Bright Virginias: Cigarette Like?

[Appayipyip]

Title edited for caps and punctuation. See Rule 9. Also, pls consider adding your location to your profile.

Hello, I’ve been looking for a solid Virginia to cut my teeth on. I enjoyed the tin note and the theoretical taste profile of something like Orlik GS (citrus, hay, bread). But when I smoke it, it just tastes like cigarettes. Not pleasant.

I’ve tried a few others. Ones I enjoyed were:

Sutliff crumble kake red virginia. I liked the tartness , it was mellow and not harsh. Very pleasant.

Country squire green dragon : also not harsh, sweet tasting. Cool smoke

H&H Viprati : very interesting , different that the others I’ve had, has a savory funk to it, but also not cigarette like. cool smoke and not harsh.

I’ve also enjoyed English’s like squadron leader, plum pudding SR, and balkan supreme. I tried the white knight match (forget the name) but did not like that. The smell of the smoke burning in the pipe was moldy like a blue cheese , although to be fair it didn’t taste like that, but it threw me off, it was weird.

Other Virginias I didn’t enjoy and was hoping to like were :

Yorktown : also harsh and cigarette like.

Sutliff Virginia slices (507? Forget the exact name) : same as the above.

I’m wondering is this a bright virginia thing ? Or does it seem random? Should I worry about HH pure Virginia, Peterson flake , Union square, capstan blue? These are others I bought but have not tried yet.

any recommendations for a solid daily smoke. Honestly I don’t mind a topping, which I think green dragon has, as long as it’s not too overwhelming and complements the tobacco well. I’ve seen people recommended Newminster 400 and LNR or LNF but I worry these might have a similar profile to OGS or Yorktown?

Thanks!

 

[Sethology12]

I mean virginias are used heavy handedly in many cigs. You may just have to learn to appreciate them on their own merits or accept your aversion

 

[canucklehead]

I had the same experience when I began smoking pipes, lighter coloured Virginias tasted like cigs (I live in Canada, where most of our cigarettes are bright Virginia tobacco). I found that I needed to smoke way slower, like barely keeping the pipe lit, to get nice flavours out of them and avoid that harsh cig-like note. Now they are one of my favourites, and I smoke them near daily.

 

[Brewfan]

It may just be that Virginia is not for you, at least not right now, and not for lack of trying. You've named a few of the usual go-to Virginia's and they didn't strike your fancy, so be it. I wouldn't try to force it.

 

[Appayipyip]

It may just be that Virginia is not for you, at least not right now, and not for lack of trying. You've named a few of the usual go-to Virginia's and they didn't strike your fancy, so be it. I wouldn't try to force it.

Thanks for your reply!

I guess I’m making this post because as I mentioned there were a few I did enjoy, Sutliff crumble kake red Va, country squire green dragon, and Viprati. So I was wondering if there is a common element between the ones I do like and the ones I don’t. Or are the ones I like anaomolies in the Virginia world and they are not representative of others out there? My theory was the ones I don’t like are bright Va? But not sure if that is accurate so thought I’d ask the pros

 

[ThermionicScott]

I bet you're just smoking the Virginias too damned fast.

 

[jpmcwjr]

It may just be that Virginia is not for you, at least not right now, and not for lack of trying. You've named a few of the usual go-to Virginia's and they didn't strike your fancy, so be it. I wouldn't try to force it.

Quite right. Perhaps lay off Virgina tasting for a while, and get into the great English blends.

 

[MikeDub]

I had the exact same experience starting out and was even getting cigarette notes from some of the blends you mentioned. The cure for this was to slow down my cadence and inhale substantially softer. It’s hard to describe something like this without seeing it in person, but when you can keep your pipe on the verge of going out the sweetness from the Va will come out. Halve your cadence, and then halve it again. Sip so slowly only the faintest whisper of smoke comes out of the pipe.

If you have a pipe either light enough or bent enough to clench, use that one for the time being. Read a book, go for a slow aimless walk, anything that will get your mind off smoking your pipe. Your natural breathing cadence is plenty to keep your pipe lit. The beauty of slowing down is that even if you decide that Va’s aren’t for you any other tobacco type will taste substantially better too

 

[kcghost]

Too difficult to decipher what he was really after to reply to this thread.

 

[mso489]

Then there are people who think that burley has the cigarette taste. Cigarettes are a certain kind of engineered product, whatever tobacco varietal they contain, and as we have learned, they are extensively doctored with enhanced nicotine and other chemical jimmying.

So whether they are made with some kind of Virginia, burley, or something else, or a combination, it's not like pipe tobacco. Plenty of pipe blends are doctored up with casing, flavoring, preservatives, and etc., but a cigarette is not a cigar is not a pipe. Comparisons tend to be misleading.

If you smoke mostly pipes, focus on pipe tobaccos and figure them out.

 

[NomadOrb]

Virginias can definitely get that unpleasant ashy taste when pushed too hard, but I've also found that most people that complain about something tasting like cigarettes, haven't/don't smoke cigarettes. So whenever I see that as a flavor profile, I take everything else they say about taste with a huge grain of salt.

Apologies if this doesn't include you OP.

 

[Sethology12]

Imo good quality cigs are flavorful so I'm probably not that right person to ask anyways lol not that it was directed at me specifically

 

[Sethology12]

Smoke a dunhill cigarette and you'll wish all virginias tasted that way

 

[ThermionicScott]

Approaching this from the other angle, I used to hang out with cigarette smokers a lot in college, and would often have one, too. But I would tear off the filter (if present), and sip/puff without inhaling (I was wired to be a pipe smoker) and they definitely tasted better that way.

 

[seanv]

I get the comparison to cigarettes. I would agree that slowing down the cadence is the best approach.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Another good for allowing down. Same with VaOr, slow down even more. Also, you haven't treated the best Virginia blends IMHO. Try some of the Flakes, rub them really fine to help you be able to pack them at this point. F&T CVP, CBP and Vintage. GLP Union Square. MB HH Pure Virginia to name a few.

 

[AJL67]

1. Load the bowl with less tobacco than you think you should, don't pack it in tight.
2. Smoke much slower and not cigarette puffs, just take small tokes

Virginias where for me when i started they always tasted off to me, i was just packing too much tobacco in and i was hitting it way to hard and way too fast, as others have said that might help.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

Put the VA in your cellar, let age 3 years whilst you smoke an English. Smoke, rinse, repeat if necessary.

 

[Merton]

buy a tin of SPC Hogshead. It is a plug but easy to tear apart and rub out a bowl. !00% virginias and I assure you nothing like a cigarette.

 

[Appayipyip]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies so far.

I’ll try to slow down my smoking rate to help with the flavor of some of the Virginia’s I’ve tried.

As I mentioned before some of the Virginia’s I’ve had have been great and I did not get that cigarette/ashy harsh flavor. I wonder if there are other virginias that are like that. Some people have given suggestions of virginias that might work, thanks for that will check them out!

If anyone has more suggestions that would be great.

The question I had when starting this post is if those harsh flavors could be due to a specific type of Virginia (bright) and if I avoid those then maybe I’ll have a better smoking experience. Like I said the Sutliff red Va crumble kake and green dragon have been good experiences. Maybe red Virginia’s are the way to go??