Strange How Ones Taste Changes.

[durham270]

When I first started smoking pipes I was buying aromatics. Smoked strictly those for months then picked up a few Vapers. I liked them ok. Then tried a few English blends with Latakia and thought oh wow I hate this flavor with a passion and will never get use to it. After all Latakia is what seriously devoted pipe smokers smoke, right? I had to keep trying and sampling blends. After trying again a few times I've come to LOVE English blends.
English blends are now all I want to smoke! Presently I'm using Peter Stokkebye Luxury English, English Oriental Supreme, Proper English, C&D's Engine #99, Sutliff Private Stock Berkshire and McClelland's Morton's Cellar.
Can anyone suggest a few more blends which are heavily laced with Latakia which I might enjoy even more? I'm looking for something with a lot of Latakia but still slightly sweet from Virginia. Maybe even an English/Aromatic (latakia) blend if it's made. Does that sound crazy?

 

[rmbittner]

Durham:
Not to send you on a futile mission, but you might really enjoy Esoterica's Margate. Big with latakia but tempered with a dose of black cavendish. Along similar lines, you might also really enjoy Dunhill's My Mixture 965 (which is a lot easier to get ahold of).
I'll also recommend Rattray's Black Mallory and 3 Noggins, Dan Tobacco's Gordon Pym (which may not have quite the sweetness you're looking for), Samuel Gawith's Perfection (which has an added vanilla essence that makes it smoke quite similarly to Frog Morton on the Town, but with a bit less sweetness).
I'll also suggest trying a blend that includes some Syrian latakia, which isn't sweeter than Cyprian latakia but which has a more floral taste/aroma that really enhances a blend's natural sweetness, I think. (One of my favorites is Brebbia's Preludio Mixture No. 60.) Of course, you should also thoroughly enjoy the Frog Morton tobaccos, which combine a cavendish-treated latakia with McClelland's outstanding Virginias; my favorites are FM on the Town and FM across the Pond (which also includes Syrian leaf).
Bob

 

[neverknowsbest]

I posted in another thread this same list for very robust Latakia blends:

...if you want to go off the deep end into the world of Latakia, check out:
Pirate Kake or Star of the East - C&D

Maltese Falcon or Quiet Nights - G.L. Pease

Bill Bailey's Balkan Blend - Dan Tobacco

Ten Russians - Captain Earle's
EDIT: That all of those except for Bill Bailey's are made by C&D isn't a mistake - I think they make some of the most robust English blends available.

 

[fitzy]

Definitely try the other Frogs but also you should try Hearth & Home's Blackhouse, Magnum Opus, 10 to Midnight and Larry's Blend.
All are fantastic blends. Also I know some people recommend Squadron Leader from Sam Gawith.
If you wanted to go on a mission like Bob stated earlier you can also try Esoterica's Penzance. Fantastic but definitely smoother in body than the others mentioned.

 

[mso489]

An aside, but still on the subject, this is why I have misgivings about people trying to stock up

"forever" with many pounds of tobacco. Tastes change. People often start with aromatics, then

advance into English blends, non-blends, Balkan, and so forth, and then often want to vary the

menu with a few aromatics too, and so on. It's the way you wouldn't want to lock in your food

selections for the next five years. You might get tired of your favorite dish of today and want

something very different. People move in and out of traditional and ethnic foods and so on.

Something to consider.

 

[juvat270]

Not to send you on a futile mission, but you might really enjoy Esoterica's Margate. Big with latakia but tempered with a dose of black cavendish.

I'm about 100% sure Margate has no black cavendish in it, but I second your recommendation. :D

 

[cigrmaster]

Gl Pease in my opinion makes some of the best English blends on the market. Also Two Friends Deacons Downfall used to be a favorite.

 

[tennsmoker]

You know, I haven’t paid much attention to how my tastes have changed. Just me, I thought.
Like Roth, I started smoking a pipe in college with over the counter, drugstore blends. My profs smoked that, so I thought it would enlighten me.
Later, I switched to aros for many, many years. Then I switched to English blends, especially 965, C&D, Pease before moving on to Virginias exclusively.
Then, I got a burley bug. Couldn’t get enough of the stuff, and found myself heading back to the OTCs.
Lately, though, it has been VAPers and flakes.
I dunno, maybe down the road, I’ll switch back to aros again, and start all over.
My cellar reflects all of those changes, top to bottom.

 

[ram74]

I started with aromatics because everyone suggested I should, but did not enjoy that gooey hell. Once I smoked my first latakia blend I knew I had found what I like. My current standards are Odyssey, Squadron Leader, Blackhouse, Penzance and Engine #99. Recently I am really starting to love McClelland blends particularly Blue Mountain which is amazing and I can't stop smoking and Syrian Reserve which is like almost like smoking bbq sauce. Also good is Wilderness and Legends.

 

[judcole]

An aside, but still on the subject, this is why I have misgivings about people trying to stock up

"forever" with many pounds of tobacco. Tastes change. People often start with aromatics, then

advance into English blends, non-blends, Balkan, and so forth, and then often want to vary the

menu with a few aromatics too, and so on. It's the way you wouldn't want to lock in your food

selections for the next five years. You might get tired of your favorite dish of today and want

something very different. People move in and out of traditional and ethnic foods and so on.

Something to consider.

These are very wise words, especially for new folks.
To the OP, you might want to try Peterson's Old Dublin. It's not a lat monster, by any means, but has some nice sweetness in there. Although I do enjoy lat monsters now and then, I really like a variety of tastes in lat blends. I've got some Star of the East in the rotation, as well as some Penzance, but there are some easier going lat blends,like Old Dublin and Squadron Leader, as well.

The suggestion to try Syrian latakia is also a good one; I am quite fond of MacBaren's HH Vintage Syrian. Smoky and sweet spicy, but with good orientals, not toppings like a crossover English.

There is a lot to the latakia world besides the lat monsters.

 

[zonomo]

Then tried a few English blends with Latakia and thought oh wow I hate this flavor with a passion and will never get use to it.

I am exactly in this position right now. Been at this for about 4-5 months now. When I have tried the English blends and hated them, I went right back to the aros and I was back in my happy place. When/if that happens, then I guess I stock that up at the prices then. I do have probably have about 2 lbs total of English/Virginias that I am cellaring "just in case". Worst case scenarios, when any of you visit me in Seattle, I'll have some nice HH Mature Virginia ready for you to smoke. ::