isn't loading or lighting or smoking it correctly.

Its laying off the cigars long enough to rightfully enjoy the pipe tobacco! ugh!

On average at a minimum I smoke every other day. I do really enjoy the pipes I have been smoking, but still think they are rather mild. I smoked a CoRo last night and I am going to take a break till Thursday and give some St. James Flake a try. Is that long enough?? I hope so!
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I know what you mean! I am a cigar smoker a majority of the time, but sometimes I need to switch it up a bit and enjoy a nice VA or English blend. Always a satisfying, but different smoke.
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This is hard for me too, as I don't smoke pipes or cigars often. Maybe once or twice a week. Deciding between the 2 can be very difficult. Look at it this way, lots of aged cigars and pipe baccy :-)
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A three or four day break from cigars ought to be a long enough to allow you to taste the flavors of the Virginias in St. James Flake. Not smoking straight VA or Vaper blends, I don’t know how long it will take for sure, I’ve heard told, one may need to smoke VA blends exclusively for a while before their taste acclimate.
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Have you considered a cigar leaf pipe tobacco??????? I think that GLP Robusto has cigar leaf tobacco in it.

Prof. Mike:-)
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I seem to have the opposite affliction. My current obsession in pipe smoking seems to make my cigars taste flat.
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I think that should be plenty of time. I think one of the keys will also be to give yourself enough attention to the flavors you are tasting in the pipe. They are different flavors. Concentrate on trying to identify them. Let some side-slip smoke go in your nose. Sitting back with eyes closed sometimes helps.

When it clicks, it'll be an epiphany. And then, you should be able to smoke your pipe after a cigar and still get the flavors.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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At first laying off the cigars would be ideal. But after you get the hang of things, having a cigar then smoking a pipe wont be that big of an issue. At least for me... But then again, I smoke the pipe very frequently in the winter / fall months and cigars get the go ahead in the summer / spring months. Don't ask me why.
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I've been working my way through a tin of C&D Purple Cow. It's made with maduro cigar leaf. It's got depth and a lovely spice.

There are a few other pipe tobaccos that I love for being full and strong. I usually sacrifice complexity when I pick up my pipe over a cigar, but I'm okay with that :-)
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Give Key Largo a shot, I've been smoking through a tin of it and everytime I light up it gets better.
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I smoke both cigars and pipes and have never noticed a problem going back and forth, day by day, however, I'll stick to one or the other on a daily basis...if I start with a cigar it will be cigars for that day, if I start with a pipe, etc....and I really don't notice one affecting the other taste-wise, and pipe tobacco-wise I smoke them all (Eng, Aro, VA, VA/Per)...just depends on my mood of the day...
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Personally, I have found cigar leaf in pipe tobacco completely out of place. When I want a cigar, I grab a cigar, not my pipe. The experience and tastes are completely different.

Yes, I have tried a couple cigar blends; from C&D, McClellands, Hermit and McConnells. I am sure there are others out there. I even had one which I blended myself - tried this a couple times - MJ liked it, but I wasn't to wild about it.

So, give them a shot if you want, but if you really want to enjoy a cigar in a pipe, simply stuff one in there. I have done that on occasion when nearing the end of a cigar that I am really enjoying. Given that it is the right ring guage for the specific pipe, sometime they fit exceptionally well by placing the head into the bowl, sometimes needing a little encouragement. Interestingly, it allows you to smoke a cigar totally to ash.
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More for me then!! :-)

As for other cigar-pipe blends I have tried:
C&D BIlly Budd
Habana Daydream
McClellands Dominican Old Glory (My favorite of the cigar-pipe tobacco genre so far)
... there are others but I forget.

I started with English blends, moved to pipe blends with cigar leaf, and now am starting to enjoy the fine world of virginias. What Todd says is true, though. I dont smoke pipes to taste cigars, I smoke cigars to taste cigars. Sometimes you just need a pipe to taste like a pipe.
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Here's something from the pipe rack. It is #3 of an article.


#3: DO NOT puff so hard. If you are a cigar smoker or former then this especially applies to you. Cigar smoking, for me, was about big volume and tasting big billows of smoke roll off the tongue. However, if you come to the pipe and do that you are gonna tarnish the taste of the tobacco, the opposite of cigar smoking. And by puffing so hard the tobacco is gonna burn too hot and scorch your tongue with steaming hot smoke, "tongue bite." Drawing out the flavors in pipe smoking is more about "sipping" the smoke out of the bowl. Just flip flop your methods of cigar and pipe. It takes practice and time to learn. Do I always have to "sip"? No. You will learn eventually nuances and certain puffing techniques will draw out certain characteristics of the various tobaccos in a blend, etc. The key is to start slow and rhythmically but do not start off puffing like a cigar or a train you will not last long and will have missed all the glorious subtleties of pipe smoking, and we don't want that.

Here is the link to the entire article (you must scroll down past 4 tobacco reviews to find the article, it is titled "Keeping Your Pipe Lit")
http://thepiperack.blogspot.com/

Also look at the Frank Method of filling a pipe, that is a great little video.
Hope this helps even further.

Peace of the Lord be with you.
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Not sure suggesting a switch to a mixture containing cigar leaf is on target with a question regarding how long a respite from cigars might be needed in order to get the most flavor from pipe tobacco in general.

Having tried quite a few “Cigar Leaf” pipe blends, I haven’t found them satisfying on either front, pipe or cigar. Now if someone could blend a pipe mixture that had the flavor and strength of La Flor Dominicana double ligero chisel…
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