Difficult to Decipher Pipe Tobacco Reviews

bluto · Sep 4, 2018

It just occurred to me , pipe tobacco reviewers , when you write a review and the tobacco hits all the right notes for what it is supposed to be , why do you consistently then give it 2 stars because it is not your personal choice ? How the heck do I know what you like ..
Put it another way , I like peated SMS islay , so if I were to review a really fine 100 percent candian rye or a well aged American bourbon , I would be giving them deservedly 4 stars for creating exactly the style it says it is and doing it so well. Otherwise , if I rate , not my cup of tea , low , then how would someone reading the review understand I only like peated SMS islay .
There is a mixture of both 1. personal , biased , subjective and 2. blind , uncaring , objective information in the tobacco reviews, it has noobs like me , lost .

morgansteele · Sep 4, 2018

Start with JimInks’ reviews. Other great reviewers out there, too.

jazz · Sep 4, 2018

I know exactly what you mean. Some people find it hard to be objective and leave out the emotion when reviewing tobacco. I can see why, after all, liking and disliking is an emotional response. I'm not sure why those people write reviews, though. I don't know if you are talking about a famous review site but I think many write them as notes to themselves and would explain such reviews in one way.
Over the years I have figured out who's reviews I trust due to similar tastes and have them favourited on that site.

ashdigger · Sep 4, 2018

Just read JimInks, Pipestud and SteelCowboy. Those three will give you quite a bit of "feel" for the tobacco.

workman · Sep 4, 2018

And Eulenburg for psychedelia :lol:

workman · Sep 4, 2018

Agree with the above: Jiminks and Pipestud are the ones who I go to first. Steelcowboy is good too, DK and a few others I can't remember right now.

scloyd · Sep 4, 2018

I don't understand the reviewers that start off "I don't like aromatics" or "I don't smoke aromatics" and then they review an aromatic and give it 1 star. You don't like aromatics, stay away from them. I don't like country music so I don't listen to it. Simple!

Chasing Embers · Sep 4, 2018

None of my buys are based on reviews. I know the component tobaccos I like and if a blend matches those criteria I give it a try.

sasquatch · Sep 4, 2018

I agree most strongly with reviewer "Sasquatch" so I tend to buy the stuff he likes.

bluto · Sep 4, 2018

Thanks for pointing me to better reviews and by better I don’t mean to disminish any reviewers skills and experience , but I would like a better filter of the information being written about pipe tobacco.
I just read a straight forward review of a John cotton blend I am trying to get a feel for , the review expertly details all the attributes and said it did really well for lighting , moisture , taste , smoking experience etc and then summarily assigned it 2 stars ... huh ... wtf ...well because he don’t prefer English blends that’s why ..
I’m telling you this from a beginners perspective , trying to gain something from the preamble and ending up being flummoxed .

jazz · Sep 4, 2018

I find it interesting to see how people perceive the meaning of the stars. It would help if the reviewer wrote their interpretation as a sort of foreward so the reader can understand their gauging.
Personally, I'm no expert and my logic is likely flawed so feel free to pick holes in it but I see 1 star as poor tobacco, poorly blended with few redeeming qualities and would avoid in the future. Along those sort of lines.
2 stars would be average/good tobacco that's blended with a degree of skill. Consistent and quite passable as an all day smoke and will do if it's all you can get. Not bad and not great just non-offensive. Most OTC would likely be here for me.
3 would be good leaf, well blended and presented and worth going out of your way for. I reckon most of the blends I smoke would end up with three.
4 would be rare because it has exceptional everything and possibly be unique.
I could like a blend and smoke it reasonably often but it would still only get 2 stars. I'm curious how others see it.

mikethompson · Sep 4, 2018

There are other reviewers out there than Jim? :wink:

jpmcwjr · Sep 4, 2018

Your interpretation of stars is a very good one, but doesn't seem to be followed in the existing body of reviews. So, if a blend has reviews averaging less than 3.5 or so, I don't try that one. (With exceptions. And I throw out silly reviews giving it one star, and some four stars if the reviewer is a db.)

bluto · Sep 4, 2018

How about
1 star is like your mother in law , tolerable
2 stars , well that would be your wife , acceptable
3 stars , is more like your girlfriend , desirable

jpmcwjr · Sep 4, 2018

So, four stars, Charlize Theron?

bluto · Sep 4, 2018

Michelle pfieffer

warren · Sep 4, 2018

I'm lucky, Jim Inks has a palate close to mine, much more discerning though. Jim's, not mine! So I read his reports with that in mind.
I suggest finding a reviewer who has similar tastes, enjoys a couple of blends you do. Not all reviews will be "spot on" for your palate but, some will be. Reviews are only personal observations.
Jayne Mansfield or Twiggy? XKE or Edsel? (The under 50's will have to Google.) It's all in the eye or, palate of the beholder. Stars would tell me nothing about a blend unless, the rater had a palate very similar to mine.

mso489 · Sep 4, 2018

A reviewer that agrees with me is brilliant, and those who don't are stupid. Kidding. I'm not a big consumer of reviews, but I greatly admire jiminks for his wide ranging appreciation of blends and his self-discipline in being specific and as objective as possible in describing and evaluating blends, and in making it clear when he is simply expressing his own tastes, which he often refrains from doing. If I could access one or two others with that same rigor and clear-mindedness, I'd read them. Otherwise, I rely on my own experience with blends and on carefully assessing the specifications and the factual part of the descriptions on online tobacco retail pages. Unless someone slips in some inferior tobacco, usually I can tell if a blend will appeal to me. To know if it is wonderful (to me) I just have to try it, no matter what is said about it.

bluto · Sep 4, 2018

The new guard and the old guard I guess
It's too bad pipe smokers got tarred with the same brush as cigarette smokers and personally I don't care if cigarettes disappear entirely , but pipes and cigars are a different animal and I would like it to be available to those who wish to try it
Reviews are testament to the variety and intricacy of pipe tobacco blends. I don't think I would get what I am looking for by only reading manufacturers specs. , or it would take a lot of trial and error to go it alone , feeling my way in the dark.

sablebrush52 · Sep 4, 2018

I agree with the above reviewer recommendations and would add "drums and beer" and "gentleman zombie", both quite good reviewers.
Reviews from reviewers who dislike a type of blend, such as aro or English, who then proceed to denigrate an example for being an aro or an English, are a waste of time and space. So are the people who write those reviews and I encourage them to go away and leave the reviewing to others who want to provide something useful.
Tobaccoreviews.com is a very mixed bag, some very astute reviewers, like those mentioned above, and a lot of drooling cretins who have nothing to offer but spend a lot of effort not offering it.

Difficult to Decipher Pipe Tobacco Reviews

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