This is actually from last night's last smoke. Hadn't posted it yesterday but it is perhaps a bit interesting in it's observations. Start with the picture:
Top pipe, McQueen "Hafling", which is perhaps my best and longest smoking longstem. Briar. Can easily get 70 minutes from it with the right fodder. So out of curiousity, I filled it with a tobacco I'd kind of slagged before, C&Ds Autumn Evening. and use it only in my chewing tobacco concotion. I loaded a 3 pack fairly loose with the tobacco, lit up and frankly, quite enjoyed the smoke. Until it stopped. At 21 minutes. Re-lt. got another minute. And that was it. Emptied the pipe and it was all finished. Thinking it was a bad dream, I let it cool down and refilled and re-lit. And remembered the same result a few months earlier. This is (along with Bourbon Bleu) the fastest burning tobacco I've ever smoked. I get more time from some miniatures. Tried one. Got about 8 minutes with AE. I can understand why people like this fodder. It is very pleasant tasting. But too expensive for me to consider stocking it in the tax climate I live in. $85 bucks a tin? Nope. I'll buy one a year for chew. If you can help or advise, please do so.
The other pipe below, my estate Ropp 350, from the 1950s which I showed a few days ago, is a well used piece of history. I cleaned it out, re-broke it in with a high-burley codger, and cleaned it out again. Last night, after all of the breaking in (I finished also my last Falcon bowl) I was tongue and lip dead. Didn't even want a cigar. Finis. So, being a sucker for punishment, I loaded the Ropp with Pirate Kake, which is 75% lat and about the only thing I could handle at that point.
And I had an absolutely fantastic smoke. The pipe acted like my J16 or J05. Smoked like them. Responsive. Sensitive, and Smooth. And I'd never tasted a better Pirate Kake. Repeated the combo this morning with the same result. YESSSS! It has found its soulmate.
The pipe, like my other Ropps, is now dedicated to one tobacco - The R07 to a genre (orientals only) because it is a very versatile and forgiving pipe - handles everything I've put in it, from Steamworks to Sunday Picnic to Amphora Absolute (Rich in the USA) with a real differentiation in the myriad of flavours the genre presents. The J05 gets only Black Frigate, and the J16 is dedicated to Mad Fiddler. Each of the pipe/tobacco combinations is stellar, better than in any other pipes. So be it. And now, Pirate Kake? I consider myself to be a lucky man. I'll go away now, and drop in tomorrow!