I really wanted to like this....

Before you cash it in try it in a few different size bowls.

I've found EMP that little bit too heavy with latakia. Presbyterian mix has a subtle amount present. EMP has it in a much higher quantity.

That said, as time went on, I grew to appreciate EMP. Maybe if you tried Old Dublin for a while, EMP might seem a little more palatable.

Usually, if I'm getting a nasty cigarette flavor from a Va based blend, it's because I'm smoking too fast. That being said, I didn't care for the new EMP as much as the original.

I don’t think burley is responsible for the cigaretty taste, Virginias dominate the cigarette fuel, Marlboro’s are Virginia forward with burley and orientals in a supporting role.

I am thinking that the cigaretty taste is more from their processing practices.

Interesting. I've always heard cigs are mostly burley. Searching for information on the subject, I'm finding that most burley is used in cigs, but nothing on whether or not cigs are mostly burley. Those aren't the same thing. Most Ecuadoran Sumatra tobacco is used in cigars, but cigars are not mostly Ecuadoran Sumatra.

Although I'm not finding anything that actually says this, I would imagine most Virginia is used in cigs, too, just by the sheer volume of cigs produced compared to any other tobacco product. That wouldn't tell me cigs are mostly Virginias.

So, based on that 2 minutes of searching, at least, I don't know what the predominant tobacco in cigs is. All I can say is I've always heard it's burley.

Helpful, but not really clear on the point, either. There are Virginia cigs (which I didn't know, so that's useful), but the blended ones have the lion's share of the market in this country, and the page doesn't address the proportions of the 3 tobaccos in those. 

Then you've not read enough 1-star tobacco reviews. Yes, people have varying tastes.

Oh I forgot to mention the Mother's Liquor process. After the tobacco stems are reconstituted and liquefied with the floor scraps it's dried out in long sheets. Then it's chopped up into thin strips to look like tobacco ribbon. That's what half a cigarette is. PH adjusting chems, burn rate chems, and extra nicotine are added to the liquid before it's dried.

^Similar story for me.

Dunhill by the pound was incredibly cheap some years back, and I bought it in bulk, Nightcap, My Mixture 965, EMP. Mostly all in 2014.
I rarely smoke them, but find them better now than when fresh, I like the Latakia more when it is muted.

I have been doing the same on any releases, because those that have purchased releases and opened them when asked, "It is good but it will benefit with aging"...(I heard that a lot with MacB Birds of a Feather releases). 

Recently someone mentioned that they preferred Orlik Golden Sliced fresh because it has more of the hay-like, grassy taste...so I cracked a tin with 8 years on it. I agree, that one I prefer fresh...still good, just not as good., less prone to bite the tongue though.

The Frog Morton Cellar was better fresh to me, but that's probably the latakia. It's still pretty good aged though. The stuff I'm smoking is 6 years old now.

Where the heck have you been?? 😁
I have 8 tins left.

Yes, I have had that experience early on in my pipe smoking life. I bought a well known drugstore brand of tobacco only to experience tongue bite, and a raspberry glop at the bottom of my pipe bowl at the end of my smoke. I never have bought that particular pipe tobacco since.

More often though, I've been supremely underwhelmed by some blends I've tried. That is my more typical experience.