Why Does Nightcap Hurt Me so Bad?

[weezell]

Try some Lane HGL...

 

[ssjones]

Like Goldilocks, I tried a tin of Nightcap and also one of Early Morning Pipe. EMP was too soft, but smoked well. Nightcap was a tad too much (I'm a regular 965 smoker). So, I mixed the EMP and Nightcap at 50% each and that was perfect and a change of pace from the 965.

 

[jazz]

I found this question an interesting one. When I first took up the pipe I loved Nightcap and 965 and indeed many others from Dunhill. After a year, something happened to my experience with all Dunhill tobaccos and that was they started to irritate my mouth like no other blends I smoked. It was like having a mouth full of needles. This never happened before. Maybe a change in my body chemistry but who knows.
A real annoyance as I really liked those blends. It may be time to try again for me.

 

[whiterabbit]

I had heard about Nightcap for ages now here on the forum back in my lurker days, but I gotta say, I'm not really impressed, it's good, just not crazy good. Maybe I've been hitting the flakes too hard haha

 

[huntertrw]

"Why Does Nightcap Hurt Me so Bad?"
Are you perhaps smoking "Nightstick" instead? That blend can deliver quite a beating.

 

[settersbrace]

Nightcap and a rich, bold coffee, like Oreos and milk. It is a flavorful blend and it's easy to get it going a little hot. Slow it down a bit, keep a pipe cleaner handy to keep the tenon dry and keep a drink nearby. I love EMP, 965 and Nightcap and any of them will bite if pushed too hard.

 

[markus]

I find that I am sensitive to perique as well. I can smoke a blend that has some perique in it, but I find that anything more than a light amount wrecks my tongue. I do love English blends with latakia and orientals. All of the Frog Morton blends are very tasty, even "On the Bayou" which has some perique in it, but evidently its not enough to hurt me.
+1 on the London Mixture (Dunhill), it's a medium English blend that goes really good with a beer, preferably Sam Adams for me. other good medium English blends that would recommend are Bald Headed Teacher (4 Noggins), Quiet Nights, Chelsea Morning (GL Pease), Squadron Leader (Sam Gawith).
You may also like some of the Balkan blends which can be very good, if you are a latakia fan, like me.

 

[judcole]

Try Dunhill Standard. Good stuff, classic "English" blend; more latakia than London or EMP; no cavendish.

 

[saltedplug]

In the end bite (more probably a sore mouth) can be avoided by smoking technique, the biggest feature of which, and difficult to accomplish, is slow smoking. Most of us, including me, want to light the pipe and puff away at whatever pace we choose, mostly without concentration. No, wrong, the best pace is to keep the tobacco smoldering, just above going out. Most mouth irritation is due to puffing hot smoke into your mouth at a rate that irritates its tissues. And it is supposed fact that the lower the temperature at which tobacco combusts, the greater the flavor.
If one is smoking slowly he has to adjust to tasting the smoke at a much lower volume, but I think this is simply an adjustment to the tasting experience. The biggest impediment to my slow smoking is that in order to accomplish it, one has to have a continuous thread of concentration on managing the pipe rather than just enjoying it. Things pull me out of that concentration.
One of the best ways to smoke slowly is called breath smoking, and the video below, hosted by an older Irish gentleman, is one of the best I've seen, although GL Pease also has a write-up of what appears to be a more advanced version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8Sfg6EH9k
Tobaccos vary according to their potential for irritating one's mouth, straight VA most especially. But if one is in control of his smoking, as you would be if you mastered breath smoking as taught by this gentleman, one can remain beneath the threshold of his mouth's discomfort.

 

[bullethead]

One of the best ways to smoke slowly is called breath smoking, and the video below, hosted by an older Irish gentleman, is one of the best I've seen, although GL Pease also has a write-up of what appears to be a more advanced version:

Alan got me into pipe smoking a year or two ago. He's now passed.

 

[jazz]

One of the best ways to smoke slowly is called breath smoking, and the video below, hosted by an older Irish gentleman, is one of the best I've seen,

He was a Welshman.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

He is a Welshman.

No need to name call!

 

[mso489]

If you want a gentle and convincing introduction to English blends, I recommend Nat Sherman 536, available at smokingpipes.com. It's one of the most refined English blends and full of flavor, but mild. Also, try a pouch of PC's Midtown series Chestnut, the only non-aro in that series, six different tobaccos beautifully harmonized, to me. The 536 is a little expensive but worth it; the Chestnut is a huge bargain for a fairly sophisticated blend, and if you like it, you can buy it by the tub.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I totally understand. Aromatics are the only "genre" of tobacco that doesn't burn my mouth. I can smoke English, and Virginias too, but no more than a bowl or 2 max a day, or I pay for it later. I can't smoke burleys at all, not sure why. Learn to love BCA and 1Q. If you need nicotine, I don't know what to tell you. Sorry!