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Dedicating Pipes?

Do any of you do this; dedicate certain pipes to different types, blends of tobacco? I have pipes dedicated to:

English/Balkan
Virginia
Virginia/Burley
Burley
Aromatic

and one pipe dedicated to

Erinmore (it seems to ghost a pipe forever)

For some reason it just seems like the right thing to do (for me) so I get the pure, untainted taste of tobacco without the ghosting of various other blends.
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
I have cobs dedicated to VAs, Latakia blends, and Aromatics. I couldn't tell a month ago, but now I can definitely taste the difference between the three "dry puffing" an empty pipe.

I imagine a year from now my palate will be even more discerning.
 
Nope.
I rarely even "rotate" the tobacco.

Since I keep it down to no more than one bowl a day, and on a typical week I might only smoke 4 bowls, I just go until my current bag/tin is done, then move on to the next.
The exception is when I have a bowl on the weekend, or evening. My "main" baggie is in the glove box... I normally pack the bowl in the parking lot at work and enjoy it while sitting in freeway traffic.
Normally, one bowl is just perfect for making the commute home.
If I skip the commute bowl and decide to have one later, or want one on the weekend, rather than walking through the parking lot to the car, I'll just grab the next baggie in the cabinet and load from that one.

Since December, I've been through baggies of PA Light Vanilla, Borkum Riff Bourbon, McClellan Colombian Mocha, another McClellan blend that I don't recall (it might be listed in the POTD thread in January), Peterson Sherlock Holmes, and currently working through my Pipes and Cigars dot com "Strictly English" bulk sampler... nearing the end of the "Light English", next bag will be "Byzantium" which is what I've been dipping into for the weekend smokes.

Incidentally, the McClellan bags were gifts from the Vendome Liquor store in Toluca Lake where I bought my first Pete. He had a good selection, but all had badly oxidized stems and I got the impression he did not do a lot of pipe business.
After paying, just as I hit the door, the manager said "Oh, I have something for you"
He dug through a box and handed me the bags. He apologized for the limited selection, said that those two were the only bags fresh enough to be worth smoking.
 
I do have different bowls for my Falcons and Kirsten for different blends. But I rarely smoke anything besides aromatics so the bowls don't get changed much.
 
I have been trying for the last few months to dedicate pipes but it hasn't worked well so far. The main reason is I just got to where I have a full "rotation" of at least 7 pipes that I really like the way they smoke. The second reason is I have just been sampling too much & in many cases the only way I feel I really get the feel for a blend is to try it in one of my good pipes. The third reason is most of what I have liked enough to dedicate to a pipe have all been some variant of English/Latakia/Balkan blends.

So once I get my bearings a bit more in the next, probably several, months I will probably have to salt my pipes & go from there. When the time comes it is starting to look like my pipes will be dedicated in something like the following categories:


  • Lat Bomb
    • Pirate Kake, other heavy Latakia blends, & possibly pure Latakia
  • Medium/Smooth Lat
    • Squadron Leader & other well balanced, but fuller flavored Latakia blends.
  • Coco-Lat
    • Chocolate English, Bob's Chocolate Flake, or other similar mixes.
  • Burley
    • OTC or any simple burley blends. This may not get a briar, instead I may just stick to cobs on this stuff.
  • Aro
    • Vanilla, honey, cherry, or other casings might each get there own pipe. But I can't say I have settled on one I love yet so I may just continue to smoke these in a meer or basket pipe.
  • Kendal
    • 1792 or any other Kentucky Vas that fit in that catagory. Most likely this will be one of my smallest pipes.
  • Straight Va
    • I haven't really acquired the patience to enjoy these yet. But after smelling some Christmas Cheer, I may have to make myself learn.

Then of course you have blends like Billy Budd, which I like, but I don't know that it would be a daily smoke. I struggle to decide what pipe I would want to dedicate to such a blend since it doesn't really fit with others.
 
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Commander Quan

Commander Yellow Pantyhose
I have a couple of pipes for English or latakia containing blends, a couple of pipes for aromatics, one pipe for 1792, and the rest for Va/VaPer blends.
 
The LE Tinksy and my estate found freehand (my "nicer" pipes) are English/Oriental only.

My four other pipes handle everything else. When I'm ready to open my tin of FVF I'll probably pick up a new pipe to use only for it.
 
I have been trying for the last few months to dedicate pipes but it hasn't worked well so far. The main reason is I just got to where I have a full "rotation" of at least 7 pipes that I really like the way they smoke. The second reason is I have just been sampling too much & in many cases the only way I feel I really get the feel for a blend is to try it in one of my good pipes. The third reason is most of what I have liked enough to dedicate to a pipe have all been some variant of English/Latakia/Balkan blends.

It is definitely easier when one has a larger rotation of pipes. I did not start dedicating until I had about 20 or so, then it just seemed like the right thing to do.
 
I'm still figuring this out.

What's there to figure out Jack? Stuff your pipe and smoke it. If you like it, buy some more, if not, try something else. A lot of people try to make pipe smoking complicated, it really doesn't have to be. Much like shaving... You can learn many new ways to do it, but the same old way people have been doing it for centuries still works.
 
Nothing like that. Just about dedicating pipes. I have a couple of pipes that I know I will only smoke certain types in, but there are other pipes that I am still getting to know, so I haven't really done anything other than what you've described, stuff it and smoke it :biggrin:.

I have, of course, bought more pipes than I probably need, but I'm enjoying myself and still getting to know them. When I have a better idea of how each one smokes, then I might do some dedication, but right now, I'm just enjoying the ride.
 
Nothing like that. Just about dedicating pipes. I have a couple of pipes that I know I will only smoke certain types in, but there are other pipes that I am still getting to know, so I haven't really done anything other than what you've described, stuff it and smoke it :biggrin:.

I have, of course, bought more pipes than I probably need, but I'm enjoying myself and still getting to know them. When I have a better idea of how each one smokes, then I might do some dedication, but right now, I'm just enjoying the ride.

Excellent! Sounds like you are doing everything right!
 
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