Rambling Intro and Odd Metallic Taste with Carter Hall!

[superman]

Hello y'all,

I am a brand-new pipe smoker, but have been a cigar and hookah smoker for ~15 years (honestly, more of a hobbyist collector than anything.... I maybe burn 1 or 2 a month MAX and probably have ~200 assorted sticks, and I only ever bust out my hookahs for rare large parties)
Oddly enough, I am absolutely appalled by cigarettes and don't care much for nicotine.... Go figure.
So far, I have about 8 Missouri Meerschaum cob and hardwood pipes, and have tried maybe a half a dozen or so "recommended starter tobaccos". I have one odd observation I am curious about. I started with Carter Hall, as it seem to be very popular, highly recommended, and cheap enough for me to use as a training aid to practice my technique. I did not have the most pleasant first few puffs, but once I slowed way down it did get better, but not what I would call "pleasurable". One odd thing was I had a long lasting strange metallic aftertaste. No pain or bite, but I still picked up some of the requisite Biotene mouthwash. It does help some. After the fact, I did determine that it was a bit wet out of the pouch, so I dried it until the moisture content looked and felt like what all the YouTube videos describe….

I moved on and have limited myself to smoking one small bowl a day just to be safe. I went on to:

Lane 1Q- Ok, nothing monumental. I think I need to revisit this once my technique gets better.

Pipa Cherry- Did not particularly care for it. Way too wet, maybe? Butt-load of PG?

Lane Very Cherry - I liked this pretty well!

C'est La Vie - My second favorite so far, and my first really pleasurable smoke! First pipe tobbaco that I tried retrohaling. It was nice.

Lane RLP-6 - My favorite so far. I think I am having a preference for aromatics with more Black Cavendish? Less nicotine, too! Retrohaling was great!

Peter Stokkebye #306 - Probably a bit much for me to fully appreciate just yet, but it seemed like a good, well behaved smoke. People don't joke when they say you can taste pepper from just a little bit a Latakia!

Erin Go Bragh- I had pretty high hopes for this, but it just wasn't a good smoke for me. Maybe I just don't like tobbacos with much burley? I think this one has a good portion of it. Another one that I think I need to revisit.

Carter Hall, round 2- After drying a bit, and slowing wayyyy down, the smoking portion was much better. It's still gives me a weird, lingering metallic aftertaste. Also, retrohaling was downright irritating!!! I think with this being burley, it has more nicotine than I care to tolerate!
I rotated pipes, and each got a good, thorough cleaning and couple of day rest afterwards. I have found that I seem to prefer smoking with a fresh paper filter with each smoke & my bent shaft Legend cob pipe is my favorite so far.... but the jury is still out on that. I have high hopes for my Ozarks once I break them in! I sip coffee and water while smoking. I am avoiding alcohol, just to be safe. I have read that it is not the best thing to drink while you are actually smoking.
Overall, I am enjoying the trial and error, and relaxing experience of the pleasurable smokes I have had. I have a few more black Cavendish heavy and flue cured tobaccos on the way, and I still have a few of the OTC "codger" blends on hand to get through.... honestly though, if Carter Hall is regarded as one of the better ones, I don't have the highest of hopes for them. Off the top of my head, I know I still have a pouch each of:

Half and Half

Velvet

Prince Albert

Captain Black White

Sir Walter Raleigh
I am storing all of my tobacco in a dark, cool pantry. Each is stored separately in brand-new short 16oz Ball jars.
Overall, I think I have a pretty good handle on the basics of pipe smoking, and (when everything goes right) they are a treat that blow cigars out of the water. I have been reading everything I can find on the topic. Yet, I am still puzzled as to why my experience with Carter Hall has been this way. I appreciate any comments, insight, recommendations or general guidance that can be offered on the subject.
Thanks for your time, and sorry for grammar and typos due to posting from an iPhone!!
Logan

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Name is Logan - Marvel's most popular character, yet you post under Superman - DC's most popular character.
Who are you reeeeallly?

 

[superman]

<p>All I'll say is you will never see me and Batman in the same place at the same time.....

 

[pipesmokingtom]

As for something perhaps more useful (whoever you are), Carter Hall will never knock your socks off. I smoke it every day, but my socks are firmly intact. It's my walking-around blend. It lives in my pouch. It doesn't ever surprise me, which I consider its (perhaps only) virtue. It is the blend that I smoke when I just want to smoke.
You'll find better, if that's your goal. You'll surely find worse, and you've named a few already.
Welcome.

 

[superman]

Thanks!

That's what's so puzzling. Everywhere I read that Carter Hall is everyone's "old faithful standby" that they can always fall back to. I certainly didn't get a nic buzz, but I am very curious about the long lasting funky taste that I have only gotten from it. I believe I have read that Prince Albert is said to be very similar to Carter Hall, so I will give that a go and compare. I will keep revisiting CH and see if it changes over time!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

It won't. :wink:
It's also possible that you just don't like it. Guess what - ya don't hafta.
There are plenty blends as cheap, maybe not as easy to smoke, but that's easy enough to work through.
If you want some samples, PM me your address and I'll mail some stuff along. Sounds like you have a couple blends to learn to hate before that' s necessary, though.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I'll add that Carter Hall has an aggressive alcohol sort of topping that levels itself out if it's allowed to mellow in a pouch for a while. My carry pouch holds 6-8 cob sized bowls, and the last scoop always burns the best and is the least after-tasty... If I'm properly picking up what you're putting down.

 

[newbroom]

When I started smoking a pipe my palate took a beating and of course, it needed training and education.

I noticed that it took me the better part of a 14oz. tub to 'get' the flavors from one codger blend to another.

The palate changes with time and the weather. It changes with your beverage or your diet.

For me, the toughest codger to 'get' and still one I keep at arm's length, only revisiting sporadically (bad choice of word, I guess) is Half and Half. I think it's got the heaviest topping or casing of most of this genre, and it can result in a hot and nasty experience if you haven't found its groove.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Don't be afraid to jump into the Orientals.

Some Latakia blends burn very well, my tin of Hearth and Home Black House was reasonably dry straight from the tin, and the flavor might knock your socks off too.

 

[aldecaker]

Codger burleys are their own genre, and it's very possible that if you don't like one, you may not like any of them. They may just not be your thing. For the record, Captain Black white is not one of the codger burleys, it is a vanilla-flavored aromatic, so is the "odd man out" on your list.

 

[andrew]

Cheap drugstore otc's are like the Pabst blue ribbon of the tobacco world, I've never had a PBR, I've never smoked a cheap OTC besides captain black white which was given to me and it wasn't something I'd ever buy. Sure they both sell a lot, but in the end I'm in this hobby for pleasure, not to have a pipe hanging from my mouth every waking second and the blend stays lit easily. I haven't heard good things about any otc from any pipe smoker who started with stuff like McClelland's or any quality blending house

 

[shutterbugg]

Carter Hall will never knock your socks off.

No but if you take your socks off and smoke them, the taste would be reminiscent of CH.

 

[superman]

Thanks for the feedback y'all. I do think my best OTC bet will be Half and Half and Captain Black White. Although my understanding is that CBW is just pouched 1Q with extra PG added?
PipeSmokingingTom- I currently have more varieties on hand then I can sample as is, with another 10 or so on the way in the mail! But I may take you up on your offer in a few weeks once I learn a bit more of my tastes! Thanks!
NewBroom- I do think that my occasional cigar smoking has me in a better situation to appreciate pipe smoking, but I know I have a long way to go still. Also, I think the fact that I have never smoked a single cigarette in my life has kept me from picking up any bad habits that a lot of "transition" smokers have.
FrozenChurchWar- I do have some mild oriental blends on hand, as well as some Petter Stokkebye #313 straight oriental to experiment mixing with. I hear that this stuff is pretty overpowering though, and a little goes a long way.
AldeCaker- noted, I believe it and half-and-half are both aromatics that I mistakenly chalked up as over-the-counter Burleys
Andy- is this a bad time to say I used to enjoy the occasional PBR before the hipsters ruined it for me? Probably the same reason I like to smoke my pipes in private…
Shutterbug- speaking from personal experience, are we? Lol

 

[drwatson]

Sounds strange, but have your dentist check you out. May have a cavity coming on. Happened to me once, certain blends had a metal taste. Went to dentist, everything better.

 

[andrew]

Do you go to a tobacconist that has a selection or are you stuck with drugstore otc's? If they have amphora that is a very good quality otc, there is also the new peterson line of pouch tobacco's. I would recommend ordering online from one of the site sponsors if you don't have access to a tobacconist. There are several high quality blends not drenched in PG that will change pipe smoking for you, I can't smoke blends with lots of PG in them, no matter how slow I puff it burns the heck out of my mouth, and causes me to sneeze and cough. I think it may be an allergy even.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Superman, it looks like PS #313 doesn't contain "Latakia" so it's mostly something used to soften a blend rather than significantly change it.
Welcome to the wonderfully vague world of tobacco nomenclature. I probably should have specified "Latakia" but I've heard enough debate on the subject recently that "anything from the Mediterranean area is Oriental tobacco" and most Latakia blends have some air cured tobacco in there too.
Latakia is named after the town where the process was first discovered, after the town suffered a massive fire and the tobacco cured from the smoke of the town burning down had a very distinct flavor.

Most of it doesn't come from there anymore, but it's the same premise (without burning down the town).
As a side note, take a small mason jar and try mixing a bit of Perique with your Carter Hall. Mix in maybe 10% Perique and leave it to age a month, you might be surprised at the results.

Oppositely, Latakia and Carter Hall do not seem to blend well. I think the topping on Carter Hall clashes with the Latakia flavor.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

As a side note, take a small mason jar and try mixing a bit of Perique with your Carter Hall. Mix in maybe 10% Perique and leave it to age a month, you might be very surprised at the results.

I'm going to do this as well. Yup.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I do agree what andy said, lately I was getting some strange coughs smoking CH,yet occasionally I'm wondering is this tobacco biting or what the heck is this strange feel in my mouth after continuous time spent with CH,who knows,perhaps this may have something to do with PG contents in there,?

 

[superman]

Ok, tonight I continued with a revisit to PS 306 English Oriental Supreme. Remembering it was a bit potent in the taste category for a newb like me, I elected to just do a Missouri Meerschaum Short Stop load. I drew that little bowl out about 30 minutes, and drank plenty of water. I think the moisture of this particular sample is spot on out of the bag. It smoked very well. There is defiantly a mild spice to it, and I got a tiny odd sour taste, too. Reminded me of the kitchen's smell when my mom would cook with lemon pepper. Also, I could taste a light sweetness on my lips. I know others say it has a smokiness, but I didn't pick that up. One other observation, it burned very clean, and my pipe still smelled good afterwards. No significant ash smell. I tried retrohaling this once, bit I am not on that level yet..... The curious part is that there was absolutely no unpleasant aftertaste like my bag of Carter Hall continues to give me. I seriously think it's the added humectants.
DrWatson- interesting observation, I am overdue for a cleaning, so this might be in order…
Andy - I am not bound to OTC tobacco. I was just hoping I would find something convenient that I enjoy. I have been able to locate one pipe shop here in Jacksonville, Florida. I will take a trip to it in the future for sure
FrozenChurchWarden- I will order some Latakia at some point and report back!
Paulie- I think you are spot on with your assessment

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Ah, I didn't recognize the number but English Oriental Supreme is one of my favorite blends. Definitely not a Lat-bomb but the best description I have for it is it tastes like a spice cake, the aftertaste is amazing. I'm glad you found something so good for a starter.
Latakia heavy blends tend to taste more meaty, almost like Chicken Soup if it's blended right. Half the flavor from Latakia blends still comes from all the other tobaccos, Latakia itself smoked straight can actually be pretty bland other than the smell, it's almost more of an aroma than a flavor but it has a huge impact any time it's present.