Strange things are afoot

[lotharen]

Okay, now that I've been at it a few months. I think I have the basics down, or at least I'm heading in the right direction. However, I've had a few things come up and want to run it by you guys.
Since my surgery the tobacco has not really had much of a taste. I found this strange since I could taste it so well before hand. I wondered what had changed.
The first thing was my lighter, I got a butane lighter from P&C and had been using that exclusively since then. Kept getting a weird taste with my tobacco. Switched back to my Zippo pipe lighter and noticed an improvement. Could the butane have changed the flavor?
The next thing was a good cleaning. I can say I haven't been as diligent as I should have been with pipe cleaning. So I took some Amaretto (40 proof, I believe) and gave my oldest pipe a good cleaning. Seemed to help even more - although I think the amaretto was a bad choice, it got sticky on my fingers and I can imagine it might gunk up the pipe. I live in a dry county so I might need to take a jaunt to another one to get something with a higher proof.
I've also read about retro-inhaling, and I have tried it, but now I'm afraid to. The one time I did it more that 1 time was when I got deathly sick from the Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture. So I'm not sure if I accidentally inhaled smoke retro-inhaling and that was why the nicotine hit me so fast and I got that sick, or it was the strength of the tobacco itself. Needless to say I don't want that to happen again - it was bloody awful.
Right now my two favorite tobaccos are Taste of Spring and Peterson xmas 2012. I can taste those and they are pleasant to me. I've cracked open a tin or two of the other Dunhill blends I got and have honestly been repulsed by the smell. I hope I don't get stuck with just the sweet/fruity blends.
Those are my concerns and issues right now. I didn't mean to write a short novel here but it was time I got some advice.
Thanks in advance, you guys have been so awesome!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When I've had surgery, everything lost its taste for a while. I am not sure whether it was the anesthesia, the hospital food, or the pain meds.

Maybe give it a little more time?

I hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

[cortezattic]

If you are in a moist climate the humidity in the air can thin out the flavor of the smoke.

Puffing too fast, or lighting your pipe too aggressively can have the same effect.

Experiment by drying out your tobacco before lighting. I routinely use a low velocity hot air blower for this.
When problems in pipe smoking arise -- not just flavor issues, but everything from tongue bite to bowl burnout -- most experts suggest that you examine your packing technique; and that's hard because of the variance among tobaccos and pipes.

 

[pagan]

Quite sure it was the anesthesia, Ive had a similar experience

 

[carver]

Sorry to hear about your surgery. It sucks. Other members suggested that it might be just that.

I'd also look into the packing, and mostly the smoking. Do you puff puff or do you have slow slow (slower) long sips ?

I've also read about retro-inhaling, and I have tried it, but now I'm afraid to.

About retrohaling, that's indeed a thing to master, but to me, it's THE thing that makes pipes smoking, in terms of flavour tasting, awesome.

As you know, 70% of what we think of food actually comes from our noses. Experiment done with chefs and gastronomic critiques who were asked to taste food with a thing on their nose to prevent them from smelling tells something about how the nose is paramount when flavours are involved.
Retrohaling doesn't involve inhaling in your lungs. It might increase the nicotine intake because of the nasal cavity's receptors.

I personally retrohale maybe one out of three puffs. To keep it interesting. Also, flavours evolve through a bowl, so doing so all the way through allows you to continuing tasting the variations in your smoke.

I've cracked open a tin or two of the other Dunhill blends I got and have honestly been repulsed by the smell.

Which Dunhills made you uncomfortable ?

 

[iamn8]

Stranger Things is on Netflix

 

[mso489]

Anesthesia changes things for a while, so I'd patiently recover from that, maybe smoking less or not at all. I'm not a fan of retro-haling. For some, it's really the centerpiece of their smoking, and I'm not criticizing them. But it has some of the same problems as inhaling, exposes more mucus membranes to higher doses of smoke, gets your airways more full of residual smoke that does actually inhale into your lungs. So my advice is, if you haven't incorporated that into your pipe smoking, don't start. Why exaggerate any hazard there is? Many enjoy pipe smoking without it.

 

[ssjones]

Try a match vs lighter - than completely transformed my early experience.
Elizabethan Mixture is pretty mild with nicotene, I'd try and slow down your pace.

 

[lotharen]

At least I'm not crazy thinking the surgery affected (or effected?) my taste. I'ts really strange how something like that can change the way things taste and smell.
Packing - I use to do the 3-step method (I think thats what its called) where you fill it 1/2, then 3/4 and then full. Lately I've been filling it 1/3 then picking up the tobacco between my thumb and first 3 fingers and work them back and forth - which allows the tobacco to fill into the bowl.

How do you guys pack?
@carver The Dunhill blends I am refering to was actually the London Mixture (thought it was two but that seems to be the only one I opened so far). THe other was the Seattle Pipe Club Potlatch - to me they really stink smell wise (unsmoked). I have yet to try them for that simple fact.
I picked up some Everclear today - we went on a small shopping trip in the largest town closest to us. I was lucky enough this place also sold pipe tobacco and I picked up some Lane RLP. Smells nice and smokes well from what I could tell. I only had a little bit since it was so hot outside - can't take that heat right now but I will try it again later in the evening when it cooler.
Thanks everyone for your replies and well wishes. Its greatly appreciated! Great community here.

 

[tuold]

Altered Taste and Smell After Anesthesia
lotharen, your experiance could be more mild than the ones in this article. It says only 2% of the patients they studied experiance this but I'm thinking many don't report it unless it's so severe it keeps them from eating.

 

[lotharen]

@tuold WOw, yeah - mild indeed. Still stinks.
I couldn't remember which tins smelled aweful to me so I could reply with my above over view. Just taking a whiff of those two tobacco's (not even smoking them) made me nauseated for the rest of the night. I'm not sure whats in them but I have a strange feeling me and Latakia don't like each other. Ill need to look them up and see if that is even part of those blends.

 

[lotharen]

Well, I just looked them up. The London Mixture has Latakia in it, the Potlatch does not but - to me - smells almost the same. It's literally nauseating. Might have to see about trading them off for other tobacco's or a pipe, or something. Looks like my tin of Night Cap will be just as bad to my senses.
I'll need to make a list of all the ones I have and don't like.....damn shame, I was looking forward to those. Apparently Aero's seem to be what I'm favoring, since I like 'Sutlif Taste of Spring' a LOT.

 

[ophiuchus]

Well, don't get rid of anything while you're still in recovery mode. Just stick to the fruity aeros for now (there's nothing wrong with those) and give the lat-forwards a test sniff in a few months.