FVF: Will It Ghost?

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
I've been de-tinning and jarring up a number of new-to-me VA tobaccos, so that they can rest in the jar for a while before I smoke them. I noticed that the FVF tin note has that soapy aroma about it. I am guessing that this is "Lakeland" odor. I have been avoiding getting anything "Lakeland", and I did not think that FVF had that characteristic, but mine seems to. Is that normal? Will it ghost if it is just a little bit of leftover odor from a tobacco machine or something? I'm thinking I should get a cheap cob in order to try it. The BBF that I opened maybe had a little note of soap as well. It mostly had a typical VA pipe-tobacco smell to it, but the FVF was mainly the soap smell. :puffpipe:

 

drennan

Can't Leave
Mar 30, 2014
344
3
Normandy
I've read about SG tobaccos having a 'soap' smell or flavour, I've smoked alot of SG blends and never picked up on any soap taste or flavour. I do wonder if it's the power of suggestion because SG are based in the lake district.
Now G&H is a different story.

 

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Short answer: No.
FVF will leave a sweet taste behind that may endure the next bowlful but it will not leave an offensive flavor or scent.
The "Lakeland" scent isn't one scent at all, it covers a pretty broad range but you'll know it when you smell it. It's potent. Like sticking your nose in to a bottle of perfume, potent.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
FFS, FVF?! SMH...
Seriously, no need to worry about a ghost. Whatever weirdness you smell from the tin, you won't taste or smell it in the smoke.

 
The soapy that most of us refer to is that grandma's pink rose aromatic soaps that they put on displays in bathrooms. The kind that as a kid your not allowed to actually use. It's the geranium oils or tonka beans, or essence of lakeland that they squeeze out of the lake, whatever it is, you wouldn't miss it.
I have smoked lots of FVF, and while I have never tasted any soap in FVF, I hesitate to say that there is none in your tin if you smell it. Who knows, maybe the guys at SG fell asleep at the assembly line and loaded your batch up with dead grandma soaps. But, normally... no, there is no lakeland essence in FVF... usually.

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"I noticed that the FVF tin note has that soapy aroma about it."
Having got through countless tins of FVF I can honestly say I have never experienced the slightest whiff of any 'soapy aroma', just good honest hot pressed pure Virginia tobacco.
I would wager you have been reading forum posts where some folks (who ought know better) have besmirched any blends from either of the Kendal houses by stating they all have "that nasty soapy Lakeland scent".
Be assured, they DO NOT!
Regards,
Jay.

 

prndl

Lifer
Apr 30, 2014
1,571
2,901
The last two tins of Gawith tobacco I've opened (FVF and Cabbie's Mixture) have had a distinct floral taste. They did not exhibit a floral smell upon opening the tins but, there was a distinct taste upon smoking them that has never been in any Gawith tin I've had before.

 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
I've had one 250g box of FVF come that was most definitely scented, it was an isolated incident but it appears it has happened again with you. The only theory that works is that it must be some cross contamination since Samuel Gawith & Gawith Hogarth & Co. now share the same warehouse. Mine happened over a year ago and I've not had a problem since.

 

pitchfork

Lifer
May 25, 2012
4,030
605
I've had one 250g box of FVF come that was most definitely scented, it was an isolated incident but it appears it has happened again with you. The only theory that works is that it must be some cross contamination since Samuel Gawith & Gawith Hogarth & Co. now share the same warehouse. Mine happened over a year ago and I've not had a problem since.
That's really interesting. What sort of scent was it? And did it seem that the tobaccos had picked up a scent from something else, or did the tobacco itself seem to have been contaminated?

 

samcoffeeman

Can't Leave
Apr 6, 2015
441
4
How new is the tin? People have suggested that since the re-merger of SG and G&H, and now SG is being produced in the same space, that perhaps there is some concern of contamination. If the tin was recently produced since the merger, perhaps this is more evidence towards that effect.

 
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
Thanks for all of the insight everybody!

I purchased the tins either in December 2015 or March 2016, and opened/jarred them last night.
I've read some FVF reviews going back to 2010 of people referring to an odor, whatever the cause. It generally sounds like it's not supposed to be there, but I am wondering if the FVF tobacco is actually grown in that area, and perhaps that is why it smells like it does sometimes. Or are some/all Lakeland tobaccos that the company uses not even grown there anymore, and artificially scented instead? Sorry, I don't know a whole lot about them. I just checked the jar notes again, and the BBF smells "normal", and while the soapy note that I noticed in the FVF is actually fading a little and more of a tobacco aroma is becoming noticeable, it is still there. It smells like a lot like Johnson's Baby Shampoo, which I just smelled also. Maybe it will go away as I check the tin note over the next week or so. The only other open SG tobacco that I have to compare it to besides the BBF is Squad Leader, and I've never noticed anything like this in that tin note or smoke that I recall, but it's been a while since I've smoked it. I don't remember any baby shampoo notes though. I have a sealed tin of Skiff, but I'm expecting it to be similar to Squad Leader and haven't checked it either.

 
It smells like a lot like Johnson's Baby Shampoo,

That's not a lakeland thing. I am not even sure where to begin puzzling that out.
In the best of my knowledge, none of the tobaccos are grown in the Lakeland area, just processed there. The taste has nothing to do with being grown there. The Lakeland district was known for producing old school cosmetics and perfumes. They used these same flavoring used in cologne and perfumes in their tobaccos. This is why we make fun of Lakeland smokers, because who in their right mind wants to smoke Granny's perfume?

 
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
The baby shampoo was the first thing that came to mind when I cracked the tin. I'll keep checking it over the next week at least. I think that I might just get a cob for it if the odor does not go away in the jar.

 
I don't know if I could even force myself to smoke something that tasted or smelled like baby shampoo. Uggg...

nicolagag.jpg


 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
"but I am wondering if the FVF tobacco is actually grown in that area, and perhaps that is why it smells like it does sometimes."
Believe you me my friend, you could not get tobacco to grow in Kendal...t'would be rather like trying to grow peaches in the Arctic :roll:
If perchance you do indeed detect a Lakeland aroma I would merely put it down to them not cleansing their equipment at the factory...and that itself I would find hard to swallow.
Regards,
Jay.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.