Same Blend. Looks Completely Different

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Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
I noticed a huge difference in appearance of this new batch when I jarred it. In the picture below, are two different batches of Margate. From the sellers info, the batch shown on the right is a few years old. The left batch is from 2017. All Margate I’ve seen looks pretty dark. So I guess my question is: WTH?



 

lazar

Can't Leave
May 5, 2015
445
3
I would've said age, but the darker should be the older. I had the same experience with Seattle Evening. Like two completely different blends.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
@ lazar
My thoughts exactly. All the Margate I’ve seen has been consistent with the example on the left. I don’t want to put this in stone after just one smoke, but it doesn’t taste the same either. It’s Margate, but tastes like something has been added to the recipe.

 

smokeyweb

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 29, 2013
540
780
Looks like you got some dank leaf... some bunk Margate cut with filler. Bait and switch! Bamboozled!

 

jzbdano

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 7, 2016
244
564
I've got some jarred from 7/2016 and it is similar to the one on the left. That's a bummer that they are so different.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
I don't know the tobacco source or process on this blend, but those could be factors. Different crops, different locations, of the same general varieties might stove quite differently, because of moisture or other variables. Tobacco is like wine in that regard, that no two years, or even different dates of harvest, might come up quite differently, without any misbehavior involved. Or, there's misbehavior involved. Mostly, consumers don't have the experience to make the comparison, so it would get by. Members have commented on how favorite blends change noticeably from purchase to purchase.

 
Mar 29, 2016
1,006
5,540
I had a similar experience, my first bag of Margate was great the second one, a cloying mess. Two of my fellow pipe smokers related the same thing to me. I think the problem relates more to their casing/flavoring application than the leaf itself. Maybe they are trying to compensate for the tobacco quality by applying more of their "secret recipe". This is all speculation on my part of course but after mishaps with And So To Bed, Margate and Kingsbridge and the worshiped Penzance, I have discarded the entire Esoterica Tobacciana line all together. Now J. F. Germain & Son tobaccos are another story.

 
Mar 30, 2014
2,853
78
wv
@cosmic
I’ve actually been smoking my stash of Margate. I knew I was doing it wrong.
So... hoard, gouge, resell? Got it. :)

 

cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
The people who are buying Esoterica to just resell are are angering the pipe gods and their entire cellar is going to be infested with mold. You heard it here first.

 
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