Dazed and confused - What is the trick to diserning tobaccos

Brothers of Briar

Help Support Brothers of Briar:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Stogiegila

Stogiegila

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Messages
175
Reaction score
0
OK, I've gotten completely overwhelmed at looking at the description to various tobaccos. Have you guys actually smoked all this stuff.

Every blend I look at pretty much lists VA, Orientals, Latakia and sometimes Perique in the recipe. So how come they don't all taste exactly the same and how can you tell from the label if it is a lighter bodied, or heavier bodied smoke?

How do you go about chosing what you want and getting an understanding of what to expect based on the label?

There has to be some kind of trick to this without getting a ton of tobacco that I think I would like only to find out I don't care for it.

Thanks
 
Time and trial & error. That's it.

If you have a local tobacconist, that's a great way to start trying samples of things.

This is a helpful link if you want reading material to get you started...it's by no means the end-all, as tobacco tastes are...subjective...

http://thepipesmoker.wordpress.com/tobaccos/
 
Quite a few things can take those same basic ingredients and turn them into completely unique blends. "Virginia" is a broad term for a different leaves. The same is true of "oriental." The proportion of those ingredients, how they are prepared, how they are cut (flake, ribbon, etc) all play a role in the end product.

If you're looking to find out what a blend is like before spending the money, any answer you get is going to be very subjective - it's the nature of the beast. But you can probably get yourself pointed in the right direction by taking a look at tobaccoreviews.com to get an idea of what the blends you're looking at are all about. If there are specific blends that have piqued your curiosity, you can always ask about them here and there's bound to be a few people that have tried 'em.
 
Start with simplicity.

Try a simple virginia, like mcClellands 5100.

A simple burley, like Uhle's 00.

A simple not too potent English, like McClellands Oriental 14

Then, whichever one you like, start branching out.

I'd stay away from really complex blends or powerhouse (high octane) pipeweed. Also stay away from cheap house blends and aromatics. Learn what the tobacco tastes like, not the toppings.
 
I tried blends I heard mentioned alot then branched out to bulk versions that were "similar too so & so" if I didn't like it I put it in a jar...


I have a lot of jars of tobacco
 
Listen to PeeDee.

And ignore the well-meaning folks who want you to try their favorites.

Learn from the ground up.

And get some cobs.

If you don't, your briars are going to make everything you smoke in them taste like everything else you've smoked in them. :cry:

:face:
 
I've smoked pipes on and off for about 15 years, but I was always primarily a cigar smoker. I've never quite perfected my pipe packing and smoking. :oops:

I was smoking heavy English blends like Penzance, Margate and FMOTT for something to satisfy my taste buds. I never really tried any Vapers, or Burley blends. I did try a sampling of Bald Headed Teacher a long time ago, but got some good tongue bite from it. Again most likely due to my technique.

For what ever reason my tastes have changed and blends like Margate are no longer appealing to me. I don't even care for FMOTT any more. With that being said I have significantly improved my smoking technique and have been enjoying Escudo which I find lighter, cleaner and more interesting. I particularly like the fact that the finish doesn't last with me for a week like the heavy Lat bombs do.

So i've been trying to identify lighter bodied English blends, or alternatives but the labeling is driving me batty. I'm looking for something to help me concentrate on flavors without overload.

By a lighter English blend, I mean something perhaps similar to Peterson's Old Dublin (which i'm smoking now) or Irish Oak (which I vaguely remember, but wrote off because I felt it was too light).

I have about 10 pipes currently (2 of which are cobbs). I have now dedicated some for lighter tobaccos and a few for heavy English blends.

I've been living on Tobaccoreviews, but they are all starting to sound the same to me :lol: It's just hard to identify from the labeling what is heavy versus a light English blend.
 
Try to wrap your taster around the basic genres. VA, Burley, VA/Burley, with or without perique or latakia. Try to understand the difference between a moderate and heavy latakia blend. Depending on the oriental and the other tobaccos in the blend, one or another oriental can heavily influence its taste. I'd approach orientals one at a time.

There are many great tobaccos in each category, but just to give you an example of each:

Straight VA - McClelland Christmas Cheer
Straight Burley - Uhle's 00
VA/Burley/Perique - GLPease Cumberland
moderate Latakia - Fox Dorisco
heavy Latakia - Hermit Ten Russians

I'd smoke at least 50 g of a tobacco in the effort to know it. Some claim to do this in two or three bowls. A guess that shows you that people are different;). Take your time, smoke blends repetitively.
 
Oh man! This could really balloon into a multi page post. Trial and error Brother that's what does it, and buying couple cobs doesn't hurt. My favorite moments are when you love a tobacco in one pipe and hate it in another.
 
Stogiegila, I recently finished reading a book which has really changed my thoughts and expectations about pipe smoking.

The book is called "The Perfect Smoke," by Fred Hanna, and I would highly recommend it, if you are interested in maximizing your enjoyment of the pipe.

Once you have read the book, you will soon realize that most of the tobacco reviews you read are simply a guideline to pointing you in the right direction. However, there are so many variables, that it makes most reviews worthless in determining whether you will favor a particular tobacco.

Instead of feeling a sense of frustration in finding the tobaccos you absolutely love, it is best to attempt to enjoy the journey, in pairing the right pipe, with a particular tobacco. Once you have found a pipe tobacco combination that delivers the elusive "transcendental experience," you will realize that the quest is a large part of the enjoyment.

ThePerfectSmoke.jpg
 
Tobaccoreviews.com is about as reliable as any review site for restaurants, dot-com products, or underwater basket weaving classes. The same guy who would write a bad review of a restaurant because a Harley went by and it ruined his soup somehow, is the same guy who smokes aromatics that decides to try a quality Virginia blend, but because he doesn't understand it, he says it's crap. Add to that the useless star-rating system most don't understand (i.e., "...I didn't like the tin art, therefore, one star...), and you have an amusing human-plus-Internet experience--not much more.

It might need some guidance, but your own tongue won't lie to you. Try stuff.

8)
 
Thanks Dutch,

I will definitely pick up the book. :D

Smoked some Esoterica And So To Bed last night in my Savinelli Tevere Ball. Didn't care for it that much. I'd classify it as English, but muted in flavoring. Got some bite from it as well. I definitely like the Old Dublin and Escudo better than this.
 
Stogiegila":n59ymrty said:
Thanks Dutch,

I will definitely pick up the book. :D

Smoked some Esoterica And So To Bed last night in my Savinelli Tevere Ball. Didn't care for it that much. I'd classify it as English, but muted in flavoring. Got some bite from it as well. I definitely like the Old Dublin and Escudo better than this.
Click to expand...
Stogie, you may find a new copy hard to locate. I picked up a used copy on Amazon. A saved search on Ebay might be worth a look as well. It hit the shelves last summer, and has been extremely popular.
 
Top