Should You Give Blends A Second Or Even Third Chance?

[odobenus]

I strive to be better about this--changing body chemistry is real and taste can be fickle-- but I have the unfavorable habit of passing judgment after 2 or 3 bowls max and then burning the bridge. Too many blends I like to mess around with ones I'm pretty sure I don't, and cellar space is finite.

 

[lawdawg]

I just took my own advice and revisted GLP's Quiet Nights. I'm about 2/3 through a pipeful right now and am enjoying it much more than I recall. I loved GLP's Westminster from the first bowl, and with fall approaching, I've dug my latakia blends out of the cellar recently. I first tried Quiet Nights last year and thought it was okay, so I smoked about half the tin and jarred the rest. In retrospect, I think I dried it too much and packed it too firmly previously. Now I'm finally getting the plum-figgy undertones from the perique that give this (and Nightcap) their unique flavor profiles.

The fact that drying, preparation, and packing technique can have such an effect on the smoking experience is at least part of why it's important to smoke more than two or three bowls before forming an opinion. Quiet Nights, for me, just went from pretty good to two enthusiastic thumbs up. Guess I'll have to smoke a few more tins and see what I think

 

[gamzultovah]

For me, I notice weather has a lot to do with how a tobacco tastes. For instance, in the summer, I can not smoke a Latakia blend. Something about it just tastes foul. But in the winter, Latakia is my go to tobacco. I love the billows of smoke and the aroma of a well stoked fireplace that Latakia brings. In the summer, I stick with certain aromatics and Virginias...

Now, if I truly cannot stand a blend by the third try, I don't give it another chance...I just give it away.

 

[writingraav]

okay but can we draw the line at deer tongue?

Definitely not. Crooner is one of my regular blends. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[Waning Embers]

okay but can we draw the line at deer tongue?

I've been smoking deer tongue blends nearly exclusively for the past couple of weeks. Loaded a Kriswill with nine year old Crooner for work today.

 

[stogie37]

Usually a couple of uninspiring bowls and it sits for about 3 months. Two more bowls that disappoint and it becomes part of my blending stock. When it comes to Latakia blends, I’ve found adding equal parts C&D Bright Flake and Turkish/Ismir almost always yields an enjoyable light Balkan.

 

[alexnc]

Yes you should. I’m pretty impatient, but I’ll give it at least 3 or 4 trials before I shelve it. I can’t go through a whole tin I don’t like. But there’s several I liked a lot on a revisit.