What constitutes a great blend to you?

[Hooligansc]

Been thinking about this a great deal lately? What makes it great to you? Is it the flavor, the tin note? Does it take you to another place or time? an old favorite? Your first time? Personally when this journey started, only smoked aros, in fact one blend almost exclusively, Tinder Box Captain Spice. Time passed, pipes moved to the background, but in a turn of events, two years ago they came to the forefront again. Ordered some of the old faithful, Captain Spice, and.....it just wasn't the same. So that's where the latest adventure started. Picked some new aros, Blue Note, Optimum, 1Q, MB French Vanilla, very good, but they were all missing something. A cigar smoking buddy said, you smoke maduro cigars, try something with burley or an English blend. The flood gates opened. English blends, Latakia heavy Balkans, this is where I belonged. My love of these blends pushed aros to the back. Then the, if you like English, try a VaPer comments came in. They're very good and I like them after aging for at least a year, but English/Balkan held the high ground. And now there's no going back. The cellar has reached 74 blends. 11 of them home blends(10 latakia based and a VaPer). The cool rich smoke of the English/Balkan holds sway.