Virginia or Orientals flavor/taste

[cds43]

I am very inexperienced and would love to figure out the subtle taste that I am getting in some Balkan type blends I have smoked. I somehow but not always get this flavor/taste on relights towards the halfway point or bottom of bowl. I first started experiencing it with Dunhill's EMP and now I really notice it often in Blue Mountain. It is a somewhat floral taste. Not a fake perfume or soapy taste like I get from G&H Balkan but a really nice natural taste.
I can relate the experience with the floral notes you often get when drinking a high quality Dancong Oolong that has been grown on floral laden mountains.

At first I thought this to be the orientals, but everything I read states that orientals have a spicy note. The only other tobacco I would think it being is the Virginia. I certainly do not pick these taste up in a Virginia flake though.

Any of your experience is always appreciated!

 

[jhuggett]

Orientals is a broad term and their tastes can vary greatly. Some spicy, some sour and some I've heard described as incense or floral. Virginia's usually add a sweet, hay like taste but again that will vary with curing methods and what not.

 

[monbla256]

Traditionally, Balkans have been Va based blends with a definate preponderance of Oriental leaf along with Latakia. Though Oriental 'bac is usually refered to as "spicy" my experience is that it is not "spicy" in the peppery way but rather as a flavoring along the lines as cilantro or Bay would be in a soup or stew. Many of them do have a sort of "floral" essence to them such as drahma and izimir leaf. Also, many bright or golden Va's as used in these blends can have a sort of sweet/floral sense to them as opposed to the red or darker Va's that are used in many of the Va Flake blends/mixtures. Nothing out of the ordinary from my many decades of smoking them really

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Orientals are probably the most directly multifaceted little leaves available. I want to get more into figuring them all out, as they really bring a certain je ne se qua to a bowlful. Virginia has the realm of subtle strength and broad ambiance. Pair them together, and in the right amounts, and the orchestra tunes up and begins playing. In Balkans, the Latakia (also Orientals with a different take) can really add some low-end bass notes or drums to the mix.

The floral notes might just be the Orientals speaking up. Then again, it could be a marrying of two tobaccos that have Part A and Part B equaling Part C. McClelland's Grand Oriental offerings are the way I plan on systematically trying to find out what each bring to the table. Check 'em out, might be worth your time.

8)

 

[cds43]

I pulled some McCranie's Red Flake out of the jar this morning and I did get some of the floral notes from about halfway down the bowl. Nothing like what I get from Blue Mountain but it was there. Leads me to believe that it may be the combinations of Virginia and Orientals. Whatever. It is fun experimenting.