Relighting 40 year old pipes

jpmcwjr · May 23, 2015

An oddity which I hope some can explain: I smoked the first bowl in a Danish free form (Harcourt) for the first time in over forty years. A huge rush of highly salty taste came through in the first five minutes, then diminished a bit.
It might be less of a mystery if I had done a salt-everclear treatment on it, but it's never been done on that pipe. It had been smoked only by me, but not for at least four decades, so I didn't clean it as one would an estate pipe.
The same phenomenon on an equally dated meerschaum, but to a much lesser degree.

gloucesterman · May 23, 2015

Do you live close to the ocean? Or somewhere salt is present in the air?

wilson · May 23, 2015

That's an odd one. Are the stems of the pipes oxidized? Normally, the taste from oxidized vulcanite stems would be described as bitter, I've never heard someone say it was salty. But, given the age of the pipes, I'd expect some oxidation of the stems.

jpmcwjr · May 23, 2015

G-man:
No, don't live close to an ocean now, but lived in San Francisco for a while, near the Bay. Whatever salt might have been in the air was imperceptible- and the pipes were stored away.

jpmcwjr · May 23, 2015

Wilson:
There is oxidation on the Harcourt, but not a lot for a 40 year old! At least that's my guess.
The meerschaum has a yellow bit/stem, not sure of the material. Now smoking a second bowl, still a touch of salt, but it's a very nice smoke. I have it taped together temporarily as the tenon - a screw in type- is broken. I am hoping a few smokes will help loosen the broken piece so I can unscrew it and then glue it to the stem.

cobguy · May 23, 2015

What tobacco are you smoking?

jpmcwjr · May 23, 2015

This was Comoy's Cask 11. Just started with it less than a week ago. No other pipe has had anywhere near the saltiness of the Danish pipe.
Could it be somehow a ghost of long ago tobacco? I used to smoke Burlington Arcade, (Harry Tint and Sons) but it's been out of production for decades.

cobguy · May 23, 2015

... so I didn't clean it as one would an estate pipe.

I guess I'd start here ... at least pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol until they come out clean followed by a few days rest.

settersbrace · May 24, 2015

I don't have an answer to the salt phenomenon but I admire your tobacco selection for the re-introduction after 40 years. Cask #11 is tasty stuff.

jpmcwjr · May 24, 2015

Thank you! I am wondering if it's maybe too tasty for me at this time—at least as my staple. I've been smoking probably too much, too rich recently. Some to try to keep learning, mostly for enjoyment, and some from compulsion.
Is there a really mild tobacco others would recommend, perhaps one I could blend with the Comoy's when "less taste" is advisable? I've ordered some additional tobaccos but am flying blind, relying on luck a bit.

rigmedic1 · May 24, 2015

Not wanting to be a killjoy here, but I had a patch where all my pipes tasted salty. Turned out that I had an abcess behind one of my front teeth that was draining. I had no idea until I went to a scheduled dentist appointment a month later. I never had any pain associated with it. I didn't notice the salty taste with English blends, but I got it several times with Vitginia Periques, which go in different pipes, so I thought it was the pipes!

jpmcwjr · May 25, 2015

Cobguy-
Yes, that was my next step, and a double cleaning is underway. The first salt-alcohol treatment turned the salt brown almost instantly! Ugh! Tomorrow I'll see what I can see.
And rigmedic, my mouth is in brutal shape! Been smoking too much for a recently returned smoker. Probably something in my tobaccos irritates my tongue, sometimes I find I am going too fast, a long process of experimentation is in store, I think.

jpmcwjr · Jun 20, 2015

OK, slowed down, saltiness long gone, mouth returning to normal, finding more enjoyment each day. Now the Cask 11 doesn't seem at all too rich. I've discovered that I rather love Latakia.
Thanks for input and ideas.

cobguy · Jun 20, 2015

Glad it resolved ... happy smoke rings! : puffy

:

fnord · Jun 21, 2015

Guys:
C'mon.
We all know the rules around here.
Pictures or it never happened.
Bring them forth, jpmcwjr, and let us know if you run into troubles.
Fnord

jazz · Jun 21, 2015

I had this happen last week. I purchased some Hal O' the Wynd to try as I love Marlin Flake and Old Gowrie. I put it in a corn cob which I doubt I have smoked for two years. An incredibly salty flavour was present the entire smoke. It was almost overbearing. It was a curious experience. Once I had finished the smoke I removed the stem out to clean it and found a dirty old Savinelli balsa filter in there. I have no idea if it was the cause as I have not tried it in the cob again.
Of course, smoking this tobacco in any of my other pipes has not produced this salty experience. I suppose I will give that cob another go.

jpmcwjr · Jun 21, 2015

"I did not know that" [Carson mode off]— in reply to photo imperative.
Will do a photo or two....

jpmcwjr · Jul 15, 2015

A day after writing the above I was rudely introduced to a surgeon who knocked me out and opened a hole or two in me. Home now a week, and am about halfway back to normal. Not a whiff of tobacco for over three weeks....
Here is the photo, I hope.Hopefully this will show some light on the subject, just have to click the link.

(Obviously forgot how to embed a photo.)

jpmcwjr · Feb 23, 2017

Looking for another thread, I came across this. Since have learned how to have photos show up in the thread!

mso489 · Feb 24, 2017

Grand old pipe. Nice shaping briar and stem.

Relighting 40 year old pipes

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