My friend sliced some of the log/rope that he had just steamed, so the cut was completely to do with him. I wonder if your sample had been steamed or just hacksawed/dropped on the floor, and whether the extra steam processing makes a difference?
From smoking homegrown lately I have come to appreciate the massive difference in flavour a cut can yield. Like larger or longer pieces of tobacco burn in a way that grant more of a cigar vibe. If all slicing is done by the consumer, it could also explain some of the differences in flavour.
I think it’s processed in Indonesia in a similar manner to perique - atleast the insides of the ropes - so that the tobacco is so tightly wound (in a “perique”) that the fermentation happens without exposure to oxygen. I have a mate who is allergic to the chemical/enzyme in perique and who can’t smoke it. Some people are more sensitive (in a good way) to the way perique metabolises the absorption of the nicotine content in other leaf, another reason I put tambo in the bur/per category and not just the super strong burley family.
I have since had another bowl in a larger cob and it was a way different experience. I wasn’t as cautious so I didn’t pick up the same nuances as the first time. Also the first half of the smoke had a strong vegetal thing going on, almost what I would imagine nightshade to taste like - you know the smell of wet tomato plants after watering/rain? It was still pleasant, but if this had been my first bowl I probably wouldn’t have rushed to try another so quickly
