What Defines A True English Blend?

What is an English blend?
Here, you'll find a range of definitions arranged like concentric circles. The largest circle claims that "English" simply means "not aromatic". Another very popular definition has "English" to mean "a natural blend containing a significant amount of Latakia tobacco." And the definitions available ratchet down from there. This is one of those topics - and terms! - that never seems to die.

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'English' style blends are so called because at some point, there was a law on the books in England that tobacco manufacturers could not adulterate their blends with flavorings. That is really all that 'English' means; uncased. Find when the law was passed and take the group of tobaccos available immediately afterward, and those are your prototypical 'english style' blends.
I submit that most people who use the term 'English' blend could not explain what they meant by that term in under 90 seconds, making it, to me, a useless term. If we could hammer out a term that WE agreed on, I would be willing to accept it for the sake of the discussion, but probably not any further.
As an aside, as I have used it heard used, most people divide tobacco blends into 'english' and 'aromatic' which is actually the proper usage.
Jon Tillman, 2002-12-19
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I submit that most pipe smokers (and blenders, distributors, retailers, etc) make a distinction between English blends, Balkan blends, Virginias, etc. I could be very wrong, but I thought the generally accepted definition of English blends is a little more restrictive.
I think, as I said before, that the term "English," as used by most folks, is far more descriptive that simply "not aromatic." And indeed, the many non-aromatic Virginias on your web site are not described as "English" in the product descriptions. The reason for this, I think, is that most people do not think of Virginias as English, even when they are uncased.
An off-the-top-of-my-head, less than 90 second definition of English blends...I guess I'd say, "an uncased blend of predominantly Virginia tobaccos, with Latakia and some Orientals added in smaller amounts."
There really isn't complete agreement about what is meant by the term "English". Still, they all have in common...Virginia, Latakia, Oriental.
Sean Chercover, 2002-12-19
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In my opinion, once again going back to the original definition of an 'english', there should not be any casing applied to a blend for it to be an 'english'. Beyond that, I agree that the major components are Virginias, Latakia, Orientals and perhaps other spice tobaccos, in varying quantities.
Jon Tillman, 2002-12-20
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There seems to be distinction made by some between "English mixture" and "English tobacco," the former indicating a blend of Latakia and other things, the latter suggesting that the tobacco isn't adulterated with chemicals.
GL Pease, 2002-12-20
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To my mind, an English blend has a significant portion of Virginia backing up the Latakia, and orientals serve as a spice.
GL Pease, 2002-09-07 (from his FAQ)
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English blends usually increase the portion of Latakia and sometimes the Orientals as well, while reducing the Virginias. While there are exceptions, traditional English blends don't use a topping of alcohol.
J.W. Davis, 2000-05-18
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A classic English ('Scottish' means the same thing) mixture is a blend of ribbon-cut tobaccos on a base of bright virginia: the condiment tobaccos are Turkish/Oriental (formerly individual tobaccos, now a melange called 'Basma'), Latakia, and Perique (usually only present in the 'full' mixtures.) Additional tobaccos could include various other grades and types of virginia, and very occasionally, a bit of Maryland.
Paul Szabady, 1999-08-14
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English means that the tobacco is primarily VA or Burley, with small amounts of other tobaccos such as perique, latakia, orientals intended primarily to make the smoking experience more complex by highlighting/complementing certain aspects of the main tobacco.
Kevyn Winkless, 2003-01-14
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My understanding is that indeed, "English" blends typically do use Latakia tobacco and do not use additives. Latakia is a strong, smoky tasting tobacco grown principally in Syria and Cyprus, not an additive. Those two points, Latakia and the lack of additives, seem to be the definition of most "English" blends. The "stronger" the blend, the more Latakia it contains.
Tim Wisner, 2002-05-06
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I only consider blends with VA, Turkish, and latakia to be "English" blends. Of course there are several varieties of VA, several varieties of Turkish, and two types of latakia. I do not consider blends with burley to be "English" blends. They might be tasty as all get out, but they aren't technically "English". "Latakia" blends, yes, "English", no.
Weston in Atlanta, 2002-05-06
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English. English blends are most known for that smokey condiment (usually only condimental) ingredient--Latakia. Latakia is a tobacco from the Middle East that is cured over fires fueled with an assortment of woods and herbs. The persistent rumor that Latakia is cured over camel dung fires is patently untrue. It may have been true in the past but it is no longer true (the discovery of Latakia is an interesting story, but I'll leave that for another thread and time!). English blends have a base of Virginias with Latakia and other orientals added to the blend. The Latakia is the tobacco in these blends that give them their trademark "campfire" aroma (loved by pipesmokers...hated by most wives and girlfriends of pipesmokers!). For me, English blends contain at least 50% Virginias. Examples of English blends: Dunhill My Mixture 965, Dan Gordon Pym, Peterson Old Dublin, Rattray's Highland Targe, Rattray's Black Mallory.
Yarnspinner, 2003-11-29 (Knoxville Boards)
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A blend containing Virginias and Latakia, which may also contain some Orientals for depth or spice. Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe is an example.
Russ Ouellette, 2005-08-07
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"English" is particularly slippery. There seem to be two basic classifications that adopt this description. The first, probably the oldest, is a tobacco that contains only tobacco and a restricted level of ammendments or additives in accordance with the purity laws that were extant up until the late 1980s.
"English Mixture," on the other hand, the word mixture being important, has been used to denote a blend containing Latakia for quite a long time, at least in the US. In the UK, such a blend was more often simply referred to as a "Mixture."
GL Pease, 2005-08-10
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A typical English Mixture has as its base one or more Virginias, Orientals/Turkish, Latakia, and possibly a bit of Perique. Some tobaccos that contain, or are based, on Burley and Black Cavendish have found their way into what I prefer to call "modern" English mixtures. In some countries, and in particular the USA, the word "English" is used to describe tobaccos that contain no additives, regardless of the ingredient tobaccos or the type of blend; that is, a blend could be with Latakia or a straight Virginia (pressed or not).
Tarek Manadily from "Pipe Smoking: A Realm of Confusion"

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