The Refreshed Palate

As I’ve taken an hour or two out of every day this past week for my John Cotton Throwdown judging work, it’s been like déjà vu all over again. I got last year’s Balkan Sobranie Throwdown notebooks out again, hoping to glean some process insights, especially regarding the great tips I got from my fellow judges, Rick Newcombe and Joe Harb.

One tip in particular stands out: Joe advised me to change the smoking order between the baseline sample (the original John Cotton No. 1&2) and the contestant blend. There is no question that one tobacco sets an experiential context for another. The comparison is starkest in the first few moments, so where there are differences between the baseline and a contestant blend, these differences are easiest to perceive immediately after the switch.

Another thing I can signal to you is that these contestant blends are terrific. I mean they are very good. I think they are going to make a big splash in Chicago this year among those who participate in the People’s Choice Award. I’m impressed.

Although I’m no expert, I continue to learn from this experience. As I sat on the patio last evening, I mused at one surprising outcome from having been able to be a part of these two Throwdowns:

I’ve learned to enjoy pipe-smoking more.

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How and why chamber geometry impacts tobacco flavor

Engineering Principles

In our pipe communities, a great deal of time and no little energy has been expended on what is commonly called “engineering.” There is no shortage of argument concerning those variables that combine to produce an excellent smoker. Draft hole dimensions, air-flow, whether or not one should polish a pipe’s interior passages, the design of the last inch of the stem (button end), the precision of mortise and tenon dimensions – there are varying degrees of disagreement and consensus as to how these features of a pipe should be designed and accomplished, and the extent to which they contribute to a pipe’s superior smoking qualities.

Discussions concerning chamber geometry have been relatively absent, especially compared to discussions regarding how how open or constricted a draft hole should be. All other things being equal, my hunch is that there is no more important design variable than chamber geometry, especially when it comes to how amenable specific pipes are to different tobacco types and blends.

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