Old Tobacco, New Name

throbinson · Mar 24, 2015

I noticed when looking at tobacco reviews that sometimes a company gets bought out by another, a blend is revived and sometimes given a different name etc...
Is there a cross-reference somewhere where you can see if an old tobacco has a modern day equivalent?
Found some old (empty) tins my Dad kept for blends/brands I couldn't find for sale online and I suspect no longer in production, but, then again, may still be made under a new brand/name. Be nice to try what my Dad smoked 40-50yrs ago.

cortezattic · Mar 24, 2015

There are several revivals like: Capstan, Balkan Sobranie, 3 Nuns, etc.,

but the only re-label that I have come across is Mr. B's Tudor Mixture becoming Brigham Acadian Blend.

I agree that a reference list would be interesting.

woodsroad · Mar 24, 2015

As brands age, blends are often reformulated. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is a change of brand ownership or manufacturer. When brand ownership or manufacture changes hands, the original formulas do not always follow the trademark. Process plays an important role in pipe tobacco production, and is often as closely guarded a secret as the blend's ingredient list. So a blend produced with identical ingredients in different factories, is going to be noticeably different. It is also nearly impossible to keep a blend consistent over time due to changes in available leaf types and additives. So a blend that your father smoked 50 years ago, and is still being sold, is almost without doubt going to be quite different today than it was in his time.

ericusrex · Mar 24, 2015

Tell us what tins you found and we may be able to recommend modern 'equivalents'.

throbinson · Mar 24, 2015

Well, the one tin sitting on my desk right now is "Niemeyer - Irish Aromatic" maybe not 50yrs old, but the tin I have handy at the moment. See a few empty tins on eBay for sale, and saw one a while ago that was unopened but, out of my price range. :D

mso489 · Mar 24, 2015

To build on woodsroad's comments, remember that tobacco is a plant, and the crop varies from year to year depending on weather, and the soil where a particular leaf is sourced, so tobacco blends don't stay uniform any more than wines do. You'll never entirely match one year's blend even in the same brand.

throbinson · Mar 24, 2015

I'm not looking for a 100% identical match to something I've never smoked... even 2 tins from the same crop from the same year from the same manufacture will never be 100% identical because the blend method isn't 100% accurate. It's shredded/cut plants mixed in bulk... the ratios are bound to be off a few % per tin.
I'm simply wondering if a database or resource available showing modern equivalents to older blends.
Sometimes when on tobaccoreviews.com I'll come across a blend that says it use to be known by another name, was out of production for years and now re-released under a new name. Not always exactly the same but many times the reviews say it was close. That's all I'm after... not 100%, just pretty close is fine.
Dunhill My Mixture 965, for example... from the reviews I've read, it was popular, made by Dunhill until the '70s, then was blended by another company and not as good, then not available for a while, now available again by a Scandinavian company and is pretty close to the original.

settersbrace · Mar 25, 2015

House of Windsor made a run at reinvigorating some old blends like Field & Stream, Barking Dog and so on with luke warm results. Your reference to Dunhill blends seemed spot on, as far as any kind of "Cross Refrence" for some of the smaller blending houses of old, I know of none. Much of the history of the actual smoking attributes of these old blends is recorded only in the spoken word, older smokers who can relate what so and so's blend smoked like, etc. many of today's blenders develop their product based on olfactory recollection of the room note of particular pipe tobacco that perhaps they're Father or Grandad smoked. They work toward recreating that room note and subsequently create magnificent creations. Much of the allure of chasing down these mysterious pipe weed concoctions is what keeps guys like me forever interested in pipe lore and pipe smoking. I don't ever really want to find the "Holy Grail" of pipe tobacco, I just want to keep getting really close to finding it.

dottiewarden · Mar 25, 2015

Be nice to try what my Dad smoked 40-50yrs ago.

I'm sure many of us, including myself, would love to get a close match to what our father or grandfather smoked, just to get an idea of what he was tasting. I think it's a moot point though, and not because of the various legitimate explanations given above. My theory is our taste in tobacco blends is often due to an expectation we have of what pipe tobacco is supposed to taste like, and this expectation comes from our memory of smelling a pipe being smoked. This imprint manifests an emotional connection with specific characteristics in blends that satisfy this expectation. Thus, from this perspective, we often are fond a blend that takes us back to the bygone days of our childhood. What this means is you and the rest of us are probably attracted to blends very close to whatever we were exposed to as children because they fulfill that expectation.

throbinson · Mar 25, 2015

Well, if anyone knows of a current blend similar (again, I know won't be 100% the same) as that Niemeyer Irish Aromatic, let me know. When I get home I'll post the name of the other tin I found.

newbroom · Mar 25, 2015

I'm sure many of us, including myself, would love to get a close match to what our father or grandfather smoked, just to get an idea of what he was tasting.

Well, I know that my Grand Dad often smoked Cut Plug tobacco. I have not tried it, since taking it up less than one year. I guess I should.

Whatever it was, he'd shave off some or cut some off with a jack knife, and then rub it up in his big ole hands and fill his pipe and smoke it. I remember it was strong smelling stuff.

blendtobac · Mar 25, 2015

Well, I know that my Grand Dad often smoked Cut Plug tobacco. I have not tried it, since taking it up less than one year. I guess I should.

Whatever it was, he'd shave off some or cut some off with a jack knife, and then rub it up in his big ole hands and fill his pipe and smoke it. I remember it was strong smelling stuff.

It wasn't uncommon for people to smoke plug chewing tobacco by slicing it, and those plugs, like Brown's Mule and Day's Work were some pretty hefty stuff.
Russ

throbinson · Mar 25, 2015

Here we go... the other brand was Royal Tivoli Cavendish.

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