Only a simplification as I often have multiple unfinished pipes.

I don’t smoke blends that ghost. Some would argue Crooner, but to me it’s just sweet and pleasant.

Enjoy!

Crooner ghosts a cellar, and it’s incredible.

 

[OzPiper]

It depends on how sensitive your palate is.
Some are very sensitive to ghosts, and others not.
If you are not bothered by ghosts, then there is no problem.
A few have said that smoking a different blend in a ghosted pipe makes for a more complex smoke.

I have different pipes for English/Balkan blends, aromatics and Virginia/VaPers

But it is very much your choice.
No right or wrong.

 

[Zeno Marx]

As I read your OP, I thought of something GL Pease said. Maybe he's written an entire article on it? I'm not sure. But he said something like, "I like how tobaccos season a pipe." I hope I'm not getting this wrong, but I believe it was in reference to dedicating pipes to types of tobacco and how he generally didn't do it or care to do it? And this guy is one of our premiere blenders. Not that that makes his word the word of God or anything. More importantly, it reminds us to blaze our own path and to not get caught up in trend muck. I personally do not care to dedicate pipes. It was not how I was mentored at the beginning, either.

 

[kcghost]

I can never keep track of what particular blends I smoked in it though. So, no problems remembering which one had VaPers and which in had English's in. I don't go any deeper than that.

 

[rmbittner]

I dedicate pipes to genres, not specific blends. Balkan, English, Virginia, Virginia/burley flakes, Lakelands, aromatics, burley, Perique blends (only 1 or 2, as I’m not a fan, generally), and a couple “floaters” I’ll use for anything.

But as I’ve said before, I spent the first 25 years of my pipesmoking life smoking everything in anything. I’s just whatever you want to do.

 

[anotherbob]

never worried about it. The thing is I want to enjoy smoking a pipe. I don't need to have a pure experience every time. Frankly a lot of the rules some people espouse about pipes seem boarderline fetishistic to me more then practical.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

It depends on how sensitive your palate is.
Some are very sensitive to ghosts, and others not.
If you are not bothered by ghosts, then there is no problem.
A few have said that smoking a different blend in a ghosted pipe makes for a more complex smoke.

I have different pipes for English/Balkan blends, aromatics and Virginia/VaPers

But it is very much your choice.
No right or wrong.

I agree, and do the same.

 

[judcole]

I maintain a latakia rotation, a Virginia rotation, and an aro rotation. I find that this works well for me, but this was after a lot of experimentation.
Try it for yourself, and make your own decision.

 

[rmbittner]

I’ll just add: If you take the “smoke anything in everything” approach, just be aware that when you’re switching tobaccos in a pipe, it generally takes about three full bowlfuls for the old blend to fade and the new blend to come through fully.

If the previous blend ghosted the pipe (and by that I mean it left a persistent flavor that lasts far beyond three bowlfuls—maybe beyond a couple of tins), you may want to keep pipes devoted solely to that ghosting blend. I haven’t encountered many blends, though, that truly ghost a pipe. (I know some here use the term for any flavor carryover.) Lakelands do, as do the two Sutliff aromatics I’ve tried, Great Outdoors and Man’s Best Friend.