Just Smoked The First Bowl Of Something I Didn't Like

[carolinachurchwarden]

I was recently gifted some samples by a friend and I have been smoking my way through them, trying a different blend each day. Today was the day I discovered a blend I just didn't really like that much. The blend in question was BriarWorks Pete's Beard's Blend. It smelled pretty good from the bag and it was at just the right moisture level to load easily and still light one time for about 30 minutes only requiring some light tamping.
I'm not sure why, but I just didn't seem to like it much. It's billed as an English, but almost felt like something was either missing or the tobaccos chosen for this blend just didn't work well with each other. The best way that I can describe it is that it felt like there was a gap between the Va's and the Latakia. I love latakia and I'm growing quite fond of Va's, but it felt like I was smoking each one by itself, yet at the same time. Kind of an odd sensation. Up until now, I haven't really found a blend that I wouldn't really ever want to smoke again. Maybe my tastes would change one day to like it, but as it stands, it just doesn't smoke right to me.
Oh well, just gives me more of a reason to strike up another bowl of something I do enjoy. Now where is that jar of LNF?

 

[spartacus]

Good to know. I saw the Briarworks tobaccos were on sale at SP and thought I might try it.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Early on in my pipe smoking, I remember hitting blends every now and then that just stood out as being odd, disgusting, or outright gagging. Then as I would try more things and expand my understanding of tobaccos, I would come back to them and enjoy them. I think that it is easier for a neophyte to find disgust than an experienced pipe smoker, because an experienced pipe smoker has a larger database of references to link to those tastes. Whereas a neophyte doesn't and some blends are just too bizarre.
That said, and I still don't get rose geranium oils in lakelands. I can tolerate and maybe even enjoy some of the other lakeland essences, except rose geranium. I even have a hard time "understanding" when someone else says that they enjoy the rose geranium. It just doesn't process in mind. My brain screams, "Why the hell would someone want to smoke granny's soaps?" In what world is that OK? It's not, so stop it!! Throw that shit out!!

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

The BriarWorks Sweet Tea actually wasn't bad. As I sat there pumping it around in my mouth and retrohaling it slowly, I could get the sweet tea taste, but not quite like the sweet tea I like. More of like an oriental style of tea, but it wasn't all that bad and I would order it.
Cosmic, I have smoked quite a few latakia involved blends and I'm just starting to venture out into Virginias and Burleys a little more, but of everything I have smoked to date, this one just didn't seem right. I mean, it really did feel like smoking two different tobaccos at the same time and that was just odd to me. If it ever happens again, I'll likely find the same issue with it, but for now, this one ain't for me. As much as I think I might enjoy it if I came back to it, I'm really not too sure. Would I try it again sometime in the future? Maybe. But then again, with so many other really good blends I have found to love, I don't know if I'd want to risk it.

 

[olkofri]

Please do not try the bacon one.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Tried the Bacon Old Fashioned when it came out in 2015. I like it.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/briarworks-and-campd-change-gears-in-packaging#post-887610

 

[mikethompson]

Well at least you tried it Matt. It could have easily been one of your favorites.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

Hrmmm, seems to be a mixed consensus on the Bacon Old Fashioned. I might try it just so I know for myself. I like trying everything I can to discover what I like and don't like, since everyone is different just as Embers and Olkofri just demonstrated.
Mike, right you are! Anything I haven't tried could my favorite or my least favorite, but you never know until you try. It's just like with me and movies. I disagree with the critics on just about every movie I like to watch. Maybe I have poor taste in movies, but that's alright by me because it's what I like!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I disagree with the critics

Movies and my tobacco, I select the same way, mostly. My wife and I will do a dinner and then just walk over to the theater and select whatever looks best on the posters. Of course, I don't have to go to dinner before selecting a random tobacco at The Briary, but there are getting to be less and less tobaccos that I haven't tried on the shelf there. But, of course I avoid the rated G movies and aromatics... for the same reasons. ::

 

[davet]

Just the name alone ruled it out for me... I mean seriously? :roll:

 

[condorlover1]

Cosmic - Rose Geranium aka Auntie Mabels Bath Mat is great stuff and I have been smoking it in one form or another for 30+ years and it has done me no harm yet! You all know my opinion on Royal Yuck and there are quite a few other blends that spring to mind that I would sooner turn into compost rather than smoke. To me the crown turd of pipe tobacco is the new Gold 'Schlock' Block which I sampled in Chicago and from Jim Inks and discovered you could use it for RYO purposes but in a pipe it burnt too hot and was far too wet. Probably designed to be paired with a Philly Blunt wrapper and some other nameless magic herb! :rofl:

 

[bnichols23]

30+ years and it has done me no harm yet!

You're, er, sure about that, right?
Bill

 

[condorlover1]

Quite sure Bill!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Rose Geranium aka Auntie Mabels Bath Mat is great stuff and I have been smoking it in one form or another for 30+ years and it has done me no harm yet!

You are the one shinning exception to the rule. I am 100% certain that it makes you the man you are today. And, who cares about tomorrow, right? ::

 

[mso489]

This sounds like a blend that you should jar and try again in six months or a year. Age and a little drying can sometimes bring a blend around. Also, sometimes your tastes will have adjusted to be more open to a particular blend. I'd even give it a third try after another aging period. If it still isn't good then, pass it along or put it on the garden as pesticide. Iwan Ries Three Star Blue just tasted a little harsh and not flavorful the first time around, but some months later it just blossomed. I have a tall tin of that on reserve, lovely stuff.

 

[bnichols23]

Quite sure Bill!

Ohhhhhhhh-KAY..... :crazy: }
B

 

[dottiewarden]

I'm not sure why, but I just didn't seem to like it much.

It's bound to happen from time to time.