Return to Cobs (an informal diary)

[NeverBend]

@Coolbreeze started a thread on this forum, Who Else Prefers a Cob? and I realized that I couldn’t give a meaningful response, it simply had been too long since I’d smoked a cob and my technique improved after I’d last smoked them.

So I decided to give cobs another go and I’ll add some comments in this thread about my experience with them.

Today I received a shipment from P&C that included a MM Diplomat (of course it was straight ).



The Diplomat was bigger and better made than the cobs that I’ve tried before with a more secure draw. The walls are thick (nice), bowl decent size and the mechanics were good enough. I loaded it with McClelland Tawny Flake that I’ve been smoking lately.

The flavor was muted with a consistent but mild taste of corn and while there was sufficient smoke it was hot from the start. Burned faster than I’m used to but I did get the heat under control until the end. Burned to the bottom with little dottle remaining. Good initial char throughout the bowl.

McClelland Tawny Flake was a poor choice. The flavor isn’t bad but it’s elusive and getting a rhythm is a bit difficult and when I did the cob got hot. The cob did masked the tobaccos acid but some of it’s flavor as well. I smoked outside but I always do.

Going forward I intend to buy a second cob. I’ll stay away from McClelland flakes (high sugar) and try it with Gawith Hoggarth flakes or latakia mixtures.

From a comfort standpoint the stem isn’t one that I can clench easily and I can see why guys buy Forever Stems but I’m not fond of molded stems on briars either.

It’s far too early to make any comparison and I’ll give the cobs at least 10 smokes each first.

[Cool Breeze]

When smoking flakes in a cob I like to use a larger bowl like a MM Legend. Then I don't rub it out very much, but lean more towards the fold and stuff method.

I don't like them in a smaller bowl like the MM Huck Finn. I love the HF (I'm smoking some Prince Albert in one as I type this) but not for flakes.

I'm needing to get a pipe dedicated to Vapers and I'm thinking a MM Country Gentleman will be just the ticket.

[MrMotoyoshi]

I'm needing to get a pipe dedicated to Vapers and I'm thinking a MM Country Gentleman will be just the ticket.

I especially like cobs for perique heavy blends (Especially C&D BurPers; Burley Flake #3, Old Joe Krantz)

Could be my imagination but it feels like the cob rounds off some of the more piquant notes.

[NeverBend]

I especially like cobs for perique heavy blends (Especially C&D BurPers; Burley Flake #3, Old Joe Krantz)

Could be my imagination but it feels like the cob rounds off some of the more piquant notes.

Astute observation. That's exactly what I should have said (I said it masked the tobaccos acid). At least in this first bowl, a rounding of the sharpness was very noticeable.

[NeverBend]

6-12-2015

Balkan Sasieni in the MM Diplomat (2nd bowl).

Technically smoked pretty well. The construct of the draught makes smoking the dottle hot so I'll stop before the end going forward.

The corn taste was diminished but present if I cared to notice. As in the first smoke there's rounding of flavors but more in this bowlful than the first where no flavors had vibrancy. I'd just smoked the Balkan Sasieni in an ancient Sasieni where the flavors were very crisp and vibrant so the comparison is fresh.

[NeverBend]

I've now smoked my MM Diplomat a dozen times or more. I inherited a small cob that looks like and Old Dominion but it's very old so not likely from that source and I've smoked it three times.

The cobs smoked for me much as I remembered them. They have an open draught, central pull (from the bottom center of the bowl) but the MM Diplomat was better made than cobs that I smoked many years ago. My comparison necessarily must be to briars since that's essentially all I smoke.

I found the cobs to smoke with a smooth, roundness and less acid (tang) that reduces the tobacco's edge. Flavors were delivered more as a whole and with less distinction compared to briars. I'm fortunate to have briars selected for performance over many years and I prefer their snap and tang and gentle coloration of many flavors that I didn't find with the cobs. Flavors are brighter and more alive in my briars. I found that mixtures that I didn't like performed as well in cobs (although differently) as in the briars. It would be fair to say that poor tobacco is less evident in the cobs. Cobs are consistent and often better than lesser briars.

The best smokes that I enjoyed in the cob were after the corn haze was gone and I'd adjusted to a slightly different cadence. Certainly cobs are a great value and I'm glad that I took an excursion with them again. My MM Diplomat won't be a regular in my rotation but I will smoke it again.

My advice to new pipe smokers with cobs, now as in the past, would be to relax and get your cadence and then the cobs will be a nice place to start or stay for as long as one likes.