Dunhill & Escudo Navy De Luxe the Same?
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Kevin Godbee - Nov 16, 2010
- 1 min read
As I’m sitting here writing a review of Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls and describing what it is like, I suddenly realized that it reminded me of Escudo Navy De Luxe. Then I realized that they are both made in the same factory and both have Virginia and Perique. I stopped my review of Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls, for the second time in two weeks. Last time I found that the distribution and availability was in question – article here. Now I’ve shifted into a side-by-side comparison.
The similarities between Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls and Escudo Navy De Luxe are numerous. Are they actually the exact same thing in two different packages?
Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls & Escudo Navy De Luxe Similarities:
1. Both contain Virginia and Perique tobaccos.
2. Both have the same name with one word placed differently.
3. Both are rolled and then sliced into coins.
4. They are the same type of blend – Navy-style.
5. They are made in the same factory – Orlik.
Are they one and the same? Let’s look a little closer.
In the above picture, Dunhill is obviously on the left and Escudo is clearly on the right. Would you be able to tell which was which if the top of the tins weren’t placed by their respective tobaccos?
Let’s take an even closer look at the coins side-by-side.
You can see the above photo even larger when you click on it. They look quite similar, but with this closer inspection, they do start to look a little different. The Escudo appears to have some more yellow Virginia tobacco and the Dunhill (again on the left) appears a little darker.
So, the next question to answer is; "What do they actually taste like when smoked side-by-side?" I have smoked them both at the same time alternating back and forth in two pipes that are exactly the same shape and size.
Stay tuned to PipesMagazine.com to find out if Dunhill De Luxe Navy Rolls and Escudo Navy De Luxe are one in the same.
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 634! Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Warren Ertle. Warren is an extremely accomplished musician with a PhD in music. He started early as a percussionist in sixth grade. Later his grandmother got him a cheap Casio keyboard which he taught himself to play. He started playing in blues bands in high school, and has been a pianist with jazz big bands for years. Even though he was already a professional musician, he took his first real piano lesson when he enrolled in college with his studies in classical music. He is of course a pipe smoker. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 633. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss tobacco growing, what happens to the leaf, and provide updated information on where tobacco is being gown today. Tobacco production originated in the United States and we were once the #1 producer. It’s quite different now.
Well there’s nothing like a touch of the plague to usher in the changing season. Leaving the airport just when the first advertisements for all things pumpkin spice began to appear—lattes, muffins, shampoos, trash bags, and myriad other concoctions—so, too, my ability to breathe freely disappeared. The unfortunate side effect of losing one’s sense of taste and smell for weeks is the utter inability to enjoy tobacco. Not that I consider myself an expert on anything but my own tastes, but be forewarned that this review was made with mildly impugned sensory equipment. Just when a comforting pipe was most needed, its comfort was denied. Be that as it may, the road to recovery found me limping along on one lung this past month, trying to wrest the particulars of two blends on offer from Sutliff: the latest 175th Anniversary blend, Silver Quarter, as well as their spooky seasonal Maple Shadows II. Silver Quarter is a new style on offer from Sutliff, their first coin-cut blend. 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I agree it certainly appears the Escudo has more Va in it. My vote is they are a bit different but probably not a lot.
Good Day.
A long time ago I smoked the Dunhill Luxary Rolls, and while similar to the A&C Escudo, the Dunhill had a far more sweet tone. The A&C Escudo a more citric edge. Both are vastly different than the original Cope’s Escudo. That being said, I do and have enjoyed all three.
Regards
Michael J. Glukler
On the labels, under the name you will find an identical pen-stroke flourish.
The coin diameters look about the same. Are the coins the same thickness?
To me it looks like the proportions of bright & dark leaf are different. Are these two coins representative samples? Or do they represent the extremes of the brightness spectrum. Did you, or can you ask anyone at Orlik? — maybe that cute girl who worked with the Orlik Golden Slices.
I understand that the Escudo is made by Peter Stokkebye. Would suspect
there’s more Virginia in the Escudo than the Dunhill. I love
Stokkebye because it’s always full of flavor no matter which
blend and equally mild. Can’t wait to hear about your experiment.
Cheers
Stephen Spring
Send me a tin of the Dunhill and I’ll help with the review!
It would be also be a good thing to ascertain if both tins are of the same age. I find that tobaccos tend to darken in the tin with age. If they are identical tobaccos but one is older, the tasting results could be less than decisive.
I agree with Mike Glukler regarding the difference between the two. The old Cope’s Escudo is the gold standard to which current production aspires but does not equal. Escudo seems to have more a fruity, spicy bite than Dunhill, which I would attribute to a higher perique content and/or lower sugar content in the Virginia component.
I’m with Gunner777 on this one I believe there to be more Virginia in the Escudo.
I can’t speak the the Dunhill, but I know I love the Escudo Navy De Luxe.
Good question Kevin.
Lawrence
cortezattic said: “On the labels, under the name you will find an identical pen-stroke flourish.”
Oh yeah! How did I miss that! There are exactly the same, and my other Dunhill tins do not have that mark.
cortezattic said: “The coin diameters look about the same. Are the coins the same thickness?
To me it looks like the proportions of bright & dark leaf are different. Are these two coins representative samples?”
The diameters and thickness are the same, and the coins are representative samples.
Interestingly, when you look at the coins with the naked eye, they look the same. It is only in the close-up photography that they look different.
stephenspring said: “I understand that the Escudo is made by Peter Stokkebye.”
Stokkebye tobaccos are made by Scandanavian Tobacco Group, which owns the Orlik factory. The Orlik factory makes all the Stokkebye branded blends, and all the other brands that are imported and distributed by Villiger Stokkebye, International.
You can read about that here:
https://pipesmagazine.com/blog/pipe-manufacturer-retailer-spotlight/erik-stokkebye-of-villiger-stokkebye-international/
yachtexplorer said: “It would be also be a good thing to ascertain if both tins are of the same age. I find that tobaccos tend to darken in the tin with age. If they are identical tobaccos but one is older, the tasting results could be less than decisive.”
Good points yachtexplorer. It is hard to know the exact answer, but here is what I do know. I acquired the Escudo tin about a year ago and I received the Dunhill tin 3.5 months ago. However, the Dunhill tin has been unsealed for 3 months and I just opened the Escudo tin this morning.
The Escudo tin aroma is much stronger than the Dunhill. It is sweeter and the Dunhill is more hay-like. This is probably because the Dunhill tin has been open longer. However, when taking individual coins from each tin and smelling them, they seem about the same.
Ah, two classics that I havn’t tried yet. The Escudo’s been on my list forever it seems … Gotta do something about that soon! Also been eyeballing Orlik Bullseye for a while.
Thanks for the read + beautiful pictures, Kevin!
I can’t fully compare the two yet as I’ve not smoke the Navy Rolls, but the general consensus is that Escudo is more spicy and citrus-y. I would agree, Escudo has a nice Citrus-spice flavor to it.
I used to smoke Cope’s Escudo all the time so it was a real letdown when the new recipe came out. The one I really miss is Balkan Sobraine 759!
Dunhill has a darker toned virginia, may this be due to aging? This may cause a sweeter and softer smoke…
I just got a tin of the Navy Escudo by Stokkebye and I really like it. The taste of perique comes through moderately and the virginia is definitely there. I have never tried the Dunhill, but I would relish the opportunity to try it.
Here is my update:
https://pipesmagazine.com/blog/kevins-blog/dunhill-escudo-navy-de-luxe-the-verdict/