Discovering New Flavors

[zachstorm]

Alright. Forgive in advance the excited ramblings of a new guy. Now that that's out of the way...
McClelland's Frog Morton Cellar (FMC). I'm freaking out. Upon joining the pipe smoking community, I ordered an ounce of Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe (EMP). I smoked every bit of it, over the course of about a month (slow, I know, but I'm busy), and enjoyed it all. I had thought the mellow, comfortable flavors of EMP were the pinnacle of a relaxing smoke. However, after spending time on the forums here, I'd been infected with the general attitude that variety is the truest spice of smoking.
And so I ordered something different. I'll start by saying that the aroma of FMC is... I'm not a writer by trade, but it smells like something a man could write poems about. Full of warm sweetness and the feeling you get after a slow glass of whiskey on a rainy summer evening.
Lighting a bowl of FMC brings out flavors that could make a finely cut and cooked steak jealous. Not that it tastes meaty. I'm struggling for the words to describe it, but I hope you can understand it was an incredible world of difference it was to experience all of this after a month of smoking the now-pleasantly-dull EMP.
Has anyone else ever tried a new blend that just knocked the proverbial socks off? I'm interested to hear of other people's "Aha!" moments, so please share below Best wishes everyone,
Zach

 

[cobguy]

Here's a few that come to mind for me:
McCranie's Red Flake (2000 crop) - the pinnacle of Red Virginia, unbelievably smooth and rich
Solani Aged Burley Flake - what a straight Burley can potentially be, toasted deliciousness
MacBaren's HH Old Dark Fired - sweet / savory mistress that rekindled my love of DFK
GH Brown Bogie - opened up the world of twists / ropes for me
Lol ... I guess I could keep on going because there are SO MANY good blends nowadays.
Just in the last week I've tried nearly a dozen new smokes thanks to a "Box Pass" I'm in.
C&D Cumberland, Epiphany, Three Friars, Big N Burley, Beck's Ol Limey Bastard, and several others.
I feel lucky to live in this age of tobacco! ::

 

[settersbrace]

EMP has long been and still is one of my Go-To blends and I smoke a lot of different tobaccos during the course of any given week. Everyone needs a base tobacco and you may have already found yours but don't be afraid to sample as many blends and types of tobaccos along the way. There are literally thousands to choose from and most of them are fantastic in one way or another. I just smoked a sample of St. Bruno that was gifted to me by another member and although it's not for me it had its moments and I'm glad I got the chance to try it. Enjoy the journey!

 

[cortezattic]

Has anyone else ever tried a new blend that just knocked the proverbial socks off?

Oh ya! That happens a couple of times a month! I'm like a new blend whore. :lol:

For some many, time and custom force the bloom off the rose, but I take solace

in the knowledge that there are literally hundreds of other blends to explore and fall in love with.

I'm not a writer by trade, but it smells like something a man could write poems about.

Check out G.L.Pease's article, "Don't Think Of A Purple Giraffe".

 

[dulgunz]

The first "Zen" experience for me was with SPC Mississippi River in a new country gentlemen cob. It was an hour of bliss! Ever since I try to throw an extra tin of this in with all of my orders.

 

[cigrmaster]

I totally get where you are coming from. My first ah hah moment came early in my pipe career when I first smoked Escudo in 2000. I was a big time cigar smoker( 5-7 a day at the time) and was looking for a blend that would give me the flavor of my beloved Cuban cigars and Escudo knocked my socks off. It was the blend that really hooked me on the pipe. Over the years I have had many great moments but not like that first one. Here are a few of blends that really bowled me over.
Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake

Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug

Stonehaven

Solani Silver Flake and 633

Samuel Gawith Best Brown and St James Flakes

John Aylesbury Luxury Flake

 

[brass]

For me, it was Samuel Gawith Luxury Navy Flake; GlP Jacknife plug, Bobs Chocolate Flake, GlP Quiet Nights, and most recently Russ Oullettes Magnum Opus, Classic Burley kake and El Nino.
If you would like to explore tobacco blends in a methodical manner while getting to know some novice smokers and old hands as well, you might want to join our tobacco crawls.

 

[tuold]

I had that experiance with Squadron Leader a year or so ago but have not since then. There seem to be so many variables that need to be in alignment for a pipe peak experiance.

 

[agnosticpipe]

Hi Zach, welcome to the forums, where you'll find lots of good information, advice, and general craziness.
That said, about 6 months ago I had a zen moment with some tobacco I purchased just by chance. I was at my favorite pipe shop, which is about 90 miles away, but I like to go there from time to time. Anyway, I was perusing the tins on the shelves, and I saw some tins on clearance. One looked interesting and it was from McClellands so I figured there was a pretty good chance I'd like it as I too like the Frog Morton series. I was called Blakeney's Best Latakia Flake. When I opend the tin I found the flake in rather small pieces and they were pretty dense. I cube cut them and rubbed out a little to go on top, and lit up a bowl. Man, I was very impressed with the flavors in this. In fact I found it to be similar to Esoterica's Penzance, an extremely hard to come by tobacco. I've been smoking this Blakeney's off and on for months, and will be ordering some more. Great rich meaty flavor but not over the top with latakia, and not a huge nic hit either. At this point I think I will substitute this for Penzance as I find it just as satisfying, but cheaper and easier to come by, but hey if you get a chance to get some Penzance, go for it. It's a great smoke, but the demand makes it hard to come by, and drives the price up.

By the way I can recommend Mac Baren's HH Latakia flake too. Really nice mellow latakia flake tobacco that is easy to smoke but not as much latakia presence as in the Blakeney's Best.
Truth is everything that the folks here recommend is worth trying. Go to tobaccoriviews.com and read about them and then decide what sounds best to you.

Have fun and good luck. ::