Soap Taste When Smoking Virginia

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hakchuma

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2014
879
520
52
Michigan, USA
I’ve experienced this and it was because I had sprayed room freshener and or colognes near my pipes in my office. I keep them in the cellar closet now and the mystery was solved for me.
 
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Sigmund

Lifer
Sep 17, 2023
3,029
29,077
France
Tastes can be extremely sensitive when you are attending to smoking a pipe. One day my wife was putting on some sort of cosmetic and damned if it didnt ruin my smoke. It was not close but close enough to interfere. Also stuff on hands, stuff transfered to the pipe ect...can be really off putting.
 
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mpjetset

Starting to Get Obsessed
That's not necessarily a problem, it's usually a feature. Hibiscus, or something like it, is a tobacco add and the note is distinctively "soapy." Perhaps it is used because, like perique, it is acidic, which is used to round out alkaline VAs, or maybe some just like the flavor. Blenders - please chime in?

If it is hibiscus, you may be noticing it more as the tin dries. As I recall, some Gawith flakes were a common source at one time and perhaps still are. The soapy notes go away with aging, I assume because I haven't detected it in years.

I haven't searched "soapy" here or other pipe tobacco platforms, but you will certainly find some hits.
 
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RookieGuy80

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 6, 2023
734
2,710
Maryland, United States
The first few times I smoked year old Superior Navy Flake I got a little tiny bit of what I'll call creamy. That combined with the mild topping I can see where one would get soapy. Like a pump bottle hand soap.
 
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AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
5,491
28,116
Florida - Space Coast
Do you know if they were used in McClellands Legends tobacco? I get that same soapy taste
Since this was bumped, in the cigar world sometimes aged Cuban cigars get a "floral" note to them they taste like flowers and either you like it or you don't, sometimes people will taste it and to be a prick say "tastes like soap" so it's a "YMMV" instance where some people taste soap it could be the tobacco having a floral note to it.
 

Choatecav

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 19, 2023
509
1,367
Middle Tennessee
Since this thread "came back from the dead" I decided to read most of the posts from the past. I can't help but be a bit surprised as to how many cleaning techniques are used by the group and how often they are applied. I must say that if this is the norm, I fall woefully short. I will run a pipe cleaner down the stem about every other smoke and that is about it. I never have odd tastings like soap, etc. and just wonder if there is such a thing as too much cleaning?
 
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dingdong

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 2, 2024
579
5,850
Jakarta, Indonesia
The pipe is probably had enough of the tobacco..give it a rest. Why not try another pipe and another blend.
maybe it will taste like shampoo puffy rotf