When I was in DC a couple of weeks ago I wandered into W. Curtis Drapers Tobacconist just for a visit and was surprised to find that they had many Esoterica blends in stock. Knowing how difficult it is to procure any tobacco blended under this label, I secured one tin of everything they had in stock: Pembroke, Margate & And So To Bed. As you can imagine, I could not wait to try each one of these legendary and hard to get blends, and did so at my first possible chance. It’s unfortunate to say that for the second time in my pipe smoking life, I found an entire brand completely unsmokable (the first was ES 4th Generation). To start, I found that I could not get any of these blends to dry out to a satisfactory level. No matter how long I left them in my drying tray (30 minutes being my max) they all retained a fair level of moisture that made them smoke both hot and damp. (I have Margate in a jar at the moment and it is still as moist as the day I opened the tin.) After my second bowlful of each blend, I came to the conclusion that there was no satisfaction to be had, so I traded the remainder of my Pembroke & And So To Bed to a fellow piper and could not give away the Margate even for free...so now it’s jarred and in the dungeon of my cellar.
Other than to vent, here is my question: did I miss something? I currently smoke a wide variety of blends including blends from Dunhill, Lane, McClellan, Solani, Orlik, Peter Stokkebye, Russ Ouellette, Watch City and OTC’s, and while all of them do not make it into my rotation on a monthly basis, I still derive enjoyment from them when they do.
Any thoughts or insights on this subject would be greatly appreciated, as I am baffled.
Other than to vent, here is my question: did I miss something? I currently smoke a wide variety of blends including blends from Dunhill, Lane, McClellan, Solani, Orlik, Peter Stokkebye, Russ Ouellette, Watch City and OTC’s, and while all of them do not make it into my rotation on a monthly basis, I still derive enjoyment from them when they do.
Any thoughts or insights on this subject would be greatly appreciated, as I am baffled.