This might seem an odd or even sappy topic for a post, but I was in a car wreck today and I'm wiped out on pain meds. So, here goes….
As a longtime smoker of latakia mixtures (20-plus years) I can safely say that I've tried literally hundreds of "English" or "Balkan" or "crossover" blends, including many of the now-unavailable classics. And do you know what? We absolutely are living in the "golden age" of such blends. I know, I know -- Syrian lat is pretty much extinct and some of the rarer oriental leaf is very hard to come by. Nonetheless, the efforts of today's master blenders have given us a slew of classics that equal or surpass the classics of past generations. Greg Pease, Russ Oulette and Fred Hanna are the three most obvious culprits here, especially as their efforts over the last two or three years have produced a continuing series of instant classics that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the old Balkan Sobranie, Dunhills, or anything else. Gaslight, Sextant, Meridian, Fusilier's Ration, Magnum Opus, Black House, Wilderness, and Legends have caused me to completely scrap my traditional rotation and rebuild my cellar (only Odyssey and Maltese Falcon pre-date the above blends now).
We are truly lucky. No, scratch that -- we are blessed.
If you haven't tried all of the above blends, then make sure to fill your cart with them on your next order. You won't regret it. And the next time you're tempted to drop a few hundred bucks on a vintage tin, keep in mind that what you're looking at is no better than any of the above listed tobaccos.
This post, BTW, was inspired by the two blends I smoked upon returning home from the hospital: Gaslight and Fusilier's Ration.
As a longtime smoker of latakia mixtures (20-plus years) I can safely say that I've tried literally hundreds of "English" or "Balkan" or "crossover" blends, including many of the now-unavailable classics. And do you know what? We absolutely are living in the "golden age" of such blends. I know, I know -- Syrian lat is pretty much extinct and some of the rarer oriental leaf is very hard to come by. Nonetheless, the efforts of today's master blenders have given us a slew of classics that equal or surpass the classics of past generations. Greg Pease, Russ Oulette and Fred Hanna are the three most obvious culprits here, especially as their efforts over the last two or three years have produced a continuing series of instant classics that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the old Balkan Sobranie, Dunhills, or anything else. Gaslight, Sextant, Meridian, Fusilier's Ration, Magnum Opus, Black House, Wilderness, and Legends have caused me to completely scrap my traditional rotation and rebuild my cellar (only Odyssey and Maltese Falcon pre-date the above blends now).
We are truly lucky. No, scratch that -- we are blessed.
If you haven't tried all of the above blends, then make sure to fill your cart with them on your next order. You won't regret it. And the next time you're tempted to drop a few hundred bucks on a vintage tin, keep in mind that what you're looking at is no better than any of the above listed tobaccos.
This post, BTW, was inspired by the two blends I smoked upon returning home from the hospital: Gaslight and Fusilier's Ration.
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