A Good Oriental Forward Blend?

[Jaylotw]

Anyone have any good Va/Oriental blends to recommend?

I’m looking for something where the oriental flavors are pronounced...something more than a “condimental” addition, and preferably without Latakia.

Orientals are still the one leaf that I don’t get, at least not as clearly as the others, and I’ve always been intrigued a bit by them. I know they can vary a lot depending on the type of leaf used, whether singly or in a blend within a blend, but I’d like to find a few blends that really accentuate Orientals and explore them a little further.

I’ve smoked Embarcadero and Regent’s Flake, and enjoyed them both. I’ve also just opened a tin of C&D Bijou, and it’s pretty good so far.

I know yins have some good blends to steer me towards!

 

[rushx9]

Ramback Balkan is my favorite in the Ramback lineup. It contains no latakia, lots of Orientals, and Balkan grown VAs.

 

[dcicero]

Anyone have any good Va/Oriental blends to recommend?

I’m looking for something where the oriental flavors are pronounced...something more than a “condimental” addition, and preferably without Latakia.

Orientals are still the one leaf that I don’t get, at least not as clearly as the others, and I’ve always been intrigued a bit by them. I know they can vary a lot depending on the type of leaf used, whether singly or in a blend within a blend, but I’d like to find a few blends that really accentuate Orientals and explore them a little further.

I’ve smoked Embarcadero and Regent’s Flake, and enjoyed them both. I’ve also just opened a tin of C&D Bijou, and it’s pretty good so far.

I know yins have some good blends to steer me towards!

I recently tried Bijou on the same quest. I dodnt like it all that much but I'm not giving up on it. Dreams of Kaddath has been my go to for Katerini, and honestly I'd be happy with just that. Hits the spot and strong.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Pease Cairo.
Any of the Mcclelland Grand Oriental series if you can find/afford them.
Gawith Sams Flake.
Sutliff Blended Turkish Ribbon is a nice bulk that contains Yenidje, Basma, and Samsun. You can smoke it straight to explore that flavor or add it in to other blends.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Ascanian No 1, only place I've found to get it is Estervals. Fabulous. I like C&D Bijou quite a bit. Orion's Arrow and Oriental Silk, 2 other C&D blends, are quite good. HU Joschi's Oriental Sunrise and Flannagans are very good. The C&D XX Flake is/was awesome (small batch, probably gone by now). i really liked C&D Sun Bear, should be releasing some again later in the summer I would think.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Ascanian No 1, only place I've found to get it is Estervals. Fabulous. I like C&D Bijou quite a bit. Orion's Arrow and Oriental Silk, 2 other C&D blends, are quite good. HU Joschi's Oriental Sunrise and Flannagans are very good. The C&D XX Flake is/was awesome (small batch, probably gone by now). i really liked C&D Sun Bear, should be releasing some again later in the summer I would think.

Almost surprised by how much I liked Sun Bear. Glad I have a few tins left.

 

[virginialover]

Presbyterian Mixture, it barely has any Latakia.

 

[kschatey]

Anyone have any good Va/Oriental blends to recommend?

I’m looking for something where the oriental flavors are pronounced...something more than a “condimental” addition, and preferably without Latakia.

Orientals are still the one leaf that I don’t get, at least not as clearly as the others, and I’ve always been intrigued a bit by them. I know they can vary a lot depending on the type of leaf used, whether singly or in a blend within a blend, but I’d like to find a few blends that really accentuate Orientals and explore them a little further.

I’ve smoked Embarcadero and Regent’s Flake, and enjoyed them both. I’ve also just opened a tin of C&D Bijou, and it’s pretty good so far.

I know yins have some good blends to steer me towards!

I'm on a mobile device on the moment and am having trouble posting links, but search the forum for "orcilla" to find threads about Oriental, Va-Ors, Oriental Flake, Virginia/Orientals recommendations. The one mentioned a lot in those discussions is Robert Lewis Orcilla Mixture. I ordered a time awhile back and I'm really looking forward to hopefully finally trying it this weekend. I already popped the tin and it smells fantastic.

 

[jeff540]

McClelland's Grand Orientals were the benchmark of this style. I haven't found anything to compare since.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Orion's Arrow and Oriental Silk.

Yenidje Highlander if you can find any. It was discontinued before McClelland closed its doors.

 

[irishearl]

Oriental Silk without a doubt and no reservations. My favorite blend period right now. Did buy a pound of Orion's Arrow recently I'm looking forward to trying once I finish the OS.

 

[cortezattic]

Orcilla has Latakia in it. If you don't smoke Latakia blends, you'll find that it's a little too prominent in a blend that you're expecting to feature Oriental flavors.

 

[Jaylotw]

McClelland's Grand Orientals were the benchmark of this style. I haven't found anything to compare since.

Orcilla has Latakia in it. If you don't smoke Latakia blends, you'll find that it's a little too prominent in a blend that you're expecting to feature Oriental flavors.

Ill have to check it out, though. I actually love Latakia, but I feel like it somewhat mutes the lighter oriental notes, or completely stands in the way depending on the blend.

Thanks for all the recommendations guys!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

If you're okay with a bit of Latakia, Peretti Cambridge Flake is outstanding. I like Orcilla but I like Davidoff Royalty even better. Again, all with a bit of Latakia.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

How about S&G Sam's Flake, says it has a decent amount of Orientals in it and some light tonka? toppings

 

[brooklynpiper]

Whoops.

 

[supdog]

I'll second D&R Ramback Balkan as well as C&D Star of the East Gold. SOTEG does have latakia in it, but very little. P&C has blending tobacco, you could get some Smyrna, Izmir and or Turkish ribbon.

 

[agnosticpipe]

I've always enjoyed Peretti's Tashkent. Very oriental forward blend.

 

[kschatey]

I'm on a mobile device on the moment and am having trouble posting links, but search the forum for "orcilla" to find threads about Oriental, Va-Ors, Oriental Flake, Virginia/Orientals recommendations. The one mentioned a lot in those discussions is Robert Lewis Orcilla Mixture. I ordered a time awhile back and I'm really looking forward to hopefully finally trying it this weekend. I already popped the tin and it smells fantastic.

So... Lost power last night and it was out all today, about 20.5 hours total. This evening was great though because I sat outside in a comfortable lounger with a pipe, some homebrew, and read a book that I have had from the library since before the pandemic started. VERY relaxing and time well spent away from the usual hustle of life. The reason that I mention all of this is because the pipe I smoked was filled with the Robert Lewis Orcilla Mixture that I have been wanting to try. As previously mentioned, I had seen it recommended in manu of the oriental threads here. It was quite enjoyable, but I was actually wanting MORE oriental character. Maybe it's just me, but I seem to get more oriental characteristics coming through in the Arango Balkan Supreme than in the Orcilla. Perhaps a better way to descibe it is that Orcilla is less intense and a more relaxing smoke overall. I LOVE Balkan Supreme, but it is more complex and so I always feel more engaged with it and the Orcilla was a bit smoother and more of a "let go and relax" type of blend at first blush. I will be smoking it again and will revisit these thoughts...

 

[Dandy Pipesmoker]

SG Sam's Flake (only Virginia and Oriental with a very light topping)

Dunhill/Peterson Early Morning
Peterson Old Dublin
Presbyterian
(oriental forward blends with just a pinch of latakia)