All tobacco taste the same?

[shirefolk]

Hey guys, I'm a new smoker. Using some cheap 70's Medco hand-me-downs from my grandfather, I've tried some homemade blends from a local tobacco shop (Cherry Cavendish and a Burley Lite)and just recently some Captain Black Cherry.
On the advice from many pipers from the Brothers of the Briar Facebook page, I bought a clean brand spanking new MM Country Gentleman corn cob pipe and was mailed some free samples from a nice guy named Val Shannahan to try.
My first smoke was just an hour ago, and tried the Lane 1Q that everyone raves about.
...it ALL TASTES THE SAME TO ME! I know I have a poor sense of taste and smell (I'm almost always slightly congested in my sinuses all year long and living in Delaware doesn't help) and so i wonder if that's making everything taste the same. The after taste or taste in general in my mouth isn't that great, and the smell from the bowl isn't anything great either to me. So is it me? Or is tobacco like beer, an acquired taste and I just need to find the right blend? It just seems odd that they all taste the SAME. Does anyone here know of some one who couldn't taste or smell the tobacco because of a poor sense of taste/smell? Thanks! : )

 

[derfargin]

I don't rave about 1Q. Your statement is invalid.
Seems like the problems with new pipers usually manifest with aromatic pipe tobacco. Did any of the samples you were given include anything with burley, or latakia?
If so, give a few of those a try and see if you still can't taste anything in them.

 

[shirefolk]

The other two samples I have are a 'Presbyterian Mixture (English)' and some 'Boswell's Northwoods'

 

[shirefolk]

I've already tried a Burley..which tasted like cherry, which tasted like Captain Black Cherry, which tasted like Lane 1Q..lol..

 

[shirefolk]

..I DO however enjoy how the smell BEFORE they're lit : )

 

[jmill208]

The other two samples I have are a 'Presbyterian Mixture (English)' and some 'Boswell's Northwoods'

If Northwoods or PM taste like 1Q to you, I'd suggest you find something else to occupy your time.....

 

[cortezattic]

I think tobacco is an acquired taste. Once your taste buds become more discriminating you will find vast differences among the thousands of blends available. Some blends you will find revolting, and others will be pure ecstasy (the bowls we all live for). derfargin's observation about aromatics is spot-on, IMO. Aromatics demand a more careful, if not more advanced, approach with respect to moisture control, packing, and puffing cadence. You're probably better off with a lightly cased (flavored) blend like Sir Walter Raleigh, Edward G. Robinson, or Prince Albert.
This might be a good time to select from among the pure-leaf non-aromatic categories: Virginia, Burley, Oriental, and English (Latakia) -- any of these, with or without Perique. Do some comparing and contrasting.
Also, it is altogether possible that you're lighting the pipe sooo aggressively that you're cooking your tongue with hot gasses.

 

[shirefolk]

I smoke outside and use matches to light my bowl, and I often go through 4 or 5 before I can keep it lit well. Today was my best smoke in term of getting things going and staying lit.

 

[cortezattic]

Sounds like you're switching from cigarettes. If so, give P.A. a shot.

 

[mso489]

It sounds like you may have diminished taste and smell, so the question is, is what you do taste pleasant? If so, I think with time and some sampling, you may find a blend or single leaf that you will find especially pleasant. We all come to enjoying pipes our own way, so there is no requirement that you become a a gourmet of a wide array of blends. My taste seems rather individual, shall we say. I'm not smoking what a lot of others find delectable, although I do enjoy some widely popular blends too. Find what you enjoy, or at some point don't bother. It's what makes you happy.

 

[okiebrad]

I agree with Cortez. All alcohol tasted the same to me 40 years ago. Just like all tobaccos tasted the same to me at that time. I hope it does not take you that long for you to discover there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow however if it does, its worth the wait. The folks here have some wonderful suggestions including what to smoke and how to smoke tobaccos. Some suggestions are good. Some are bad. Only you can decide which is right for you. Hell, damn near every new blend I try is my new favorite.

 

[shirefolk]

I've never smoked tobacco before this... no cigarettes or anything. I'm 36 years old and spent half that time as a runner, lol.. I've always enjoyed the smell of pipr tobacco when I was younger fro my grandfather, and when I inherited his pipes last year, I thought I'd give it a go : )

 

[shirefolk]

Thanks Okie and mso : )

 

[yaddy306]

When I was starting up, many tobaccos were tasting the same. Part of it was an immature palate, but most of it was smoking too fast (drawing too hard), heating up the tobacco too much.

 

[michaelmirza]

I'm guessing you're smoking too hot, which is common for new smokers because they puff hard trying to keep the pipe lit. Once your pipe is well packed (this is key; watch some videos), focus on sipping the smoke rather than puffing. Treat it like a straw full of hot chocolate that you need to nurse to keep from burning your tongue. Then the nuances of the flavors will come out.

 

[jpmcwjr]

The tobaccos you mention tend to be very wet out of the gate (or tin, or bag!), hence many relights. Dry it out significantly, and as MM says, try to slow down, too.

 

[deathmetal]

Treat it like a straw full of hot chocolate that you need to nurse to keep from burning your tongue.

Wonderful metaphor... or comparison... very accurate description.

 

[sablebrush52]

My first thought is that you're really lucky, because you won't need to chase any of the really hard to find blends, unicorn blends, that some members here would sell their kid's organs to acquire.
Reading your original post, it would seem that you're sampling some cherry blends. The flavoring in these blends can stay in the bowl after you've smoked, and ghost the next load. So keep one pipe for those cherry blends, and try smoking a different type of blend in another pipe that hasn't been infused with cherry or some other flavoring.
Aromatics tend to be wet, so give the tobacco 20 to 30 minutes to dry out before loading a bowl. The tobacco should feel dry to the touch when squeezed slightly, while still being pliant. If, after 20-30 minutes, the tobacco still feels damp, give it some more time. At the proper level of moisture, tobacco is easier to light, easier to keep lit, and much less likely to cause tongue bite. It also offers more intensity of flavor.
Load the bowl so that the tobacco is firm while still springy. Don't pack too tight.
Puff to get the bowl started, then sip to taste the smoke. Take it easy. If the pipe goes out, just relight it. There's no benefit to trying to smoke a bowl on one light. This isn't a race. Patience pays off.
Slowly draw the smoke into your mouth. Since you're smoking outdoors only, exhale the smoke through your nose. Indoor smokers get some of the flavor by smelling it, as they're sitting in a cloud of their own smoke. Outdoor smokers don't get this same benefit, but slowly exhaling the smoke through your nose give you a lot more of the flavor components - components that you don't taste in your mouth.
Try smoking blends that have a distinctly different scent. If you smoke slowly, so that the tobacco is basically simmering in the bowl, you'll get the most flavor out of that blend.
Take it slow.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Shirefolk, If you're starting from square one having never tried any tobacco before, it's normal for everything to taste basically the same for the first few bowls.

Imagine switching to a diet of spicy Curry after eating nothing but steak and potatoes your whole life. Your tastebuds are in shock for a little while, but they will adapt.
I suggest taking this very, very slow. It's very easy to burn your mouth (it's probably the chemical aspects of the smoke more than the heat, regardless, don't let the smoke hit the same spot too much).

And do bring a drink along when you smoke a bowl, flushing your mouth regularly will help prevent bite.

Forget about the flavor for now, what you should be concentrating on is cadence and tobacco preparation. Using five matches to get a pipe going isn't out of the ordinary for me, though it might be an indication that you should be drying more, it depends on the blend. Some blends don't burn well regardless of how dry they are and some burn well straight out of the tin. Actually I found that 1-Q burns very well even sopping wet, actually too well and I have to smother it sometiems. Heat ruins flavor (at least in this context), the fact that your tobacco is burning at all is actually less than ideal, flavor comes from getting the leaf hot enough to release particles, but without burning it. Basically you're using the embers in the middle to roast the flavor out of all the tobacco around it. That's why the last few minutes of a bowl usually has the least flavor and dumping it isn't a big deal.

I agree with the example of treating pipe smoke like hot water, in terms of volume, you're only trying to sip a few milliliters of air for every puff. It can be frustrating, for now I would just avoid blends that don't seem to burn well if you can't get them to work after a few tries.

 

[styler]

I think some people expect different tobacco types to be like different drinks, with clearly distinct flavours. If they don't like coffee, they still expect that they might like tea or beer.
To me, all tobacco is coffee, and if you don't like the base flavour of coffee to begin with then trying different coffee blends or adding flavoured syrup to your coffee isn't really going to make a difference.
When recommending tobacco to a beginner I'd go for something like Orlik Golden Slice or Germain's Rich Dark Flake. A quality tobacco that, while having sweeter notes, has a fairly pure tobacco flavour. I'd also recommend smoking the same blend or two for an extended period before trying other tobaccos.
You need a baseline from which you can judge other tobacco flavours. The taste is to be found in the difference.