This 100 percent. The subjectivity of taste makes reviews as useful as ass hair.
Underrated Blends
- Thread starter Scottmi
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It’s been gone for several years now.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
They also show all the Sutliff and Mac Baren blends as available.
Tobacco Reviews is like a wiki — it’s totally dependent on the users to keep it up to date.
Since Ryback has been mentioned I'll go ahead and toss my favorite blend into the mix. C&D's Big n Burley! It's been my number 1 blend for a few years now and I really don't see many people talk about it. I feel it gets over shadowed by more popular C&D burleys. When It's fresh It's a bit harsh, "jet-fuelly" if you will. When it has 6 months+ of age on it, it's heavenly. I love it fresh and aged and It's just the most enjoyable blend for me. I love that 90% of the time you just taste dark burley and a pinch of Orientals with the perique only being noticeable on the retro hale but on rare occasions the latakia will show it's hand and you realize you were tasting that all along too. To me, Big n Burley is the greatest pipe tobacco ever created.
Not sure if I'd call these underrated, but here are several I like that don't get mentioned a lot...
Cornell & Diehl:
Pirate Kake
Star of the East
Samuel Gawith:
Skiff Mixture
Perfection
Rattray's:
Red Rapparee
Exotic Passion
Peter Stokkebye:
Luxury Twist Flake
Luxury Bullseye Flake
Balkan Supreme
Cornell & Diehl:
Pirate Kake
Star of the East
Samuel Gawith:
Skiff Mixture
Perfection
Rattray's:
Red Rapparee
Exotic Passion
Peter Stokkebye:
Luxury Twist Flake
Luxury Bullseye Flake
Balkan Supreme
I generally agree, but an experienced smoker may give some insight on how a blend compares to others that might be useful to some folks on whether to give it a try. But to your point, I do enjoy a few blends that don't get great ratings. One of the great things about meeting up with fellow pipers at the B&M, besides the social aspect, is being able to sample each others blends without having to buy a tin. That's why I always encourage beginners to join a pipe club or hang out at the B&M to help them find out what they like.
C&D Mad Fiddler would qualify here for you - it contains no Lat, but Virginias, Kasturi leaf, and Perique. The Kasturi leaf has a nice, sweet undertone and comes to the fore in the middle of the smoke, being book ended by the more dominant Perique at the start, and by the Virginias at the close.
Like an ABA musical form. About my favourite all time tobacco.
I'll give you my 3 underrated tobaccos with the following disclaimer that I've hardly tried more than a fraction of what real experienced guys here have smoked.
I've noticed, as well, that hard to get and expensive tobaccos have a snob appeal that more bargain oriented fodder does not. So not from an experience standpoint, but from a practical and personal standpoint, I give to you as my "three stars" (I'm Canadian, eh? and sometimes watch hockey if the NFL isn't on the boob toob
)
1) Smokers' Pride Cherry Cavendish
2) Borkum Riff Black Cavendish
3) TobaccoBarn Cimmeron
4) Runner up - Smoker's Pride Whiskey
I've noticed, as well, that hard to get and expensive tobaccos have a snob appeal that more bargain oriented fodder does not. So not from an experience standpoint, but from a practical and personal standpoint, I give to you as my "three stars" (I'm Canadian, eh? and sometimes watch hockey if the NFL isn't on the boob toob
)1) Smokers' Pride Cherry Cavendish
2) Borkum Riff Black Cavendish
3) TobaccoBarn Cimmeron
4) Runner up - Smoker's Pride Whiskey
My own underrated blend for myself has to be C&D Bayou Morning. I know it's not underrated, but I always stayed away from it because of the massive amounts of perique. When I finally tried it, I was kicking myself for waiting so long. It has become my favorite VaPer.
I had the same experience with Royal Yacht. Heard so many things about “Royal Yuck” over the years. I finally tried it and
. Haven’t smoked it in a good while but it’s in my top 10.
Having just tried a couple of bowls, I’m going to add Sutliff Match Walnut. Delicious.
I agree Mad Fiddler is a very good stuff. For whatever reason I only discovered it a few months ago but it is definitely one my current favorites.C&D Mad Fiddler would qualify here for you - it contains no Lat, but Virginias, Kasturi leaf, and Perique. The Kasturi leaf has a nice, sweet undertone and comes to the fore in the middle of the smoke, being book ended by the more dominant Perique at the start, and by the Virginias at the close.
Like an ABA musical form. About my favourite all time tobacco.
G. L. PeaseLaurel Heights
Not sure if it’s underrated but it doesn’t get a lot of mentions here and it is a tremendous Va/Lat blend. I’m not a super taster so I really like the fact that I taste a bit of grapefruit once in a while as described on the tin notes- I know some folks don’t.
Royal Yuck was my first experience, but now its a treat whenever I set sail.I had the same experience with Royal Yacht. Heard so many things about “Royal Yuck” over the years. I finally tried it and
oh now I get why it's named Cordial. I ignored that one thinking it was a chocolate cherry aromatic.
Peterson's Old Dublin.
A very pleasant smoke, it has been in my regular rotation for quite a while. Those times when I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for I will usually pack a bowl of Old Dublin.
A very pleasant smoke, it has been in my regular rotation for quite a while. Those times when I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for I will usually pack a bowl of Old Dublin.
Yeah, it’s an excellent blend that is tagged with an unfortunately too clever name that leaves people with the entirely wrong impression/expectation. A real case of judging a book by its cover.
To paraphrase the Bard, “Would an English by any other name smoke so sweet?”
Ah. Makes sense. Apertif is a fantastic blend. Will have to try it.
Seldom see SG Commonwealth get a mention, 50/50 Va/Lat might sound coarse but it's a very good no nonsense smoke, which I haven't popped a tin of lately because I just steam right through it.
A few that come to mind, off the cuff:
- F&T Vintage
(CVP gets all the attention, but IMPO "Vintage" -- admittedly a very differently style of VA -- is a far better tobacco than CVP)
- McConnell Black Flake
(Speaking of F&T CVP, if you like that style -- as I do, just not CVP -- then I think that this is like a much better version of it. If you like CVP then you should love Black Flake.)
- Low Country Edisto
(I complained about the loss of McC and then Sutliff Red VAs, and that I didn't love any of the Reds still standing. Then finally I tried this. Guys, if this isn't just un-aged CRF, then it's very close. I would not be surprised if CRF turns out to be just 5YO Edisto. Darn good.)
- Boswell J.M.'s Private Stock
(Nobody ever talks about this lightly topped dark-and-red VaPer flake. Looks like a very dark VaPer, but taste is more dominated by quality Red VA flavor, and it seems to be very lightly topped with something that may be cocoa and red fruit. To me this is one of the great secrets of the pipe tobacco world and I'm surprised that nobody else is catching on!)
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