The economics seem pretty clear. Especially if buying locally rather than ordering by the case online and maintaining a well-stocked humidor that cigar price can easily jump by a bit, and the high-end of regularly available pipe tobacco seems much less expansive than that of premium cigars (although you can doubtless spend big coin on pipes if you choose...).
I'm not sure about the "keeps better" as quality cigars age beautifully when stored properly. But easier to keep for sure.
By keeps better I simply mean you don’t need anything but a mason jar. No humidor required. No humid packs required. Aged cigars are great but take upkeep. Pipe tobacco does not really as long as jar has a good seal. I learned from an old cat (thanks Jerry for time you took to show a 19 how to smoke a pipe) how to properly smoke one, don’t let my 34 yo dad bod fool you. I smoke like an 85 yo codger. I see a lot of posts of how many relights y’all do. So I will start by saying I relight 0 to 1 times per 45 min bowl (depends how much I’m talking).
Let me pass on the wisdom I learned. Now it should be stated this does not apply during break in period for a pipe. If you want a break in post for each kind of pipe I can do that. If you have a seasoned pipe. Remember the story of goldilocks. Baby bear, mama bear, papa bear. This is how you pack a pipe. If you all want to go over flake, plug or rope let me know. But for standard rubbed out ribbon baccy here is what I do.
English tobaccos do not have any toppings or additives and are my preferred tobacco blends. They burn better and require less drying time but the room note is not as pleasant. The key is to wait. Most tobacco is too moist to smoke up front. Even with English. Here’s a tip. Pack you pipe a half hour before you plan to smoke it. Or lay how much you think you will use out before hand. This dries out the tobacco and it will light better.
For our aromatic smokers (anything that has added flavor). IE if you smoke cherry tobacco you smoke an aromatic. Let your tobacco dry for an hour in the bowl or out before you light (flake even longer). It’s wet. It has flavoring added. Usually some liquid or other topping. And wet stuff don’t burn well.
The pack. Fill your bowl pack to roughly half. Fill again pack to 3/4. Fill again and pack to just below top. Baby bear mama bear papa bear. Then test the draw. Should be tighter at top and looser at the bottom. Tight at top for burning and loose where you draw. The idea is cool temp smoke.
The light. Y’all will hopefully thank me for this later. No torch lighters (unless you like buying new pipes). Butane soft flame, matches, or those little pieces of cedar at the smoke shops. Everything else adds an unpleasant taste, no zippos (they use kerosene yuck). With matches let the tip burn off before you touch the pipe. With pipe you have one to two false lights. You inhale lightly to char the top tobacco and once it’s lit tamp it down lightly. You will have a small amount of ash on top and pipe goes out. Repeat this process if necessary. Once you have a layer of ash on top light for real and you will know when lit. It will kinda flare up. Then Smoke and tamp to keep the fire going down the bowl. Tamp first and then dump every Five to ten minutes. When tamping, you don’t have to press down with any force. The weight of the tamp tapping the top while inhaling lightly is fine. The key is let enough ash build up to dump. Too much ash and the pipe goes out. To little and you dump your fire (we’ve all done it). If you feel your pipe is going out. Cover half the bowl with your fingers and inhale a few times. This will help it bring new life to fire inside the bowl.
Blends
Aromatics: bullseye flake, Peterson holiday, hearth and home anniversary kake, Peterson university flake, any navy flake (so good), Etc.
English:
Gl pease maltese falcon (my favorite since frog Morton is no longer made), Jack knife plug, and Westminster. Early morning pipe, night cap, Sam g pure Virginia, Larry’s blend, and many many more
pipes and cigars website. Realistically anything from Hearth and home, Sam gawith, gl pease, etc are all solid. If you need help post here and I will walk you through it. Smoking a pipe is not hard but it helps if you are shown what to do.
I may not kill many deer. But I can talk pipes for a hot minute.
