Cigar Forums banner

Prince Albert in a Cob?

5K views 68 replies 27 participants last post by  pffintuff 
#1 ·
I have read some threads touting the smoking of Prince Albert in a cob. I like Prince Albert, but have only smoked it in a briar. To those Prince Albert smokers, is there a difference between the Prince in a cob and the Prince in a briar?
 
#3 ·
There is a big difference, for me anyways.

Prince Albert, and most predominantly Burley blends, shine in a cob and seem to develop flavors in the corn cob pipe that do not come out in Briar pipes. Depending on the maker & blend of tobacco, a wonderful nutty, chocolate, creamy flavor comes from the combination. Why it happens, I really can't explain. Get yourself a MM cob and decide for yourself.
 
#14 ·
I've gotten a little PAD getting in to this fine obsession, but still find myself coming back to my MM bent Legend. It's my go to pipe for those times I want to smoke while doing something else. Smoke a pipe while washing the car, time for the Legend, smoke a pipe while brewing beer, that would be the Legend, need a cheap decent pipe to throw in the pocket for a trip...Legend time!!! I love that thing!
 
#15 ·
Thanks Dale. I will try it in a cob.

Shannensmall, why?
Well, Cobs have a perfect draw and smoke-ability that is hard to compare in a Briar. It's really apples and oranges in comparison. It's just their construction lends to a perfect smoke, where a Briar can be hit or miss, even if you spend hundreds of $ on one. Cobs are almost guaranteed to be a cool dry pleasurable smoke.
 
#16 ·
Perhaps I am not quite nulli secundis in my admiration of the lowly cob, but I'm up there on the appreciation ladder. That being said, I have to come to the defense of the noble briar. As satisfying and simple as it may be, my Legend cannot compete with my favorite briars at the bottom of the bowl.
 
#17 ·
Well, Cobs have a perfect draw and smoke-ability that is hard to compare in a Briar. It's really apples and oranges in comparison. It's just their construction lends to a perfect smoke, where a Briar can be hit or miss, even if you spend hundreds of $ on one. Cobs are almost guaranteed to be a cool dry pleasurable smoke.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. I also think of cobs as the ultimate reality check pipe. Life moving to fast, getting caught up in the PAD and TAD till you can't think straight or even contemplate reading your credit card statement, throw some burley (or whatever tobacco brings simplicity and consistency to mind) in a cob, brew up some coffee and everything just sort of falls into perspective.
 
#18 ·
Perhaps I am not quite nulli secundis in my admiration of the lowly cob, but I'm up there on the appreciation ladder. That being said, I have to come to the defense of the noble briar. As satisfying and simple as it may be, my Legend cannot compete with my favorite briars at the bottom of the bowl.
Ahh, but you miss the point. The cob does in no way, try to compete with a finely carved Briar. It's simplicity in point, is it's own virtue. It boils down to the fact that even the cheapest cob, will be a wonderful smoke. Where a Briar can and will disappoint. I by no means mean to take away from Briar. One of my current favorite smokers is a Nording, but that pipe, in all honesty is my 4th Briar, and it took that many pipes to find a decent smoker. It smokes so sweet and dry, I get a funny feeling every time I light her up. But every last one of my cobs have been, and continue to be a perfect smoke from day one. There is no fuss and def no muss when it comes to a cob. They are elegance in simplicity.
 
#19 ·
Ahh, but you miss the point. The cob does in no way, try to compete with a finely carved Briar. It's simplicity in point, is it's own virtue. It boils down to the fact that even the cheapest cob, will be a wonderful smoke. Where a Briar can and will disappoint. I by no means mean to take away from Briar. One of my current favorite smokers is a Nording, but that pipe, in all honesty is my 4th Briar, and it took that many pipes to find a decent smoker. It smokes so sweet and dry, I get a funny feeling every time I light her up. But every last one of my cobs have been, and continue to be a perfect smoke from day one. There is no fuss and def no muss when it comes to a cob. They are elegance in simplicity.
You offer up a false alternative: cheap cob versus "finely carved briar" -- and a poor smoking briar at that. The briar can be almost as cheap as the cob and still smoke well. Perhaps "finely drilled" would be the main feature of a good smoking briar, admittedly a hit or miss situation (nudge nudge). The construction of a cob, with the stem sticking in above the bottom, cannot suffer the common defect of a poor drill, one that can destroy even an expensive briar. Yours is a difficult position to attack, but still an argument that would work as well with a frozen entree versus a home cooked meal, maybe good, maybe bad, depending on the cook and the ingredients. The cob is like a frozen dinner done in the microwave -- no slaving over the stove -- it's always going to be "okay" if it's a decent brand.
 
#20 ·
Perhaps I am not quite nulli secundis in my admiration of the lowly cob, but I'm up there on the appreciation ladder. That being said, I have to come to the defense of the noble briar. As satisfying and simple as it may be, my Legend cannot compete with my favorite briars at the bottom of the bowl.
No need to defend the briar. I absolutely love the handful I've managed to collect in the short time I've been smoking. For a relaxing moment, when I actually have time to sit and reflect, I always reach for a briar. What I like about the cob is that it is a pipe I can beat up without worrying, because they are just SO darn cheap and I still get a great experience with them.

EDIT: I guess what I'm saying is that the briar, to me, is a gentleman's pipe and the cob is a working man's pipe. Sometimes, I need one more than the other.
 
#22 ·
Prince Albert in a cob? That's crazy! It would be like eating a hot dog in a bun!

Wait a minute...
*spits out mouthful of artisinal focaccia and in shock with rage posts an extended and unwarranted rant deriding the "lowly and plebeian abomination" that is a hot dog bun - and then says some unflattering things about PA, cobs, and all your mothers*
 
#24 ·
No need to defend the briar....
EDIT: I guess what I'm saying is that the briar, to me, is a gentleman's pipe and the cob is a working man's pipe. Sometimes, I need one more than the other.
I have five and smoke them regularly, especially when throwing darts or anywhere away from home or "doing stuff". Several have said (maybe not here, but on cob threads in general) that they have quit smoking their briars, "why do I even own a briar", "better than any of my briars", and so forth. I feared briar bashing might be just around the corner. :hippie:
 
#26 ·
Cut to the chase, people.

Outside of baseball on a summer Sunday, chocolate chip cookies and milk, hot dogs and chili or a pickup truck with a big dog in back there is no more perfect American combo than Prince Albert (or Carter Hall or Sir Walter Raleigh) in a Missouri Meerschaum corncob pipe.

If the Algerians and the Turks had been blessed with magnificent fields of perfect corn they wouldn't have bothered with briar, white clay, ouzo or raki. Simple as that.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top