Dunhill my mixture 965 THE BIG LETDOWN?!?!!!!

[pipesmoker09]

okay brothers tonight I tried a new tin of about 4 different i purchased from pipes and cigars.... Tonight I tried for the first time Dunhill my mixture 965 I popped open the tin after dinner and took a bowls worth out to let air dry for a little bit... I must say the smell of this blend is absolutely incredible loved it!!! I even grabbed one of my favorite savinelli pipes for this "event".... okay poured me a nice glass of glenmoragnie 12 year and lit up.. Upon taking my first draw i noticed an incredibly bland flavor just maybe a hint of virginia and thats about it somewhat disapointed but didnt give up hope... quarter of the way through same thing... I took my tamper/scraper and emptied it right into the ashtray downed my glass of scotch and grabed my computer and here I am... My question to you guys is has anyone else experienced this as well with this mixture?? Also for the brothers who have been smoking for a while is the mixture 965 today the same in taste and make as those of the murray and older blends of yesteryear?

cheers
Mike

 

[williamcharles]

okay brothers tonight I tried a new tin of about 4 different i purchased from pipes and cigars.... Tonight I tried for the first time Dunhill my mixture 965 I popped open the tin after dinner and took a bowls worth out to let air dry for a little bit... I must say the smell of this blend is absolutely incredible loved it!!! I even grabbed one of my favorite savinelli pipes for this "event".... okay poured me a nice glass of glenmoragnie 12 year and lit up.. Upon taking my first draw i noticed an incredibly bland flavor just maybe a hint of virginia and thats about it somewhat disapointed but didnt give up hope... quarter of the way through same thing... I took my tamper/scraper and emptied it right into the ashtray downed my glass of scotch and grabed my computer and here I am... My question to you guys is has anyone else experienced this as well with this mixture??

No. I've always had consistantly good smokes from Dunhill MM965.

Also for the brothers who have been smoking for a while is the mixture 965 today the same in taste and make as those of the murray and older blends of yesteryear?
To me the new Orlik made 965 isn't exactly like the Murray made 965 but it's so close I don't worry about it anymore.

cheers
Mike

 

[puros_bran]

So you tried one quarter of one bowl and declare it bad??

Really?

 

[Carlos]

Jar it. Let it get some age on it.

 

[SteveHorsfall]

I've never tried 965, but there are some tobaccos which you have to smoke for a while before you really 'get' them. St Bruno was one for me. I thought it was rubbish at first, but now I love it.

 

[monbla256]

okay brothers tonight I tried a new tin of about 4 different i purchased from pipes and cigars.... Tonight I tried for the first time Dunhill my mixture 965 I popped open the tin after dinner and took a bowls worth out to let air dry for a little bit... I must say the smell of this blend is absolutely incredible loved it!!! I even grabbed one of my favorite savinelli pipes for this "event".... okay poured me a nice glass of glenmoragnie 12 year and lit up.. Upon taking my first draw i noticed an incredibly bland flavor just maybe a hint of virginia and thats about it somewhat disapointed but didnt give up hope... quarter of the way through same thing... I took my tamper/scraper and emptied it right into the ashtray downed my glass of scotch and grabed my computer and here I am... My question to you guys is has anyone else experienced this as well with this mixture?? Also for the brothers who have been smoking for a while is the mixture 965 today the same in taste and make as those of the murray and older blends of yesteryear?

cheers
Mike

Having been a smoker of 965 for over 30+ years and recently tried some of the "newer" Orlik blended version I would have to say it's VERY,VERY close to the older Murray version. Maybe not as "full" nor as nuanced as the older version, but it still has the same smoking qualities as the older version had and is definately worthy of being called "965" . I still have several tins of the Murray version from 1982 to finish up and after 20 years even these are "not like" they used to be. They have a smoother, richer, less sharp flavor to them than I recall my "fresh" tins from back then. It never was an "in your face" strong tobacco, rather a full, nuanced and varied flavor blend which was it's forte so to speak.
As for why it doesn't come across as what you thought, different tobacco's react to different folks in different ways. Most of our dissapointment really comes from our "expectations" that we develop from various sources. If you want to try it again, try putting any "expectations" you had about this blend away and enjoy it for what IT is ! JMHO

 

[jlong]

I agree with monbla. Often times you need to smoke half a dozen bowls or so before the flavors come through. It's common for them to taste bland at the first crack or 1/4 bowl as you put it. Seasoning of the pallate has some to do with it I'm sure. Hard to say.

 

[KevinM]

Possible that 965 isn't yoour cup of tea, so to speak. Or it's possible that whatever you smoked in the pipe previously left a footprint that didn't go with your 965. But the above comments about p a t i e n c e are well taken. I'd say it's unusual to smoke half a bowl of a new tobacco and be totally smitten. Give it a chance. Probably the indians invented the saying about life being a search for the perfect pipe tobacco.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I have been told countless times MM965 does wonders with age. I have a couple of tins, one I'm waiting to dig into at the one-year mark, the other at the two-year mark. I await in patient anticipation.

Shockingly, I agree with much of the above--there's something to giving a blend or a mixture a chance--1/4 bowl really can't do it...

...except...

...sometimes, there's a method of curing, spray of some kind of essence or simply a kind of tobacco I don't like. When detected, I'm quite alright with tossing out the bowl in disgust, and setting aside the tobacco for another time (or portioning it out for others to try). It's okay not to like something, but if it's a matter of blandness, an "I don't get it," or general uncertainty, that's a key you need to have some more conversations with it.

It's fine not to like something, but it's also fine to give things a chance--no one has a perfect palette. 8)

 

[PipeLeisure]

A new tin of 965 can be a little moist, let it dry out a tad and try again, it might help. Also 965 needs to be smoked very gently so take your time with it.
Maybe try a differant pipe with it also.

 

[pipesmoker09]

Thank you all for your replies and comments I think here in a couple of weeks I shall try to fire another bowl up and give the whole bowl the benefeit of the doubt.... if it is still not my cup of tea I set it aside and forget it for a good while and try it down the road...
Thanks again for the comments

 

[Carlos]

Y'all may recall I got quite the huge package at Secret Santa last year. In there was recent production 965. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good it is. I had been smoking on jars of bulk obtained at various times. And that sampled in a boxpass never really tripped my trigger. But that tin was great. Very flavorful.

Fast forward to today. Dug an older tin out that I knew was near the top of the pile. 2002. Different, but similar, and just as flavorful. The bulk in jars had been bland. But I opened one that got some years on it and the change was dramatic. When they are this good, they do not last long around here.

 

[riff raff]

I'm fan and have a jar reserved for MM965. It has just the right nic level for me (about my max) and I like the smokiness. It is definitely better with some age and drying.

 

[mattia76]

It let me down too!!!!
For years I saw everyone going on and on across the message boards about this and when I finally tried it...not for me at all. I thought it would be like beer and over the years my tastes would mature (I started out hating Guinness and now it is sweet, sweet nectar.)

But no. A friend even gave me a jar of 965 he had aging for 10 years. It was better, but not great like a slow-sipped FVF or a nice fat bowl of Penzance if you haven't had it for a month or so.

I've also found that I don't like Squadron Leader or Early Morning Pipe or Chelsea Morning, but really enjoy Nightcap and Westminster. What up with that?

 

[riff raff]

I've also found that I don't like Squadron Leader or Early Morning Pipe or Chelsea Morning, but really enjoy Nightcap and Westminster. What up with that?

I fear we have oddball tastes... I love MM965 and Chelsea Morning but Squadron and EMP don't do anything for me. Lestrout was shocked I couldn't abide Old Dublin when I gave me tin to him. (know the other Englishes I enjoy). That is why I only buy one tin at a time. I do jar a blend I don't care for on the initial smoke and let it sit a while before passing final judgement. Boswells "Northwoods" won me over using that method. In fact, I find Northwoods smokes very similarly to the new MM965, anyone else?