Room note or white noise?

[beewrangler2]

On occassion, I enjoy an aromatic, (maple, chocolate flake, vanilla, blue note, milonga etc) but have noticed that after that first iniitial bowl, it is hard for me to detect the room note. Thinking that my olfactory senses were being saturated, I started waiting a few days between bowls, and other than the charring light and the first couple of puff, I seem to get the same result, nodda as far as room note goes. I was just wondering if anyone else experiences this, or if I need to take a break from the aromatics?

Bill

 

[grizzly86]

I get the same thing beewrangler2; while I'm smoking an aromatic I can't smell it either. Every so often on the end of an exhale I will inhale the smoke through my nose. This seems to be the only way I can smell it.

 

[bigvan]

The irony of smoking aromatics... the only person who can't smell it is the one who's smoking it.

 

[jaysin]

same here I think the smell is strongest on the char light after that its really a very light smell and being in the room you dont notice it.

 

[pstlpkr]

The room note is for the benefit of those around you.

Even if there are two pipe smokers in the same room smoking different blends.

They can smell the other's room note (insert fart joke here :D ) but not their own.

 

[schmitzbitz]

It does sound like you've over-extended your palate, although it's very odd that it lasts several days. You might try adding a palate cleansing routine to your smoking - when I am sampling a blend for review, I keep the following on hand to refresh both olfactory and tastebuds, utilizing them with each relight. One can get by with simply the third step (oddly, Mr. Neil Archer Roan's blog this week speaks on just this topic); however with the bolder flavours of aromatics and heavy English/Balkans the first two steps really will help.
1) Cup of Orange Pekot tea, steeped 10 minutes (Tetley brand, neat). This will not only cleanse your palate, but the steam will help to clear your sinuses. Unfortunately, it has a rather strong flavour itself, so I follow a sip of this with...
2) A slice of cucumber (long-English). With an almost neutral flavour, this will help to cleanse the tea from your mouth. Also helps to get any latent flavours and aromas out of the back of the mouth.
3) Finally, I follow this with a sip - and then a sniff - of distilled water. With a truely neutral flavour, this will "reset" your palate, and you should be good to go, tasting nuances and smelling fleeting aromas. Don't skip the sniff though; remember that half of flavour is aroma, and dulled olfactory senses mean dulled flavours!

 

[cortezattic]

I chew on a common red radish if I feel the need to cleanse the palate between smokes.

It's effective if you can tolerate its pungent "heat".
On balance I have to agree with Bigvan and Lawrence: "The room note is for the benefit of those around you."

If you want to experience the non-tobacco tastes attributed to "aromatics" (cased white Burley), then smoke a cavendish, or a blend with topping. That's my 2¢

 

[puffy]

Sometimes when I leave the room and come back I get a whiff,but not while I'm smoking.

 

[slowpuffer]

I have experienced the same olfactory numbness from time to time. Perhaps not quite as severe though. There are a number of considerations. First, taste and smell are connected. Think about one of your favorite foods. Before eating you can really smell the aroma of the food cooking, but have you ever noticed that you stop smelling the aroma as strongly when you are eating?
Also, it could be due to nasal congestion. One of the reasons I am very selective about which aromatics I smoke is because the sometimes heavy toppings seem to irritate my sinuses. Finally, where do you smoke? If you smoke in a poorly ventilated area and your nose is conditioned to that aroma you probably won't pick it up at easily. This is why I prefer to smoke outside (until the winter wind howls and I sneak a bowl in the house while the wife is gone).

 

[markw4mms]

I've found that the only way to get a hint of the room note of your own smoke is to smoke in an enclosed, non ventilated room, go outside for a bit after smoking, and then go back into the room you smoked in. I'm sure the room note is a little stale, and muted, but it's the only way I can smell it.