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Taste of Pipe Tobacco

Rod

Rod

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Jan 4, 2001
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I haven't smoked the pipe for almost a year. Just bought some samples at the local shop over the weekend.

Here's the thing, I can smoke a cigar, and distinguish the different flavors and characteristics of that cigar. I can pull out flavors such as anise, coffee, chocolate, earth, cedar, etc all very clearly. Why is it that all pipe tobacco tastes very similar to me? Actually, I don't really taste anything. I seem to "bite" my tongue often too, and I know I'm not smoking it too fast/hard.

Is the primarily point of smoking a pipe for the aroma vs flavor? I did try some tobacco about a year ago in which I could taste some faint flavors.
 
Good question, I'll be waiting for a reply here too!

In my VERY limited experience with the pipe, I've noticed the same thing, most non-aromatic blends TASTE very similliar, but I can detect differences in aroma / room note
 
Try some straight tobacco over a blend.

Virginia has a distinct taste difference over Burley for instance.

I tried some of each kind of tobacco awhile back and it helped me greatly in being able to tell what I am tasting and the differences between various blends out there.
 
Try a Balkan blend and you'll have plenty of flavor. I don't smoke aromatic....period.
 
Do you know of a web site where the types of pipe tobacco are explained?
 
What types of tobacco have you been smoking?

Aromatics don't have any flavor to me, so I don't smoke any. Try smoking a straight Virginia flake or a Latakia blend. They both pack a good amount of flavor.
 
oknewb said:
What types of tobacco have you been smoking?
Click to expand...

That is the best question to answer Rod. Trying different blends of different tobacco is the best way to build a platform for you palette. Smoking aromatics (if you are) is not helping anything.
 
All good advice so far. I'd also suggest slowing down a little. If you're finding yourself relighting and puffing hard quite often that's going to kill the experience. Once you get the process down and are able to keep the bowl lit for an amount of time, you'll get the flavor pretty easily, especially if your able to sip the pipe leisurely.

And yes, aromatics are not really great for nuanced flavor. It's too subtle if non-existent in most of them.
 
Thanks for the message Newfie. I am smoking aromatics primarily, and they are rather moist. Looks like this is the problem...
 
Rod said:
I am smoking aromatics primarily, and they are rather moist. Looks like this is the problem...
Click to expand...

For me the rule applies that if you wouldn't want to smoke a flavored cigar, you most likely won't want to smoke an aromatic. However! Not all aromatics are created equal. Boswell for example has some good ones if you want to try the waters later ;)

As a side note, I think 50% or more of all my posts on the pipe forum contain the word Boswell. I should be getting advertisement money haha
 
Try jamming a cigar into a pipe and see what you can detect. ;)
 
I tried some aromatic and was dissapointed, found that pipe tobacco review site and immediately got some dunhill and it's what I was looking for, so I guess english blends are my thing, even though I can't get into a pipe like I can a cigar.
 
Just to help out a bit, check out TobaccoReviews. You will need to know some common things about blends, mainly if the reviewed tobacco is aromatic or not. It can be confusing. An easier way to tell if the quantity of Cavendish. Its is used most commonly in large amounts in aromatics.
 
because each puff is a slightly different mix of flavors (in non-aromatic blends) it does help if you've got GOOD tobacco to start with, where each component is both balanced and flavorful.

Lower end english blends tend to be a dash of latakia and whatever's economical.

Higher end blends have similar proportions with less attempt to economise on the expensive parts. :)

Penzance is a good example of that..

My best advice is avoid anything excessively moist, (why pay tobacco prices for water? ) as it indicates poor marketing and the presence of too many beancounters..

There may be exceptions but 'toppings' generally ruin the flavor for me. If the tobacco stays moist no matter what.. i have not been able to enjoy it. It's very easy to rehydrate or humidor it.. but pipe tobacco is happier 'nearly' dry, compared to cigars. The flavors are much easier to identify, not drowned by the moisture. A 'gurgle' from my pipe is a *bad thing*.. :)
 
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