Jim's 1930s Richmond Mixture Review.

This review is based on a sample of the 1930s version, which I had the good fortune to try. This blend is still made, though not available in the USA. The burley is a little nutty and toasty. The Virginia is earthy, lightly sweet with earth and grass notes, and a mild tanginess. The unsweetened black cavendish has only a slight effect on the smoke, and I suspect it has lost more from aging than the other components have. The Virginia has the characteristics of full maturity in strength and taste, more so than the burley does, and often takes the lead, though I usually notice the burley more early in the proceeding. Fairly smooth and mild to medium in strength and taste with a moderate nic-hit. It’s a shag cut that burns a little slower than your average shag, hardly requiring any relights. There are a few cigarette/cigar notes after the half way point, though they are less obvious if you puff slowly, which produced better results for me when I did. Leaves nothing but ash at the finish. Could pass for an all day smoke.

I've never tried War Horse. That's a great name for a tobacco, though.
I've tried several antique blends: Three Nuns from the 1960s and WW2, EGR from 1960. ERR from 1945, the '50s, and '60s. Edgeworth Slices from the '50s and '60s. Mid-1920s Half & Half, 1950s Revelation, 1964 Field & Stream (the perfume darn near killed me), SWR from every decade since the 1940s,'60s Balkan Sobranie, 1930s Capstan Blue (going to have some 1920s coming my way, too, and probably a couple more not coming to mind at the moment. I've also tried a few McClelland and MacBaren blends from the '70s and early '80s. Sail Yellow from the early 1980s.

I have wondered about that topping, too, but time has made it a little too elusive for me to figure it out. However, deer tongue and/or molasses comes to mind.

Cobguy: I'm glad to hear you noticed molasses, too. I wondered if I was imaging it because it was such a minor note.

Papipeguy: I didn't notice deer tongue either. I only mentioned as a possible explanation for the floral note Sablebrush discussed. You got more molasses than I did since you noticed it more prominently. I wasn't entirely sure of it. As you know toppings are fragile in vintage blends, and some times it can be guess work as to what it is. For example, when I smoked a sample of 1950s Revelation, it was a great effort to find the rum topping, yet I knew it had been there. I needed to make sure I wasn't noticing it just because I knew it had originally been there. I wanted to find it on my own without being influenced by my knowledge. In the case of the Richmond blend, I did not know what topping was used, and since the molasses was so faint to my taste buds, I wasn't absolutely convinced I was right about it.