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.