Pipes Vs. Cigars?

[Mr. Pink]

I got into stogies back in the boom. I put 'em down for a long time and got rebitten by the bug a few years ago. Since then, I've amassed a decent selection in several humidors. I still enjoy them. Recenty I started smoking a pipe. Wanted one nice one - now have three - and realize I'm on a new slope altogether. Question: in your opinion, where does the pipe win or lose when stacked against cigars?

[croatan]

I love pipes but, to me, they lose in convenience. A cigar you can take anywhere. A pipe is, to me, more limiting. They're bulky, require more accessories, and tend to make one look even more pompous in public (not that I mind that--I've always enjoyed my pomposity).

[IHT]

i don't miss cigars at all... okay, maybe on a scale of 1 - 100, i'd give my missing cigars around a 5, and most of that is due to going to herfs and hanging out.

to me, pipes win out because you can buy $200 worth of pipes, and another $100 worth of tobacco and it'll last you much longer than 1 box of double coronas.

and you can keep re-using the pipes over and over again.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by croatan

--I've always enjoyed my pomposity).

"pomposity"...I like that James!!

I love cigars, and have yet to buy myself a pipe. I love hitting the night spots and lighting up, or herfing with some BOTLs. I can't imagine smoking a pipe in the places I hang. But I definitely have no right to judge between the two for flavor or enjoyment, since I don't have the experience to be fair.

[sspolv]

Even though I'm incredibly new to the pipe world, there are a few reasons I like pipes. One is the convenience. I can light a pipe, have a few puffs while reading, and if it goes out, so be it, I relight. With a cigar, I have to constantly watch it, or then I have to relight, and it loses something. This also ties into the pipe's factor of it doesn't require lots of time. Even a small rg cigar requires, say, 20-30 minutes, while a pipe can go out and be relit at any time I wish. That, and its a great deal cheaper than cigars. You buy a decent/good pipe, and decent tobacco, it'll last a long time, especially if the pipe smoking is relatively casual.

[Scott M]

Gotta go with pipes.


- Time: Most nights, I've got maybe 1 hour between the time I get home and the time I go to bed, minus chow and shower and spending time with... what was her name... oh yeah...my wife. I can have 1/2 or 1/3 of a bowl in one of my small pipes with all its de-stressing, unwinding benefits. If I need to pitch the tobacco early, I'm out (lets see; 50gr / tin = ~$10 = $0.20 / gr. 1 bowl = ~4gr X 0.33 = 1.32gr X $0.20 = $0.26) <26 cents. Tops. In a time frame I can handle. There are a few cigars I can smoke during the same 45 minutes, I guess, but I can get 45 minutes from EVERY TYPE OF PIPE TOBACCO KNOWN TO MAN.

- Cost: Like Greg said, after the initial investment, pipes are cost effective, but let me expand on that a little. I can obtain an effective, quality pipe for ~$40, (as an estate pipe or one of several brands as new pipes). I can also purchase 8oz of bulk tobacco for ~$30. 8 oz = ~228gr. 1 large size bowl = 5.5gr = ~41.5 bowls / 8oz = $0.72 / bowl. 72 cents per >1 hour of smoking bliss. I need to pitch it... big deal. Cigars, if I'm smoking a Padron 2K, that's what $4.50? An FDO's a little less. Go with a nicer stick, you're talking nine or ten bucks for the same hour. Once it's gone, it's gone. Long story short, I can have ~ >40 smokes of high quality pipe tobacco for around 70 bucks. After that, each ~40 smokes will come in at the same $30. $30 is going to purchase 6 $5.00 dollar cigars. 40 v. 6.

Do the math.

- Consistancy: Both cigar and pipe tobacco manufacuturers go to great lengths to maintain consistancy in their blends, but pipe tobacco seems to suffer less when the tobacco has an "off" year. In fact, you'll probably never hear "Yeah... that '02 Marlin Flake was REALLY on, but I'd stay away from the '98 stuff", or "Hurricane Biff really played havoc with the fields so this crop is gonna bite". Now granted, sometimes a little difference is a welcome change, but plodding old guys like me really appriciate their routine... same thing, day in, day out.

Until we die.

And a "sick period"?!?!? A loosely defined period of time when we can't enjoy our investment until the stuff changes, often dramatically? No such thing with pipe tobacco.

- Custom Blenders: With pipe tobacco, there are a number of small, one or two man operations that create some exceptionally great blends in large, consistant quantities at market prices. Anyone like that in the cigar industry?

- Storage: This can come out about even, but only with some effort; Good size coolerdor + beads will cost $40, give or take. Plus maintenance... plus DW... plus the room it takes up. Pipe tobacco gets mason jars for the bulk, (if I'm feeling plucky), but the little 2oz stuff gets ziplock baggies or the tin it comes in, (if it's unopened), on top of an unused dresser. Guess I could go all out and have some environmentally controlled enclosure for them, but pipe tobacco doesn't require the humidity range for long term storage that cigars require. In fact, I tend to like pipe tobacco when it's almost completely dry, so this time of year doesn't get me all hectic with hourly humidity checks. Storage without much emotional investment.

There's always going to be moments when only a good cigar will suffice. But for now, the day in, day out smoking... well... we have a new starting line-up.


Any questions?

[Jeff]

The are many advantages of pipes. You are not constrained to time as much. Its not a problem to put down a pipe for a a while and then pick it up again. Like others said, the hobby is less expensive. Also, there are more options for finding custom blends. Its very difficult to find a torcedor to blend a cigar for youself.

As for cigars... Well, there is nothing like a good cigar is there? Just something about it that can bring so much pleasure.

At this point in time, I favor cigars over pipes at 60% to 40%.

[cameroncouch02]

Originally Posted by icehog3

"pomposity"...I like that James!!

That's the 5-star education that James is getting over at SMU.

[cigar no baka]

It's like comparing an excellent scotch to an excellent bourbon, it depends on your personality. Or, more simply put, a cigar is a wild fling, a pipe is a love affair.

[TypeO-]

Originally Posted by cigar no baka

It's like comparing an excellent scotch to an excellent bourbon, it depends on your personality. Or, more simply put, a cigar is a wild fling, a pipe is a love affair.

Nice. I guess I'm a slut, because I smoke cigars regularly. My buddy got me into pipes a while back. I have two pipes and several blends of tobacco. I don't hit the pipe very often. I do enjoy smoking the pipe when I do decide to smoke it. My B&M has house-branded blends that are awesome, one called Ole Carolina is especially nice.

Smoking a pipe is much cheaper, but I think I like the smell and flavor of natural tobacco a bit better. I don't really care for fruity pipe blends. I don't care if one is more convenient than the other. I just smoke whatever I'm in the mood for.

[mr.c]

I like them both, pipe during the week, cigars with friends on the weekend. Best of both worlds. Now, I dont need to keep a large inventory of cigars a few lasts me a long time.

[dfrancis]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Question: in your opinion, where does the pipe win or lose when stacked against cigars?

My story is a lot like your own, only longer since I started smoking both back in 68. In my opinion this is one of those religious subjects that are either apples and oranges, or ecumenical.

I was a convinced pipe smoker, but, like you, I got back into cigars on the cusp of the boom. To be honest this was about 91 for me. I got a Thompson flyer in the mail at the BOQ in Coronado and decided to order a box of Montesino by Fuente. Lovely cigar. And, like yourself I got a humidor, a crummy one and eventually graduate to a good selection of fine cigars a furniture grade humidor. So, I put the pipe down for a while and went in search of the perfect stogie; ending up married to Diamond Crown.

I travel in Europe all the time, but I like Diamond Crown better than any Cuban with the exception of R e J Churchill. Problem with those is that only about half of every box draws well, the other half draws like a ball bat. Anyways, I didn't burn out on cigars, I just missed the pipe.

So, short story long, my opinion is that they're two different things. With the exception of a good Lars, flavored cigars (including Gurkha) aren't the same thing as the wide universe of amazing and unique flavors available in pipe tobacco. The point being that aromatic pipe tobacco can be wonderful, while flavored cigars are unsatisfactory.

A cigar is more portable, it's self-contained, and there's not a lot of maintenance involved with smoking a fine cigar.

In conclusion, cigars, while being every bit as complex and satisfying as good pipe tobacco are a completely different kind of smoking pleasure and experience. Personally, after having gone through this back-and-forth a few times my conclusion is that both have their place. Consequently, I'm not about to give my humidor away anytime soon. That said, over the course of my life I've come to believe that I'm more a pipe smoker than a cigar smoker.

[Darb85]

I really dont enjoy the pipe all that much. I much rather have a good cigar but i guess thats just me.

[fitzsmoke]

I'm a "born-again piper" who enjoys a good cigar. I find them to be two distinctly different forms of tobacco enjoyment. One thing I do see that separates the two is I tend to get somewhat hammered by a good cigar especially a large one. There have been times I had to put the cigar down to let it go out and it just keeps burning. I have sampled at least 200 different blends of pipe tobacco. Most of these are of the best quality. I have yet to find one single blend that tastes like a good cigar.

[cquon]

Smoked a pipe years ago, which was fine if I was at home.

I smoke cigars now for the same reason some don't smoke them - the time.

The time it takes to smoke a good cigar forces me to slow down and just enjoy the moment, or to think, or to just be.