first pipe

[skeeter]

I agree with most of RevSmoke's post, certainly cigars are more "social", and since I am mostly an antisocial asshat I rid myself of cigars and smoke pipes. I have the palate of a billy goat, but I find the subtle differences in blends much more enjoyable, and he is spot on about Va/Pers.
I will add you should get a couple of pipes, but I highly recommend spending about 15 bucks for a MM cob. They smoke wonderfully, and it allows you to rest them, and not mix tobaccos to eliminate ghosting. That is not a problem for me, since I think aromatics are like gas station cigars, and avoid them like the plague, although they are the most popular blends. I just dedicate pipes to Virginia's and English (or simpler, if it has Latakia or not). I have multiple briars, but also multiple cobs, and smoke both.
Some blends will give you quite a bit of smoke, but as a rule he is correct, they ain't cigars.
The hobby/passion does have some up front costs, but there is a huge selection of excellent briars available for less than 100 bucks, some much less, that are high quality and smoke very well. Tobacco is cheap in terms of cost per bowl, and there are some excellent bulk blends available.
Heck, Downunder is back in Perth, and a tin down there is 10x the cost here.

damn, been a long time since I have been here.....