Drucquer and Sons and GL Pease

kozzman555 · Oct 21, 2014

Hello everyone,
This is my first post and I'm looking for some information I haven't been able to find elsewhere. A little info to set the stage, so to speak, is required.
My father used to smoke pipe tobacco quite frequently back in the 70's and 80's. His favorite, go to smoke, was Drucquer and Sons Temple Bar. He (my father) actually still had a couple of tine of Inns of Court from 1988 laying around. I recently got into pipe smoking as a half transition from smoking cigars. I got my father back into smoking pipes again which brings me here. He is looking for something that is close as possible in taste/body/etc to Temple Bar. Having never smoked it and the shop no longer existing, I am unable to help.
Do any of you more, uh, experienced pipe smokers remember Temple Bar and can think of anything that would be similar? I know Mr. Pease used to blend and work at Drucquer and Sons but I am unable to contact him via his website as all my email addresses (I've tried several different ones, from yahoo to gmail to my work address) are being denied as invalid. Any help you all could provide would be extremely appreciated. Thank you for your time.
V/R
Adam

pipestud · Oct 21, 2014

Temple bar was a very light English blend with a little Latakia (and, I think Orientals) combined with a lot of Bright Virginia leaf. Several Pease current offerings (Gaslight comes to mind), may be worth your time to try as his English style blends (and a few of his Balkan blends) have similar makeup.
If you want to check out components and reviews of lighter English fare, you may want to check out tobaccoreviews.com.
Best,
Pipestud

huntertrw · Oct 21, 2014

kozzman555:
Welcome aboard!
Mr. Pease anchors a monthly column titled "Ask G.L. Pease" here at Pipes Magazine, and you will find it on the home page. It features a question and answer section, so you might contact him thus and pose your question. I have an old blend list from Drucquer & Sons Ltd., but unfortunately it does not include Temple Bar so I cannot add anything to what Pipestud stated above.
Good Luck, and Good Smoking!

doctorthoss · Oct 21, 2014

Based on Pipestud's description, I would highly recommend trying Pease's Chelsea Morning, as it would be the closest thing in his stable to that description. Having never smoked it myself, however, I would definitely contact him through the "Ask GL Pease" column.

Gaslight is a phenomenal blend and Pease's latest release. A lot of folks (myself included) feel that it's the best Latakia blend in his line-up, but I have no idea how it compares to the blend you are discussing. However, I would recommend it to anyone who likes Latakia.

lestrout · Oct 21, 2014

Piccadilly or Ashbury might be closer to the predominant light Virginias of Temple Bar. Gaslight is also a different format, being a crumble cake, as well as a fuller blend altogether. And Chelsea Morning has broken flake in it. CM has a goodly bunch of nic compared to Piccadilly and Ashbury.
hp

les

huntertrw · Oct 22, 2014

kozzman555:
An Internet site (At The Back of The Hill Blogspot) provided this description of Temple Bar: "Temple Bar - no Turkish, a blend of light and medium Virginias spiced with Latakia (probably slightly over a third of the total), and maybe (?) a touch of Perique."
I hope that this information is useful to you.
Good Luck, and Good Smoking!

huntertrw · Oct 22, 2014

kozzman555:
Persistence pays off! Below is a page (courtesy of Chris Keene's Pipe Pages) from a 1970s vintage Drucquer & Sons Ltd. catalog, and which gives their description of Temple Bar:

Since they reference Red Lion, here is a page with their description of it:

Again, I hope this helps.

woodsroad · Oct 22, 2014

Great find, Hunter

huntertrw · Oct 22, 2014

woodsroad:
Thank-you, Sir!

huntertrw · Oct 22, 2014

Here's a peek into the past (again courtesy of Chris Keene's Pipe Pages) which shows Drucquer & Sons Ltd.'s shop in 1938:

kozzman555 · Oct 22, 2014

Gentlemen,
Thank you so much for your information. Talk about above and beyond. That was my first post and you all spent a lot of time digging information and facts up for me like I had been on here for 10years. Thank you, really.
huntertrw, you have an address stuff gets sent to? I'd like to send you a thank you in the form of some pipe related material. :D

huntertrw · Oct 23, 2014

kozzman555:
I tend to find questions about pipe-tobaccos which are no longer available (and in particular those of Drucquer & Sons Ltd.) to be an almost irresistible challenge, and I enjoy ferreting out what information may be had. You are indeed fortunate to be able to enjoy the experience of smoking with your father (would that I could with mine, but he passed many years ago), and I hope that you find a suitable replacement for his beloved Temple Bar. To that end I still urge you to contact Mr. Pease through his "Ask G.L. Pease" column here at PipesMagazine.com (see home page) and ask for his recommendation, as he would know best regarding that which is available that might be closest.
As for, "...a thank you in the form of some pipe related material," I appreciate the offer, however it is not necessary. Simply help someone else here when you can. And when you finally find that closest possible match for Temple Bar, smoke a bowl or two of it together with your dad and savor the experience. The memory of it will comfort you in years to come.

glpease · Oct 24, 2014

As has been pointed out, Temple Bar contained no orientals, but it also, as I recall, did contain some air cured leaf. Most of the Drucquer blends did. That said, probably the closest thing to it would be Lombard from the Fog City Selection, a virginia based mixture spiced with small amounts of latakia and perique and some air-cured leaf, including small amounts of dark fired. Another possibility would be Piccadilly from the Classic Collection, which has a somewhat more latakia, a little perique, over a pure VA base.

misterlowercase · Oct 24, 2014

Great thread here,

a grand good read!
I remember reading about Drucquer's running some tins through an old pizza oven?
...and the early tins were solid sealed and required a can opener?

woodsroad · Oct 24, 2014

Hello, Greg!
What did that air-cured look like? What leaf was it?

kozzman555 · Oct 27, 2014

Mr. Pease! Thank you for your input! I purchased some Piccadilly but will definitely check out the Lombard as well. You all are awesome and thank you for the help!

kwilliams40 · Sep 20, 2016

These blends will be available again according to a post on Seattle Pipe Club's Facebook page. I'll have to try Blend 805 and Royal Ransom.

northernneil · Sep 20, 2016

Cool thread to dig up. I wonder what the connection, if any, there is with the current Temple Bar offering through the GL Pease line and the Drucquer and Sons Temple Bar discussed above? They do not appear to have the same components.

glpease · Sep 29, 2016

My Temple Bar is unrelated to the Drucquer blend. I chose the name for other reasons, and in retrospect, it might have been a poor choice. Alas. The Temple Bar was one of the ceremonial gates of London. In the middle ages, the Corporation of London erected barriers at several gates to regulate trade into the city. Temple Bar was the most commonly used, as it was in the path between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster. Merchants had to pass through the barrier and pay the tariffs on their goods.
I named this blend Temple Bar partly as a subtle dig at the then proposed and impending FDA regulation, and also because of the "bar" form of the tobacco...
As an aside, Les, Gaslight is not a crumble cake, but a true plug, the difference being the form of the leaf from which the cake is made. A crumble cake is made from ribbon cut tobaccos, and so breaks apart into its original form, whilst a plug is made from leaf "strips," the lamina of the leaf after the midrib is removed, requiring that it be sliced prior to rubbing out.

lestrout · Sep 29, 2016

Re Greg's "As an aside, Les, Gaslight is not a crumble cake, but a true plug", I stand corrected. In fact my Gaslight is so dense as a plug and uncrumbly that I am thinking of getting a (an?) Ulu, which is used in Alaska to cut up whales and, by my observations at the Lehigh Valley Pipe Club, deals efficiently and safely with plugs and ropes. As I look back to my misobservation a year ago, I have no idea now why I pegged the Gaslight wrongly. My enduring memory of Gaslight are the tight little cubes that Smoking Pipes sampled, back in the glory days. Which we are at the very tail end of. (leaving the terminal preposition in)
hp

les
PS I'm now diligently beavering my way through the new Drucquer re-issues to see which ones to amplify my stocks for the Top200 Cellar.

Drucquer and Sons and GL Pease

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