I've been smoking my pipes daily for a couple years now so I don't feel much like a beginner at this point, but this is one question that seems like it should have a pretty basic answer but has been puzzling me a bit.
I've found that I really don't care for blends that have a spicy nose-burning retrohale, but what makes a blend smooth and gentle on the retrohale seems a little nebulous. I have noticed that black canvendish or latakia definitely seems to smooth a blend out and help make it gentle on the sinuses, and the inclusion of perique or dark fired kentucky is almost sure to make for an extremely spicy retrohale, but blends that contain none of those condiments seem to vary a lot.
For instance, Carter Hall and Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia are totally smooth and gentle on the retrohale for me but Peterson Flake and G.L. Pease Union Square just set my sinuses on fire when retrohaled. In the case of Carter Hall I suspect that it might be the light bourbon and cocoa toppings smoothing it out and perhaps the hot pressing of the flakes mellows out the HH Pure Virginia, but what I can't figure out is why the Peterson Flake and Union Square are so darn spicy on the sniffer.
Any thoughts on the matter of what makes blend gentle or spicy on the retrohale? Figuring this puzzle out would really go a long way towards helping me narrow down what new blends to try versus which to pass on, especially when it comes to pure Virginias!
I've found that I really don't care for blends that have a spicy nose-burning retrohale, but what makes a blend smooth and gentle on the retrohale seems a little nebulous. I have noticed that black canvendish or latakia definitely seems to smooth a blend out and help make it gentle on the sinuses, and the inclusion of perique or dark fired kentucky is almost sure to make for an extremely spicy retrohale, but blends that contain none of those condiments seem to vary a lot.
For instance, Carter Hall and Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia are totally smooth and gentle on the retrohale for me but Peterson Flake and G.L. Pease Union Square just set my sinuses on fire when retrohaled. In the case of Carter Hall I suspect that it might be the light bourbon and cocoa toppings smoothing it out and perhaps the hot pressing of the flakes mellows out the HH Pure Virginia, but what I can't figure out is why the Peterson Flake and Union Square are so darn spicy on the sniffer.
Any thoughts on the matter of what makes blend gentle or spicy on the retrohale? Figuring this puzzle out would really go a long way towards helping me narrow down what new blends to try versus which to pass on, especially when it comes to pure Virginias!
Last edited: