Unknown flavour.

mawnansmiff · May 14, 2016

Hello tobacco experts, I have a question for you that I would dearly love an answer to.
A couple of months ago I bought several new to me blends based largely on reviews I had read. One was Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe & another was Nightcap. One thing I found common to both these blends was the horrible tin note & taste of body odour! I have just bought more blends to try and one of those is Sam Gawith's Squadron Leader and I am experiencing the exact same tin note and taste.
What component that is common to these three blends is it that I am smelling/tasting? I fully appreciate that all three are well loved blends by the majority, it's just something in there that doesn't work for me and if I am able to isolate it that would help in future purchases of buying tobacco 'blind'.
Thanks to all who offer suggestions.
Regards,
Jay.

simong · May 14, 2016

Do you know what kind of pipe you were smoking, meershaum or briar? They can make a difference to taste.

Especially if you can't tell the difference between the two.

Regards, Simon.

weezell · May 14, 2016

Latakias, all three contain it. Some love , some hate it...

madmurdoc · May 14, 2016

That's the taste of Latakia greatness my friend.

mcitinner1 · May 15, 2016

One thing I found common to both these blends was the horrible tin note & taste of body odour!

It always amazes me, the different smells people get from some tobacco blends. To me, the three examples mentioned, don't come anywhere near this description.

mawnansmiff · May 15, 2016

Simon, I was using various briars but the type of pipe matters not when I also refer to tin note.
Scarface, I do read (and contribute) to Tobacco Reviews. My post count means nothing other than for the most part I smoke Condor RR & LC which I love, I just wanted to expand my horizons by trying new blends.
It appears the offending flavour is Latakia so thanks for that chaps, I now know what to avoid in the future.
Bill, I fear that if I were to leave the tin open for a few days I would simply end up with a very dry tobacco which would not be helpful.
FWIW I ditched the EMP & NC but still have the tin of SL which I shall persevere with. I will admit it does improve slightly from mid bowl onwards but not enough to make me want to buy it again.
Regards,
Jay.

mawnansmiff · May 15, 2016

Job done Bill, it is now jarred along with good old Cornish Air : puffy

:
Regards,
Jay.

bigpond · May 15, 2016

I believe the body odor aroma can be ascribed to "turkish" tobacco which I believe (but have not verified) is a component shared by all three blends.
billkay said:

10 year-old Balkan Sobranie Virginian Nr. 10 reeked of feces.

No experience with the blend, though I would love to change that, but I wonder if the cigar leaf may have been the source of the reek?

mawnansmiff · May 15, 2016

I've just realised that me jarring my SL is not going to rid it of the offending smell/taste, if anything by so doing I am preserving it :crazy:
I think the options are either smoke the damnable stuff and have done with it or blend it with something pretty strong (Coniston Cut Plug springs to mind and I have some) in the hope I will have something smokable.
So it appears that Latakia may not be the culprit afterall, Turkish tobacco may be to blame. I really wouldn't know but truly wish I did.
Thanks all for your input.
Regards,
Jay.

andrew · May 15, 2016

It's a tough call, EMP has the most pronounced orientals and the least latakia, but the lat is easily picked up in the tin note. I would go with turkish izmir as the culprit, I believe that's what's in many amerian cigarettes which gives them the burning sh*t smell.

beastinview · May 15, 2016

That was exactly how I felt about Latakia when I first smelled it. I've never felt those descriptions fit the orientals I've tasted... They are just so much more subtle than the Latakia. Even a tiny bit of Latakia can really flavor the entire blend, especially in the tin note.
I came to like Latakia after my initial bad reaction, but what you describe is precisely what I felt about opening my first shipment of English blends.
I guess I don't see how someone could smell Nightcap, say they dislike the dominant aroma, and not be referring to the latakia. Sure, there's other stuff in there: Perique, etc., but the Latakia is overwhelming!

frozenchurchwarden · May 16, 2016

I love the blends that smell like a pile of rotting hay. Brings back a lot of good memories.
If anyone would have told me that you can buy a tin of "barnyard smells" and smoke it, I would have been doing this a decade ago.

mawnansmiff · May 16, 2016

I noticed something interesting last night. For my last smoke of the day I selected one of my favourite 'sipping' pipes and loaded it with Bob's Chocolate Flake, only my third ever bowl of the stuff (another new to me tobacco I bought to trial) and noticed it had the very same flavour I described above though very much muted.
It was not smelled in the tin but was there in the taste. Nowhere near as overwhelming as in the above mentioned blends but certainly there, particularly on the retrohale. Not enough to spoil the smoke in itself but it is another blend that I shall avoid in the future as I found it to be pretty unexciting & rather bland. I wonder if this here Turkish Izmir or Latakia is part of that blend too?
Perhaps I ought give up on trying out new blends and stick to my preferred Condor RR & LC, at least I know where I am with that.
Regards,
Jay.

jacks6 · May 16, 2016

Yes, there is just a tad of latakia in Bob's Chocolate Flake too. It looks like you can't get away from it :lol:

mortonbriar · May 16, 2016

There is a little latakia in bobs flake, I would think that pretty well confirms you dont like the 'king of tobaccos'. when using the tobacco reviews website you can exclude components in advanced search options, you still have 1000 blends to try...no latakia search
Isaac

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2016

You had said that re-jarring it would preserve the offending flavor. That's not exactly true. I can pop a tin and jar it up, and something counter-intuitive happens, (as with much of this hobby) the flavors breath a bit. But, you might also try drying them out completely. There are many of us that enjoy these blends in this way.
But all in all, if you guys in Cornland (or wherever Cornish is) have body odor that smells like latakia, ha ha, you might want to bath in barbeque sauce. Find a nice vinegar or tomato based deodorant. :wink: : puffy

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bigpond · May 16, 2016

Hmm, interesting. If you detect that aroma in BCF then indeed latakia is the culprit and you are quite sensitive to it (lat accounts for only 8% of the mix in BCF). I don't smoke a lot of latakia blends, but have noticed that some are more tannic and smoky than others. Perhaps some folks can guide you to a less offensive lat blend. I'm curious if you have a similar reaction to dark fired kentucky.
beastinview said:

That was exactly how I felt about Latakia when I first smelled it. I've never felt those descriptions fit the orientals I've tasted... They are just so much more subtle than the Latakia

Curious if you've ever tried Peretti's Tashkent? The Izmir is anything but shy and when combined with the lat it can, imo, present a body odor like flavor. Of course, not all bodies smell the same, eh? :wink: I don't want to paint the blend with the BO brush. It's wonderful stuff. Speaking of which:
frozen said:

If anyone would have told me that you can buy a tin of "barnyard smells" and smoke it, I would have been doing this a decade ago.

I find Sam's flake to smell just like a barnyard after a spring rain. Probably my favorite blend of the minute.

cosmicfolklore · May 16, 2016

Funny how folks that are new to tobaccos get all squish nosed at the aromas of tobacco. It can have aromas ranging from stewed tomatoes to campfire to vinegar to horse shit, to (new one) body odor, ha ha. But, this all doesn't translate into the smoke. Eventually after getting used to the way they actually taste, you're brain will decode these smells that you are having an initial repulsion to, into the way they'll taste. Tis the ways of this hobby. But, of course if you find you just don't like tobacco, there's always aromatics... and other hobbies, like doll collecting and pressing flowers and the sort. :wink: : puffy

:

deathmetal · May 16, 2016

The sweaty-clothes-forgotten-in-the-gym-bag-for-a-week smell is "Other Oriental" (which one I don't know) as a rule.

I agree. Latakia smells like a pine campfire, and sometimes smoked cheese. Orientals smell like sweaty balls (sorry) with a little spice added. If this taste conflicts with your personal chemistry, you will find it a less than estimable experience.

jerwynn · May 16, 2016

When I first started getting re-serious about TAD/PAD, one of my first orders, wanting a MAX of each genre, included some bulk Larry's Blend, a latakia forward blend to say the least.(If I'm remembering correctly) Honest to gawd, I almost puked, I thought the stench was sickening, revolting, adverse as hail... and latakia blends did that to me in general for about a year. Now, several years later, I'd like to go to the blendatorium and just jump into a bin of it all and wallow in it!!! Stuff a pillow with it. Wear it around my neck! Oh yes... and smoke it! Now when I crack a tin of NightCap, part of the ritual is to figuratively swirl it around my glass and imbibe as much of a HUGE nose-note as possible, even before filling the tank and launching!! Strange how these things go.

Unknown flavour.

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