K
klause
Guest
Over the last couple of years I've been extremely fortunate, blessed even, to have been able to try some wonderful tobaccos.
Most have been relatively readily available blends; some new, some reincarnations of long past glories, some just the latest production of a blend that never went away. And, every single one of them has floated my boat - I suppose I'm easily pleased.
However, some have been rarities that I have really had no right to ever expect to sample in this life - blends long since consigned to history - spoken of in hushed, reverential tones, emanating from wide-eyed faces transported in time. Some of these have been the high end, even in their day, while others have been the working mans smoke (overlooked, even now). All of the treasures I've tried have been made available to me by some strange stroke of luck, the kindness of an acquaintance, or by the magic of the internet. All have been sublime, even those that were long past their prime - mainly because it's not just about the tobacco; it's as much about the experience, the timing, the location............the knowing that you are getting to try something very few others will, and that will, as time marches on, eventually be utterly gone.
To try the fabled Sobranie, the sublime 3 Nuns, to taste the Condor Pig Tail, the Gallahers Twist, the astonishing Warhorse - to smoke what my grandfathers smoked, or the dockers who built the titanic (think Gallahers here), or the Tommies who endured the trenches, laid down their lives, and returned to rebuild a new world. The tobaccos that sustained them in their labours, their hour of need, or simply in their rare moments of relaxation. Some smoked in luxury, some in poverty. Different tobaccos for different occasions, for different people, with different expectations, with vastly differing lives and prospects.
I've tasted blends from opposite ends of the spectrum - and it has let me touch, tentatively, history, my ancestors - men better than me, who endured more than I ever have or ever will, or am capable of - men who knew luxury I will never know, or poverty I cannot fully comprehend.
I have been gifted the opportunity to taste their tobaccos in a way that they never could - from a point of relative ease, but most importantly with decades of age, to the point that I don't know if the tobacco could even be considered to be the same as they smoked. It has changed in its tin - it hasn't slumbered, or been in some sort of suspended animation. It has changed, developed, matured; flavours lost, flavours gained - shape edges softened. Would they recognise it? Even if the tin I hold once sat next to the very tin on the tobacconist shelf that they themselves bought with their subsistence wage? They would recognise the tin, the name, the maker, but would they like what was now inside?
We'll never know, eh?
If you could, by some stroke of luck, get your hands on a long gone blend, what would it be, and why that particular blend?
Me? I would like to try JM Barrie's Arcadia. I believe it was Craven Mixture - but, it is long gone, and I have never seen any, anywhere, so I doubt it will happen. No matter - I have been very fortunate, and, most importantly, there are some simply amazing blends out there today, and more coming along all the time.
Most have been relatively readily available blends; some new, some reincarnations of long past glories, some just the latest production of a blend that never went away. And, every single one of them has floated my boat - I suppose I'm easily pleased.
However, some have been rarities that I have really had no right to ever expect to sample in this life - blends long since consigned to history - spoken of in hushed, reverential tones, emanating from wide-eyed faces transported in time. Some of these have been the high end, even in their day, while others have been the working mans smoke (overlooked, even now). All of the treasures I've tried have been made available to me by some strange stroke of luck, the kindness of an acquaintance, or by the magic of the internet. All have been sublime, even those that were long past their prime - mainly because it's not just about the tobacco; it's as much about the experience, the timing, the location............the knowing that you are getting to try something very few others will, and that will, as time marches on, eventually be utterly gone.
To try the fabled Sobranie, the sublime 3 Nuns, to taste the Condor Pig Tail, the Gallahers Twist, the astonishing Warhorse - to smoke what my grandfathers smoked, or the dockers who built the titanic (think Gallahers here), or the Tommies who endured the trenches, laid down their lives, and returned to rebuild a new world. The tobaccos that sustained them in their labours, their hour of need, or simply in their rare moments of relaxation. Some smoked in luxury, some in poverty. Different tobaccos for different occasions, for different people, with different expectations, with vastly differing lives and prospects.
I've tasted blends from opposite ends of the spectrum - and it has let me touch, tentatively, history, my ancestors - men better than me, who endured more than I ever have or ever will, or am capable of - men who knew luxury I will never know, or poverty I cannot fully comprehend.
I have been gifted the opportunity to taste their tobaccos in a way that they never could - from a point of relative ease, but most importantly with decades of age, to the point that I don't know if the tobacco could even be considered to be the same as they smoked. It has changed in its tin - it hasn't slumbered, or been in some sort of suspended animation. It has changed, developed, matured; flavours lost, flavours gained - shape edges softened. Would they recognise it? Even if the tin I hold once sat next to the very tin on the tobacconist shelf that they themselves bought with their subsistence wage? They would recognise the tin, the name, the maker, but would they like what was now inside?
We'll never know, eh?
If you could, by some stroke of luck, get your hands on a long gone blend, what would it be, and why that particular blend?
Me? I would like to try JM Barrie's Arcadia. I believe it was Craven Mixture - but, it is long gone, and I have never seen any, anywhere, so I doubt it will happen. No matter - I have been very fortunate, and, most importantly, there are some simply amazing blends out there today, and more coming along all the time.
. Seriously, I came to pipesmoking later in life so I have no baseline to compare today's tobacco selections and if given similar opportunity to sample one of the long gone labels, I'd for sure enjoy it but wouldn't have the appreciation for what I was tasting as some of the more seasoned pipe smokers would. I do consider myself fortunate enough though as there are many fabulous blends available to us right now, today. The advent of tobacco cellars can ensure a stable supply of what we love now and will allow us to share with the up and comers years from now when perhaps, some of them might be no more. I've heard it said that this is now the golden age of pipe tobaccos and I tend to agree. I still enjoy reading posts like yours though, I can only imagine how much you must be enjoying those old blends.
