Hint of Ammonia?

[anotherbob]

I'm openly new to pipe smoking, having only started a few months ago. In that time I've been mostly smoking English and Balkan blends, and enjoying them very much.
Recently been dabbling in some light aromatics and Virginias though for variation.

Very recently I've purchased some peterson's Connoisseur's choice and some macbaren navy flake. Both of which (moreso in the peterson's, which has ammonia ghosted a cob ) have displayed an ammonia scent/flavour in the last 1/4 of the bowl. I've not had the same with some peterson's Flake (for context).

Am I doing something wrong or have I accidentally stumbled on two consecutive 'dodgy' tobaccos?

Its not a pleasant scent at all.

Just means the aging process just finished. Ammonia is one of the things that is produced by tobacco as it breaks down at certain stages. When you run into this let it air out. Oh and let the pipe air out. The tobacco literally should take a few hours at most the pipe a few days.
But the important thing not a big deal and nothing to do with how you've done anything.

 

[anotherbob]

I wonder if young tobacco plus high heat might have something to do with it, I feel like I used to get an ammonia smell when I used to smoke too hot.

Young tobacco. That's all it is. Basically most organic living things give off some ammonia when breaking down. Aging and fermenting are basically intentionally breaking down something until we like it more.

 

[Lucro]

Just means the aging process just finished. Ammonia is one of the things that is produced by tobacco as it breaks down at certain stages. When you run into this let it air out. Oh and let the pipe air out. The tobacco literally should take a few hours at most the pipe a few days.
But the important thing not a big deal and nothing to do with how you've done anything.

That’s honestly reassuring. I very much enjoy my pipe and would hate to think I had damaged my new Boswell with the first bowl

 

[anotherbob]

That’s honestly reassuring. I very much enjoy my pipe and would hate to think I had damaged my new Boswell with the first bowl

It's a big issue in snuff. Snuff is sent out much younger and is better younger and more freshly produced then pipe tobacco. Or in other words if you snuff you'll get an ammonia bomb at some point. But the fun thing is it's a pretty tiny amount and won't really harm anything including the pipe. But it can take a while to air out or with a pipe you can smoke that ghost away heat should make it dissipate too.
The most famous example of tobacco releasing ammonia is Copenhagen. People think they add ammonia to it, they don't it's just how freshly made the stuff is.

 

[Lucro]

It's a big issue in snuff. Snuff is sent out much younger and is better younger and more freshly produced then pipe tobacco. Or in other words if you snuff you'll get an ammonia bomb at some point. But the fun thing is it's a pretty tiny amount and won't really harm anything including the pipe. But it can take a while to air out or with a pipe you can smoke that ghost away heat should make it dissipate too.
The most famous example of tobacco releasing ammonia is Copenhagen. People think they add ammonia to it, they don't it's just how freshly made the stuff is.

My dad dipped Cope. The smell was always unpleasant for me. I never smelled ammonia that I recall, but I can only imagine if I had. I would have looked at him like he was nuts for using it haha

 

[anotherbob]

My dad dipped Cope. The smell was always unpleasant for me. I never smelled ammonia that I recall, but I can only imagine if I had. I would have looked at him like he was nuts for using it haha

I used to love the stuff. Now not so much. But you get ammonia or piss smell when you open the tin. When the ammonia wears off it's a wet dark tobacco taste with a hint of lavender that hits you in the face once you know it's there.

 

[sablebrush52]

The only time I remember getting a strong ammonia smell from tobacco was when I opened a tub of D&R's Blenders Bench 10 yr aged Perique. It's the famous Perique that was in the barrel for 15 years and got used quite a bit by C&D and Sutliff. I opened the tub and just got nailed by it.
Mark told me what to do, which pretty much was to spread it out on a clean surface and let it air out overnight, giving it little misting of distilled water avery few hours. Came out perfectly.

 

[Hillcrest]

I was wondering if I was smoking too hot. I’m still a new smoker trying to find the right cadence to get that sweet spot. I believe there is a correlation between the heat and off-putting smell

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