Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut...

[robwoodall]

Wow!
Just a couple of days ago, in another post, I was complaining that "Codger Blends" burned well, but tasted bland. I've been keeping Prince Albert on hand because it has nicotine and doesn't bite me, but I can't say I've actually enjoyed it.
Until this morning. I lit a bowl this morning, actually one I'd packed last night and forgotten, and I really started to taste a nutty, almost sweet flavor. Nothing like an aromatic, just a mild flavor that I'd never detected before.
I assume that A) I'm getting better at my puffing technique, B) my palate is becoming more "sophisticated," and C) the aromatics I normally smoke first thing have been affecting my ability to detect subtle flavors.
I think I'm going to keep the aromatics on the shelf today and see if can get more flavor from my three Burley blends, PA, Velvet and Half and Half.

 

[stickframer]

As a newb , I can relate. Picking up flavors/tastes that weren't there before and having a blend I thought was so-so blow me away one day are some of the more rewarding experiences to smoking for me. A few months ago I decided I enjoy a more pure tobacco taste and have been laying off aros. Happy smoking! ::

 

[pipesmokingtom]

one I'd packed last night and forgotten

The "Delayed Gratification Technique (DGT)" can be good for a lot of blends! A lot become easier to smoke if they are significantly drier from sitting as some of the moisture from the topping/casing evaporates. You lose some of what makes an aromatic an aromatic, but can see gains in a better burn and more flavor from the base tobaccos.
It looks like you smoke a cob, which is good, because letting a highly flavored tobacco sit in the pipe can really leave a ghost. Just be careful on that!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

the aromatics I normally smoke first thing have been affecting my ability to detect subtle flavors

I'm with you on this! I've scorched my tongue in the morning and more or less "ruined" my tongue for the day. That really bummed me out. I think smoking cigarettes geeks out my tongue too. I am convinced cigarettes subtly burn my tongue and really affect the way I taste my pipe tobacco. Some of my best "pipe" days are ones where I can manage to go without a cigarette.

 

[stickframer]

Cigarettes funk my tounge and mouth out bad too.

One of my favorites for a first pipe of the day, or any time I want to try to pick out subtle tastes is McC Oriental No.1. Many people find it way too mild but it forces me to smoke really slow in order to fully experience all the deliciousness that's waiting to be coaxed out.

 

[newbroom]

robwoodall, that's about the way it seemed to happen for me...although, Velvet is one I avoided and half and half took the longest to get the 'hang' of....

There seems to be a learning period for burley blends...those subtle flavors are there, we just dont' recognize them till we're acclimated.

CH, PA, and SWR are my top 3 standards and although I haven't tried Lane's latest Edgeworth match, that would likely be right on the same level....I have tried the other ERR match...and it's very tasty burley and I didn't take but the first charring light to enjoy IT.

 

[cobguy]

A lot become easier to smoke if they are significantly drier from sitting as some of the moisture from the topping/casing evaporates. You lose some of what makes an aromatic an aromatic, but can see gains in a better burn and more flavor from the base tobaccos.

+1 ... there are very few tobaccos that don't need some dry time.
The DGT is slightly different in that you actually light your pipe and smoke part of it, but leave at least half a bowl (or more) unsmoked. Then put it down, allow it to go out, and re-light it again some time later.
This method seems to be best applied to Va's and Va/Per's, IMHO.

 

[mso489]

Those old over-the-counter pouch and tub tobaccos have been around for a century or a little more and were developed when pipe smoking had a huge following, so they have been developed over scores of years to please a mass customer base. Therefore, mostly, they are pretty good. They light easily, stay lit mostly, burn evenly, and deliver a pleasing flavor, usually fairly mild. They go well in almost any pipe, cob to fine artisanal, and the burley rich are said to be especially good for breaking in a new pipe. I feel like it would be silly and snobbish -- for me anyway -- not to keep a blend or two of these around. Now with Pipes and Cigars and their Hearth and Home tub tobaccos, there is a new refinement of improved codger blends that provides all of the old goodness and some of the more recent improvements, in tub tobaccos. Over-the-counter blends are a respectable candidates for anyone's rotation, based on your own tastes and inclinations of course. But not to be shunned.

 

[settersbrace]

Try lighting a newly packed bowl and taking a few puffs before retiring at night and relighting in the morning with your coffee. That is what is meant by the Internet generated term of "DGT". A lot of the old timers (I'm no young timer) talk of doing exactly that in some of the old written accounts from the '50's and '60's. It works well with some blends, not so much with others. VaPers tend to get tastier when the pipe is allowed to go out, cool, then relit after some time, at least for me. Ymmv.

 

[gloucesterman]

Smoking Areos the first thing in the morning can effect you ability to taste less flavored blends later on in the day. You're quite right in thinking you should avoid them as a first smoke. The burleys have been a staple of pipe smoking for a very long time and for good reason. Give them a chance and you'll wonder why you ever smoked something that tasted like vanilla. The fact they have been around for well over a hundred years should tell you there is something there to be explored. I like something a bit more complex but there are times when the simple elegance of a good burley is just right.

 

[robwoodall]

Well,
I smoked no aromatics yesterday. I never did manage a positive experience with the Half and Half, but I had several good smokes from the Prince Albert and Velvet.
Yesterday was my birthday, and my six-year-old was visiting his grandmother, so I did little but smoke. I spent so much time "chasing the flavor" that, by bedtime, my tongue was pretty burned and I couldn't taste much of anything.
Still, it was a good learning experience and, except for needing to practice some moderation, I seem to be coming right along.

 

[puffndave]

I've been smoking pipes almost daily since December, been trying aromatics, Vapers, Vaburs, black cav blends, Turkish/Orientals, a good number of Latakia mixes, plus a couple which target former cigar smokers like me. Aromatics aren't necessarily flavorless, but most of them target new, and particularly young smokers who will snatch them up like candy, because that's what the young are coming from. They're made with shit-grade burley (and burley can actually be quite good when produced and mixed right), which is top-dressed with enough sweet goo to give a nice aroma when it burns, but it separates from the tobacco leaving no taste and a lot more hot vapor than thick, curly tobacco smoke. If you find yourself in situations where you care about what people around you are smelling, some aromatics with decent to very nice flavor do exist - I found there's more than a little flavor (although much more aroma) in MacBaren 7-Seas Gold, least among the surmised reasons is that blends in the 7-Seas line contain some virginias. I have read a lot of raves for 7-Seas Black too (it's based on black cavendish, which is also a highly-variable, and typically sweetened animal) too. Cornell and Diel's Autumn Evening is also a nice aromatic with decent, although not particularly strong flavor, plus my 2-ounce sample did not ship too gooey at all.
Anything which is sweetened is going to be more gooey and moist than natural mixes, so it does need to be aired out a bit before it's smoked to make it smoke cooler, drier, and therefore with a better taste experience. Since I haven't the patience to wait when I smoke my pipes, I heat mine up to chase away the moisture quickly. I take out enough for a bowl and place it inside my tin lid, then I put it on top of my toaster oven, and one cycle running the toaster on max usually does the trick without scorching it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Congrats on your progress Rob! Give Carter Hall a try as well. If burleys are starting to be to your liking, smokingpipes.com has a big sale going on until the end of the month on their Cornell and Diehl bulk blends. They have some really good burley blends, and I suggest Pegasus, Old Joe Krantz, and Big and Burley. Again, congratulations!