Carter Hall Usually Pungent/Aromatic?

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badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
Ok, let me just say in advance that I am a not well versed in all the OTC blends. Where I live, pretty much no drug stores carry any of the usual standard pipe tobaccos, so I started smoking a pipe about 8 years ago on some Dunhill tins given to me by a friend and just carried on from there. I have tried a few Lane blends, Captain Black, SWR Aro, and I haven't ever really been able to stomach any of them.

Recently I have decided to try and branch out a bit and have been going nuts ordering all kinds of blends, and I decided a couple weeks back to try out some Carter Hall. Most folks seem to indicate that it is about as plain as OTC tobacco gets, so it seemed like I might enjoy it.

I ordered it along with some various McClellands blends(Coyote Classic, Dark English Full, AM Pipe) I wanted to try, and some balsa filters to try out in an old Grabow I have lying around. Apparently the Carter Hall this particular vendor sells is in bulk, so they used their own ziplock bags. When I opened the box, I was immediately assaulted by a very strong cocoa/plum/liqueur kind of smell, which kind of surprised me given what I thought I had ordered.
As I started sniffing the bags, I determined that the smell I was getting was coming off of the bag labeled Carter Hall. Further sniffing, and I found that all the bags smelled pretty strongly of it.. even the balsa filters smell like it. Two weeks later even after moving the tobaccos into my own bags, and airing out the blasa filters, not only can I still smell it on the tobacco and filters, I can taste it too.

I couldn't even bring myself to touch the CH given the smell alone was kind of nauseating to me. Is it supposed to be that pungent? Did I maybe get something else on accident? Anyone else had something like this happen?
Edit: I fixed your title. Please check out rule #9 (Cosmic)

 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
You know, I thought that I might just be imagining it too(or perhaps as you say, sinuses). I had my wife and daughter smell the various bags/filters, and they too can smell it.

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,520
50,598
Here
My research, from at least one source, indicates that Carter Hall has a bourbon/cocoa treatment of some sort.
I bought a pouch recently but have yet to try it.
jay-roger.jpg


 

cosmicbobo

Part of the Furniture Now
May 11, 2017
657
2
DON'T DO IT, Jay! Smoking CH would be like putting unleaded 1967 XKE. Just don't do it. Please. Hal. Hal... Open the pod doors... Hal. I can sing a song. Daisy...... Daaaaaaaasssyyy... give...

 

jaytex1969

Lifer
Jun 6, 2017
9,520
50,598
Here
Well, I feel it's an essential part of my piping education to eventually "go there".
I want to see things in photo negative, like didimauw and I think this is the key.... :puffy:
jay-roger.jpg


 

aldecaker

Lifer
Feb 13, 2015
4,407
42
If it smells strong or tastes strong, it is either not Carter Hall, or it is Carter Hall badly contaminated with something else.

 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
If it smells strong or tastes strong, it is either not Carter Hall, or it is Carter Hall badly contaminated with something else.
I couldn't bring myself to put it in a pipe, given that it was so strongly scented. Like walking through the woods unaware that you will soon need a tomato juice bath kind of strong.. :|
I was thinking that on its long trip across the US to get to me, the package could have possibly been left sitting in some pretty intense heat - I am wondering if that may have been what did it?

 
That is something else you smell. Technically CH is an aromatic, but smoking it is more of a non-aromatic, in that you will barely notice the coco flavoring. In fact, without looking at tobaccoreviews.com, I wouldn't even know that it has anything on it. I have no idea what you smell. Maybe it got shipped next to a box of perfumes or something that broke.

 

markus

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 18, 2014
770
489
Bloomfield, IN
I find CH to be more of a neutrally flavored burley tobacco, that's why many people use it for blending.

Yes it does have a light flavoring to it, as mentioned somewhere above, but I find it to be minimal and not over powering at all.

Either you have an extremely sensitive sense of smell, or they sent you something different.

 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
It seems they must have sent something else to me. I don't think I have that sensitive of a sniffer, as I think SWR aromatic smells pretty good, and I even don't mind Lane's BLWB(reminds me of the smell of hot cocoa powder). I wouldn't go out of my way to buy them, but if someone gave it to me I'd get a cob and smoke them without question.
This stuff I was sent smelled like sickly sweet artificial cocoa and maybe some kind of really fruity liqueur. I remember going into my grandma's purse looking for treats as a kid and it smelled the same way(she always had candy). Makes me kinda wonder about Grandma..

 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,964
31,880
34
Burlington WI
Definitely not Carter Hall you are smelling. It was contaminated by something else unfortunately. Order some from another source, online or other, just make sure it is sealed first. And see how wonderful it truly smells.

 

badbeard

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 9, 2017
284
585
Kentucky, USA
Just to follow up, I ended up convincing a local place to order in some Carter Hall for me(and they decided to just order a case of pouches, so I am set for future purchases locally). Whatever was sent to me previously was definitely NOT Carter Hall.
Furthermore, I think that I may have just had one of the most relaxing smokes with humble CH, than I've had for a long time. I think it's pretty humorous that in my short 8-9 years of pipe smoking, I've gone through numerous tins in all shapes in sizes, with leaf mixtures from every corner of the earth.. and Carter Hall may have just won the all-day smoke spot. I guess all along I've been a simple kind of man(mama told me, when I was young).
Wife likes the smell of it too, so that's a big plus.

 
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