English Blends: I've seen the light

[danielplainview]

I've been smoking a pipe since 95, and had never been a fan of English blends/ Latakia heavy blends until recently. Less than a year ago I started mixing a tad of Dunhill English, nightcap, and early morning with some of my other burly and virginias. Slowly adding more over time. Smoking a pipe of Dunhill English was like doing a cannonball into a hot tub. It was too much too fast. Mixing it is like gently easing in. I've came up with my own blend that I call Burly Morning Pipe. It's a mix of Lane burly&black with Early Morning Pipe. For Christmas I was gifted a ton of tobacco. Sutliff private stock blend No. 5 is outstanding. It is Latakia heavy without being overbearing. I've almost destroyed the whole tin since Christmas night. I only have a couple bowls left and I'm ordering an 8oz tin ASAP.

English blends I've seen the light.

Any recommendations for a light English blend would be great. The Dunhill blends are still to strong for me as of now, but I'm working on it.

 

[freakiefrog]

Frog Morton aka frog on a log, Frog Morton across the Pond, Dunhill "My My Mixture 965"

 

[pitchfork]

I'm not a big fan of Latakia, either, but I love EMP and 965. Another favorite of mine is Chelsea Morning. I wouldn't call it "light," but it is fairly light on the Latakia, with a good VA base. McClelland's Jubilee is another good one with just a bit of Latakia and plenty of soft, mild VAs -- calling it a "light English" doesn't do it justice, but it may be the kind of thing you're looking for.

 

[condorlover1]

Condor?

 

[condorlover1]

I couldn't resist that one! :rofl:

 

[phil67]

There was a time where I couldn't stand Latakia much less the smell of it, but that has changed over time. As a matter of fact I'm smoking a bowl of Squadron Leader as I type this.
Condor?............... NEVER! :wink:

 

[texmexpipe]

Mississippi River is a nice blend, it also has some nice sweetness to it. C&D Epiphany is also a nice blend.

 

[griffonwing]

I am of a similar vein when it comes to Burley. I purchased some Old Dark Fired and for some reason, I just dont have the acquired taste for it. I am now cellaring the rest of the 1oz in a jar, and will go back to it in the spring. Perhaps the aged virginia will help lessen the flavor of the burley. Or, perhaps, my tastes might alter between now and then.

 

[mso489]

So many good English blends. A few of my favorites are Nightcap and 965, already mentioned. I like the

Latakia as a strong supporting player but not the dominant leaf. One of the loveliest, most refined English

blends is Nat Sherman 536, and recently I discovered the C&D Stratfordshire which is outstanding. But

there are so many, from the Frogs, to GLP Westminster, and Sutliff's Westminster which is well tuned, and

Altadis Fox and Hound. And many, many more.

 

[bphilli75]

Sutliff Medium English is very nice, and you can get it very reasonably priced, in bulk.

 

[yazamitaz]

I agree with PS English Luxury and Squadron Leader, but need to add PS Proper English and PS English Oriental to the mix

 

[crusher47]

Drew Estate Meat Pie

 

[glpease]

Any recommendations for a light English blend would be great. The Dunhill blends are still to strong for me as of now, but I'm working on it.

Since you'll get, and have gotten, some recommendations that apparently ignore the word "light," I figured I'd chime in. (Though I certainly appreciate Westminster being suggested, it's as far from light as I can imagine.)
Ashbury and Piccadilly, in that order, are both on the light end of the spectrum, while Chelsea Morning, with its not insignificant addition of orientals, is sort of on the medium side of light. If I was making the choice, it would probably be Piccadilly. Samarra is in the medium part of the spectrum, but has a lot of complexity and is really nicely balanced. Ditto for Quiet Nights, if you enjoy flakes.
Just some thoughts.

 

[papipeguy]

A classic light English is Presbyterian. Some may argue that it's more of an Oriental but it's a fine blend nevertheless and will not overwhelm you in the latakia department.

 

[hierophant]

Squadron Leader is a decent English that is light on the latakia. I didn't love it at first, but by the time I'd worked my way through the tin it had grown on me.

 

[newbroom]

Light? Schmicht! WhiteKnight! or Balkan Sasieni, or Knightcap...I've got some Newminster 52 that blends into a nice smoke or all by itself...and the price is RIGHT!

 

[bulldogbriar89]

Frog morton, Frog Morton Cellar, and Dunhill My mixture965

 

[menuhin]

The current "made in EU" Dunhill early morning pipe is very mild English, nice tobacco with some Danish touch to it in my opinion. It is even milder in the English dimension than Frog Morton for me.

 

[hakchuma]

For me Missisppi River was the tobacco that put a light over my head and said 'So this is why people smoke tobacco other than aromatics' and I get it now!
I like the sweetness of virginia in it so much that I have added to my TAD a good amount of Navy Flake and I am sure I will like it.
One thing I've noticed. All the latakia blends I have tried never seem to have the amount of latakia I was hoping for. I've only tried about 8 so far though. Maybe I should just try a straight latakia.