Oldest blend in production?
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Just a guess on my part but I'd say a couple of the Samuel Gawith blends would qualify. 1792 and Grousemoor have been around since the early 19th century from what I understand. In the USA I would guess it could be Prince Albert.
This is a tough one.
Every pipe tobacco company will change formulations over time. Probably more frequently than you might imagine. Most manufacturers have changed hands and/or changed locations, management and certainly production techniques frequently. Leaf changes every season.
Prince Al was introduced by Reynolds, but subsequently sold to Middleton, then Altria in '07.
Every pipe tobacco company will change formulations over time. Probably more frequently than you might imagine. Most manufacturers have changed hands and/or changed locations, management and certainly production techniques frequently. Leaf changes every season.
Prince Al was introduced by Reynolds, but subsequently sold to Middleton, then Altria in '07.
Condor Plug is probably close the late 19th century original and as previously mentioned some of the S&G blends. That been said changes in leaf, soil, fertilizers used and many other factors effect the final outcome. Does it taste just like it did back in 1900? Who the hell knows!
Samuel Gawith sounds like a good guess to me. For U.S. blends, Prince Albert and Granger might be pretty old. There might be a blend or two in the Iwan Ries inventory that would go way back, although I think their venerable Three Star Blue only goes back in its present form to the 1950's. As someone pointed out recently, blends change to some degree with every season of tobacco growing in every region of the world, so we are only talking about the longest existing brands. Really old ads in newspapers and magazines might supply other clues, at least well back into the 19th Century. Many fairly recent brands or revived brands like to give the impression of antiquity, so that also confuses things.
Samuel Gawith, established in 1792 and going since then. I'm not sure if 1792 flake is actually from 1792, it just states
Considering all of the blends that are now blended by other companies, SG would be the most definite answer to your question. Crops and fertilizer would of been changing every year back in 1792 also.
As for American blends, Pipeworks & Wilke would have to be a contender as well with their blends Bestmake and High Hat. Possibly a few others.
I've read somewhere that in the 19th century, they used asbestos and bacon in some mixtures and you had more than 3000 mixtures and as many plugs and ropes. The list of additives was out of this world, so thank god most of those mixtures didn't survive. Modern quality control plays a big role in the survival or integrity of pipe tobacco mixtures. Let's not forget that even if tobacco is produced the world over, only a few big companies, I'm thinking BAT, STG and the like have the last word in changing the recipes according to the available crop. So again what's in a name.
Some of our resident historians may be able to reverse engineer this question a little, look at what was reported as a standard blend or single leaf in the seventeen hundreds and look how that evolved forward to something that is branded today. It might not be the brand that reaches into the past, but the basic tobacco or tobaccos might be the same, as much as possible given the evolution and mutation of the tobacco plants themselves. I think we're discussing the European and colonialist adaptation of tobacco. The Native American use of tobacco is a whole separate cultural, anthropological, and archeological discussion; maybe some Native American Forums members can sort that one out.
According to britannica.com, Prince Albert brand crimp cut long-burning pipe and cigarette tobacco was introduced by the R.J. Reynolds Company in 1906.
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