COVID and Lack of Tobacco Taste

[RonB]

I had COVID a month ago along with most of my family (probably the new variant), and I lost much of my taste of smell. My taste has recovered to a large extent although the taste of wine and tobacco seem to be most affected. I can still taste Bourbon and Scotch pretty well, haha. The tobacco that tastes the best is HH Bold Kentucky, maybe because it is stronger? I tried Tuggle Hall, a fairly strong English blend last night, but I couldn't taste much of it.

My doctor said it may be 6 months before my taste is back entirely. Bummer.

I was just curious how many others have a similar issue with tobacco after COVID. I wonder why tobacco seems to be more affected than, say, my wife's Bolognese pasta dish.

PS Apologies if this has been covered before but I did a search and did not find much.

 

[STP]

Sorry to hear, but glad that you’re doing better. While I haven’t had COVID, a few of my family and friends have, and of those who had issues w/smell and taste, it lasted several months.

 

[Laurent]

I had Covid the last week of September and lost my taste and smell for a full 8 days, after that I slowly started to recover it. Bourbon just tasted sweet to me at first and tobacco was horrible, like trying to smoke with a sinus infection. I made a pretty fast recovery but what was interesting, every week I started noticing something new. Things that were really bold smells started to show up, like gasoline and propane gas. I’m all good now, just found it interesting that things that were so bold, were the hardest to detect.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Your Dr. Is right it can take as long as that to return by reports. I do hope your pallet does return to normal very soon. ?️

 

[RonB]

You'd think I'd lose some weight, but no, I'm actually gaining weight! Probably from not getting exercise. And maybe drinking Bourbon that I can taste.

 

[monty55]

I'm sorry to hear that. I was wondering if it affected pipe smoking, and how, but I didn't want to bring up the subject. My youngest daughter who is 30 got covid in March of 2020. She lost her sense of taste and smell for about 3 months. After her senses returned, about 4 months after that date she started to have altered tastes where things that tasted one way originally now had a rancid foul taste. There were several things, bacon for one, and other foods I don't remember, but that has not changed going on 2 years from when she got sick. Still can eat those things without them tasting rancid. Very sad My oldest daughter and her husband got the new Omicron variant about a month ago. They also lost sense of taste and smell, but it is coming back slowly. They have not encountered the altered tastes as of today, and I doubt they will, it's a much milder form.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Sounds like you're still missing subtlety and nuance in your taste, which does make sense (P.I.); I assume discerning minute differences are more tasking on the mind/body than discerning more obvious differences.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I had Covid in November. My sense of smell was completely GONE. I went maybe three weeks without smoking my pipes because it was seriously just hot air to me. I was getting nothing.

It’s mostly back now, after only a couple months. But yeah, it takes time. Weirdest thing, not being able to smell anything.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Had it the month of March '21. Neither of my senses of taste and smell have returned fully - for whatever reasons the subtle aromas and flavors when cooking (and of course taste and smell are related) are when I'm reminded the most, but yes, subtle flavors and smells in tobacco, sauces, dishes, certain smells I expect to notice outdoors and not quite getting. Unfortunately seems to have leveled off, so it may be a new normal. They used to be really, really keen and it is that extra layer or whatever that seems to be gone - haven't given up and hope to notice one day they are back.

 

[RonB]

I think you all are right that it is the subtle smells that are missing. I would not have thought that tobacco smoking smells were subtle, but probably just my ignorance.

 

[NC TX ID pipeman]

Never had Covid yet but when I was about 23 years old(26 years ago) I had some sinus problems and lost ability to smell anything...It came back to about 70% after some time but till today it is not as it used to be and likely will not be ...sometimes during the year I loose taste for tobacco -it all taste the same so I quit smoking for several months during the hot summer and at the fall I enjoy my pipes and tobacco again

 

[WVOldFart]

My wife and I had COVID the Christmas of 2020. We had it really bad with all of the symptoms. If it hadn't been for the dog needing to do his business, we wouldn't have gotten out of bed. We had it for 3 weeks. That was over a year ago and the Mrs. and I aren't sure we have regained our taste yet. We will eat something and I'll ask her if it is me or does this taste flat. We aren't sure if it is our taste buds or that food quality is bad.

 

[dPero]

I still have COVID and first few days smoking was horrible, the taste was disgusting only when smoking other flavors was not too bad. Now is little better but still flavors are missining, like all is mixed in some wired way

 

[SourShank]

I still have COVID and first few days smoking was horrible, the taste was disgusting only when smoking other flavors was not too bad. Now is little better but still flavors are missining, like all is mixed in some wired way

Get well soon. Even the common cold can and will ruin the taste of burning tobaccos. The fact that its improving already is a good sign.

 

[anotherbob]

I had COVID a month ago along with most of my family (probably the new variant), and I lost much of my taste of smell. My taste has recovered to a large extent although the taste of wine and tobacco seem to be most affected. I can still taste Bourbon and Scotch pretty well, haha. The tobacco that tastes the best is HH Bold Kentucky, maybe because it is stronger? I tried Tuggle Hall, a fairly strong English blend last night, but I couldn't taste much of it.

My doctor said it may be 6 months before my taste is back entirely. Bummer.

I was just curious how many others have a similar issue with tobacco after COVID. I wonder why tobacco seems to be more affected than, say, my wife's Bolognese pasta dish.

PS Apologies if this has been covered before but I did a search and did not find much.

nuances would be my guess.

 

[workman]

The flavor of smoke is much more elusive than than the flavors of food, simply because the food is much more substantial and gets thrashed around in the mouth interacting physically with your flavor receptors.
I have a light cold ATM, not covid, but my sense of taste and smell is altered as well. Tobacco tastes very little and wine just tastes sour. Thank God for beer and whiskey.

 

[That Guy]

For me it two about 2 months. I started smoking some English blends and they weren't too far off from what they normally taste like but everything else was bad. Like burnt plastic bad. After 2 -2.5 months I was completely back to normal in every way.

 

[Ocam]

I lost completely my taste for tobacco as well, so I had to quit pipes for a few weeks. I started taking snuff (somehow I could smell snuff better) and went back to pipes like two months later... And not leaving them again haha

 

[kgs]

I caught it at the end of December 2021. I spent about a week in bed and then another week or two recovering from lingering symptoms. I lost my smell and taste after about a week of illness. My loss of taste and smell is only now, 2 or 3 weeks later, almost back to normal. I don't think I lost taste and smell 100% because even at my worst I could detect some smells if I got very close to the source. For example, I was able to detect a "smell" from coffee grounds but it was very muted really nothing like coffee at all.

I don't know if my taste/smell loss was simply from nasal and sinus congestion or whether it was the brain inflammation or olfactory damage that some have theorized caused this symptom in earlier strains of the covid virus. Loss of taste/smell has always been a symptom of colds and flu and it has always had the propensity to be permanent. It appears that with covid smell/taste loss is much more common and, unfortunately, more commonly permanent as well.

After the first week or two I was able to taste and smell food and most other things at 100% again but I was still unable to taste tobacco. Tobacco taste/smell was basically the last thing to come back. And it still seems a bit muted.

I am not sure how much I actually "taste" tobacco. Taste is a sensation on the tongue such as sweet, bitter, sour, etc. I don't think it is very often that I detect an actual "taste" from tobacco. Flavor, I think, is the more nuanced part of it that is actually a function of smell. Food and drink are moist and so our smell receptors, which are in the nasal cavity, can pick up on them more easily. Smoke on the other hand is very dry so our smell receptors cannot detect it as well. That is my understanding on the topic.

There was one day that I packed a bowl of Old Dark Fired and was I blown away by the taste. For some reason on that day I really did taste that blend. I smoked that blend regularly afterwards trying to recapture that taste but I never found it again. I have no idea what that was about. I suspect that my taste/smell have always been somewhat impaired because of allergies.

I have found the following videos discussing various remedies: