[GuitarDan]

I'm curious to see what you fellows have experienced regarding corn cob pipes pairing up well with some blends.

Personally, I've found aromatic blends like 1-Q and BCA FAR more enjoyable in a cob with the filter in place than in any other pipe.
Why?
STEAM (low brow thermodynamic ponderings from me)
I speculate the cob sponges up more steam than briar.
Additionally; what excess moisture makes it out of the tobacco chamber gets reduced by the simple paper filter.
The paper filter also might act as a heat sink of sorts, dropping the actual temperature of the smoke? By reducing the mass of the smoke(less water in the air), it's stored heat energy is also reduced?

Another thought that seems reasonable to me, is that the smoke from heavily cased aromatic blends might contain solid particles of "chemical stuff" that might irritate my tongue and/or mouth. Maybe the filter soaks a bit of that stuff up? Maybe by reducing the relative humidity of the smoke, some of the solids tag along with the condensation/precipitation that drops out of the smoke when it hits the filter?

Anyway, for me smoking aromatic blends isn't as enjoyable unless it's in a cob.

Conversely? Inversely? Perversely? I don't enjoy dry english style blends containing latakia nearly so much in a cob with a filter. Without the filter is noticably better. Briar is better still.
Maybe some of the things that I find flavorful in the smoke of an english/latakia blend don't find their way to my palate because of the smoke from a filter-cob being "too dry"?

What have you experienced? Similar? Contrary?

 

[gahdzila]

I don't use filters in my cobs. That said.....I have found that OTC's just seem better paired with a cob than with a briar. I have no idea why.....could be all in my head LOL.

 

[InsidiousTact]

I must say that while I've found certain things that pair particularly well with a cob, I don't think I've found anything that pairs particularly poorly with them.

I enjoy my aromatics in cobs, but I do have a Dr. G that I designate to be for aromatics. I've also got a cob that I use for aros as well as tambo, I find that the ghost of tambo past is a wonderful taste kick for my aros.
I do believe you are right though that the cobs work well for them by absorbing the moisture.

I also find that classic burley blends are always best in a cob, the burley just is perfect in that corn! Half&half never tasted so sweet!

VAs do well also, the cobs keep them drier than briar, and add even more sweetness.

I've got a cob dedicated to englishes, and English/aros, basically anything with any Latakia in it, and it does just fine. Granted my English briar still doesn't have a proper cake in it, but I don't think cobs are a poor pairing with Latakia.

Also, I don't use filters in cobs.

 

[freestoke]

That does seem a decent argument for filters with OTC aromatics and other PG heavy tobaks. I wonder if the balsa filter in the Savinelli pipes might be appropriate as well, although I don't use filters. I tend to smoke ghostly things in the cobs, but not always, using the Forever stem. I'll even burn Ennerdale in a briar! I smoke so many different things every day that ghosts don't bother me, really. A little PA in a ghosted pipe does a pretty decent exorcism of a briar, adding a little punch to the basic burley in the process.

 

[Nick S.]

I think that cobs tend to absorb more moisture that a briar. If you take the same goopy bulk aromatic and fill it in the bowl with no drying time, smoke it, and then check the bottom of the bowl when done... The briar will have enough syrup in the bottom of it to fill a shot glass, while the cob will have very little if any moisture in the bottom of the bowl. The moisture seems to get wicked away by the cob... That being said I still prefer my briars over my cobs. The only thing I smoke in my cobs are aromatics, but I will smoke them in a briar as well.

 

[The Mad Professor]

No filters here either, but I think I'll try them again with some aros to experiment, after your thoughts Dan. After smoking a lot of robust and natural tobaccos lately, I had a bowl of my B&M blend (in a Falcon or briar I believe) and was amazed at how much steam I noticed!

Also, I smoke RY often and two of my cobs have a small little bowls so I pair them quite often, as with other strong blends.

 

[karatekyle]

I think burleys, especially OTC or "codger blends", really shine in cobs. Otherwise, I'm a briar guy.

 

[canadianpipes]

I think the consences is that corn cobs are great with the otc blends, I havn't tried so I cannot really comment.