Top 5 Unexpected Surprise

Old Dark Fired is one of my favorite blends. Try the bulk ready rubbed version, its uncanny how two versions of the same blend can taste different.

1. Moonshine Pipes XXX Blend- Russ Ouellette made a better version of Frog Morton Cellar and it may be the most underrated tobacco of the year.
2. Stokkebye LBF- Being fairly new, I bought it mostly on forum hype this spring. Fresh, it was just ok. 6 short months later I popped a jar and it's nearly night and day. So much better now.
3. Dunhill Royal Yacht- I was aware that it was a polarizing blend when I put a tin in my order, and wasn't sure how I'd take to a topped Va. One bowl and I put it on my long term cellar list. Probably the first time I've done that.
4. H&H Chatham Manor- I generally don't care for burley forward blends, but I must have shotgunned 8 bowls of this at the 4th of July fishing derby with my 2 older boys.
5. H&H Ten to Midnight- Tobacco Reviews generally doesn't care for this one, but I grabbed a couple ounces after seeing it in multiple "Penzance Substitute" threads. It needs to be rubbed out completely, and it needs to be dry. No, more dry than that. Any sort of moisture and it may as well be asbestos, it won't burn, and it's harsh. Once you get it to the ragged edge of crispy, the orientals spring to life and it's a smooth, creamy, flavorful blend.

My unexpected surprise this year was C&D Tuskegee Airman. I expected to like it as a Lat-forward English-style blend, based on the tin description. Instead, I wound up loving it as a really tasty VaPer with only the faintest whisper of Latakia. I went from buying one tin to "check it out" to having 10 tins in the cellar.
And by the way, if you like Carter Hall, the smart money says you'll probably like Chatham Manor as well.

Thanks to the typically bi-monthly tobacco crawls that Brass ran during the year, I voluntarily exposed myself to blends chosen for these events for three different crawls.

The first was all blends from Russ Oulette.

The second was blends from 4 Noggins.

3rd. from C&D

and I forgot..there was this last crawl...featuring blends by G.L.Pease.

While I didn't find fault with the blends from 4Nogs or G.L., it was the blends I tried from Russ and Cornell and Dheil that most piqued my interest.

Firestorm, Magnum Opus, El Nino !

Five O'Clock Shadow, Autumn Evening, my two faves from C&D's crawl entries...

and then I saw a sale from smokingpipes of 20% off of C&D blends and got in what I call the Big Three.

Old Joe Krantz, Billy Budd, and Big n' Burley. I smoke these last three blends the most these days.

My favorite so far is a close call between 5 O'Sdw, and BillyBudd....with the Billy Budd getting my nod due to bulk availability. Amazing blends both...but Billy Budd's texture and flavor IS singularly exceptional!

3. C&D Old Joe Krantz- I did not like burley blends before this old grandpa blend. Now I'll smoke burley any day anytime.

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This has been a nice surprise for me, too, this year. I had really been enjoying C&D's Burley Flake No. 3 and GLP Triple Play, so I used the SPC Tobacco Locator to search for other blends with a good dose of dark-fired Kentucky and Perique, and OJK came up. Given all the good things I'd read about it here, I decided to give it a try, and it's become a daily smoke for me. It may just convert me to burley blends in general.

if you like Tuskegee, Try C&D Buffalo Soldier

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@Perdurabo, is the Buffalo Soldier also very light on the latakia? If so, I may have to give these two a try.

it was the blends I tried from Russ and Cornell and Dheil that most piqued my interest

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That's a good reminder to place an order for some of Russ' blends now that I've moved back to the States and can get them to ship to me!

@Dublinesque Buffalo Soldier is lite on the Latakia, huge perique punch on a bed of Virginia.

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Sounds like it's up my alley. Another one for the TAD list, then!

Sorry, I'm "dublinesque" as in the pipe shape, not the city, which I've never been to. Hope you have a good time there, though, and good luck with the pipe hunting.

Maybe not my biggest surprise of the year ... but probably the last one I'm going to have this year:
Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake. I love virginias and va/pers, but reading reviews and hearing folks talk about the "almost too much" topping made me shy away quite a bit since I'm not a fan of heavy casings/toppings, aros, or non-tobacco tastes.
I tried LTF for the first time today and I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. The topping is noticeable but not overbearing. It mostly comes through for me on the char light and relights. Most of the smoke is a pleasant, mild va/per with just a subtle hint of sweetness to it. Very nice indeed.

I do enjoy the aromas that emanate from VA flakes and coins. You might enjoy Newminster's #400 Superior Flake if you liked the topped varieties. I could just sit and take occasional whiffs of it and be very happy.

I can't just sit and smell fried chicken and be very happy. Maybe baking bread would do the trick.

I am currently a fan of Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake and I CAN taste the perique in IT. It's 'tin' note isn't fruity or sugary, but rather more a pure sweet VA tobacco smell.

LTF does not have perique listed as a component, to my recollection. I've yet to try it, but it's on the list.

I do not have 5 but I threw in a tin of Rattray's Wallace flake in an order so I could get the free shipping. Instant favorite of mine.