How Many Pipe Tobaccos Can You Tell When Blind Tasting

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Mar 2, 2021
3,473
14,251
Alabama USA
Well, I suspect if you cannot discern the differences, why have them? I suspect this was the OP's intent. I know several of the members have a large storage of tobaccos. It would be sort of sad to have accumulated them and be able to tell them apart.
 
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Jan 30, 2020
2,246
7,433
New Jersey
I'm moderately confident I could pick out English Chocolate and Vanilla Flake blind. The have pretty specific flavor and aromas and they are my regular aromatics. Within a minute of lighting a bowl of Vanilla Flake, my wife asks if I lit a bowl of Vanilla flake from another room in the house. So just the aroma to a non-smoker on that one is very distinctive.
 
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DAR

Can't Leave
Aug 2, 2020
355
1,114
Tiburon, California
I'm no Jimlnks. There's no way I could distinguish between tobaccos or what exactly is in the mixture.

I could tell the difference between a Virginia or Latakia or a goopy aromatic and if I like it or not but that's about it. Burley by itself taste like nothing to me and Orientals........ I have no idea what they taste like even though a lot of my favorite tobaccos have Oriental and burley in them.
To me it's like playing poker........ I've been playing poker for many years and every time I play, I have to be taught how to play. I don't remember stuff like that. Seems too trivial for my attention.
Part of my enjoyment of pipe tobacco is knowing what's in it otherwise I can't really enjoy the smoke. If I know what's in the mix I can pick it out but that's about it for these taste buds.
 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
10,239
41,525
RTP, NC. USA
I'm no Jimlnks. There's no way I could distinguish between tobaccos or what exactly is in the mixture.

I could tell the difference between a Virginia or Latakia or a goopy aromatic and if I like it or not but that's about it. Burley by itself taste like nothing to me and Orientals........ I have no idea what they taste like even though a lot of my favorite tobaccos have Oriental and burley in them.
To me it's like playing poker........ I've been playing poker for many years and every time I play, I have to be taught how to play. I don't remember stuff like that. Seems too trivial for my attention.
Part of my enjoyment of pipe tobacco is knowing what's in it otherwise I can't really enjoy the smoke. If I know what's in the mix I can pick it out but that's about it for these taste buds.
It's like Christmas with every bowlful!
 
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ophiuchus

Lifer
Mar 25, 2016
1,647
2,485
I’m a perpetual practitioner of preoccupied pre-packing. I’ll leave a pipe or two loaded without thinking about what I put into them. Yeah, sometimes I’m that absent-minded. More often than not, I can identify what I’m smoking, though this isn’t exactly blind taste-testing.

(I’m suddenly reminded of comedic representations of wine tasting competition, like Crane vs. Crane on Frazier or Peter Lorre vs. Vincent Price in Tales of Terror.)

I’m no expert-level tobacco taster; I still think I’d do pretty well putting the ID on a lot of blends. At worst, I think I’m able to sort out the components.