Organized a tasting of component tobaccos yesterday

[pointlineplane]

Yesterday, with the help and participation of a few friends, I organized a tasting of seven component tobaccos -- Black Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, Burley, Red Virginia, and Bright Virginia. (I also brought some of the tinned and bulk tobaccos I have acquired and opened.) I set up this tasting in part because, since I am still new to this hobby, I didn't know what people meant when, in their reviews or impressions of various tobacco blends, mentioned Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, etc.

It was fun and interesting to hear my friends describe the tastes and aromas of the various tobaccos, and it was laugh-out-loud hilarious for us to hear one of my friends -- who is a visiting researcher from another country -- describe some of the tobaccos as he asking experiencing them; some of his remarks:

Perique: "ex-wife"
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding: "someone else's wife"

 

[Snook]

Sounds like it was a great time! What were your thoughts on the different components? Which was your favorite?

 

[sablebrush52]

That’s a great way to learn about the alchemy of tobaccos.

 

[wyfbane]

That is a fun idea. I have seldom been able to gather any other pipe smokers together, particularly after my departure form the sphere of influence of the Seattle Pipe Club. Sounds like fun was had by all, even your friend who likes spicy and smokey women... lol

 

[mingc]

View attachment 366477

Yesterday, with the help and participation of a few friends, I organized a tasting of seven component tobaccos -- Black Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, Burley, Red Virginia, and Bright Virginia. (I also brought some of the tinned and bulk tobaccos I have acquired and opened.) I set up this tasting in part because, since I am still new to this hobby, I didn't know what people meant when, in their reviews or impressions of various tobacco blends, mentioned Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, etc.

It was fun and interesting to hear my friends describe the tastes and aromas of the various tobaccos, and it was laugh-out-loud hilarious for us to hear one of my friends -- who is a visiting researcher from another country -- describe some of the tobaccos as he asking experiencing them; some of his remarks:

Perique: "ex-wife"
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding: "someone else's wife"

So, he liked the Plum Pudding, eh?

 

[OzPiper]

Comparative tastings is the way to go
I did this with wine for over 20 years with anything from 4-5 to >20 wines in the one session.
You learn a lot when tasting something side-by-side

 

[krizzose]

Sounds like fun!

It reminds of a cheap beer blind tasting some friends and I did a couple of years ago. Obviously that sort of thing is completely subjective. Hamm’s was the run-away winner. Surprising for me was how well Busch Light scored both with me personally and across the board.

 

[NookersTheCat]

Comparative tastings is the way to go
I did this with wine for over 20 years with anything from 4-5 to >20 wines in the one session.
You learn a lot when tasting something side-by-side

I was just gonna say myself, I know of wine clubs that do similar things... another being for expensive wines. It's alot easier to enjoy a $1000 bottle as 5 guys each with a $200 glass than 1 guy trying to kill a whole bottle by himself. I wonder if we'll start seeing pipe clubs going in on and splitting $300 bags of Esoterica and $200 tins of Frog Morton like this too lol.. some probably already have.

 

[OzPiper]

I was just gonna say myself, I know of wine clubs that do similar things... another being for expensive wines. It's alot easier to enjoy a $1000 bottle as 5 guys each with a $200 glass than 1 guy trying to kill a whole bottle by himself. I wonder if we'll start seeing pipe clubs going in on and splitting $300 bags of Esoterica and $200 tins of Frog Morton like this too lol.. some probably already have.

I'm very lucky to have generous friends who love to share.
A shared pleasure is so much more satisfying than indulging on your own.

I would like to think there are pipe clubs where members bring in their aged or rare tins or unusual finds to share with like-minded souls

 

[Choatecav]

Gotta say that is a cool idea.
I might have to play around with something like that.

 

[pointlineplane]

Sounds like fun!

It reminds of a cheap beer blind tasting some friends and I did a couple of years ago. Obviously that sort of thing is completely subjective. Hamm’s was the run-away winner. Surprising for me was how well Busch Light scored both with me personally and across the board.

Never heard of Hamm's -- will have to check it out!

 

[pointlineplane]

Sounds like it was a great time! What were your thoughts on the different components? Which was your favorite?

In general, everyone liked the two Virginias, burley, latakia, and turkish. No one liked the perique, but I explained how perique is like black pepper in that you probably wouldn't enjoy eating a large spoonful of black pepper, but would enjoy how an entree tasted after a few dashes of black pepper had been added to it. And for the black cavendish, we all liked how it smelled, but it seemed to have almost no flavor.

Also, it was interesting to experience how a tobacco would smell when you were the one smoking it vs. when someone next to you was smoking it; for me, most of the tobaccos had a stronger aroma when my friends were smoking them vs. when I was smoking them.

 

[Mike N]

Just a great event to enjoy some tobacco with friends while also teaching your palates to recognize the nuance of each variety.

 

[pointlineplane]

Just a great event to enjoy some tobacco with friends while also teaching your palates to recognize the nuance of each variety.

Yeah, we all enjoyed it and learned quite a bit, and even had a few hearty laughs, thanks to that one friend's comments.

 

[OzPiper]

In general, everyone liked the two Virginias, burley, latakia, and turkish. No one liked the perique, but I explained how perique is like black pepper in that you probably wouldn't enjoy eating a large spoonful of black pepper, but would enjoy how an entree tasted after a few dashes of black pepper had been added to it.

Nice analogy

I ordered 2 oz of blending perique once.
Only to get a phone call from the vendor worried I might actually smoke it on its own
He was most relieved when I told him it was definitely for blending.

 

[bpinkstaff]

View attachment 366477

Yesterday, with the help and participation of a few friends, I organized a tasting of seven component tobaccos -- Black Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, Burley, Red Virginia, and Bright Virginia. (I also brought some of the tinned and bulk tobaccos I have acquired and opened.) I set up this tasting in part because, since I am still new to this hobby, I didn't know what people meant when, in their reviews or impressions of various tobacco blends, mentioned Cavendish, Turkish, Latakia, Perique, etc.

It was fun and interesting to hear my friends describe the tastes and aromas of the various tobaccos, and it was laugh-out-loud hilarious for us to hear one of my friends -- who is a visiting researcher from another country -- describe some of the tobaccos as he asking experiencing them; some of his remarks:

Perique: "ex-wife"
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding: "someone else's wife"

Man i need to come hang with you!

 

[pointlineplane]

Nice analogy

I ordered 2 oz of blending perique once.
Only to get a phone call from the vendor worried I might actually smoke it on its own
He was most relieved when I told him it was definitely for blending.

Haha, what a story! And excellent customer service and/or neighborly concern from the vendor.