Virginia and cigarette taste?

[GreatWhiteNorthPiper]

As a new pipe smoker (five months), I've been trying a bunch of different types of tobacco to get a sense of the different flavours of different tobacco types. Is it me, or does Virginia tobacco remind anyone else strongly of cigarettes? Is it my imagination? Both the taste and aroma remind me strongly of cigarettes. Maybe it's my undeveloped palate...

 

[Casual]

Canadian cigarettes are, by law, plain Virginia tobacco. So yes, it will initially just taste like cigarettes. It took me about two years of surveying the other types of blends before my palate grew accustomed enough to get all the other, more subtle flavours in Virginia pipe blends. You may need to wait as well.

 

[Flatfish]

So yes, it will initially just taste like cigarettes.

That is quite offputting. At least for me as someone who has not tried it.

 

[anotherbob]

nope. I never got that. Though I do find Va flavorwise are the most temperamental of blends. You don't pay attention to them and keep the draw and pace casual they start going flat. Burly for instance needs a lot more inattention before it starts getting harsh and to be honest when you slow down it's more like some extra nuances jump a little bit more with burly. Then with aros that's a whole other kettle of fish. It changes from blend to blend. Oh and va seem to like being drier then other tobaccos before they'll release their charms.
The thing is there are so many great blends of so many varieties, that there isn't much reason to worry about a style that isn't doing it for you at the moment.

 

[Casual]

That is quite offputting. At least for me as someone who has not tried it.

My first three years were a survey of all the various genres and blenders, some great, some offputting, as you say. At the end my palate had changed so much I have had to begin the course over entirely, and now I come to substantially different conclusions.

It reminds me of my education in scotch whiskies many years ago. First it was just trying to find one I liked. Then it was finding which regions (or age ranges or finishes) I preferred to others. And lastly I could finally enjoy them all for their unique character. But that took a great deal of time. I am hoping to get there with pipe tobacco.

 

[Andriko]

Sometimes, the tin fragrance of straight virginias has a cigarette like hint to it, but I've found that the more I smoke them, and the higher the quality, the less this is the case. I suspect it is to do with taste memory and experience, and just what you are used to. Alot of people on here mention how the came to virginias after smoking for sometime, when their palate had probably changed.

 

[GabrielSTB]

I smoked cigarettes for many years, sometimes Camels, sometimes American Spirits, and sometimes Marlboro. Between these three brands there is perique, Turkish, Virginia, and burley tobaccos. It seems impossible to me that a cigarette-like taste wouldn’t surface now and then in pipe tobacco. The difference that I’ve noticed, however, is that pipe tobacco is usually substantially higher quality. Less or no chemicals, more natural flavoring, and no burning paper. If the Virginia tobacco you have smoked tastes too much like a cigarette I highly recommend you try others! Virginias can taste fruity, spicy, grassy, and sometimes sugary. I’ve never had a cigarette that offered that much complexity.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

If you smoke Virginia blends to fast, they will get very hot and taste ashy. Like a cigarette. Virginia blends require a very slow cadence to be properly appreciated. 80% of what I smoke are straight Virginia blends. I smoked cigarettes for over thirty years and find little resemblance.

 

[Meerly John]

Canadian cigarettes are, by law, plain Virginia tobacco. So yes, it will initially just taste like cigarettes. It took me about two years of surveying the other types of blends before my palate grew accustomed enough to get all the other, more subtle flavours in Virginia pipe blends. You may need to wait as well.

Very interesting, I didn't know this. For me as an American, White Burley is the calling card of the cigarette. As a result, I can't smoked unaged Haunted Bookshop. I need the perique to become fruity to block the cigarette-esque part of the flavor.

 

[ethicsminer]

Never had that from Virginia's. But I distinctly remember the first bowl of Dunhill London Mixture definitely reminded me of camel blues. Burleys now remind me the most of cigarettes, although just barely.

 

[OSOBUCO]

Interesting thread. I am a newby and I tried my first full Virginia a couple days ago. Gawith FVF and I was sorely disappointed. Dried and cube cut the flake and it tasted like burning oak leaves to me. Definitely cigarette like and not at all like the tin note which was amazing. After reading more it seems like some age it a couple years so i put my tins in the back and will hope it improves

 

[PipeIT]

That is quite offputting. At least for me as someone who has not tried it.

There are a lot of cigarettes brands/blends out there, and of course VA is common in cigarettes, but I use to smoke a lot of cigarettes in my youth, quite the geek, for trying various blends from all over the world, and I’ve never smoked any decent high quality pipe tobacco VA blend, that was like any cigarettes I smoked.

So don’t be scared, put off by VA pipe tobacco tasting 100% like cigarettes.

Just like all the VA cigarettes from around the world, so too, many countless VA pipe tobacco blends out there.

Like hoosierpipeguy pointed out smoke VAs slowly, also starting out with VAs, be sure to dry them out, so there’s hardly any moisture felt when clumping a pinch, or just starting to feel a little crisp, the reasons being VAs can bite if to moist.

 

[lraisch]

I generally find a cigarette-like quality in Virginias with a few exceptions.
Samuel Gawith's Best Brown Flake or the old, wider cut McConnel's Special London Mature are among the few that don't offend my taste buds that way.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I had the same experience when i first started out. It takes a bit to begin picking up the nuances of straight VAs. Smoking slow and steady will help. Eventually a proper cadence for VAs will work itself out and become second nature.

Try drying longer to make it easier to smoke slower and stay lit. Or try some shag cuts, they will teach you to smoke slow in a hurry ?

 

[burleybreath]

Smoke a good Virginia in your pipe next to someone smoking one of today's cigarettes. I think you'll smell quite a difference. They smell like burning electrical wire to me, compared to Virginia at its best. ( I say that as someone who at one time liked some cigarettes (Nat Shermans, Camel unfiltered, Lucky Strikes, English Ovals, Chesterfields, Old Golds, etc.).

 

[Andriko]

Interesting thread. I am a newby and I tried my first full Virginia a couple days ago. Gawith FVF and I was sorely disappointed. Dried and cube cut the flake and it tasted like burning oak leaves to me. Definitely cigarette like and not at all like the tin note which was amazing. After reading more it seems like some age it a couple years so i put my tins in the back and will hope it improves

FVF is one of the best tobaccos out there. Give it time. It took about 6 months of regular pipe smoking before I really got the joys of a good virginia. To make the pretensious wine comparisons - when you start, this takes like red, that tastes like white. After a while you notice that this is a Savignon Blanc, that is a Chardonney. After that, this is a Chablis, that is a California Chardonnay etc.

 

[PipeIT]

FVF is one of the best tobaccos out there. Give it time. It took about 6 months of regular pipe smoking before I really got the joys of a good virginia. To make the pretensious wine comparisons - when you start, this takes like red, that tastes like white. After a while you notice that this is a Savignon Blanc, that is a Chardonney. After that, this is a Chablis, that is a California Chardonnay etc.

Yeah I loved that one; Burning Oak Leaves... LOL sorry, not laughing at you, hopefully you’ll see the humor one day.

Nice pipes, dry good, pack good, smoke slowly, etc., etc., you should get good flavors, if not, one of these is probably out of wack, or your tastebuds...

Pipe Smoking is a personal thing, if someone only wants to sip on inexpensive beer like Budweiser, there’s nothing wrong with it, you might find your pipe journey simpler.

But, if you’re looking to enjoy fine wines, and be a connoisseur, this world can take some time to learn.

Different pipe materials, pipe chamber sizes, various blends and moisture, smoking cadence, packing, lighting and the list goes on.

It can take time to learn, if you want to really appreciate, all the nuances/profiles of many blends out there, so go slow and enjoy!

 

[bullet08]

I'm so totally unsophisticated, I wouldn't know the difference. I just smoke 'em and enjoy them for what they are.

 

[AppalachianPipe92]

I don't get that at all from Virginias. What blends have you tried that gave you this flavor ?

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Well they are all tobacco, right?

Granted commercial cigarettes are wrought with additives (flavored and not), not strictly graded, and puffed up with (is it) nitrogen..

But still.. tobacco. It's a game of nuances.