Same story with me as well. The first blend I ever smoked was Penzance, long ago when you could find it in stock. I was a cigar smoker and asked the fellow in the shop to recommend a blend that tasted like a La Gloria Cubana cigar. He handed me the Penzance, slod me a basket pipe and I was off. Stuck with heavy latakia for quite a while....years. I fell off the whole thing for about a year, when I came back, I tried a tin of McClelland 27 and it was Life Changing!!!! I finally understood the love affair with Virginias. sine then, I have found my way back to more subtle Latakia blends, Bob's Chocolate Flake, EMP, and GLP Piccadilly are among my favorites