I've used Vincent Manil's La Volute with great success. It is a very hearty, unique Semois burley that is quite strong with deep earthy overtones. It is quite unlike anything I've ever smoked. It exorcises pipe ghosts for me in short order.
Your Favorite Exorcist Blends
- Thread starter Monssen13
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Trying to smoke a ghost out will only result in frustration. I clean em properly and then smoke what I like. The shank is where the ghosts rezide, when you think you're done cleaning the shank, clean it some more. Then when you're absolutely sure your done cleaning the shank... clean it again. When you're absolutely, positively, 100% sure you're done cleaning the shank give the whole pipe a salt/alcohol treatment. Of the hundreds of pipes I've cleaned up over the years I've yet to meet one worth saving that this approach didn't work on.
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I've never had a ghost before, not truly (well, one pipe is ghosted for sure, but that's a pipe dedicated to Lakelands). But this seems the best approach.
I'm just considering how a pipe is ghosted. Flavors are trapped somewhere, in the cake or wood itself, in the shank, etc. How do you remove them?
Think about a sinky house, maybe dog smell. You get rid of the smell by washing everything. You can spray air freshener, but that just masks the odor, doesn't get rid of it.
To me, smoking a neutral blend to rid a ghost seems like it would be almost the equivalent of spraying air freshener. Obviously that's not the case as eventually the ghost will leave. I think as things heat up in a pipe, the trapped flavor gets released, but is a slow process, hence why it takes several smokes to exorcise a ghost.
Salt/alcohol treatment seems faster, more effective and less of a pain in the ass. Alcohol dissolves and pulls out the trapped flavor molecules and gets absorbed by the salt. One day and done, rather than many crappy bowls over several days.
See if you can find yourself some Gawith & Hoggarth Grasmere Flake. The description on TR is "A blend of the finest Virginias & burleys. This medium flake has an overall top-note flavor of English rose and geranium." but keep in mind that is just for the press. In reality its made of Virginia's and Burley's and all the holiness of the Lakeland. And the rose and geranium? That's the ground up distilled essence of devout and pious old English virgins who have prayed over the G&H factories since their youth until they passed away. In less than 1/8 of a bowl, Grasmere will chase out the evil of old blends and infuse your pipe with all the purity and sacredness of the Lake District rendering it clean and fresh.
Or Ennerdale. Smoke three bowls of Ennerdale in any pipe and after that everything you smoke in it will be Ennerdale. Doesn't matter if it's a cherry aromatic, a vanilla aromatic, an English blend, Burley, or Virginia. All will become Ennerdale and submit in subservience to it's bright citrusy floral purity.
...in all seriousness though, Carter Hall. I've yet to find a blend for de-ghosting a pipe than Carter Hall. Unless Ennerdale was smoked in said pipe that is, because Ennerdale is forever.
