Question...

[tedski]

Originally Posted by ZachS

to start, you don't need to differentiate them that much. keeping naturals and aromatics apart to begin with is a very good idea, but limiting your pipes that much when you're starting out keeps you from finding out how different tobaccos taste in different pipes. i recently acquired my 12th pipe, and i've been smoking off and on for about 9 years, and this is the first one i've dedicated to VA's only - and that's just 'cause from the very first smoke, i knew it would be perfect for 'em.

zach

Zach ... there are obviously few hard and fast rules for pipe smoking. Everyone will need to discover their own smoking style and preferences. However, in my first formative pipe smoking year, I did follow the method I described above, at least for awhile. I was trying so many different tobaccos though that it was hard not to mix blends up in the same pipe on occasion. But once I had a good assortment of pipes and the knowledge of the tobacco blends I liked, I then began the process of experimenting around and finding what blend worked best in certain pipes.

These days I have about 5 blends I smoke regularly and 20 or so pipes that really go well with them. I also have another 15 blends in my cellar that I occasionally smoke, but I still segregate Virginias, English / Balkans and aromatics in separate pipes. It just seems to work for me.