Strong Chemical Smell and Taste

[calvinsomething]

This is very strange.. but I got my first tin of Dunhill NC a couple months ago... smoked it within 6 weeks probably... thought it was great. It convinced me I really like English blends and I tried a few since that I really liked.
I'm on my 2nd tin of NC now and it is usually awful. I don't get any of the sweetness and instead is a chemical taste... but the smell of the bowl is much worse; and pungent. I don't know if it's the tobacco though. I can't imagine there would be a difference between the two tins... right? Although I have heard that most tobacco comes with small amounts of flavoring to keep the taste consistent from one batch to the next. Perhaps it is something I am just sensitive to.
This could be one of those things like how some people get a soapy taste from cilantro.
Does anyone have any insight to this kind of thing? I have tried smoking from multiple pipes and the problem usually arises (though I think a couple of bowls have been alright). I have also been having other tobaccos, including Englishes, that I rotate through and love.
Thanks for any responses!

 

[calvinsomething]

One more thing I forgot to mention... I recently started using a hemp wick. I wonder if perhaps there is something to do with burning beeswax.

 

[cortezattic]

It has happened that I try a new blend, absolutely love it, and rush out to buy several more tins, only to find that it never again tasted as good as that first tin! I dunno. It could be a mental thing, or mouth chemistry, or interference from foods, etc.
Your situation -- with the chemical taste and pungent bowl -- sounds different. I doubt that the hemp wick is the problem. I wouldn't entirely rule out contamination of the tin. I once had a small piece of rubber, or something like it, in a tin of Frog Morton. Yuck! Could never smoke that blend again.

 

[seanv]

Do other blends taste off in the same pipe?

 

[calvinsomething]

Thanks Cortez.
Seanv, it's multiple pipes and no other tobaccos are great. Smoking some Joie de Vivre right now.

 

[rmpeeps]

Sounds like a Sunday pipe cleaning session is in order. Clean the stems & shanks with some high proof rum, whiskey, or everclear. Let them dry completely and see how they respond.

 

[unkleyoda]

Sounds like a Sunday pipe cleaning session is in order. Clean the stems & shanks with some high proof rum, whiskey, or everclear. Let them dry completely and see how they respond.

I agree, clean the pipes really well. I'm not sure why other tobaccos taste fine, clean throughly and try again. I had this happen awhile back, foul burnt rubber taste. I never tried a different tobacco, just cleaned the hell out of it.
Also, don't rule out contamination of the tobacco.

 

[npod]

I think you are good. Clean up the pipe and then let it sit a week. Don’t rush. Return to Nightcap and dry it very well. Smoke slowly. I bet you will be happy. It’s common to fall in love with a blend then rush to smoke it again with more intensity. That leads to a different taste.

 

[whiteburleydude]

I get a chemical taste from Elizabethan. I loved the first tin I bought and I couldn't smoke more than 3 bowls of the second tin. It happens, who knows why. Remember a pizza joint, restaurant or beer you used to love? Now your like, meh. Same thing. Jar it up and come back to it in 6 months.

 

[sparroa]

My variable perception of blends has been one of the most frustrating things about pipe smoking. As others have said, different types of food/drink/smoke/medication can affect your taste for the short or long term.
I have noticed that such changes have tended not to be permanent but I do find it trickier to enjoy my "ideal" smoke these days when more variables I can't alter such as medication have been introduced.
Waiting it out and/or experimenting with new blends is probably one of the safest approaches.

 

[calvinsomething]

Yeah, I think you guys are right that say it is just my perception. I'm smoking it now and it tastes good. The smell is there if I put my nose by the bowl, but only faintly.
I guess it's just a powerful blend that sometimes hits you the wrong way.