New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[spectrrr]

ok, , I KNOW this question was answered somewhere in this thread already, but I didn't see it....

I picked up a two cobs in Albany last month and have been smoking just those two almost exclusively so that I can get a better feel for the tobacco and smoking techniques, without wondering if it was "the pipe" that didn't work that night.

Anyway, last night I had one that didn't work, but I'm not sure why.

SYMPTOMS: STEAMY tasting smoke, still had "most" of the flavor, but it seemed a little watery and very steamy. It was NOT blisteringly hot (maybe a tad warm), just steamy, which made the flavors go all to hell.

FACTS: strait cob pipe, aromatic tobacco blend, held in sample baggy and tupperware for 2 months. Tobacco left out on the desk for 15-20 minutes to dry out a little bit before loading the pipe (been doing that with most bowls lately). Pipe load was decent quality, I feel that i have at least gotten fairly consistent with my loads (they're not the best, but they are reproducible).

So basically I'm trying to figure out if that tobacco doesn't like that pipe, if that tobacco is just bad, if it was over/under humidified, etc.