I wouldn't tell anyone how to smoke their pipe. However, if you enjoy your pipe and don't retrohale, I wouldn't start. Why cultivate this extra exposure to your nasal passages? For those who do, and who enjoy it, I say retro on.
Suspicious of Retrohaling...
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Well, if the conversation is going into the "Do I need to retrohale to taste," then it is emphatically a NO. As mentioned, ambient smoke in the air should be enough. But, some people like a little more. Or, some people may have worn out their sense of smell.
I usually retrohale a handful of times in each bowl. I don't see it as integral, but it sure does provide a strong blast of olfactory pleasure.
I too have been dubious of retrohaling but, honestly, this is probably because I find it so damned difficult to do.
However, once I realized I should stop trying to duplicate what others are claiming, and just started playing around, experimenting, having fun, and enjoying my smoke, I found I can get real flavor and even more enjoyment from my smoke in a manner that works for me.
This really illustrates what I do. It's just a tiny thing that seems to occur even after, or right of the of, exhaling. It really takes so very little and this is what I was doing wrong, at least for me. I was trying to do some grand exhale thing that involved my nose and it never worked.
My discovery was almost quite accidental. If you imagine that little simultaneous out through the mouth and nose simultaneous thing that happens with a small snort or laugh (a quick, small contraction of the diaphram) you've got the basis of what I do (just do it in a more relaxed manner). Just get all, or almost all, of the smoke out of the way. There will be enough to still get the flavor.
If you're really trying to force smoke through your nose, like i used to do, you're probably trying to hard. Anyway, just relax, have fun, and enjoy your smoke. Don't worry if you're not recreating someone else's "magical" smoking experience.
However, once I realized I should stop trying to duplicate what others are claiming, and just started playing around, experimenting, having fun, and enjoying my smoke, I found I can get real flavor and even more enjoyment from my smoke in a manner that works for me.
This really illustrates what I do. It's just a tiny thing that seems to occur even after, or right of the of, exhaling. It really takes so very little and this is what I was doing wrong, at least for me. I was trying to do some grand exhale thing that involved my nose and it never worked.
My discovery was almost quite accidental. If you imagine that little simultaneous out through the mouth and nose simultaneous thing that happens with a small snort or laugh (a quick, small contraction of the diaphram) you've got the basis of what I do (just do it in a more relaxed manner). Just get all, or almost all, of the smoke out of the way. There will be enough to still get the flavor.
If you're really trying to force smoke through your nose, like i used to do, you're probably trying to hard. Anyway, just relax, have fun, and enjoy your smoke. Don't worry if you're not recreating someone else's "magical" smoking experience.
I agree with everything you just wrote. What I'm trying to appreciate is, why is this standard process of tasting, as you just described it, sufficient for food, wines and spirits, but yet tobacco needs to be retrohaled to be fully appreciated (as some would suggest)?
To further clarify, I'm not at all pushing back on the idea that we taste with our nose. Nor am I pushing back on the idea that tobacco flavors and smoke are making their way into our sinuses regardless of whether we deliberately retrohale. In fact, if anything, that would seem to counter the idea that it's even necessary. My only point of confusion is, why is this extra step, the deliberate step of actively retrohaling, necessary to fully appreciate tobacco, when that step is not required to fully appreciate literally everything else (with the nose)?
Cheers.
I retrohale occasionally, usually 2-3 times per smoke. I do it to taste more nuance, just like I swish wine when I’m tasting it. I guess I don’t understand being “suspicious” of someone’s smoking technique. It’s kinda like saying “I’m suspicious of layups in basketball.” It’s a valid technique that works well for some to get points, while others don’t use it. It’s hard to suspect preferences of anything. Just smoke and enjoy!
LOL. Fair. But it does sort of speak to the idea that actively pushing something through the nose is not required to fully taste it, as it would be both exceptionally painful and terribly disgusting.
While not called retrohale, this phenomenon is common among whisky drinkers. As part of a fancy tasting, one is encouraged to hold a bit of the whisky on the tongue, mouth closed, and breathe a few times. It‘s not just a tobacco smoke phenomenon.
Yeh, to be honest, during the colder months my sinuses are so raw, that smoke would really irritate them. So, I don't actively look to do it except for when I am feeling exceptionally good... and need the nic hit.
Retrohaling comes naturally to me and I find it enjoyable. It helps me taste blends more thoroughly.
Thats all I have to say about it.
Thats all I have to say about it.
Well I take it you've never took any anatomy classes then. First there are a really limited number of taste buds and each one only senses a very limited type of taste. Sweet, salty, sour etc. basically just the most basic flavors. The sense of smell is much finer with many more densely packed sensors. The sense of smell has far more definition then the physical sense of taste. Second you can test it out by completely blocking off your nose (even if you have a bad cold and can barely breath some particles are getting up in the nose) and eating some of the blandest food you've ever ate. So yes the sense of smell is a key part of taste. Just wait to see what opens up when you realize that the sense of sight also effects taste and flavors too.
because the aromatic particles are really tiny beyond microscopic and they drift up through the back of the oral cavity. That's why some foods taste better when warm.
First, I assume by retrohale people are referring to what I consider a throat inhale and then exhaling the smoke out through your nose. Technically, I always thought of a retrohale referring to inhaling the smoke through the nose after it is exhausted from the mouth. I also thought the throat inhale out through the nose was considered a snork.
I hardly retrohale at all based upon the previous definition. However, I unconsciously snork most all of the time. That's how I smoked (and still smoke) cigars, it's even more crucial and enjoyable with a pipe. I don't know how to quantify it but I will take a shot and say that smoking a pipe without snorking would reduce the awareness of flavors and satisfaction or enjoyment by 25% to 40%. Regardless of the number, it is very significant to me.
I hardly retrohale at all based upon the previous definition. However, I unconsciously snork most all of the time. That's how I smoked (and still smoke) cigars, it's even more crucial and enjoyable with a pipe. I don't know how to quantify it but I will take a shot and say that smoking a pipe without snorking would reduce the awareness of flavors and satisfaction or enjoyment by 25% to 40%. Regardless of the number, it is very significant to me.
Same as a retrohale. Always heard snork in cigar circles long before hearing retrohale.
Forgetting for a moment that all the points you made had already been offered and discussed (I take it you never had a reading class?), it's interesting you feel it necessary to answer a genuine question, asked in a Beginner's Forum, with snark and sarcasm. But hey man, you do you. Cheers.
The nose is closely integrated with our sense of taste. Does food taste the same with a stuffed up nose? Have you ever pinched your nostrils in order to down something that tastes bad? You don't necessarily have to do a traditional retrohale but if even if you sort of open your sinuses while puffing you'll extract more flavor.
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