Pipe Dedication
Pipe dedication - or rather the dedication of one pipe to one tobacco or genre of tobacco.
When I first started smoking pipes 10+ years ago like all of you I had only one pipe and had never heard the word rotation in regards to pipe smoking. Neither did I consider what we do a hobby. I wanted to smoke a pipe. I wanted that sweet smelling smoke coming out of my pipe as I rode down the street on a Sunday drive. My old Bjarne Viking Classic smoked long and hard that first year and sure enough I was a happy man. Many aromatics passed through that pipe in that first year and the idea of an unflavored tobacco was abhorent to me at that time. But, like so many pipe smokers aromatics lost their alure and I started dabbling in various non-aromatic tobaccos (non-aromatic defined as tobaccos that did not contain heavilly cased cavendish tobacco). About that time I read somewhere how many folks dedicate pipes to a single blend so that they could truely taste all the nuances of that particular tobacco. I believe I was up to 5 or 6 pipes by then so I decided to dedicate one of them to just cherry aromatics. I guess the pipe got more and more cherryish as time went on, I will never know because one cherry tobacco tasted just like any other to me. So I thought I'd try this on one of these 'non-aromatics'. I remember buying a nice Karl Erik Diplomat and dedicating it to Old Ironsides (yes, I'm a man of extremes!) and again, I don't know if that pipe provided much extra flavor from that tobacco - all I know is I was in latakia heaven and the world was a good place.
Since then I've experimented with various pipes and tobacco combinations and have (generally) come up with an opinion about this whole concept. Keep in mind this is just an opinion and we all know what they're worth. I guess what I'm hoping is that some of you might jump on this thread with YOUR opinion and together we'll learn something.
My initial experiments with any tobacco / pipe dedication was in dedicating one pipe to one specific blend. Example: my first Tinsky was originally dedicated to Solani #633. My first Dunhill to Dunhill London Mixture. My first Radice to SG's Full VA Flake. And, my first Cavicchi to MacBaren Navy Flake. I also kept other pipes dedicated to just specific genres rather than to a particular blend - like my first Ser Jacopo was (and is) dedicated to Burleys and Va/Burleys such as MacBaren Navy Flake, Peterson University Flake, Wessex Burley Slices, etc.
Here is what I learned: A single pipe dedicated to a single tobacco will over time embrace the characteristics of that particular tobacco in a greater way than one dedicated to just a genre of tobacco and will therefore offer a somewhat more flavorful smoke. But at a great cost. What cost? The loss of freedom of choice. While I thoroughly enjoy SG's Full VA Flake, there are times when my Radice came up in the rotation that I was more in the mood for SG's Best Brown Flake or MacBaren VA Flake ... but, since this pipe/tobacco dedication was in place, I had to smoke the FVF instead. Clearly, dedication is a mark of a self-controlled life ... and sometimes I'm not all that self controlled! What ended up happening is that I would invariably reach for a different pipe so I could smoke that 'other' tobacco and then went back to the FVF on another day. Basically, that pipe got less smoking time because I wasn't always in the mood for that particular tobacco.
A pipe that is dedicated to a genre of tobacco however is exactly what the doctor ordered for me! I'm free to choose any tobacco I happen to have open so long as its in that particular genre so I get the freedom of choice I desire but I also get ... to a slightly lessened degree ... the extra flavor that pipe dedication provides. That Ser Jacopo I previously mentioned has seen many a Burley blend and to be quite honest it has become one of my favorite pipes! Why? Oh sure, the size / balance / design / yada, yada, yada are all exactly what I like, but more than that, its a pipe that I know will always deliver a burley delight! Would I have liked that pipe as much if it had never been dedicated to a single genre? I doubt it. I don't know about you, but the most important thing for me in deciding if a pipe is a stellar performer is does it deliver a high quality smoke? That pipe ... at least when it smokes burleys, is awsome.
So, I've learned that dedication is a good thing but within limits. Like all things we can take them to extremes and IMO dedicating one pipe to just one tobacco is just too extreme. I do believe its certainly worth it to dedicate to a genre to obtain that extra flavor - you keep freedom of choice while getting extra flavor! Now, how much flavor do you lose when dedicating to a genre instead of dedicating to one blend? Thats a matter of your 'taster' to decide. For me, there is some loss ... but the loss is well balanced by the freedom it provides.
Ok, I hear you say you don't like any of your pipes to be restricted to any blend or genre because you want total freedom. Well, have fun! But what I've done to accomidate this is to vary my rotation in such a way that I still have room for a lot of different tobaccos every week. One pipe is dedicated to McClelland VAs. The next is dedicated to any Burley or Va/Burley. Then comes any English or Balkan I happen to be in the mood for. And, finally comes a pipe dedicated to Lakeland VAs. I get full range of freedom in the tobacco styles I love and all that wonderful extra flavor in every bowl. Also, because I keep my pipes in groupings of 4, every week I get variety of genre too. Yesterday I enjoyed McClelland 5100 in a Dunhill Amberflame. Later today it will be MacBaren Navy Flake in a Dunhill DR. Later tonight I'll be reaching for Dunhill Nightcap in a Dunhill Shell Briar. And, tomorrow it will be SG's Best Brown Flake in a Dunhill Chestnut. Then the rotation starts over ...
If you've never dedicated a pipe to a particular tobacco or genre you owe it to yourself to try this.
Its just my opinion.
Take it or leave it.
Whats yours?
Rick Piatt
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Point well taken...
At one point, I dedicated a pipe to cherry cavendish as you mentioned. I also tired of the sweet flavor and that pipe went on to smoke anything I happened to put in it. I got some interesting flavors as the cherry ghost slowly left!
I really believe this is a topic which can go either way. Mixing up pipes and tobaccos gives a flavor which probably can't be reproduced (that may be a good thing sometimes). At any rate, just as a dedicated pipe gives a tobacco type a better presentation...mixing it up may give a unique twist as well.
Just my opinion of course.
"If you can't send money, send tobacco." -George Washington to the Continental Congress, 1776
Intentional Ghosting!
...mixing it up may give a unique twist as well.
When I first started switching some of my cherry pipes over to VAs there were some interesting flavors ... since then any time I try to ghost a pipe hoping for an interesting effect on my next pipe I get disappointed. So far, every ghost has been negative for me. The worst was in that Tinsky that was dedicated to Solani 633 ... the perique haunted that pipe for months! Everything I smoked in it tasted like 633. I was about to sell it off on ebay but then lighting struck and I tried smoking an english blend in it. The latakia was stronger than the perique and my pipe was rescued! Its always been a good smoking pipe ever since that lucky move. Now of course I'm selling it off on ebay for an entirely different reason ... well, I will be when I get off my duff and take the pics of it so I can place the ad.
Rick Piatt
Rick Piatt
The more new stuff I smoke,
The more new stuff I smoke, I may be inclined to agree with you. Right now however, I haven't had any negative ghosts...well, my cat threw up into one of my pipes but that's a story for another day!
"If you can't send money, send tobacco." -George Washington to the Continental Congress, 1776
Smoking a fur ball?
The more new stuff I smoke, I may be inclined to agree with you. Right now however, I haven't had any negative ghosts...well, my cat threw up into one of my pipes but that's a story for another day!
That just about made me bust a gut laughing ... poor cat ... poor pipe. Eeew.
Rick Piatt
Rick Piatt
Compromises, compromises
Maybe if I win a huge lottery and better not once I would be able to go with more or less strict dedication. I've tried it and it indeed allows me to appreciate tobacco better. But, as you said, if rotation is of modest size (and mine is - I have around 25 pipes in rotation and smoke up to four bowls a day) it leads to losing the freedom. Therefore, for now I stick to pretty rude genre dedication. I have a few pipes for a rare Latakia smokes and remaining smoke basically everything. Of course, I do not follow the rotation very thoroughly and sometimes I can skip a pipe if, for example, the particular pipe is not so good for the tobacco I'm in a mood for.
Misha
Misha
No dedication here
I don't have enough pipes, and I go through such a variety of tobacco blends, that dedicating a pipe to a single blend would be fruitless. For the past year, I have not smoked more than one tin of any tobacco (with one exception: Safe Harbor Flake). I smoke them, and move on to the next, dumping 3 tins or so in the cellar for the future.
So, I don't dedicate a pipe to a blend. I can not dedicate a pipe to a blend.. I don't have the opportunity.
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triolus <triolus@gmail.com>
http://www.pipefilter.com :: http://www.triolus.com
My Plan
I’ve smoked my pipes on and off for over twenty years, but always it was with 1 type tobacco (aromatic) and 1 brand at a time. I guess I never really tried smoking multiples’ at the same time.
When done building my collection I’d like to be using only 3 different tobaccos, 2 aromatic and 1 oriental or light- Balkan (if one exists)
And dedicate my pipes accordingly to which tobacco smokes best in them.
cause he liked the quiet clean country livin and 20 more years slipped away-JB
I have dedicated one
cob to Lane's Black Raspberry, other than that it is a free for all. Burleys, VA's, VA blends, latakia you name it and my pipes have had it. With the exception of the last two added to the rotation, one is for VA blends and the other is for Balkan/Oriental types. I figured I had to start somewhere, so this is kind of a test drive and both are not yet completely broken in.
I have a few good smokers from the 80's that seem to handle anything, a few duds that are borderline and so many different tobaccos in the cellar that I could not comtemplate a single pipe dedication.
Oh, and a recent purchase of a Dr. Grabow that will spend it's lifetime with Prince Albert which I will purchase by the tub.
Fume in pace, ckr
Fume in pace, ckr
no can do but i'd like to
cob to Lane's Black Raspberry, other than that it is a free for all. Burleys, VA's, VA blends, latakia you name it and my pipes have had it. With the exception of the last two added to the rotation, one is for VA blends and the other is for Balkan/Oriental types. I figured I had to start somewhere, so this is kind of a test drive and both are not yet completely broken in.
I have a few good smokers from the 80's that seem to handle anything, a few duds that are borderline and so many different tobaccos in the cellar that I could not comtemplate a single pipe dedication.
Oh, and a recent purchase of a Dr. Grabow that will spend it's lifetime with Prince Albert which I will purchase by the tub.
Fume in pace, ckr
I hereby confess to, because of the recenp "press" on MPC, to have purchased some PA. On the topic of didcating pipes. I can't do it. Its simply beyond my mental faculties and powers of organization, although in theory I would like to. God bless!
Been spinning my wheels here: http://drgrabows.myf...
You what!
Allright buddy, start clicking ads. Ten should do. :-)
I think you will like it.
Fume in pace, ckr
Fume in pace, ckr
The KISS Principle in Pipe Dedication
I own 24 pipes give or take a few. 17 of these are dedicated to burlies and the other 7 to latakia/ VAPER/English blends. I keep a few "strays" stuffed away for the very rare occassion that I get the aromatic hair up my butt.
Like the good Prince himself once said, "Gentlemen, You may smoke!" and when I do it's generally Prince Albert or Edgeworth RR. If not it's some other codger burley or a Cornell and Diehl remake of a codger burley (i.e. Pegasus, Bailey's Front Porch). While I've not yet resorted to driving an Oldsmobuick 15mph in the fast lane or wearing my double knit pants pulled up to my armpits, I guess I'm just a codger at heart!
I'm probably not as militant as I should be about monthly heavy cleanings of my pipes but am fairly hardover about rotations that provide a long time between days when a given pipe is smoked (generally a week or so). For cleaning, I've found there's really no substitute for the DPI (dirty pipe indicator), you know, that gurgle or foul tasting goo that suddenly fills your mouth in the middle of a good smoke. My pipe cleaners normally come out in force as soon as the DPI engages.
"Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate but that we are powerful beyond measure."