Nicotine Intolerance. I Have Three Questions.

[happy_lunter]

You're retrohaling. The nicotine is getting absorbed by your sinuses epithelium whose surface area is larger than the mouth's. That may be a factor. Please, don't do that with a cigar.


1-Q.... dry? REALLY??? 1-Q has to be among the goopiest blends out there. Lane's blends are famous for their goopiness and for being nigh-impossible to dry, which is why they leave a soggy mess in the pipe afterwards. The amount of humectants the blenders add to the tobacco has a lot to do with this. These additives also tend to leave a chemical aftertaste on the tongue; that's why I say BCA doesn't stand for 'Black CAvendish' but for 'Big/Bad Chemical Aftertaste'! Propyleneglycol (PG) is one of those culprits: the chief one. Which brings me to your next question.


Propyleneglycol is a humectant. It's not toxic, but it makes the tobacco mighty goopy and some people can taste it and it ruins the experience for them; some other people might be sensitive to it and get some physical symptoms, such as nausa, methinks. It won't kill you or make you sick (unless you're sensitive or allergic to it), but your pipe will hate you for the sopping mess PC will leave in it.

I was being facetious in my previous comment about a 'PG hit': there's no such thing to my knowledge.

Also, bear in mind that the more moisture build up in the pipe during smoke, the hotter the smoke, and the greater the possibility of tongue burn.


Yes, nicotine will hit harder on an empty stomach. You should always have something to eat before smoking. There's a reason why cigars are mostly a postprandial delicacy. Some of us can manage a bowl of a mild blend on an empty stomach, but we're not as intolerant to nicotine as you might be.


???

Not being facetious this time.

At the risk of sounding like a jackass**: you're smoking bottom of the barrel stuff, mate. Craptain Black might be popular and ubiquitous but it's one of the most soggiest [sic, for emphasis] pipe tobacco wannabes out there. I think only Borkum Rippoff (Borkum Riff) is worse. Sticking with the likes of Lane's and Captain Bleak it's hardly good, my good man. You know, it's hard to soar with the eagles by hanging around with turkeys.

There are a plethora of aromatics out there that are not soggy, don't taste like naphta balls, have wonderful room note, and are very low in nicotine. Try some MacBaren Original Choice, which is rated as Very Mild. Also from MacBaren, try the Seven Seas series (their counterstroke to Captain Black, which makes the Captain look like a deck swabbing boy). For classy aromatics try Vauen's Auenland series. Sillem's makes top notch stuff, but it might be a bit stronger.

Note that I'm recommending aromatics because they're normally lower in nicotine than other genres. And also because they rock. ?

____________________
**Also, not trying to put you down for your current smoking choices. I'm really trying to help out here, otherwise I'd just laugh and not take the time to write (and subsequently proofread and correct) a long post. Nicotine doesn't like me either: except that my reaction to it is different: I either feel it or I don't, and when I finally feel it it's always unpleasant. Thankfully, I hardly ever get nicotine effects from a pipe, and I stick mostly to very mild or mild blends—mostly aromatics.

@olkofri, thanks for this very informative post. Very helpful for a newbie like myself. After reading it I understand why my experience with Lane’s tobacco (recently got 1-Q and LL-7) is far from being just OK.

I typically get very moist bowl and very soggy ash with some dottle. I am glad that I am using balsa filters, as I think they prevent the tongue bite. I typically dry the tobacco for few hours and sometimes a whole day before smoking, but even this is not enough for the Lane’s blends. It takes about two days, or so, to dry either of the two blends to a decent level, by which I mean to a level of dryness at which I can enjoy the bowl without goopiness and constant relights.

I also often get a funny aftertaste after 1-Q and LL-7 that lasts for a good few hours, and its pretty annoying. I seldom get the same aftertaste with other blends. I dont think that this aftertaste has anything to do with nicotine though.

 

[HitchensDog]

@olkofri, thanks for this very informative post. Very helpful for a newbie like myself. After reading it I understand why my experience with Lane’s tobacco (recently got 1-Q and LL-7) is far from being just OK.

I typically get very moist bowl and very soggy ash with some dottle. I am glad that I am using balsa filters, as I think they prevent the tongue bite. I typically dry the tobacco for few hours and sometimes a whole day before smoking, but even this is not enough for the Lane’s blends. It takes about two days, or so, to dry either of the two blends to a decent level, by which I mean to a level of dryness at which I can enjoy the bowl without goopiness and constant relights.

I also often get a funny aftertaste after 1-Q and LL-7 that lasts for a good few hours, and its pretty annoying. I seldom get the same aftertaste with other blends. I dont think that this aftertaste has anything to do with nicotine though.

I'd like to add one other thing to this. I like 1-Q, but had to stop smoking it. I would occasionally get a sore throat from smoking, but finally realized it only happened after I smoked 1-Q or RPL-6. I went back to smoking my Mac Baren blends and other top shelf blends exclusively and the sore throat issue went away. There is something in those Lanes blends that really had an adverse effect on me. Also, I experienced that weird taste that you mentioned. That doesn't happen when I smoke my Mac Baren blends. One more thing, @olkofri suggested Mac Baren's Original Choice. That is a good suggestion. I personally love that blend. It tastes great and is a mellow aromatic with low nicotine.

 

[happy_lunter]

I'd like to add one other thing to this. I like 1-Q, but had to stop smoking it. I would occasionally get a sore throat from smoking, but finally realized it only happened after I smoked 1-Q or RPL-6. I went back to smoking my Mac Baren blends and other top shelf blends exclusively and the sore throat issue went away. There is something in those Lanes blends that really had an adverse effect on me. Also, I experienced that weird taste that you mentioned. That doesn't happen when I smoke my Mac Baren blends. One more thing, @olkofri suggested Mac Baren's Original Choice. That is a good suggestion. I personally love that blend. It tastes great and is a mellow aromatic with low nicotine.

@HitchensDog, yes, I also noticed that the aftertaste sometimes comes with a soreness in the throat. I agree, it probably is a reaction to some additives in these tobacco’s.