Zanaspus
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2009
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I've recently learned something about my tobacco tastes that struck me as both revelationary and bizarre, and I'm just curious if anyone out there is "afflicted" with similar tastes.
First a little history. I've always loved burley tobacco and soon thereafter Virginias and Va/Pers (although not Bur/Pers). Sure, sure, I smoked a lot of English blends because I kind of thought to be a "proper" pipe smoker one must enjoy these as well. But to be honest, I never "loved" most English blends. Light Englishes were ok to me, but heavier ones just never quite gave me that spike of enjoyment. I always chalked this up to, "I guess I just don't like Latakia." This aversion never stopped me from buying and trying as I figured since there were so many it must surely be a problem with me. There were a few I liked ok. Red Rapparree, Pirate Kake, and Meridian come to mind.
Enter Lancer Slices. I smoked my first bowl of this and was completely blown away. Quick check of the blend notes indicated that there were no Orientals in this mixture. EPIPHANY!! (Pardon the pun as that's a light English I quite like). I "knew" at this point that it was not Latakia I hated, so the mystery putrid ingredient must be Oriental tobacco. Finally I "knew" what did and didn't push my buttons in the world of tobacco.....or so I thought.
Fast forward to October 2018. As I was putting together a tobacco order I threw in four ounces of Oriental Silk. You might ask why. I've always thought it was a good thing to challenge one's tastes, to disseminate the whats and wherefores of my palate. I always hated aromatics, but I still occasionally smoke them as I kind of feel to be intelligent about one's likes, one needs to be able to speak intelligently about them. I've even found a couple of those silly things I can enjoy. But I digress. Fast forward to my first several bowls of Oriental Silk, and I'm kind of blown away at how much I like this stuff. I now realize that I probably shouldn't be when I take into account my enjoyment of Meridian and Red Rapparree.
So I now feel like I don't in any way dislike Latakia and I don't in any way dislike Orientals, I just don't like heavy amounts of each blended together. So my conundrum, realizing that 99% of all popular English blends contain a heavy smattering of both leaves is, "I must certainly be about the only person in the pipe-smoking world who is offended by generous amounts of both." If this weren't the case, there'd be a whole lot more Va/Lats and Va/Orientals on the market.
Excuse the long-winded rambling. I'm just curious. Is there anyone else out there who shares this taste preference profile? One always hates to feel one is alone in this world. I'm just curious.
First a little history. I've always loved burley tobacco and soon thereafter Virginias and Va/Pers (although not Bur/Pers). Sure, sure, I smoked a lot of English blends because I kind of thought to be a "proper" pipe smoker one must enjoy these as well. But to be honest, I never "loved" most English blends. Light Englishes were ok to me, but heavier ones just never quite gave me that spike of enjoyment. I always chalked this up to, "I guess I just don't like Latakia." This aversion never stopped me from buying and trying as I figured since there were so many it must surely be a problem with me. There were a few I liked ok. Red Rapparree, Pirate Kake, and Meridian come to mind.
Enter Lancer Slices. I smoked my first bowl of this and was completely blown away. Quick check of the blend notes indicated that there were no Orientals in this mixture. EPIPHANY!! (Pardon the pun as that's a light English I quite like). I "knew" at this point that it was not Latakia I hated, so the mystery putrid ingredient must be Oriental tobacco. Finally I "knew" what did and didn't push my buttons in the world of tobacco.....or so I thought.
Fast forward to October 2018. As I was putting together a tobacco order I threw in four ounces of Oriental Silk. You might ask why. I've always thought it was a good thing to challenge one's tastes, to disseminate the whats and wherefores of my palate. I always hated aromatics, but I still occasionally smoke them as I kind of feel to be intelligent about one's likes, one needs to be able to speak intelligently about them. I've even found a couple of those silly things I can enjoy. But I digress. Fast forward to my first several bowls of Oriental Silk, and I'm kind of blown away at how much I like this stuff. I now realize that I probably shouldn't be when I take into account my enjoyment of Meridian and Red Rapparree.
So I now feel like I don't in any way dislike Latakia and I don't in any way dislike Orientals, I just don't like heavy amounts of each blended together. So my conundrum, realizing that 99% of all popular English blends contain a heavy smattering of both leaves is, "I must certainly be about the only person in the pipe-smoking world who is offended by generous amounts of both." If this weren't the case, there'd be a whole lot more Va/Lats and Va/Orientals on the market.
Excuse the long-winded rambling. I'm just curious. Is there anyone else out there who shares this taste preference profile? One always hates to feel one is alone in this world. I'm just curious.
