Worst Tasting Blends Ever

[peckinpahhombre]

Nous aimons le fromage différent

 

[mso489]

I was the beneficiary of peck's dislike of Semois, for which I thank him. My least favorites are various aromatic reserve blends, like holiday blends and such, that burn my mouth out in a single bowl. It's not the taste, it's the chemical burn. Sir Walter Raleigh is a total zero for me. I like burley and codger blends, but I just can't detect any flavor with SWR, ever. Still, I'm surprised at how few tobaccos or blends I DON'T like. Full strength, non-aros, once I get their measure, I enjoy them (nearly) all.

 

[hawky454]

I understand when people simply don't like a flavor, but what's harder for me to comprehend is how something that will seem very mild and even near imperceptible to me (the tonquin in 1792 for example) are overwhelming for others, to the extent that the flavor will completely obscure the tobacco itself, when for me, the reverse is true.
My theory is that this discrepancy is due to a palate more heavily weighted toward smell than taste. Smoking palates rest on a balance between taste and smell--two sense that can't easily be separated. Those palates that have a very sensitive sense of smell may react more positively and negatively towards flavored blends in which the aroma plays a bigger part.
I think you and I, hawky, have a palate where the sense of smell plays a smaller part. This enables me, for example, to experience Dark Flake Scented, as a strong flake with a dash of bergamot. Those whose palate is more heavily weighted towards smell, however, experience DFS as a Lakeland bomb drenched in cologne.
It's only a theory, but I feel it's one possible explanation for the wildly different experience in how prominent certain flavors are in a blend.

Interesting theory. Makes sense to me. And honestly I wish they made an Dark Flake Scented "Extra". I love the way it comes but I sometimes think I would even enjoy it with more essence added, but I like to overdo things sometimes.

 

[sablebrush52]

'fraid I'm in the "Borkum Riff is crap" camp. I've tried it more than once. I've tried a couple of variations on it. It's unpleasant, it bites, and it tastes foul to me. It resides in that "no tobacco to smoke is preferable to this crap" place for me. But as with just about everything else in this "hobby" one person's poison is another's feast.
Maybe that's why there are so many blends.

 

[hawky454]

Nous aimons le fromage différent

Oui oui!

 

[philobeddoe]

Holly's Non-Plus Ultra.....nothing else is even close, this dreck is on a whole other plane of repulsion.

 

[tobaccojoe]

Best review on TobaccoReviews for Holly's Non-Plus Ultra:
"Things I would rather smoke than this blend: -C4 -Donald Trump's hairpiece -The powdered brains of my own children" - Courtney Evans from 2006-08-09
LOL

 

[darwin]

Is there a single blend out there that doesn't have a goodly number of ardent enthusiasts and voluble loathers?

 

[ssavarimuthu]

Borkum Riff..... ugh...

 

[shutterbugg]

Wow! That is a step in the right direction! For once SB, rather than trolling a thread, you are admitting that just because it doesn't work well for you, it might not necessarily be camel dung for everyone else

Thanks. Reputedly Hyde Park is light on the Lakeland grunge, but since it's the only Lakeland I [attempted] to smoke, naturally I can only speak for myself that it's the worst tasting blend ever. Logically, more heavily-cased Lakelands should taste progressively worse, but inasmuch as I am no masochist I have no intention of ever trying any.

 

[tinsel]

I have avoided aromatics like the plague since the few I tried didn't taste good to me. I've also avoided most of the blends which are generally considered "bad" like mixture 79.
The 2 blends I have actually tried that I just couldn't stand the taste of were Capitol Stairs and Bob's Chocolate Flake. I don't know why, but those 2 blends were just awful for me. That's my 2 cents anyways.

 

[tmb152]

Not paying attention to the opinions of respected peers is, frankly, stupid.

I didn't say not to pay attention to them, just don't let them do all the thinking for you (not you personally of course). Consider what they say, but let your own opinion be the final one. After all, who will be paying for and smoking the stuff, them or you? You just never really know for sure unless you try a blend yourself.

Otherwise we'd be seeing horrible movies, bad TV shows,reading crap literature, buying defective cars, or having to sample over 2000 blends of tobacco, 800 different brews, 12,000 different wines, etc.

Point well taken, but some of my favorite movies have gotten terrible reviews. Even Albert Einstein, he was told he would never amount to anything, no university would hire him, no one would even give that crackpot's papers a look until one guy finally read his paper on Special Relativity and realized he was onto something big. Without that one fellow who was willing to see for himself rather than listen to the abject opinions of others, we might still be living in a world of newtonian (19th century) physics and without most of the technology the 20th century brought us and for which we largely take for granted today.
As to Borkum Riff, in my early days, I suppose I tried several varieties of it, and just about every other over-the-counter like Paladin, Edgeworth, Sail, Madeira Gold, Amphora, et. al.--- because they were right there. That stuff nearly made me give up smoking! But some of them had their good points, briefly. It would be curious to try some of them again to see if my opinion has changed. But I smoked them.

Reputedly Hyde Park is light on the Lakeland grunge, but since it's the only Lakeland I [attempted] to smoke, naturally I can only speak for myself that it's the worst tasting blend ever.

Right now I have some Grasmere Flake and Ennerdale Flake and I'm working on them. I find the aroma pretty heady and intoxicating, I have never smelled a baccy like them in my life!, and frankly, it seems to burns off and does not seem to affect the taste much but leaves some pleasant room note but a little bite. But I think they are both worth working on. I'm going to let both stew in a jar for a while and let them mellow out.
Maybe next year they'll be ready.
But I listen to some people more than others. One person here (Duane?) seems to think highly of Black Frigate (he's the Captain after all!), so on his advice alone I bought a couple of tins to try. The Capt always seems to know what he's talkin' 'bout and seems to have a good head about his shoulders, so I will look forward to cracking those open at some point in the future.

 

[beastinview]

Wow. Reading the Holly Non Plus reviews is enough to genuinely scare me off. Won't be purchasing that any time soon.

 

[tobaccojoe]

I was thinking the same thing. Never heard of this horrid beast until today!

 

[snagstangl]

I don't mind mix 79 when i have smoked it. But Great Outdoors and Classic Burley Kake have the fake anise flavor without the nice fake floral note of mix 79. The mix makes it bearable, but as a stand alone topping makes it unsmokeable to me.

 

[sjpipesmoker]

C&D Carolina Red Flake & Bijou

 

[warren]

Troost Sliceswas the only blend I have been unable to handle. Don't know if I was having a bad day but, the sweetness was cloying. This was back in the 60s, it's still available so... I must be the odd man out. Might, I should try it again with my older, worn out taste buds. I just read an old jiminks review, three out of four stars.

 

[jvnshr]

Only blend that triggered my gag reflexes was Just For Him - Shortcut To Mushrooms. Apparently, if you are allergic to mushrooms then you cannot smoke any tobacco with a mushroom flavor in it. That was the first time that I dumped a bowl of tobacco. It is a personal thing I guess. Other than that, C'est La Vie didn't have any taste at all. And Captain Black Cherry; I just want to forget that memory of mine.

 

[newbroom]

unlike mso489, I do enjoy SWR and detect its flavor (cinnamon?) additives and nutty sweetness, as I usually do if I stay with a codger blend long enough...the one I have most trouble with, that will bite me and has a lot of topping is Half and Half. I can 'get there' with it, but it requires disciple to avoid a setback of the tongue. Half and Half has something like a cherry topping and probably PG...its tin note is distinctive and 'sweet'.

 

[beastinview]

Only blend that triggered my gag reflexes was Just For Him - Shortcut To Mushrooms. Apparently, if you are allergic to mushrooms then you cannot smoke any tobacco with a mushroom flavor in it.

I really dislike mushrooms, so I'll probably stay away from this one as well.