Welcome Karl! I wish I'd found this forum as early in your journey as you did! I think I was trying things out for a week before I happened upon it. I'm over a year in my journey, but I did have experience with cigars before taking up the pipe.
I'm also all about the aromatics and probably won't care much for the tobaccos that aren't in many years if ever. Regarding that advice about "new pipe should be smoked in by something neutral" that's really for taste purists. You'll likely never tell the difference. It's like how you should be poured wine at a wine tasting in a clean glass, but if you're at a party, just finished a glass of one wine and someone is offering to pour another in the same glass, you probably wouldn't be so obsessed with the taste to demand the host give you a clean glass or rinse it.
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I actually
do obsess with the taste of good drink, and will absolutely want a fresh glass for a different drink
I am not a big drinker, though. Part of the reason is that after about three units, it all starts to taste the same. I'm in it for the taste, not the buzz.
I think my smoking will be much the same. I am just getting to the point that I can taste the difference between aromatic and non-aromatic, and I don't know yet which path I'll go in the long run. My hunch is aromatic, but if I become as snobbish with my tobacco as I do with my whiskey, I might go the other way.
I have five pipes so far, but only two blends to try (damn USPS taking forever delivering), one straight Virginia and one aromatic (Sørensen Mixture - black Cavendish, bright Virginia and Burley, flavoured with honey and vanilla). I think those are sufficiently contrasting for my taste buds to get some practice. So far I'm noticing most of the taste after the smoke, though. But at least I'm tasting more than just ashtray, so that's progress.
