Wanted to see what everyone's top English blends would be. I don't have a top five as I've only had a few.
Top 5 English Blends
- Thread starter ssavarimuthu
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It's really hard to narrow it down to 5 blends, but here are 5 of my go to English blends.
McClelland - Blue Mountain
McClelland Frog Morton - Across the Pond
Seattle Pipe Club - Plum Pudding
Hearth and Home - Larry's Blend
Dunhill - Early Morning Pipe
McClelland - Blue Mountain
McClelland Frog Morton - Across the Pond
Seattle Pipe Club - Plum Pudding
Hearth and Home - Larry's Blend
Dunhill - Early Morning Pipe
Smokers Haven - Exotique
STCP - Bengal Slices
Smokers Haven - Cognac
SPC - Plum Pudding
Smokers Haven - Exotique (yup, so good, I listed it twice.)
Honorable mention goes to Esoterica - Penzance
STCP - Bengal Slices
Smokers Haven - Cognac
SPC - Plum Pudding
Smokers Haven - Exotique (yup, so good, I listed it twice.)
Honorable mention goes to Esoterica - Penzance
I tend to separate "Latakia Blends" into a different category from "English Blends" even though they're usually listed in the same category, so I'll do both.
Lat-Bombs:
Cornell & Diehl Star of the East.
Captain Earl's Stimulus Package.
G.L. Pease Quiet Nights
G.L. Pease Gaslight.
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding
English Blends (not dominated by Latakia):
McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar.
Hearth & Home Black House.
Seattle Pipe Club Mississippi River.
Presbyterian.
Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme.
Ironically most of my top 5 English Blends don't fit the classic description very well. Frog Morton and English Oriental Supreme are also Aromatic (or at least I think EOS is), Mississippi River is more of a VaPer, and Presbyterian may or mat not have any Latakia at all.
Black House probably fits the common "English" description best and it's designed to emulate an old classic. As far as I know Presbyterian hasn't changed much over the last century, it mostly features musty and sour flavor Orientals.
Lat-Bombs:
Cornell & Diehl Star of the East.
Captain Earl's Stimulus Package.
G.L. Pease Quiet Nights
G.L. Pease Gaslight.
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding
English Blends (not dominated by Latakia):
McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar.
Hearth & Home Black House.
Seattle Pipe Club Mississippi River.
Presbyterian.
Peter Stokkebye English Oriental Supreme.
Ironically most of my top 5 English Blends don't fit the classic description very well. Frog Morton and English Oriental Supreme are also Aromatic (or at least I think EOS is), Mississippi River is more of a VaPer, and Presbyterian may or mat not have any Latakia at all.
Black House probably fits the common "English" description best and it's designed to emulate an old classic. As far as I know Presbyterian hasn't changed much over the last century, it mostly features musty and sour flavor Orientals.
These blends all have latakia in them. None of them are in the overwhelming, 70% latakia range - but none of them will make you question whether any latakia is present, either. There's also no crossovers.
Dunhiil Standard
Dunhill Baby's Bottom
Peterson Old Dublin
H&H White Knight
McCranie's Murdock's Pipe
Dunhiil Standard
Dunhill Baby's Bottom
Peterson Old Dublin
H&H White Knight
McCranie's Murdock's Pipe
Thanks for posting, everybody.
Another reason why I asked, other than curiosity, was to find some common blends amongst everyone. If you can, I was wondering if there was a particular blend that would be the "spokesman" for English blends. Is there a blend that is a great example of what an English blend is?
Another reason why I asked, other than curiosity, was to find some common blends amongst everyone. If you can, I was wondering if there was a particular blend that would be the "spokesman" for English blends. Is there a blend that is a great example of what an English blend is?
Dunhill Nightcap. No need for more than one English. Once a blend has more than a pinch of Latakia they all taste predominantly of Latakia. May as well smoke the macdaddy.
I don't think any blend can be the quintessential of any genre. I mean, if Nightcap were the quintessential English, then why would we need thousands of other latakia based blends? Everyone could just smoke Nightcap, or 965, or whichever one the consensus says. No, individual tastes, different ways the blends react with the ingredients, and vastly different ingredients makes them all different in one aspect or other. About the only one that seems to be marketed by so many blenders as trying to emulate, and that is Balkan Sobranie, but that one seems to be magically elusive. So far, no one has made an exact copy, and I suspect that most of the marketing gibbery gook is just marketing to sell the blends, which all seem to have a vastly different range of flavors.
While Dunhill Nightcap is a very enjoyable blend and a favorite of mine, there is plenty of reasons to smoke other English blends. Of course taste is subjective and everyone's tastes buds are different, but not all English blends taste the same. At least not for me. Some are Latakia heavy while others may be heavy on the orientals etc. They all have their differences it just depends on whether your tastes buds can detect them.
Good mention earlier about the GL Pease Maltese Falcon. That's good stuff which I haven't had for a while. I also left SPC Mississippi River off my earlier list, because I know a lot of people consider it a Virginia based blend more than an English. However, if you want to count it as an English blend then its my #1.
Good mention earlier about the GL Pease Maltese Falcon. That's good stuff which I haven't had for a while. I also left SPC Mississippi River off my earlier list, because I know a lot of people consider it a Virginia based blend more than an English. However, if you want to count it as an English blend then its my #1.
SG Bothy Flake
STCP Bengal Slices
McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar
Dunhill MM 965
John Cotton's Smyrna
STCP Bengal Slices
McClelland Frog Morton's Cellar
Dunhill MM 965
John Cotton's Smyrna
Short answer: we don't. Long answer: Some people really don't care for the taste or smell of Latakia but want to be able to say they smoke an English blend, and blenders are happy to step up to try to accomodate them.
There seems to be a long hangover from the days when Dunhill was at the top of the heap. Now, Pease and Standard of PA "set the standard" for fine English blends. A handful of guys beat the drum for three or four Dunny tobaccos.
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