Is this nicotine or what?

[HCraven]

This might sound like a newbie question, but I've always wondered about it.

I was smoking a bowl of Scottish Cake in my Dr. Bob billiard yesterday, probably a group 4 or 5, and toward the last third of the bowl, a familiar feeling overcame me. I felt like I took a punch in the throat and just couldn't smoke any more of it. It's not that I think I was physically ill from nicotine, after all, I'm still a pack-a-day cigarette smoker and I almost never feel nauseous or dizzy after a pipe, but I was definitely feeling some sort of fatigue in my throat and mouth. I've experienced this sort of thing before, and it is usually associated with tobaccos that have a high proportion of Dark-Fired Kentucky or with some of C&D's more robust Burley-based blends. I still love Scottish Cake, but I'll probably either smoke it in a smaller pipe or mix it with a little Hal O' The Wynd in the future. Or maybe I'll continue to punish myself.

Even though Scottish Cake is rated "mild to medium" on tobaccoreviews, it feels like a strong tobacco to me. Typically tobaccos seem to be rated on nicotine content, with things like Tambolaka rating "very strong". So, in your opinion, was I feeling the effect of nicotine, or is there something else going on?

 

[bentbulldog]

I may have smoked Scottish cake many years back,and if I remember correctly it was a harsh tobacco. that feeling in the back of your throatis likely due to the characteristics of the tobacco and also the pace you smoke at.

I wouldn't say it's the nicotine. If you find it to be harsh a smaller bowl would definitely help

the reviews website is more of a guideline since everybody's taste is different.but the strength is usually referring to the nicotine leveland the flavoring refers more to the harshness at least that's what I've discovered

 

[HCraven]

Thanks for your input, bb. I do enjoy smoking Scottish Cake, but their is something a little more harsh about it than HOTW, which I find to be a very smooth smoke, though it's in a similar vein as far as flavor.

Just to clarify, the feeling in my throat was more of a tightness, not a raw feeling or anything.

 

[CigarKen]

This happens to me with Three Friars. I love the stuff and usually have coffee with it. I just blamed the combo.

 

[Anonymous]

There are seventeen bazillion organic compounds in tobaccos and probably hundreds of individual body chemistries. Some of these clash ; others phase cancel.

One guy here can't smoke much of anything with Perique in it. Another guy can't even taste it no matter how much of a blend it comprises.

Many people are gagged by Lakeland Floral Urinal Cake Perfume, yet two guys I know can't taste or smell it at all.

Ditto the ketchup scent in McClelland Virginias.

Ditto dark fired Burley.

I love Red Virginia. But with Laurel Heights -- much and all as I loved the flavor -- I couldn't finish a group 3-sized bowl without being nauseated, despite trying 'til I'd finished a whole tin.

Peoples' reactions to specific tobaccos are all over the place.

FWIW

:face:

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

A brother bought about $2500.00 of tobacco from me in 2010 and another $500.00 a year ago. I was at the Raleigh pipe show and saw some tins that looked attractive. I'd sold some of this, and when I looked on the bottom of the tin for a date lo and behold I beheld my very own writing. It was being sold by that brother. I bought it back and am due to get 8 oz of 2006 Laurel Heights. Funny.

 

[HCraven]

There are seventeen bazillion organic compounds in tobaccos and probably hundreds of individual body chemistries. Some of these clash ; others phase cancel.

One guy here can't smoke much of anything with Perique in it. Another guy can't even taste it no matter how much of a blend it comprises.

Many people are gagged by Lakeland Floral Urinal Cake Perfume, yet two guys I know can't taste or smell it at all.

Ditto the ketchup scent in McClelland Virginias.

Ditto dark fired Burley.

I love Red Virginia. But with Laurel Heights -- much and all as I loved the flavor -- I couldn't finish a group 3-sized bowl without being nauseated, despite trying 'til I'd finished a whole tin.

Peoples' reactions to specific tobaccos are all over the place.

FWIW

:face:

There might be something to that. One of the guys that works at my local B&M can't have Perique at all; he's very allergic to something in it, and says he experiences anaphylaxis if he smokes it. This doesn't always happen to me with Scottish Cake, only occasionally, so I don't think it's a severe allergy, but the feeling does seem to correlate with times that I smoke Dark-Fired Kentucky or Burley as mentioned above. Oh well, at least I can still enjoy it to some degree, and I don't have to admit defeat to nicotine.

 

[Anonymous]

Reactions to different types of tobacco change from time to time too. Last year I was really loving Virginias and this year it's a little harsh. I've been mostly smoking Burleys this spring.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Nicotine is a systemic reaction, at least in my world. It goes from a wave of pleasant, body-heaviness, slows me down, sharpens the wits a little, even...

...going further, it can turn into dizziness, apathy and bring about a lack of coordination, if I've gone too far with indulgence.

What you describe, HC, might be some other chemical reaction. Much like you mention with Perique, I can't smoke the stuff, with a few exceptions. After a few simple puffs my tongue feels like it's numb and hurting at the same time, and will for days afterward, with a terrible, lingering burnt-tar flavor. Not nice. You also mention the Dark Fired and/or Kentucky stuff, which in the case of GLP's new "Navigator," took me a while to get beyond a few tastes, but I was able to get beyond it and really enjoy the flavor. Not entirely sure if KY/Perique are similar, either genetically or how they react to aging, or what, but... :shrug: ...fortunately they are different enough where I can at least enjoy the KY.

Burley is funny...I swear it's where it is grown or how it is treated afterward. Some stuff is brilliant, I love it, others can tear me up pretty good. I already know I have an acidic body chemistry (my vulcanite stems brown almost on contact), and Burley lies on the alkaline side of things. I'm convinced the chemical reaction is what we feel as the two sides try to neutralize, and we experience a physical feeling associated with it. Aged/matured Burley tends to be delightful in my case, and it's 50/50 with lighter/brighter stuff...or even depends on what other tobaccos join it in a mixture.

It is all chemistry, ours, the tobaccos', etc.