Tobaccos you think are standards of the taste.

jchaplick · Mar 29, 2012

So what does everyone think are the standard tobaccos that all others should be judged by. If I had to say it would be
Escudo for Vapers

Orlik for straight VA
For me thats about all I can name due to lack of experience with other types, I imagine penzance is the one for english tobaccos, and maybe the macbaren 7 seas for aroes, but I couldnt say.
I am looking for anyone and everyone's opinion, especially if they differ from mine....and yes this is tad related

matchstickman · Mar 29, 2012

Aro-Tied between MacBaren 7 Seas Royal or CAO Moontrance. Both are very good for different reasons.
English-Tied between Larrys Blend and 3 Oaks Syrian. Again, for different reasons.
Virginia-Have to agree with you on Orlik. I have yet to find anything that will top it.
Burley-MacBaren Golden Blend
Also, special mention should be made for Navy blends, and though my experience is limited with them, Cornell and Diehls Black Frigate is gonna be hard to beat.

bigvan · Mar 29, 2012

Personally I'm not a fan of the Orlik blends that I've tried. They taste overly processed; too bland. Reminds me of the Budweiser of tobaccos. But which blend were you referring to as a "straight VA"?
My preference for straight Virginia is McClelland 5100. It ages extremely well but even new, it has a very natural sweetness to it and burns well (though hot if you're not careful).
For English, I'd go with 965, though my personal favorite is Celebrated Sovereign.

cortezattic · Mar 29, 2012

Oriental: McClelland's Classic Samsun and H&H's Sweet & Savory.

Danish Va. Flake: Orlik Golden Slices and PS/LBF

VaPer Flake: Solani 633, Escudo

Vaper, other: 4noggins Prairie Wind and Rattray's Quartet: Hal O'the Wynd; Old Gowrie; Brown Clunee; and Marlin Flake

Deertongue blend: H&H Capitol Stairs

Straight Va: Mac Baren Virginia #1

Codger blend: H&H Angler's Dream

British/Aromatic crossover: Two Friends' Valle Crucis

matchstickman · Mar 29, 2012

Hey Bigvan, who makes the Celebrated Sovereign that you mentioned?

bigvan · Mar 29, 2012

Currently made by McClelland, but was one of the original Ashton blends. When they discontinued all their blends in favor of the new crop, McClelland recreated the old ones.

judcole · Mar 29, 2012

I tend to be skeptical about all this. Even within a category, you are frequently comparing apples to oranges. I love both H&H Larry's Blend and Peterson's Old Dublin, for example. Both are "English" Blends - they both have latakia - but they are totally different critters, that I smoke in different moods. And then there's MacBaren's H&H Vintage Syrian - also a lat heavy blend, but radically different than the other two. None of them is "better" than the other two; they are all their own blends and worth smoking and savoring for their own reasons. : puffy

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pipeinhand · Mar 29, 2012

@Jud, you read my mind. There is just too many blends within each category to peg one as a quintessential blend. My list would be huge within each category for different reasons.
Just my 2p. : puffy

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bigvan · Mar 29, 2012

Jud, I think you're absolutely right. But I think we each have our own standards against which others are judged.

igloo · Mar 29, 2012

Rattrays Dark Fragant sets the standard for a Virgina mixture . And there you have it one mans opinion . That and three bucks will get you a Starbucks coffee . 8)

hnryclay · Mar 29, 2012

English 965

Virginia Hal O' The Wynd (I know there is some Perique in there, but not a lot)

VA/PER Escudo
Everything else just does not quite come close....

jchaplick · Mar 30, 2012

Just to be clear, I am more asking for the quintessential blends of each type of tobacco, just so I can be sure to try them. Obviously Dunhill my mizture is on the list

baronsamedi · Mar 30, 2012

Black House for Balkan!

judcole · Mar 30, 2012

Oh,I have standards, for sure. But if I smoke a new blend, I am not comparing it to another blend as I taste. I am trying to decide if the combinations of flavors work for me. I might compare it to another blend by the same company, especially if I have smoked them both recently - I like Altadis Balkan II more than Balkan I, for example,or H&H Larry's Blend more than Ten to Midnight. I just smoke, and decide if this is a blend I want to smoke a lot, or something to revisit now and then, or a "never again" blend. : puffy

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rigmedic1 · Mar 30, 2012

This is a loaded question for sure. There is so much variety in each category, how can one say "this" tobacco is the representative taste, and not "that". Perhaps a master blender can tell us the answer. I suspect we all set our standards based on the first blend we smoke in each category, or the best blend we have ever smoked. For example: the first Balkan style blend I ever enjoyed was Dunhill 965. I tend to measure all other Balkans against 965. The entire smoking experience is very subjective. My suggestion would be to read some tobacco reviews, make a list based on the reviews, and enjoy the experiment one tobacco at a time.

cortezattic · Mar 30, 2012

With respect to benchmark blends within tobacco categories, I think it's possible to arrive at a consensus, and that the results of a poll would be normally distributed. It would be more meaningful if everyone could experience every blend, but that's not going to happen.
People do this sort of thing all the time with food and wine, so I don't think the original question was unreasonable.

tokerpipes · Mar 30, 2012

WHAT!? I cant try them all? :crying:

cortezattic · Mar 30, 2012

Tokes, I'm guessin' you couldn't give a fair audition, in your lifetime, to even the existing VaPer varieties out there.

Here's a list if you want to get started:

1) McConnell Scottish Cake

2) Samuel Gawith’s St. James Flake

3) GL Pease Tribute

4) Escudo

5) GL Pease Triple Play

6) GL Pease Filmore

7) Former’s Straight Grain Flake

8 ) H & H AJ’s VaPer

9) Low Country’s Waccamaw

10) Peretti’s Park Square

11) John Patton’s Cool Hand Fluke

12) H & H Rolando’s Own

13) H & H Anniversary Kake

14) G & H Louisiana Flake

15) C & D Poplar Camp

16) Dunhill Elizabethan Mixture

17) C & D Night Train

18) H & H Louisiana Red

19) C & D Bayou Morning Flake

20) Reiner’s Long Golden Flake

21) Treasures of Ireland - Limerick

22) Dorchester

23) Solani #633

24) Luxury Bullseye Flake

25) McClelland Bulk 2015

26) GL Pease Telegraph Hill

27) Kajun Kake

28) Luxury Navy Flake

29) Dan Tobacco's Tordenskjold Virginia Slices

This came from an interesting thread at Cigar Asylum. I can think of a few blends not on the list that can be considered VaPers, technically; and then, of course, there are the house blends from most of the prominent B&M's that have a web presence.

dhizzy · Mar 30, 2012

It is for me what makes smoking a pipe fun. I am an extremely inexperienced smoker. I started in July of '11 and my tastes have already evolved. All of the english tobaccos I have tasted have been very different. All of the Va's I've tasted have held some different characteristics and so on...This hunt has a thrill and I can pretty much rest assured that not very many blends will be the same even if they are in the same classification.

tokerpipes · Mar 30, 2012

Its not that I don't want to try every tobacco out there, its just that there are so many and no two are exactly the same. Just as every bowl is not exactly the same every packed bowl will be subtly different due to the blend of the tobacco, you may get more va in a pack than par and so forth. Sure the smell from the pouch or tin will always smell the same but the little bits change with the same tobacco.

Tobaccos you think are standards of the taste.

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