I believe that I've
partly identified the sources of my problems. Firstly, I'm taking a day or three away from smoking in order to allow my tastebuds to recuperate. Secondly, whenever I smoke I'm pretty sure that I do so far too hurriedly just to keep the tobacco ablaze; often resulting in massive gobfuls of smoke, which I believe to be overwhelming my palate. Finally, I'm considering placing an order comprised primarily of aromatics: Plumcake; Butternut Burley; Vanilla Cream; Autumn Evening; Bob's Chocolate Flake (if anyone can suggest alternatives that are available from 4noggins, by all means go ahead). This is because I've never smoked an aromatic tobacco. I dived straight into a burley and didn't give aromatics a second look due to the poor reputation of the heavily cased and artificially sweetened cheap blends.
I think I may have given the wrong impression in my initial post. I do, despite everything being relatively monotone, enjoy smoking a pipe. The taste I do detect isn't bad, I was just expecting something more diverse. I like the relaxation qualities of pipe smoking and the aesthetics etc. of the hobby. I'm going to persevere and continue to (hopefully) develop an appropriate technique and with any luck, in time, I will be capable of fully appreciating what pipe tobacco has to offer me.
