Almost every time I pick out an ounce or two of blended pipe tobacco (usually an aromatic) from a jar at any corner tobacco shop it turns out to have a bitter/sour taste when lit and throughout most of the bowl. I first started to notice this flavor when I began smoking high quality tinned tobaccos without such a flavor. It really stood out in comparing high quality tinned aromatics and the jar blends down the street.
What urged me to pose this question was smoking a pretty high regarded aromatic blend from pipesandcigars.com - Trout Stream. I have read great reviews about this aromatic and was looking forward to smoking it. Soon after lighting up, I noticed that same bitter characteristic as any other run-of-the-mill aromatic from a jar. I was surprised to see that, for some reason, most people who generally rate aromatics low rate Trout Stream high. It just seems to be like every other aromatic from a jar.
A couple of aromatics I enjoy that do not have this bitter note are Dan's Devil's Holiday and Sutliff's Molto Dolce.
So I wonder...Is there a type of tobacco blended in most of these aromatics that I just don't like or is it the casing or are these aromatics past their prime or is it simply cheap tobacco with pleasant aromas? What's up with this bitter note?
What urged me to pose this question was smoking a pretty high regarded aromatic blend from pipesandcigars.com - Trout Stream. I have read great reviews about this aromatic and was looking forward to smoking it. Soon after lighting up, I noticed that same bitter characteristic as any other run-of-the-mill aromatic from a jar. I was surprised to see that, for some reason, most people who generally rate aromatics low rate Trout Stream high. It just seems to be like every other aromatic from a jar.
A couple of aromatics I enjoy that do not have this bitter note are Dan's Devil's Holiday and Sutliff's Molto Dolce.
So I wonder...Is there a type of tobacco blended in most of these aromatics that I just don't like or is it the casing or are these aromatics past their prime or is it simply cheap tobacco with pleasant aromas? What's up with this bitter note?