Chasing that flavor is breaking me.

[cosmicfolklore]

When you do get a hint of flavor, don't speed up to get more, because you will kill the taste. It is counter intuitive, but if you start getting flavor, slow down even more, to get more flavor.

Pipe smoking isn't for everyone. If you're not enjoying it, don't force it. Maybe find something you enjoy more.

 

[AJL67]

@Sonnya

As a newer person than most here it truly did take a bit of time loading the pipe properly and less is def more for tastes, gravity fill method, and slower hitting and smaller puffs really open up the tobaccos for me.

When i used to over load and really pack the bowl tight I’d end up with a giant ember that made the bowl too hot to touch, a little tongue bite and almost no flavor no matter what tobacco i was smoking.

Just enough to keep it lit is perfect for me and there is no foul for relighting if it does go out. Those slower, cooler puffs might get you what you’re looking for.

it takes time and patience at first, don’t get discouraged because when you get it it’s very relaxing and enjoyable!

 

[FLDRD]

Great advice above to help you smoke your blends slower, cooler, gentler.

But I fought aromatics for over a year and never felt I was making significant progress until I moved away from them and on to "classic" blends from different genres.

A codger blend showed me there was more to seek out.
English blends allowed me to get the voluminous smoke I thought I was wanting.
Virginia flakes helped me learn other flavors and focus on smoking slower, gentler.
Etc.

There's a lot of great flavor in un-flavored tobacco.

You could actually skip the aromatics all together and try some crowd-pleasers from the other categories. Statistically, you're likely to enjoy them, as others have.

A few years down the path, and aromatics still give me problems today... why fight with them?

 

[jiminy]

One of the only aromatics that I have thoroughly enjoyed the flavor of has been Old Toby from The Country Squire. I've rarely got flavor from aro's (even though I know the smell of them), but Old Toby bucks that trend.

I'm still experimenting with different packing techniques and cadence stuff myself, which is why I'll be switching to English stuff for a while (more forgiving)

 

[Swampfox]

In addition to all the sound advice given above, I would add to not be afraid or pissed off about having to relight. Learning to accept they are going to happen has helped slow down tremendously. As a relative newbie myself it also allows to practice lighting a bowl properly while smoking cooler (better). Good luck

 

[PlanxtyPipes]

I think a lot of newer smokers are confusing "aromatic" pipe tobaccos with "flavored" things like vapes. Tobaccos are generally not flavored...that is to say they are tobacco flavored. Aromatic tobaccos have aromatics added which change the smell of the tobacco. They may have some impact on the flavor, but not in the way most new smokers hope. Aromatics, if they do change the flavor at all, tend to add slightly more of a chemical, alcohol, or astringent flavor, since that's what aromatics are.

Now, our olfactory senses are closely tied to taste...so I think that's what pipe smokers usually mean when they say that a tobacco is "sweet" or "spicy" or "salty" or "nutty". It's more an impression of that flavor than an actual flavor.