Vinegar Smell & Taste Overpowering Blend???

[Kollman]

I got a sample of the Country Squire "Squire's Secret #55-1" blend, and I know that Virginias, when aging, will pick up some vinegar smells or tastes as a normal part of the process. This was closer to dying easter eggs level of vinegar and dominated the flavor when I smoked a bowl. Since then, it has been sitting for over a week with a Boveda pack to dry out the blend some more, and it seems to be getting better and more balanced.

Am I just ignorant of the level of vinegar smell/taste that might develop in some blends, or is this unusual? Does it just need more aging time?

 

[Mez]

L.J Perreti Park Square smells deeply of vinegar but I don't taste it. You may be sensitive to it or there may just be a lot of vinegar on it. I believe I've read blenders use it to prevent mold. I could be wrong about this but hopefully someone more experienced will chime in.

 

[The Benedictine]

I've never heard of a blender using vinegar in their blends. Virginias have a vinegary/ketchup smell to them.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I, for one, love the tangy vinegar thing some Virginias have. I stocked up on Sutliff 515 before it disappeared. Might need to give this blend a try!

 

[RL Bucktails]

Rouxgaroux seemed to have a bit of vinegar to it.

 

[huntertrw]

When I first read the title to this thread I thought you were smoking that dill-pickle pipe-tobacco:

 

[The Benedictine]

When I first read the title to this thread I thought you were smoking that dill-pickle pipe-tobacco:

View attachment 411676

They've got pickle flavored anything

 

[skydog]

I always assume when a blend like that tastes heavily of vinegar that it utilizes Sutliff 515 RC-1 heavily. I tend to stay away from those blends because I have plenty of 515 in the cellar if I want to blend something up at home that is overpowered by vinegar. I've had plenty of aged Virginia that has started to develop the vinegar aroma but it has never come through into the smoke like 515 does for me. Never understood why Sutliff drowned a perfectly fine VA in vinegar.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Vinegar is a traditional blending ingredient, But… acetic acid “can” be formed naturally by fostering a bacteria to turn sugars in the tobacco into acids.

However, I will bet that they blended with some of Sutliff’s (now gone) Red Cake 5200 alternatives. Or, they tried to simulate the now defunct Sutliff stuff with vinegar.

When I first tried the Sutliff RC52 stuff, it had so much vinegar on it that it smelled like an old catbox. I had to throw a whole pound out. Made my eyes water.

 

[The_Non_Compliant_One]

Perhaps they just used some of that new sir walter raleigh aromatic "revenge of the pickle"

 

[lukasstrifeson]

KBV Byronic series virginias all have that smell. Depends over time too.

 

[starrynight]

The only blend I’ve had so far that seemed to contain actual vinegar was Mississippi River. Not at all like other blends that have a twangy like vinegar aroma like match victorian.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

and St Bruno's

 

[Kollman]

After a deep dive on the internet, I learned that blenders will add vinegar to balance the PH of the tobacco to get it as close to 7 as they can. I am guessing that they must have applied the vinegar and then bagged it up, as it was super wet. I keep opening the jar and letting it air out a bit, which seems to have greatly reduced the vinegar smell, and a Boveda pack has absorbed a lot of the excess moisture. I am to the point where I am willing to smoke it again, which I always figure I should do at least 3 times to really make a decision about the blend.

 

[blametony]

Considering vinegar is a component of ketchup, I always found a scent of vinegar in some of McClellands blends. It's why a lot of people think it smells like ketchup.

 

[Olkofri]

Heh, I got just the opposite: a strong smell of ammonia from Merde de Cheval. Didn't taste it, but I certainly smelled it. I was like WTH.

 

[Meerschaum Maestro]

The tang is what we’re here for!

 

[Sobrbiker]

If anyone needs to dispose of horrible vinegar-y red and dark Virginias, I can send along the address of a disposal site

 

[Sig]

Heh, I got just the opposite: a strong smell of ammonia from Merde de Cheval. Didn't taste it, but I certainly smelled it. I was like WTH.

The same processes that create the natural vinegar smell, can also create an ammonia smell, and even a funky cheese smell.
Many home blenders who try to take tobacco from raw leaf to pipe tobacco find out its not as easy as it sounds.
I have ruined batches by screwing up the fermenting. Leaving it too long, uncovering the leaves a day too late, inconsistent temps......and you can end up with cat piss...or blue cheese!!

 

[Olkofri]

Heh, it happened again! Different blend (Ashton's Rainy Day) and different pipe (a cob). Ammonia smell again, and this time I could taste it.

Maybe it's the pissant weather we've been having.