Blends Similar to Nightcap but Without Perique?

[Skippy Piper]

This is going to be a rather odd question, but it seemed better to ask than just go buying English blends willy nilly and hope I pick the right one. The short version of the story is that I really like Nightcap from both a flavor and Vitamin N strength perspective, but I do have one little problem with it.

What I like about Nightcap is that it's campfire'y Latakia dominant but you can still taste the tangy Orientals and bready Virginias in good measure so it's not a total lat bomb, and I like how clean and non-leathery tasting the Latakia is and that it doesn't leave an unpleasant creosote coating on my tongue like a lot of Latakia blends do. I can smoke a pipe of Nightcap before a meal and not have everything I eat or drink for the next half hour taste like Latakia. I also appreciate that there's very little sweetness to Nightcap's overall flavor profile, because Latakia + sweet just absolutely does not work for my palate (I've tried My Mixture 965, C&D Cordial, and Arango Balkan Supreme but really didn't care for the sweetness the Black Cavendish added). The healthy dose of Vitamin N in Nightcap is much appreciated as well.

However, the one problem with Nightcap for me is that for some stange reason my mouth chemistry is really intolerant of Perique and whenever I smoke a blend with Perique in it I get a sore throat for a day or two afterwards. Whether it's Nightcap, Escudo, Elizabethan Mixture, or Haunted Bookshop; if there's Perique in the mix my throat is going to get unhappy about smoking it (and no, I don't inhale).


With that in mind, can anyone think of an English blend with similar flavor qualities to Nightcap that doesn't contain Perique? They don't necessarily have to have the same nicotine content as Nightcap, just a similar flavor profile. Campfire'y non-leathery Latakia dominant but not a lat bomb, tangy Orientals and bready Virginias, no Black Cavendish and very little sweetness, and a clean aftertaste are the main qualities I'm looking for.

I've been considering giving G.L. Pease Gaslight a try but I'm not sure if it would be exactly what I'm looking for, and I'd certainly appreciate any suggestions you fine folks might have!

 

[VDL_Piper]

Star of the East Flake should do it I reckon but you like 179spew so your smoking palate is like a mad woman’s breakfast……………..

 

[ThermionicScott]

Definitely try Gaslight, but it might be more of a lat bomb than you’re looking for. Maybe try Lagonda or Westminster? Full disclosure, I have both of those in my cellar, but haven’t tried them yet. I won’t let that stop me for encouraging others’ TAD, though!

 

[shermnatman]

Can't smoke Perique... That's a bummer, Brother. I feel for you. I love Perique, so your specific plight really hit me where I live. Hoping you can find what you are looking for. - Sherm Natman

 

[khiddy]

In addition to the already-mentioned Star of the East (and Star of the East Gold, which starts with a base of stoved red VA and therefore has slightly less latakia than standard SOTE), C&D's Rajah's Court comes to mind: "Red and bright aged Virginias provide an excellent, gently sweet, base for this medium to full English blend. Turkish Oriental leaf and Latakia add layers of earthy smokiness and a mild pepperiness to the overall composition. Reminiscent of old Dunhill Durbar."

You might also look in to Drucquer & Sons Casbah, which is described thusly: "A sturdy foundation of red Virginias is enhanced with a bit of bright leaf for balance, generously seasoned with fine Oriental tobaccos, then elevated with a 'double shot' of deep, smoky Cyprian Latakia. The ribbons are pressed and aged in cakes, then cut into blocks, ready to be gently rubbed-out in preparation for your smoking pleasure. Grab your beverage of choice, a favorite pipe filled with these little crumbles of contentment, and get ready to rock the Casbah."

Kramer's Father Dempsey is a strong contender as well: It has the aroma of a campfire burning--a smooth and full-bodied Latakia based blend."

Samuel Gawith Skiff Mixture and Squadron Leader are also both latakia-forward and unencumbered by either Cavendish or perique.

 

[Skippy Piper]

Star of the East Flake should do it I reckon but you like 179spew so your smoking palate is like a mad woman’s breakfast……………..

If it makes you feel any better, I've fairly well fallen out of love with 1792 (and Coniston Cut Plug) this spring and have mostly shifted to smoking Kendal Mixed, Kendal Dark, and Dark Plug for my dark fired Virginia fix instead. It seems like I can only smoke blends with toppings for so long before I get sick of them, so 1792 and Coniston (as well as Captain Black Original and my other favored aromatics) have been shelved for awhile.

Thank you for the Star of the East Flake recommendation in any case though!

Definitely try Gaslight, but it might be more of a lat bomb than you’re looking for. Maybe try Lagonda or Westminster? Full disclosure, I have both of those in my cellar, but haven’t tried them yet. I won’t let that stop me for encouraging others’ TAD, though!

After spending far too many hours reading reviews last night, I ultimately went with Westminster for the new English blend to try in the order I just placed!



I would have ordered a couple others to try (Star of the East Flake and Odyssey in particular) but I'm a bit short on both Ball jars and funds at the moment and knew I wanted to resupply my depleted stash of Pegasus and try out JackKnife Ready Rubbed, so I ended up just getting Westminster this time around.

I just kept coming back to all the reviews saying Westminster is very dry and non-sweet tasting, full bodied and Latakia forward but well balanced so the Orientals and Virginias aren't far behind, and wears on the palate well without any of the mid-bowl sourness and subsequent unpleasant aftertastes I find a lot of Latakia based blends to have. I also like that it's a finer ribbon cut, since when I think about what I actually smoke the most of (which lately has been Gawith Hoggarth Kendal Mixed and C&D Yorktown) they're always ribbon cut medium nicotine strength blends that require no dry time and can be easily stuffed in a pipe on short notice as I'm heading out the door with no rubbing out of flakes or slicing of plugs required. Though I do enjoy playing around with flakes and plugs, I never seem to end up smoking them nearly as often as blends I can just pack and go.

If Westminster ends up being what I'm looking for then great, and if not I'll give Star of the East Flake and some of the others a try on my next order! For now though I'll be keeping my fingers crossed and looking forward to giving Westminster a go!

 

[Eireprof]

Westminster will likely fit the bill.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love Star of the East Flake and the ribbon version. But, i do not think that it is very close to Nightcap at all. Nightcap, is built upon a base of semi-sweet, plumy, fruitiness. And, SOTE is built upon a base of sour creaminess like buttermilk. I love both, but I didn't find them to be similar.
I don't have an exact answer for you though. Maybe 965? It is more tart, but sweet, with a floralness instead of fruitiness, but it might be close enough, and it keeps you in that STD Peterson brand.

 

[anotherbob]

I wonder if your body thinks perique is moldy and bacteria riddled. Just a theory. How sore of a throat do you get I wonder for no good reason. Like hard to swallow and you sound like Doris from "The Critic" or it's a little tickle but why bother?
I think asking questions like this is why God let us make forums like this.

 

[Skippy Piper]

I wonder if your body thinks perique is moldy and bacteria riddled. Just a theory. How sore of a throat do you get I wonder for no good reason. Like hard to swallow and you sound like Doris from "The Critic" or it's a little tickle but why bother?
I think asking questions like this is why God let us make forums like this.

It's a very particular type of sore throat I get from smoking blends with Perique in them. Have you ever swallowed a potato chip or tortilla chip without chewing it well enough and had it scratch the inside of your throat on the way down? It feels like that. A sharp sore feeling down the inside of my throat, just below the lymph nodes on each side of my lower jaw.

The lymph nodes themselves swell a little too, so I'm guessing it is some kinda allergy. I know I'm deathly allergic to penicillin and the penicillium bacteria in blue cheese, so I suspect my body just doesn't like whatever bacteria results from the fermentation process used to create Perique. It's not bad enough to make it difficult to swallow or cause my voice to become hoarse, but still annoying and uncomfortable enough that I tend to just avoid blends with Perique in them since there's so many other blends that don't give me a sore throat I could be smoking instead.

Burley is another type of tobacco that has a long history of bugging my throat, but it's a different feeling with Burley. It's more of just a mild scratchy tickle in the back of my throat with no lymph node swelling when I smoke Burley, and most of the time it can be prevented by just sipping the pipe slowly and gently to keep the tobacco burning cool; and dumping out the bottom quarter of the bowl if it starts turning harsh. Usually I can still enjoy my favorite Burley blends like C&D Pegasus, Five Brothers, and Gawith's Kendal Dark / Dark Plug without any discomfort if I'm mindful of my smoking cadence. Sadly such is not the case for blends with Perique, and no amount of slow mindful smoking makes it any less bothersome to my throat.

I love Star of the East Flake and the ribbon version. But, i do not think that it is very close to Nightcap at all. Nightcap, is built upon a base of semi-sweet, plumy, fruitiness. And, SOTE is built upon a base of sour creaminess like buttermilk. I love both, but I didn't find them to be similar.
I don't have an exact answer for you though. Maybe 965? It is more tart, but sweet, with a floralness instead of fruitiness, but it might be close enough, and it keeps you in that STD Peterson brand.

Thank you for the input! I have tried MM965 but was repelled by the sweetness of the Cavendish, since Latakia + sweet really just doesn't work for my palate. I had the same experience with Arango Balkan Supreme and C&D Cordial.

I do like Early Morning Pipe quite a bit though and have smoked through a couple tins of it, but I find myself missing the richness and smoother character that the extra Latakia in Nightcap provides. In an effort to remedy that I also tried Dunhill/Peterson Standard Mixture, but it was just... "uninteresting" I guess is the best word? The extra Latakia was there, but the Orientals and Virginias were muted to the point of being bland and it lacked the bold flavor punch of Nightcap.

I did just order a tin of G.L. Pease Westminster to try though, and may give Odyssey and Gaslight a try if Westminster doesn't end up being quite what I'm looking for.

 

[fr0st]

You might like Rattray’s Red Rapparee- Red Virginia, Latakia and Orientals. Not as heavy as Nightcap, but definitely a nice blend.