Underrated Blends

[Scottmi]

I haven't seen this come up in a while.. What are your favorite under rated (or under-smoked) blends that are *ahem* still available?

I'll start with:
4th Generation 1931 Flake
Robert Lewis Wingfield

What do you think more folks should try?

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

D&R Ryback

 

[anotherbob]

lots of them. In fact most of them. It seems like there are always those blends that are hot at the moment. And at best they're more interesting then other blends but not genuinely better.

 

[damacene]

I had a nirvana smoke this morning with Boswell's Pennsylvania Dutch Treat. I feel like aromatics in general are underrated and crapped on online. I get it, I used to crap on them too until I finally figured out how to smoke them...which took almost 14 years of pipe smoking and realizing I needed a pipe with a giant bowl for them to work for me.

 

[wyfbane]

I haven't seen this come up in a while.. What are your favorite under rated (or under-smoked) blends that are *ahem* still available?

I'll start with:
4th Generation 1931 Flake


What do you think more folks should try?

I love this stuff. It is a great smoke. Of course, it is similar to MacB Navy Flake, so I try to age it 5 years before smoking. So good!

Other blends that are overlooked: my favorite goopy aro, Dan Tobacco Devil's Holiday. That stuff is superb.

 

[rakovsky]

When I tried Captain Black Royal and ghosted my pipe with it, the smell built up stronger than from my first bowl of it. With that strong smell, I was surprised how good it seemed, and I wondered, "Why don't more people talk about this and get into it?" But that amazing smell didn't cross over into the taste being nearly so strong, so my interest in it diminished.

When I first smoked Sir Walter Raleigh for the first time, I was surprised that I thought it was a good smoke. I had been passing it over for brands that I expected to be better like Borkum Riff Whiskey based on price, packaging, store clerks' recommendations. It turns out that SWR has a much lower price tag than Borkum Riff Whiskey but somehow came across as very good quality, a delicate, fine smoke.

In general, Oriental-based blends that lack Latakia are a genre that don't get much attention in the pipe world. Orientals are a great genre, but some pipe smokers don't like Latakia. Offhand, Daughter and Ryan's Bulgarian Blend is the only still-selling non-Latakia Oriental blend that comes to mind.

 

[sardonicus87]

I love this stuff. It is a great smoke. Of course, it is similar to MacB Navy Flake, so I try to age it 5 years before smoking. So good!

Other blends that are overlooked: my favorite goopy aro, Dan Tobacco Devil's Holiday. That stuff is superb.

Devil's Holiday is one of my top 5 favorite aros. Maybe top 3. Love that stuff.

 

[Servant King]

Couple of blends from Ashton...Winding Road, a semi-aromatic that is not dissimilar to SWRA, and Gold Rush, my favorite loose cut straight VA.

 

[JoburgB2]

GL Pease Barbary Coast

 

[khiddy]

Cornell & Diehl Cordial is criminally undersmoked. Excellent light Scottish blend in the vein of the old Dunhill Aperitif.

 

[RL Bucktails]

After having tried many different blends, I finally bought a pouch of Captain Black original and surprisingly found that I like it.

 

[rakovsky]

After having tried many different blends, I finally bought a pouch of Captain Black original and surprisingly found that I like it.

I at first chose Cpt Black Royal over it because "Royal" sounded better.
But when I got Cpt Black Original, I found it was good too.

 

[Hutch Piper]

Sutliff Rum & Maple

 

[woodsroad]

Underrated and Overrated have no meaning for me. Taste is subjective and thus so are ratings. I giveth not the rodent's posterior what other people think.

Offhand, Daughter and Ryan's Bulgarian Blend is the only still-selling non-Latakia Oriental blend that comes to mind.

Where is this "still-selling"?

 

[jguss]

Where is this this "still-selling"?

Wayback Machine

web.archive.org

 

[Dave760]

Erik Stokkebye 4th Generation 2012 Anniversary Blend
C&D Or Olam (Light of the Universe)

 

[Wapask]

SixPence and Jackknife Plug from GL Pease imo

 

[anotherbob]

Couple of blends from Ashton...Winding Road, a semi-aromatic that is not dissimilar to SWRA, and Gold Rush, my favorite loose cut straight VA.

I still feel like consumate gentleman is basically a better version of Presbyterian

 

[rakovsky]

Underrated and Overrated have no meaning for me. Taste is subjective and thus so are ratings. I giveth not the rodent's posterior what other people think.

You could have a situation where people have not tried a blend and have an impression of it that is much better or worse than they would have if they had tried it.

I had a lower opinion before I tried SWR than afterwards.
I had passed it up three times for higher priced OTC blends in discount stores based on the look of the packages and the price. I figured that Borkum Riff Whiskey looked more stately, the whiskey part sounded good, and the couple dollars more must meant that it was better. The Discount store owner assured me, "Borkum Riff is a good brand". So I picked B.F. over SWR.
But then when I finally tried SWR, it was as a gift from a friend, and the 2021 batch that I sampled was better than I expected. I liked it chocolate sweet light topping and how light and delicate the blend was.

Where is this "still-selling"?

Woodsroad,

On Tobacco Reviews, the listing for Bulgarian blend said "Production Currently available", so I put down that it's still available. But I don't know for sure.

updating via yoast

www.tobaccoreviews.com

 

[Waning Embers]

Daughter and Ryan's Bulgarian Blend is the only still-selling non-Latakia Oriental blend that comes to mind.

Much like C&D's Izmir and Sutliff's TS24 and TS19, it's less a blend and more of a blending tobacco. There are a few blends though that have orientals without Latakia though Latakia itself is a flavored oriental.