Is it just me?
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No it's not just you. I think this is pretty common in the beginning for many. Once you have experienced many different blends you will begin to start noticing the flavours of the different components more. I'm still learning this myself but I find I can pick out the different component tobaccos more and more as I try the different blends. I try to pay close attention to what's in each blend I'm smoking so I know what I should be tasting. Still a ways to go but I'm getting there. Keep smoking and enjoy the journey and the rest will fall into place in due time. :D
I should have also mentioned that since I've been smoking many different blends and types of blends (English, Virginias, etc.) I have developed a liking for some of the blends that I didn't much care for in the beginning. Some of them I thought were actually horrible tasting and now I enjoy/smoke them on a regular basis. GLP Quiet Nights was one of those. The first whiff of the tin and I thought it smelled absolutely nasty!! Now it has become a regular in my rotation.
I stopped using tobaccoreview.com after I noticed several glaring discrepancies in the descriptions of blend type and contents. If there isn't any quality control for this simple part of the review, I'll find my information elsewhere.
I think Pipes&Cigars.com descriptions of pipe blends are more accurate.
Your palate will become more developed the longer you smoke and the more blends you try. Don't fret if you cant pick out every little nuance while smoking. Some of the people that write tobacco reviews think they are the Siskel and Ebert of the pipe community. 50 people will give you 50 different descriptions of the same blend. What some like, others will not.
I think Pipes&Cigars.com descriptions of pipe blends are more accurate.
Your palate will become more developed the longer you smoke and the more blends you try. Don't fret if you cant pick out every little nuance while smoking. Some of the people that write tobacco reviews think they are the Siskel and Ebert of the pipe community. 50 people will give you 50 different descriptions of the same blend. What some like, others will not.
Here is the best way to use Tobacco Reviews. Look up a tobacco you enjoy and have smoked regularly for enough tins to really know why you like the blend. Read different reviewers opinions of that blend and find several people who like the blend for the same reasons that you like the blend. Write down the names of these several reviewers and then look up each of their histories and read about other blends that you have tried that they have reviewed. Do these reviewers tastes jive with your own, i.e., do they like what you like and do they dislike what you dislike, more or less. If you can find four or five reviewers that have tastes similar to your own, you can then purchase several tobaccos that they give four stars to and see if you find something new to enjoy. Happy smoking!
It's not you, I'm restarting after a hiatus of several decades and finding too many tobaccos and not enough time. My palate is not refined enough to separate all of those flavors but I know that I prefer White Knight, but not EMP for example. I use TobaccoReviews to help guide my purchases, I tend to discount those blends with an average of less than 3 as well as blends that have few reviews. I tend to look at what Jiminks and Pipestud have to say, primarily because there seems to be some blend to blend consistency in their comments. It's not fool proof but it does help with triaging.
Education, experience, environment, equipment. That's all it takes to get the most flavor out of your pipe. Simple, right?
Consider that you might be tasting all there is in your smoke, but you simply lack the flavor-vocabulary to describe it. Try reading this while smoking your next pipeful to see if it helps to isolate flavors. Start with broad themes and filter down.
http://pipesmagazine.com/schmitzbitz/pipe-smoking/tobacco-flavours-and-nuances/
this next is cigar specific but more orderly
http://tobacconistuniversity.org/pdf/flavorchart.pdf
Experience and technique also play a part. You can puff away absently on codger blends and some englishes and have a nice smoke, but doing so with a VA flake will get you nothing more than hot air and a scorched toque. Is your technique good enough to get the most from your tobacco? For most new folks the answer is a resolute No.
The best technique won't help all that much if you're smoking outside on a windy or wet day. Smoking indoors is a windless room will always allow for easier tasting.
Lastly, tobacco prep and the overall state of your pipe play a large role in what you taste. Dirty, gunk laden pipe, or a clean, but mildly ghosted pipe..over wet or over dry tobacco...it all can contribute to degrading what you'll be able to taste.
Consider that you might be tasting all there is in your smoke, but you simply lack the flavor-vocabulary to describe it. Try reading this while smoking your next pipeful to see if it helps to isolate flavors. Start with broad themes and filter down.
http://pipesmagazine.com/schmitzbitz/pipe-smoking/tobacco-flavours-and-nuances/
this next is cigar specific but more orderly
http://tobacconistuniversity.org/pdf/flavorchart.pdf
Experience and technique also play a part. You can puff away absently on codger blends and some englishes and have a nice smoke, but doing so with a VA flake will get you nothing more than hot air and a scorched toque. Is your technique good enough to get the most from your tobacco? For most new folks the answer is a resolute No.
The best technique won't help all that much if you're smoking outside on a windy or wet day. Smoking indoors is a windless room will always allow for easier tasting.
Lastly, tobacco prep and the overall state of your pipe play a large role in what you taste. Dirty, gunk laden pipe, or a clean, but mildly ghosted pipe..over wet or over dry tobacco...it all can contribute to degrading what you'll be able to taste.
philo, or his orangutan, pretty much nailed it. Some smokers are born with a discerning palate, some are able to develop one through serious attention to detail and time. Others, I am one, haven't the time nor the inclination to delve into the mysteries of blends. My palate is "shot" and I simply enjoy a blend or not. Subtleties are beyond my palate!
I am very sorry to admit that I too cannot distinguish between the subtleties of one blend over another. Either I like it or not.
What extra confuses me is the issue of disliking a blend one day, and then a while later (say a month) loving the blend.
Never really have been a great fan of Va's, but right now I'm smoking some 2 year old Escudo and loving it in a pre-transition Barling 515.
Ah, the complexities of the pipe hobby.
It's only as complex as you want it to be. I thoroughly enjoy reading some of the posts written by those smokers who take it much more seriously than I do. Some if it is good stuff, as informative as it is entertaining.
Some I can pick stuff out of, most I cannot. For me, often I can place A flavor, but I'll be darned if I can call it out right...
But then again, if you like it, there is no 'right'.
I value Jim and Pipestud as sounding boards for whether I will like a tobacco. I have found I am much more forgiving than Pipestud, and I get lost in some of Jim's reviews (I can't taste what he does) but I tend to follow his likes/dislikes.
But then again, if you like it, there is no 'right'.
I value Jim and Pipestud as sounding boards for whether I will like a tobacco. I have found I am much more forgiving than Pipestud, and I get lost in some of Jim's reviews (I can't taste what he does) but I tend to follow his likes/dislikes.
I've posted this before because it comes up pretty often. This is how I approach TR and how I make it work best for me when I feel the need.
Take a blend or two that you are very intimate with (you SHOULD have at least one if you are seeking out other blends to try) and look it up on TR. Look for reviewers who nail down your impressions of that blend and take notes, specifically the reviewers screen name. Now check another blend or 2 that you know well and see what that person or persons does comparable to your impressions. If you detect some kinship in how they are tasting your favorite blends then you can kind of use those folks as baseline reviewers for stuff you may have not tried yet.
I also very rarely check ahead of actually smoking several bowls of new blend in several different pipes as flavors can percieved differently from briar to briar. It's kind of fun to see if you are on the same page as your favorite trusted reviewers. I do cheat and peek from time to time but I'm only human.
This is only how I use the resource, ymmv.
Take a blend or two that you are very intimate with (you SHOULD have at least one if you are seeking out other blends to try) and look it up on TR. Look for reviewers who nail down your impressions of that blend and take notes, specifically the reviewers screen name. Now check another blend or 2 that you know well and see what that person or persons does comparable to your impressions. If you detect some kinship in how they are tasting your favorite blends then you can kind of use those folks as baseline reviewers for stuff you may have not tried yet.
I also very rarely check ahead of actually smoking several bowls of new blend in several different pipes as flavors can percieved differently from briar to briar. It's kind of fun to see if you are on the same page as your favorite trusted reviewers. I do cheat and peek from time to time but I'm only human.
This is only how I use the resource, ymmv.
Yeah it takes awhile to build your palate and be able to distinguish flavors. But when it happens and you begin to really distinguish what you like about a blend it just seems richer. I notice it much more on Virginia flakes though than I do on aros.
Read the reviews, and use them as a starting point.
Most of us cannot discern the tastes and flavor profiles that someone like JimInks can.
Some members on this forum can only taste "soap" and "salt" and can't taste "nuttyness" nor "hay". Let the reviewers clue you in on what you could taste if you could taste it.
Most of us cannot discern the tastes and flavor profiles that someone like JimInks can.
Some members on this forum can only taste "soap" and "salt" and can't taste "nuttyness" nor "hay". Let the reviewers clue you in on what you could taste if you could taste it.
You might enjoy G.L. Pease's article, Don't Think Of A Purple Giraffe, or The Fickle Nature Of First Impressions.
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