The Most Disappointing Tobacco

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,686
48,848
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Escudo for me as well. I had read so much about it being gold standard. Something in it just hit my tongue wrong. I gave it a few tries and each was the same. I know it's a quality product but it just doesn't taste good to me.
It's not the same product that it was when it was a gold standard.
 

seaweed

Might Stick Around
Aug 2, 2023
71
164
Maine
You'd think that would make them happy, less competition.
My all time favorite flies waaay under the radar, and my two biggest fears are it going out of production (honestly see it talked about so little it just might), and it getting big on here and other forums. I’m so glad people busy themselves with blends I don’t care for.
 

pipingfool

Can't Leave
Sep 29, 2016
369
1,479
Seattle, WA
Most underwhelming blend for me was Chelsea Morning. Nothing against GLP as I love just about every other blend he puts out and my cellar reflects that, but CM just didn't do it for me.

The other has to be Plum Pudding. I like a good many SPC blends, but PP just didn't live up to my expectations since it is one of the most popular English/Balkan blends out there.

But I also like/love several of the blends listed on this thread, so as it's been said...taste is subjective.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JEdwards

ParkitoATL

Can't Leave
Mar 11, 2023
404
1,475
Atlanta, GA
GH&Co.'s Dark blends specifically the Dark Flakes. I tried unscented first, it was like smoking barbecued used tires. I thought maybe scented would be better but sweet jesus it was worse.
Dark Flake is a rough ride. I can smoke some gnarly cigars and am more or less immune to nicotine, but Dark Flake can take me over the edge. I save that for rare Saturday nights when my buzz is near a peak and I want to go into the Fifth Dimension.
 

ParkitoATL

Can't Leave
Mar 11, 2023
404
1,475
Atlanta, GA
I didn't like the Gawith Black Twist. Tasted like burnt steak, to me. I love their various flavoured brown twists, tho.
The first time I smoked Black Twist, I loved it. It was outrageous and wild. Like you said, burnt steak, but actually burnt fat. It blew my mind. The second time I smoked Black Twist, I couldn't get halfway through the bowl, it was more than a bit repulsive. Haven't yet had the stones to light up a third bowl.
 
  • Like
Reactions: smudgersmissingleg

orvet

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jan 1, 2023
238
752
Willamette Valley of Oregon
The last Old Gowrie I smoked was in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Even then it was much better with about 3 to 5 years age. Fresh out of the tin, to me it was always so much hot air that bit my tongue. I haven't tried the new version of Old Gowrie yet, but I would think I would want it to have at least 2-3 years in the cellar before I would even think about smoking it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: autumnfog

pinem

Might Stick Around
Aug 16, 2015
79
126
Nebraska
It was harsh for me. I heard it was comparable to Quite Nights, and it just didn't work for me. I find it interesting in how everyone has their our flavor nuances, as I do smoke a good amount of Quiet Nights.
I had the same reaction to Nightcap. It would always make my mouth feel like parched leather after a smoke. I'm going to let it sit in the jar for another 15 years, and then make a final judgment. I also like Quiet Nights too.

I like And So to Bed now that it's been in the jar for 6 years. It was a tricky blend to smoke when I first got it, though. Both this blend and Nightcap ended up taking up a full page in my notebook to figure out prep, packing, moisture and pipe that would give a half way decent end result.
 

Coreios

Lifer
Sep 23, 2022
1,636
2,722
41
United States Of America
I can’t help it if others like horrible blends.
In the ‘70’s and ‘80’s I smoked quite a bit of BS and 759 and was thrilled when Germain’s brought it back. I bought a stack of tins, popped one open, and fired up a bowl. Tasted like gasoline infused puppy farts! A few puffs and I was done. Fast forward 5 years and I tried it again. Aged gasoline infused puppy farts. Divvied up the tin and gave it to willing victims. I just can’t smoke it without experiencing nausea. It remains a mystery to me why anyone would willingly smoke it. Must be the name and the tin art, because the contents resemble real Balkan Sobranie about as much as I resemble Taylor Swift.
I never had the original, but BS 759 Match is my favorite English. How close is it to the original if you've tried it? I heard WhiteKnight was made from all the ingredients the original blender could remember. I haven't tried that one yet and I don't know if thats true.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
20,686
48,848
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I never had the original, but BS 759 Match is my favorite English. How close is it to the original if you've tried it? I heard WhiteKnight was made from all the ingredients the original blender could remember. I haven't tried that one yet and I don't know if thats true.
Haven’t tried the Sutliff match so I can’t comment on it, but about 8 years ago I ran an ABC comparison between White Knight, Germain’s Balkan Sobranie, and some 35 year old Gallaher made Balkan Sobranie and White Knight was much closer to the 80’s Balkan Sobranie than the current Germain’s iteration.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yanoJL

Coreios

Lifer
Sep 23, 2022
1,636
2,722
41
United States Of America
Haven’t tried the Sutliff match so I can’t comment on it, but about 8 years ago I ran an ABC comparison between White Knight, Germain’s Balkan Sobranie, and some 35 year old Gallaher made Balkan Sobranie and White Knight was much closer to the 80’s Balkan Sobranie than the current Germain’s iteration.
Thanks I'm definitely giving that a try. lol took me a minute to recognize you with your new pic, its great!
 
  • Like
Reactions: sablebrush52

Tbaggins

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 15, 2021
789
13,148
Montana
Plum pudding didn’t blow my hair back.
Marlin flake i wanted to like but no matter what tasted like hot air.
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,324
13,903
37
Lower Alabama
I take hype or lack thereof with a huge grain of salt. I look at the category and listed stuff and go from there. There's been some I love that most are like "eh, it was OK" while others were highly praised and I couldn't see why. But everyone's tastes are different.

C&D's Blockade Runner and Black Frigate were both a little disappointing to me. They weren't bad, just both felt like they were missing something. I had expected a little more from them, but I wouldn't put them in a "most disappointing" category. I could see myself smoking them as all-day blends if I were in a position to just smoke a pipe all day instead of cigarettes.

So far, Peter Stokkebye English Luxury (No.17) is the only one I can say was truly disappointing. I had no expectations for it and it really just was bleh. Like it just wasn't good at all, to me, for anything. The only tobacco I ever threw away.
 

shermnatman

Lifer
Jan 25, 2019
1,030
4,869
Philadelphia Suburbs, Pennsylvania
For me, nothing will ever match the gut-wrenching and olfactory-obliterating experience of the time I opened a tin of D&R's London Dock.

To each his own; but, I will never forget the overwhelming pungent chemical Cherry odor of Pink Urinal Cake suddenly filling the room upon opening that accursed tin of pure malevolence.

The shock was doubly so, as I am very big fan of most of Mark and Marks's offerings (before D&R's vast catalog and selection of offerings were cut-back).

Screenshot 2023-09-13 6.53.19 AM.png
"Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Dare Enter Here..."

And would you believe it, that your friend and humble narrator, actually muscled through one-half of a bowl of this wicked weed, just to give it a fair try; until I cried "Uncle!!!!". I had to get the damn tin out of the house, as the horrid chemical Cherry odor emanating from having opened the tin was permeating everything. I took it out to the trash can in the garage, and just sitting in the trash can for two days, took well over a month to get that stink out of our garage - which is pretty bad considering this horror was competing with the typical garage smells of gas cans, lawn mowers, and 2-cycle chain saw odors - none of which could compete with The S.S. Urinal Cake.

- Sherm '
Barf Bag' Natman
 

David D. Davidson

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 19, 2023
200
775
Canada
This thread being 7 pages long and the Name a Favorite thread is only 16 posts, shows that we all enjoy talking about what we are disgusted with more so than what we love.
I think it's just more fun to talk about being disgusted.
A phenomenon as old as humanity itself. I guarantee during the last ice age we were daring our buddies to go smell that rotten mammoth over there. Everyone loves to talk about things that gross them out!