I take steps to help ensure a cool, dry smoke - drying my tobacco, not packing it too tightly, and smoking at a slow and steady pace. Still, as is inevitable, I will have to relight my bowl sometimes. It's not so much the actual relighting that I have issue with, it's the flavor of the relit tobacco that I don't like. It's typically acrid, sour, charred tasting, etc. I find this an unwelcome disruption in my enjoyment of the bowl, especially when I'm in the 'zone' and the flavors of the tobacco are really coming through for me. I've most recently experienced this with Peterson's Irish Flake, Escudo Navy Rolls, and St. Bruno Flake. I use a standard Bic lighter. Would using wood matches have an effect of the flavor of relit tobacco taking into account the softer flame? Are there tobaccos that you actually like the flavor of being relit? Should I be dumping ash more frequently?
