I have smoked Stonehaven, Dunbar, And So To Bed, Penzance, and Margate. Based on many reviews, these blends are supposed to be the Holy Grail of pipe smokers. I think these blends are very, very mild – it’s like smoking hot air (ha).
Okay, so I just don’t like anything from Germain (I also did not like Balkan Sobranie because it is also too mild for my tastes). I usually stay away from milder blends. I like stuff such as Nightcap, Irish Flake and Ten Russians. The thing is, tobaccoreviews classifies the Esoterica blends I’ve tried as Medium to Strong (strength) and Medium to Full (taste). Stonehaven is supposed to be a medium to full blend, but to me it tastes like…err…nothing. Blackwoods Flake and FVF blow Stonehaven out of the water (again, according to my taste buds).
So what gives? Do I dislike Esoterica because the blends are too mild? But if this is the case, how can people believe that Stonehaven or Penzance are medium to full in strength? How can someone smoke a blend and think that it is mild and someone else perceive it as being strong? The opposite does not happen often – smokers do not say that Nightcap is a mild blend.
Okay, so I just don’t like anything from Germain (I also did not like Balkan Sobranie because it is also too mild for my tastes). I usually stay away from milder blends. I like stuff such as Nightcap, Irish Flake and Ten Russians. The thing is, tobaccoreviews classifies the Esoterica blends I’ve tried as Medium to Strong (strength) and Medium to Full (taste). Stonehaven is supposed to be a medium to full blend, but to me it tastes like…err…nothing. Blackwoods Flake and FVF blow Stonehaven out of the water (again, according to my taste buds).
So what gives? Do I dislike Esoterica because the blends are too mild? But if this is the case, how can people believe that Stonehaven or Penzance are medium to full in strength? How can someone smoke a blend and think that it is mild and someone else perceive it as being strong? The opposite does not happen often – smokers do not say that Nightcap is a mild blend.