Elizabethan Mixture Not Good? Is It Just Me?

markus · Mar 10, 2016

I smoke primarily English blends, so I don't have a lot of experience with VaPer blends (in fact I don't have a lot of smoking experience any way, only about 3 years). I am a big fan of all of Dunhill's English Blends, so I recently decided to try a tin of Elizabethan Mixture just to get an idea of what everyone likes so much about VaPer's. I have read a lot of descriptions and reviews on this forum that make them sound downright delicious and flavorful, so I decided to by a tin and check one of them out. I'm not sure if I was smoking it wrong, or if it was the wrong pipe, or maybe it was the tobacco, but it was not good for me. It had an bland but acrid, ashy, taste to it, so I jarred it up and maybe I'll try it again in 5 years.

I also bought a tin of Escudo and 2 oz. of PS Luxury Navy Flake. I'm not really good with smoking flakes yet, but I'm going to try cube cutting the PS Luxury Navy Flake tonight and see if it's a better smoke for me.

papipeguy · Mar 10, 2016

It's been a long time since I've had EM but it's still very popular and, apparently, well liked.

I'd say that going from lat blends to Va/Pers you should expect some taste shock. I know I still do when smoking Va/Pers. I'm still trying to understand perique because it is many things to many people.

I usually smoke English blends but find myself gravitating more and more to plugs like Warrior and Mick McQuaid.

I'd advise going into EM gently y smoking some straight Virginia blends before going back to it. It may be only a case of training the taste buds.

Good luck.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2016

IMO, It takes a while to pick up on the very subtle nuances of Virginia based blends. I like a very narrow chamber with a conical bowl to focus in on the subtle sweetness and other flavors that intertwine in these blends. I will admit that I too was frustrated at first. I wanted smoke and tasty smoke. But, with Virginians it's all about going very slow, sipping gently to get the most flavors.

You can be sort of haphazard with a latakia or burley blend and still get something out of it. The taste is more forward and in your face. But, with Virginias you have to first find that spot in the smoke where the flavors are.
It's sort of like those stupid MagicEye posters they used to have in the malls back in the 80's. You just saw a bunch of color dots till you learn how to squint your eyes and see the 3D imagine inside the dots. But, once you know how to see it, it becomes easier and easier to see all of the posters. Same with Virginias. Astleys 109 was the first one that rung my bell, and I started tasting the flavors. From there, they all became much easier to taste.
Stick with it, you'll get it. Tasting Virginias is much easier than those stupid posters, ha ha.

markus · Mar 10, 2016

Ok thanks Cosmic, thinking about your advice, I have just the right pipe in mind.
Papipeguy, maybe I'll put some plugs on my list. I read a lot of good things about them on here as well.

shutterbugg · Mar 10, 2016

No offense to the guys today who look at pipe smoking as a "hobby" and buy craploads of different blends expecting to taste major differences between very similar blends. But it seems like it leads to a lot of disappointment, and that's not what a "hobby" is supposed to provide.
Me OTOH, I've been smoking a pipe since lots of people still smoked them and nobody in their right mind would have referred to it as a hobby, and most oldtimers smoked one blend their entire lives. I call pipesmoking a habit, but I do keep a rotation, but it consists of very different tobaccos, each representing the pinnacle of its genre. In VaPers, that would be Dunhill's Deluxe Navy Rolls (which is very close to Escudo but smoother and richer in taste). Elizabethan is a watered-down version of DNR, just as all the other Dunhill English blends are watered-down versions of Nightcap.

buroak · Mar 10, 2016

It's sort of like those stupid MagicEye posters they used to have in the malls back in the 80's. You just saw a bunch of color dots till you learn how to squint your eyes and see the 3D imagine inside the dots. But, once you know how to see it, it becomes easier and easier to see all of the posters. Same with Virginias.

That is a perfect analogy. I always liked Viriginas and VaPers (including Elizabethan Mixture), but the longer I smoke them the more appreciate their nuances. I also notice, for my palate at least, that perique adds something different across blends. A lot of that difference is probably down the proportion of perique, but the varieties of Virginias with which it is blended also matter.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2016

The magic of Perique depends upon the alignment of the stars, the setting of the tides, and the mood of the universe. This is what I love about perique. Some days it tastes acrid, and the next day it plants a bouquet of spices on my tongue.

davet · Mar 10, 2016

so I jarred it up and maybe I'll try it again in 5 years.

Just give it a month or two and try some others, and plugs, definitely try some plugs.

markus · Mar 10, 2016

Shutterbugg, according to what I have read on another thread, pipe smoking seems to be something different for everyone. Personally I don't see it as a habit, as I can live without it, I just prefer not to. I consider it a pastime and each smoke as an experience (sometimes unique). I love Dunhill's Nightcap as well, but I also love their other blends and I don't consider them watered down versions of anything, I love them all (except for EM, but that may change).
Since Papipeguy recommended them, I have been doing some research (reading posts on here, P&C and SP) on plugs and am curious about them, they sound tasty.

I finally decided on 3 of them to order. Black Frigate sounds like its right up my alley along with Captain Earle's Nightwatch, Captain Earle's Mystic Blend and I also added Warrior Plug to the order. I am a lat-phile and that's probably not going to change anytime soon. I'm not giving up on VaPer's, I'm just still trying things out to find out what I like. I usually buy 2-3 tins of tobacco every couple of weeks. I smoke some of it and cellar the rest. So now I'm looking forward to my package from P&C arriving soon.

shutterbugg · Mar 10, 2016

In the photography hobby, there are guys who get off constantly searching for and buying cameras and lenses and reading reviews and arguing on forums over nuances and features, always questing for the Grail that will make their images excel. I guess if someone calls pipe smoking a hobby it shouldn't be surprising that some guys buy new tobaccos and/or pipes every couple weeks, likewise questing for the Grail. Personally I have always been into the artistic side of photography and am not a gearhead, and I stick with what works. Likewise with smoking a pipe, it's just something I do. The blends I like I've stuck with for years, because they work for me.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2016

See Shutter, you've got a totally different way of seeing this hobby, pastime, thingy, habit, whatchamacallit, than the rest of us. Me, I'm just a grazer. I don't believe in a holly grail, and have had very few horrible blends at that. I just enjoy sampling it all. After decades of smoking the same brand of cigarette day in day out, I am not going to be chained to just one blend, just one pipe. But, that's just me.

deathmetal · Mar 10, 2016

It had an bland but acrid, ashy, taste to it, so I jarred it up and maybe I'll try it again in 5 years.

Sounds like it is burning too fast. I had an issue of this nature with one of my cobs with a huge draw. Switching to a briar with a narrower bowl so that the tobacco burned less (paradoxical, I know) brought out the flavor. You should get a slightly peppered fruity taste of the Perique mixed with a sweetener, honey and hay taste of the Virginias. Hope it works for you, because this blend is glorious... when it works.

cortezattic · Mar 10, 2016

As soon as I started reading the O.P. I said to myself, "Coming from English blends -- which I think means 'Latakia' -- Mark is gonna say Elizabethan Mixture is bland, or too light, or too thin, or too weak flavored".
In my experience, Latakia's smokey, peaty, pungent tastes will dull your taste buds, and practically ruin Virginias for you. I avoid Latakia blends (and some fire-cured leaf) like the plague. Experiencing the nuanced and intriguing flavors of a good Va blend is well worth never tasting Latakia again.

tuold · Mar 10, 2016

I've been smoking pipes for over forty years, so you would think I would have found the holy grail of tobaccos by now. Nope. I just recently tried VaPers for the first time and found just what Cosmic says about enjoying them to be true. They are best enjoyed in small doses.
For some, discovery and learning is definitely part of the pipe smoking experiance whether you call it a hobby or not. There are four or five blends I consistently like, but with each TAD purchase I try to order at least one tobacco I've heard guys rave about in the forums. Sometimes I'm rewarded with a new obsession and other times a puzzling disappointment.
In my grandfather's case pipe smoking was not a hobby. He had his Dr Grabow and Medico pipes always at hand along with a canister of Prince Albert. That's all I ever saw him smoke. For the sake of peace in Heaven I hope they have plenty of Prince Albert up there.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2016

+1 cortez, metal, and tuold.

But, you mentioned plugs. +100. Go for it. But keep in mind that they'll slap you around with ashy also if you don't get that sip down. They're mostly Virginias also. But, while most traditional flue cured Virginias have a wonderful flavor, you have to "go get" them, step up to them, know what your looking for. But, in a plug like Warrior or Velvan, they'll come to you. Nice but a bit more bold flavors. It might be a great way to get your batting stance down on flavor, before stepping to the plate again with a flue cured VaPer.

davet · Mar 10, 2016

I also added Warrior Plug to the order

Where are you ordering this from ?

deathmetal · Mar 10, 2016

In my experience, Latakia's smokey, peaty, pungent tastes will dull your taste buds, and practically ruin Virginias for you.

I've tasted a lot more since confining my Nightcap abuse to the last couple bowls of the day.

simong · Mar 10, 2016

Virginia & perique blends are some of the best blends out there. Dunhill are one of the biggest sellers but fall short (for me) regarding taste. Don't get me wrong, dunhill are a quality product, but a mass produced product, & the difference in texture & taste say compared to a smaller outfit like gawiths st. James flake, is like chalk & cheese. For me it's like tasting the difference between a homemade beef burger & a McDonald's. Be sure to try other brands before deciding Virginia/perique is not for you.

beefeater33 · Mar 10, 2016

I like Dunhill ENGLISH blends much more than their VIRGINIA blends. Their Flake and Rolls are good, DAMN GOOD, but to me Dunhill nails the English genre...

In my opinion McClellands make the best VA blends, outside of Escudo......... : puffy

:

hawky454 · Mar 11, 2016

This sounds silly but load two pipes, one with your favorite English blend and one with Elizabethan Mixture. Light up and smoke the English first, give it about ten minutes and then do a charring light on the EM and go back to your English blend for another 5 minutes. Finally, light up EM and embrace the wonderful flavors that will fill your mouth, retrohale and repeat. I'm telling you, I have never experienced VA/VaPer blends in such a wonderful way before I learned this little trick. The contrasts of the blends bring out the nuances.

In my experience, Latakia's smokey, peaty, pungent tastes will dull your taste buds, and practically ruin Virginias for you. I avoid Latakia blends (and some fire-cured leaf) like the plague. Experiencing the nuanced and intriguing flavors of a good Va blend is well worth never tasting Latakia again.

This is why I have avoided smoking an English before I smoke a VA blend for years, I always thought it would dull my senses and I wouldn't be tasting what a straight VA or VaPer had to offer but now that I have found that this works for me, I always smoke two pipes at a time. In time this might change but for now, it's the best way I have found to really appreciate a VA. I know this sounds weird but give it a try. I would like to know how it goes for you, so please report back.

Elizabethan Mixture Not Good? Is It Just Me?

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