I've never been into cigars. Perhaps the ones I've whiffed have all been cheap, but they smell like burning cat cr*p to me. (Or what I imagine that would be like.)
Pipe tobacco can smell marvelous, chocolatey or sweet, or in the case of the English blends that a lot of people love, can smell like truck tires at Goodyear. It just depends on what you like.
You pack the tobacco into the pipe's bowl, fairly firm, but not so tight that no air can circulate. Light it with a wooden match -- paper matches can leave an aftertaste, and they don't burn as long. Get the top of the tobacco alight and puff a bit -- don't inhale! After a few puffs it'll go out. Pack the tobacco down a bit with a tamping tool, which looks like a big nail, and light it again. Draw easily or puff. If you've packed it right, it should stay lit as long as you puff away. When it does go out, tap it out into an ashtray, let it cool, and clean it with (logically enough) pipe cleaners.
I always got a neat little physiological lift from the tobaccos I smoked. Somehow I never developed the addiction that cigarette smokers do (and believe me, I have the addictive personality), possibly because I didn't inhale the stuff. It's too strong for that anyway.
The pleasure of collecting pipes is another thing entirely. You can admire their polished woods and their shapes and how they fit in your hand even if you don't smoke them anymore. I have one that I've had for more than 20 years on a little wall shelf in my kitchen.