How do you tell tobacco types? Newbie help

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by kzm007

...do I look at a tobacco and say, "Oh, this is a Virginia, this is a Latkia, this is a Cavendish, this is an English, etc."?

Maybe someone can tell by looking but I sure couldn't. I can't tell by smelling it either. Nor can I tell, for sure, by smoking it. It's hard for me to spot burley mixed with VA and perique and it sometimes takes a few bowls or pipe changes to decide if a blend is english, balkan or oriental.