I have some RY tins I'm expecting to open in the future to return, see how it ages. Typically I know right away if I like something. I right away sell it or turn it into bug deterrent for the garden. Returned to Grousemor after 4 years or so and now i love it BTW. It will replace Spring Time Flake when I run out of it.
Do You Ever Revisit a Former “No”?
- Thread starter rmbittner
- Start date
No, not if it was a solid no the first time around. I get rid of it pretty quickly, so I don't have any no's in my cellar to try again.
I do have a lot of blends in my cellar that for one reason or another didn't float my boat as much as my favorite blends, and which I occasionally revisit. Primarily to see if age has done anything good to it, but also, has my taste buddy changed it's mind about this blend over time... idk, but it's fun to load a bowl an ponder the question every time I revisit one of those blends ... and that's a satisfying smoke on a certain level
I do have a lot of blends in my cellar that for one reason or another didn't float my boat as much as my favorite blends, and which I occasionally revisit. Primarily to see if age has done anything good to it, but also, has my taste buddy changed it's mind about this blend over time... idk, but it's fun to load a bowl an ponder the question every time I revisit one of those blends ... and that's a satisfying smoke on a certain level
I always jar them up and return at some point. Many are waiting for a new home; others still have a shot to change my mind. So far, there’s only one blend I’ve returned to after initially disliking it that’s now a go to for me. On the flip side, there are several blends I initially liked that I now dislike.
Weeeeeeeell... don't keep us guessing
... Which was the redeemed blend? - Sherm Natman
Peterson Elizabethan MixtureWeeeeeeeell... don't keep us guessing
If I smoke through all of what I bought (which is going to be at least an ounce) and still don't like it, then I'm not going to buy that blend again. There are just too many blends out there for me to spend valuable smoking time (and money) re-trying and re-re-trying blends I didn't like.
It usually only takes me about three bowls to "get" a tobacco blend, and my opinion rarely changes after that. A notable exception was Match Elizabethan. It was the first real VaPer I tried and the vinegary thing threw me off. It took just about until the last bowl of that ounce before I realized that it had grown on me.
It usually only takes me about three bowls to "get" a tobacco blend, and my opinion rarely changes after that. A notable exception was Match Elizabethan. It was the first real VaPer I tried and the vinegary thing threw me off. It took just about until the last bowl of that ounce before I realized that it had grown on me.
C&D Sweet English was the most memorable "one and done" for me. Tasted like Werther's Originals dissolving in liquid smoke. Whole ounce in the trash, pipe got an immediate thorough cleaning just in case.
I guess I lucked out when I started. My first tobacco was Captain Black white and I had a great experience with it. Went back to it recently though and it seemed pretty flavorless, though the tobacco in the pouch was much drier than I remember it being.
I really don’t mean to be pedantic, but this keeps coming up here…
The only thing that has changed in recent years is the labeling.
“Dunhill” tobaccos haven’t been manufactured by Dunhill for decades. Blending first moved from Dunhill to Murray’s and then, sometime in the mid-2000s to Orlik/STG. STG continues to be the manufacturer for the new Peterson-labeled products. So, these blends have been produced in the same factory for nearly 20 years at this point.
fwiw, I believe you. But I honestly don't know much about the whole Dunhill vs Peterson thing. But I do see some people swear up and down that there are differences, and, well, I'm not in a position to say one way or the other. I'm ignorant on the history of that particular issue, so I'm just trying to be cautious in what I say about it. I'm not trying to imply that there are or are not any differences.
Frankly, it doesn't make me much difference where it is made. It tastes pretty damn good, and there are a lot of other Peterson tobaccos that I enjoy also.
Now I'm curious: did the original Royal Yacht (as in, before any of us were born) have a topping at all? I've gathered that a few other "Dunhill" blends have that plum/prune additive, like DeLuxe Navy Rolls.
There absolutely are differences between the original Dunhill versions, the Murray’s versions, and the Orlik/STG versions. But there were differences between Dunhill versions made in the 50s and Dunhill versions released in the 70s. Tobaccos change; the quality and availability of constituent leaf changes. I’m just saying that the same company that made Dunhill-branded blends in 2007 is the same company making the Peterson-branded versions now.
Actually, blending of Dunhill’s tinned mixtures didn’t transition to Murrays until 1981. While my first Dunhill experiences came about two years later, I’m thinking there are a number of us here who would have had a Dunhill-manufactured Dunhill blend. But apparently even 70s-era Dunhill blends were quite different from what they’d been in the 1950s and earlier.
Smokers with whom I've broached the topic say that Dunhill's Royal Yacht did not have a topping and that the flavor was the result of a long period of aging before release. When Murray's took over production they simplified some of the processing. I don't remember it well enough to say, but I would assume that there was some knd of flavoring agent, since that was, and remains, common practice. It just wasn't what is currently being done.
It's Marlin Flake for me. I don't find it off-putting or a bad smoke. It just falls way short of what I hope it to be. It somehow just smokes weak and anemic every time. It looks fantastic and smells great in the jar. It's just a dud. I don't think aging it will alter the tobacco in a way that I'll appreciate. It's more a matter of maybe my tastes will change to where I'll enjoy it.
Yep.
But only because I don't like throwing the product away. So I'll re-try blends I didn't like after some time, even if I don't plan on repurchasing any of them.
Whilst my palate appreciation has expanded enough to enjoy blends I didn't exactly understand the first time around, I haven't found that I will actually like anything if I truly disliked previously. There's a line of distinction in there somewhere that makes sense to me...
Sometimes I'll mix up a little of my own concoctions using something I'm trying to "improve" (didn't like) for my palate with another that I think will temper it.
OTOH, I'm not driven to "like" any particular blend, no matter the accolades, so I don't feel any loss. I have lots of blends sitting on my shelves still to try; and for the most part, I probably like 85% of what I try these days.
Additionally, I feel like it's hard to go wrong with so many excellent blends out there; and if I do, there's dozens more waiting to be sampled.
But only because I don't like throwing the product away. So I'll re-try blends I didn't like after some time, even if I don't plan on repurchasing any of them.
Whilst my palate appreciation has expanded enough to enjoy blends I didn't exactly understand the first time around, I haven't found that I will actually like anything if I truly disliked previously. There's a line of distinction in there somewhere that makes sense to me...
Sometimes I'll mix up a little of my own concoctions using something I'm trying to "improve" (didn't like) for my palate with another that I think will temper it.
OTOH, I'm not driven to "like" any particular blend, no matter the accolades, so I don't feel any loss. I have lots of blends sitting on my shelves still to try; and for the most part, I probably like 85% of what I try these days.
Additionally, I feel like it's hard to go wrong with so many excellent blends out there; and if I do, there's dozens more waiting to be sampled.
It’s interesting to me that so many contributors to this thread are literally revisiting their original tins, just stored away for a time after the original smoke. That isn’t my experience at all; if I say “no” to a blend, I’m not going to save it for later. It’s either traded away or thrown away.
But I believe it’s possible to approach blends before you’re ready and equipped with the tools to best understand them. Looking back at my earliest notes from being a pipe smoker in the 1980s, I see I frequently misidentified ingredients, made wrong assumptions about flavorings, and so on. So my “revisiting” has involved going back to some of those early blends to see what I think now.
So I’m buying fresh tins of blends that may be very similar to—or may share nothing but the same name as—that earlier product. It’s hardly scientific. But it’s definitely triggering some memories. When I revisited Symphony, which I’d originally enjoyed for some time before it faded for me, I couldn’t believe how the tin aroma and smoke immediately took me back to 1985. Although I didn’t fall in love with the blend, I’d smoke it again just for the memories.
But I believe it’s possible to approach blends before you’re ready and equipped with the tools to best understand them. Looking back at my earliest notes from being a pipe smoker in the 1980s, I see I frequently misidentified ingredients, made wrong assumptions about flavorings, and so on. So my “revisiting” has involved going back to some of those early blends to see what I think now.
So I’m buying fresh tins of blends that may be very similar to—or may share nothing but the same name as—that earlier product. It’s hardly scientific. But it’s definitely triggering some memories. When I revisited Symphony, which I’d originally enjoyed for some time before it faded for me, I couldn’t believe how the tin aroma and smoke immediately took me back to 1985. Although I didn’t fall in love with the blend, I’d smoke it again just for the memories.
Last edited:
There have been some that I've revisited, some I'll probably revisit at a later point, and there are some that I've stayed away from and will continue to do so. I can't ever see myself having SG 1792 Flake or Prince Albert again. No thanks!