PSA - Sometimes Your Favorite Blend Stops Being Your Favorite

[npod]

Many of you know that Savinelli Doblone d'Oro was my favorite blend for a long time. I wrote about it many times here. The desert island smoke. The one! The match for old 3 Nuns. The perfect VaPer. And on and on and on ...
A few months ago I discussed how the blend changed for me. It started to taste like a cigarette.
Well. I've tried different pipes and also drying. Then I opened older tins and compared to freshly purchased tin. All the secret Ninja magic and pixie dust haven't worked either. Unfortunately, it's off. No matter what I do the smoke just tastes like an ashy cigarette or something.
So this is a public service announcement of sorts for the new pipe smokers out there. Sometimes your palate just flat out changes. It happens. Don't fret. Tell the tobacco thank you and move on.

 

[timt]

That's too bad and hopefully just a temporary phenomena. It's one of my top 10 stocked blends and can't imagine it falling out of favor. But, I guess we never know and it's a chance we take when we build a cellar.

 

[cigrmaster]

Neal, I would not be surprised if you stayed away from it for a year or so, it may fall back into favor. Maybe you just od'd on it and your palette is saying how about some variety.
I just recently found Doblone and smoked it fresh for a few weeks. I haven't smoked it in a while because I am kind of addicted to smoking aged tobacco only. Except for the one open tin of Doblonne I have, I am aging the rest and will check it every few years.

 

[mso489]

'Sorry an old favorite has lost its luster. What's clicking for you now, anything special? Jar the former favorite and try it in six months or a year. You might be able to mix it with something that will give it some life, if not the erstwhile favorite it has been.

 

[cachimbero]

I have gotten tired of some favorites and have stopped smoking them. A few months later I have tried them again and the old love resumes. Just take a rest and try again in some time.

 

[npod]

I have 8 pounds of Doblone d'Oro in the cellar. :puffpipe:
This is a GREAT blend and I would still recommend it highly to others. But this story shows that sometimes our palates change. Like @timt mentions, it is a chance we take when building a cellar. This is a good example of how tricky it can be to decide what to spend money on when building a cellar, especially for new pipe smokers. I am technically an experienced pipe smoker with a large cellar and many times give a strong recommendation on this or that tobacco as a "sure bet". But we are all human and sometimes there is no guarantee.

 

[ryeguy]

Doblone d'Oro is a blend that strikes me as similar to cheesecake: I love an occasional slice of cheesecake, but I would never want to eat it every day for dessert, and I certainly wouldn't want it three meals a day. Doblone d'Oro just has so much going on, I feel like it would be easy to overwhelm my palate.
But as to palates flat out changing: The fun thing is (if "fun" is the word) you get to go back and retry all the tobacco's you didn't used to like, because you might get them now.

 

[spartacus]

The pipe smoking adventure continues. On to new horizons! Good luck in your search for the next Savinelli Doblone d'Oro!

 

[dcon]

This is one reason that I advocate variety. I have favorites but, I seldom smoke a favorite more than once a week. I find that they remain favorites this way. Variety adds to my overall enjoyment of pipe smoking. I could smoke one blend more often (and some day I may have to) but, with so many tobaccos available, i find it is still enjoyable to change up and even keep trying blends that I may have previously overlooked.

 

[alaskanpiper]

I have 8 pounds of Doblone d'Oro in the cellar.

GOOD GOD, MAN!!! I don't think I have 8 pounds in my cellar combined!

 

[alexnc]

It will come back for you. Give it good while, I intentionally stay away from my favs and touch on them every few months, staying on the prowl between. I think the only permanent shift I’ve had was a huge disdain for Latakia that’s held for a few years now.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have 8 pounds of Doblone d'Oro in the cellar.
GOOD GOD, MAN!!! I don't think I have 8 pounds in my cellar combined!

I picked up 2 pounds of Doblone d'Oro during the Savinelli 15% off sale a couple of months back. Total cellar is just over 340 pounds. Still haven't cracked a tin of Doblone d'Oro yet.

 

[mikestanley]

For me, the only way a favorite blend ceased to be was because it was discontinued or bastardized. There have been many over the past 30 plus years!

Mike S.

 

[odobenus]

This is an important PSA, Neal, and I thank you for it! Having a weird fickle palate, I take it to heart.

 

[odobenus]

(That being said, I smoked only one blend for 25 years before it occurred to me that I might like others.)

 

[seanv]

It happens and it happens unexpectedly. Sorry to hear about it but as stated give it a year and see what happens.

 

[daytonsean]

Bummer

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Could be a sinus infection. Could be change of season. Could be some pollen in the air. Could be a simple cold. In my experience, a number of things can alter your palette. Give it a month or two and come back to it. Obviously, the tobacco didn't change, something with you did. That's a very high quality blend, you'll like it again.

 

[eddiegrob]

I have a large cellar accumulated over many years. Some blends frequently fall out of favor with me, either because my body chemistry changes or aging changes to the tobacco (and to me too, btw). Equally, others which I didn't like that much that and been relegated to the back reaches of the cellar, are now back on rotation after I found a new liking for them. Taste in pipe tobacco is of a fluid nature that frequently surprises us.

 

[irishearl]

Embers, 340 pounds?! I consider myself to be a fairly heavy pipe smoker and I use 6 pounds about a year. 340 pounds would take me nearly 57 years to consume!