What is the Strangest Tobacco You Have Smoked?

okrent · Mar 22, 2013

A few months ago I was putting together an order over at smokingpipes and saw that they had Grousemoor in stock. I had seen this name mentioned on the forums a few times and knew it had a love or hate reputation but a blend so old was too enticing to pass up. Definitely the strangest tobacco I have smoked. The lemony aroma and taste almost like earl grey. Even the ash left at the end was strange. I liked it and have gone back a few times but experience of it is what stands out the most. So whats the strangest tobacco you have tried.

chubbster · Mar 22, 2013

Fusiliers ration. Flat out weird. Wound up giving the tins away to a friend of mine. Had a strange vanilla like topping of some sort that coated my mouth and was just strange all the way around. I know I'm in the minority, and I'm not knocking Russ blending skills at all, but it is nothing like bengal slices to me. Weird topic, weird feeling, weird tobacco. YMMV.

cajunguy · Mar 22, 2013

Ashton "Rainy Day" gets my vote. I'm not sure if anyone else here has tried it; there was a tin at the local B&M my stepson decided to try. From top to bottom of the bowl, all I could think of was Lemon Pledge. After a few bowls, I've not tried it again.

hfearly · Mar 22, 2013

Fusiliers ration. Flat out weird. Wound up giving the tins away to a friend of mine. Had a strange vanilla like topping of some sort

Just like the good old Bengal Slices, which it's trying to replicate

Strangest for me: Grousemoor (lemon tea anyone?) and 1792 Flake (Licking on a sweaty coal miner)

tjameson · Mar 22, 2013

Sutliffe CD Blend its weird but I don't mind a weird bowl every now and then

ram74 · Mar 22, 2013

Strangest I have smoke is also Grousemoor and 1792 Flake. I just ordered a tin of Fusiliers ration thought is was a English blend. Not to fond of aromatics does it ghost a pipe bad?

pitchfork · Mar 22, 2013

Ennerdale is strange, but I love it.
Also weird was Low Country (smokingpipes.com) "Black." Smelled like new sneakers, tasted like musty carpet.
BTW, Fusilier's Ration isn't an aromatic. It has a light anise/licorice topping that, to me, tastes a little like cake batter.

pitchfork · Mar 22, 2013

Another weird one: Chonowitsch T-14. Described as having a "woodland aroma," it just tasted weird to me -- kind of resiny and pine-woodsy, kind of like mango. Not very good (it left a chemically after taste), but definitely weird enough to try.

philobeddoe · Mar 22, 2013

Holly's Non-Plus Ultra, tastes like Mixture #79 turned up to eleven. Which is to say, it tastes like cardboard soaked in your grandmothers perfume!

okrent · Mar 22, 2013

Oh Ennerdale sounds great. I'm adding that to the list.

pitchfork · Mar 22, 2013

Reviews of Holly's Non Plus Ultra (which I never heard of) note:
"The only positive thing I can say about Non Plus is it is consistently nasty, fowl and vomit like in flavor. "
"The only worse-tasting tobacco I've ever encountered was when a friend of mine took some chopped up pieces of a tree, put them in a bag, and gave them to me as a joke."
"Things I would rather smoke than this blend: -C4 -Donald Trump's hairpiece -The powdered brains of my own children."
Can't wait to try it. :rofl:

cajunguy · Mar 22, 2013

This thread has made me think hard about the potential pitfalls of unknown blends. Danger lurks under the lid of some tins. As such, I fear this blend:

bigboi · Mar 22, 2013

This weird Irish blend my friend gave me...opened it smelled like grape big league chew and then it tasted like vomit after easting a bunch of grapes

uberam3rica · Mar 22, 2013

I guess Vermont Meat Candy. It doesn't really taste like bacon, but there is a hickory smokiness, and maple

durham270 · Mar 22, 2013

I'm going with Cornell & Diehl's Gentleman Caller. Upon opening the tin you will encounter a large amount of gray leaf color in the blend which is the herb, deer tongue. Deer tongue is a wild growing plant that adds a vanilla flavor to tobacco. It does have a flavor very different than anything I've ever had before, but in a good way. I found it to be an exceptional blend. Word of caution, due to the deer tongue I find it best to smoke out of a cob due to ghosting issues. The last time I smoked it was over two months ago and one of my cobs still lingers strongly with the scent of deer tongue.
I first encountered the herb years ago while at a Native American Powwow. It was used before a ceremonial dance in a smoking blend called Kinnick Kinnick which contains only herbs and no tobacco.

kashmir · Mar 22, 2013

Strangest smoke: I was at the airport and my flight was delayed. Ran out of what I as carrying, so I bought a pack of filterless Camels and dumped a few in my bowl. It was a harsh smoke. Few redeeming qualities to note.

theboz · Mar 22, 2013

I've had very limited experience in pipe tobacco, but the one that caught me off guard was 4noggins Painter Hills, It starts off with a topping that I can't quite place my finger on, then about a quarter bowl through you get smacked in the face with tobacco taste, it is listed as strong I guess, but wasn't quite sure how strong. That said I enjoy it, so it wasn't a bad thing

lordofthepiperings · Mar 22, 2013

The strangest I've ever had was definitely Peterson's Sumemrtime 2012. That lime flavoring was... strange.

aristokles · Mar 23, 2013

Nothing rare, but for me nothing was as odd as Mixture No. 79. I really think this is just a misnamed potpourri.

mso489 · Mar 23, 2013

I'm not copping out here, but the strangest have been my own blends, the ones that

didn't work. Nothing exotic in the ingredients, maybe a little Virginia, a dash of OTC,

some Cavendish, and blending Latakia and/or Perique, but several have really illustrated

why professional blenders earn their keep. Some of them don't stay lit, when most or all

of the ingredients would have, but more than humidity or flake size problems, once lit

the flavors just didn't join. Not aged, not under pressure, etc. etc. I've been more

sensible with some of the blends, followed better examples, with mixed results. To be

fair, some of the blends have been pleasant, quite good. But when they don't work, it

can be strange indeed. But a good adventure and experience.

What is the Strangest Tobacco You Have Smoked?

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