I take it War Horse is not yet being sold retail?
While I do still smoke moderate nicotine blends featuring VA, Escudo and Cumberland, I continue down the HO (high-octane, uber nicotine) track of the dark and pressed tobaccos that I began smoking in 2005; with Dark Flake and black and brown rope, etc. So about 60% of what I smoke is
Sillem's Commodore Flake
I've smoked 100g and have a half-dozen pipes dedicated to it at present. If you like dark, strong, with a treacle/chocolate topping at mild to moderate ((referencing Stonehaven)), mostly latakia, although altered by the topping to a strong base of dark and delicious, that is minus its usual sour, smoky, herbaceous presentation, smoothed by Black Cavendish, you'll fall in love with CF; but not readily available. I think Sillems production has been conservative. I don't chase unobtainiums but have been able to purchase a half-dozen tins at a time, interrupted by 2 or 3 weeks when no one has it. Guys who like CF have said that their VA flake is very good, too, and they also have a VA/Perique.
Condor
Dark Flake
Black and brown rope, mostly black
JackKnife Plug
Royal Yacht
Triple Play
Chenet's Cake
When I heard Standard Tobacco would be issuing War Horse I nearly flipped out. I'm going to write Mr. Ouellette about possibly copying the recipe for the other dark plugs only available in Europe, Yachtsman and Warrior Plugs. As long as I'm telling him to do this I might as well be more pushy and ask that he copy Dark Flake Geranium that I've only seen available from Glynn Quelch's store, GQ Tobacco. I wonder what happened to P&C's/Mr. Ouellette's Lakeland blend. Legalities? Vanished even though it was making money.
A long time ago someone gifted me with 50g in two dense circular dark pieces of pressed tobacco, but not twist like rope that can be unraveled into a single leaf. I cut it with a butcher knife on a cutting board into smokeable pieces, which never suggested that they could be unraveled. The tobacco was decades old and made by Gallaher, I believe. and all I remember of this very dry tobacco is dark and strong. I'll include researching and blending to Mr. Ouellette as well.
I'll admit to being a pesky old man. Here, make me two dozen tobaccos whose replication involves a boatload of research. I'll also confess to sending Mr. Pease more than a few emails earlier this year urging him to blend what I called XXX Plug, uber-iffilously strong, causing smoke coming out the ears, the name playing off the name of other similarly deafening Irish tobaccos, as preserved by GH in the names of their black and brown ropes, Black and Brown Irish X. He replied that he didn't see the point of blending a tobacco whose strength thrashed the smoker. I replied that although quite reasonable, strength is outside logic. He didn't reply
.
In short, I will invite him to copy any dark and strong tobacco that is not available in the US, as well as those that are OOP (out of production).
Monkeying around with flake but especially plug ties me to my European antecedents and brings the tradition of pipe smoking into my modest smoking chamber. Love love love plug. Thank you X 3 to Standard Tobacco/Mr. Ouellette for their War Horse Saddle.
