Hint of Ammonia at end of bowl

mfresa

Every once in a while I'll detect a whiff of ammonia at the end of a bowl.  Has anybody else experienced this?  Maybe the tobacco wasn't cured properly?

motie2

This is exactly why I stopped smoking Dunhill Royal Yacht back in the day. The bowl smelled of ammonia, and not only at the end of the bowl.

mfresa

@motie2, do you think it is connected to Virginia blends, or just maybe the blend wasn't aged properly?

motie2

No idea. Used to make me nuts because none of my friends could detect the ammonia smell.

mfresa

We must have sensitive noses

mapletop

Have only once gotten a whiff of ammonia in pipe tobacco but have noticed it in in cigars numerous times.

As I understand it, ammonia is a byproduct of the fermentation process / curing of tobacco.

So if you notice it it means the tobacco is not fully cured.

The solution is more aging but you also have to open the container occasionally to allow an air exchange to vent the ammonia off.

mfresa

Good idea, @mapletop

Londy3

...or send it back for a new tin.

KA9FFJ

@mfresa If it tends to give you a Timothy Leary experience, don't tell anyone, or everyone will want it...

mfresa

@KA9FFJ , OK

ghostsofpompeii

Are you smoking a Perique blend? I had blending Perique and the pouch note was the barnyard stench of goat urine on a bale of straw.

KenofAhwlby

Ghostsofpampeii....I looled at your profile,,it says professor,not farmer,,,so I am not sure how familiar you are with goat piss??/?

riobrusa

Never tasted in my pipe tobacco but in cigars, yes. The problem is at tobacco's cure. The tobacco was not fermented for enough time, it was too "green".

mfresa

Thanks everyone for your inputs on this.  I believe @riobrusa is correct.  Curing tobacco has to be done properly, and most times it is.

ghostsofpompeii

@KenofAhwlby Haven't done any farming but I've taken my kids and grandkids to enough petting zoo to know the smell of goat piss on straw. And that was my first thought when I got my first sniff of Perique.