Aged Condor...

[mawnansmiff]

Hawky, with all due respect, though owned by a Japanese outfit I seriously doubt it is being made there.
Jason aka Klause should know...it's his stamping ground.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[hawky454]

Jay, you could very well be right. I hope Klause will step in as I always enjoy his informative posts. JTI’s headquarters is stationed in Tokyo, with a huge plant there I don’t think it would be too far fetched to assume they moved production out there. I could have sworn I read that somewhere but from a quick search (lack of time) I haven’t been able to confirm that.

 

[hawky454]

I didn't wan't to start a whole new thread for this subject so I thought I would just post it here.
Does anyone know how to read the coding on the Condor pouches? Most of my Condor RR from Spain reads; LDF12B11 - Do the last two digits represent the year it was produced? Most of my Plug wrappers have a code ending in either15 and 16 so it would make since to me that it represents the year but I would like to know for sure. Would anybody mind sharing some of the codes they have on their pouches. I want to see if we can see some kind of pattern here.
Thanks!

 

[condorlover1]

Weezell and myself cleaned out a distressed seller a few months ago to the tune of about 6 lb of Condor Plug and I added another 12 lb of the stuff just be on the safe side. The only two tobaccos I smoke these days are Condor Plug and Warrior with a little bit of brown or black twist added to keep things interesting. I have had very old tins on Condor flake from the 1940s and it tastes much the same as the modern stuff from Ireland. Stored properly it will keep well and may improve with age but them my taste buds were shredded years ago!

 

[hawky454]

Good to hear, Condorlover, I was hoping this thread would summon you at one point or another. Do you happen to know how to date the pouches based on the code?

 

[condorlover1]

No I am afraid not Hawky454. The early half oz RR cubes were in a green tin foil and cellophane wrapper, the two oz tins were in those square tins but once they went to the plastic pouches your guess is as good as mine. Early pouches had a red adhesive sticker but that is everything I can remember.

 

[hawky454]

Okay thanks, I think this may always remain a mystery. Oh well, I’m not worried about actually aging Condor for improvement but rather to preserve it’s flavor, I mean, ya can’t improve perfection.

 

[davidintexas]

Just had a bowl of Condor earlier today. Yeah, I could become a codger like Simon (sorry Simon :nanaCondor is that good and I am very content with that taste. Still, I'm not quite there yet. So Simon, since Warrior is not being produced anymore, you got a backstock to carry you through the years?

 

[klause]

Hawky,
I have no idea where it's being produced, but I seem to recall Eastern Europe being mentioned some time ago, or, maybe it was Poland!! (Age is affecting the noggin, mate - sorry). I can't imagine that it would be shipped all the way from Japan purely for the Irish market, but who knows how the crazy world of consumerism really works. If I recall MLC knew something about it, and may have had a thread about it somewhere, or, at least, thrown a nugget into someone else's thread.
As for the codes on packaging, once again, MLC definitely had some info on those - I seem to remember a discussion about 'batches' and changes in the tobacco (it has 'softened' over the years), and in particular a noticeable change that seemed to happen overnight.
Of course this all may just be in my head......so, drop MLC a line, he's the font of knowledge on all things Condor.

 

[hawky454]

Thanks, Klause!

 

[mawnansmiff]

"So Simon, since Warrior is not being produced anymore..."
David, Warrior is still available for sale so presumably still manufactured. Mysmokingshop.com has it at £12:59 per 50g plug.
Regards,
Jay.

 

[hawky454]

That is correct, unfortunately Velvan and Erinmore Plug got the axe.
I’m trying to compete with Simon as I just purchased another large stock of Condor Plug. I’m worried that any day now I’ll go to buy some and it will be gone, Plugs seem to be going extinct.

 

[davidintexas]

Jay, thanks for the info on Warrior Plug. I had purchased from The Pipe Divan in Ireland, and they quit carrying it, so I thought it had gotten axed along with the others. I will have to check out Mysmokingshop.
Dave, it may just be in my head since I've only tried one bowl from the Condor plug, but it seemed to be not as strong in the taste dept as a pouch of RR that Simon had sent to me back in 2014. I still have some of that one. It was good, but I was expecting a little more of a blast of taste from the plug than the RR. Could be the plugs now are a little toned down if they are being produced in a different factory, don't know.

 

[davidintexas]

Well, mysmokingshop does not ship tobacco to the U.S. via credit card sales, so I guess another form of payment would have to be worked out

 

[hawky454]

Dave, it may just be in my head since I've only tried one bowl from the Condor plug, but it seemed to be not as strong in the taste dept as a pouch of RR that Simon had sent to me back in 2014. I still have some of that one. It was good, but I was expecting a little more of a blast of taste from the plug than the RR. Could be the plugs now are a little toned down if they are being produced in a different factory, don't know.

You know, I thought that too when I first started smoking the plugs but now that I'm much more familiar with the plugs I would say they do have more flavor than the RR but that could all be very subjective and very dependent on how you cut and pack the plug. I currently have both the RR and the plug open right now. I was smoking the RR all through out the day today and later this evening I lit up a pipe stuffed with the plug (I slice thin and fully rub out with no drying time) and I just get so much more depth and the topping is just as sweet as ever with amazing floral undertones (I was seeing God tonight!). Give it some time and I think you'll come around to actually liking the plug more than the RR. I could be wrong though, nothing wrong with liking the RR and it's available to us through Pipe Divan too!
Also, Mr Snuff has Warrior Plug and it's actually reasonably priced compared to how fricken high they price their Condor. I get my 5 packs of Warrior Plug through them... pricey but not a killer. Us Americans that have a taste for the Euro baccies end up paying the price for it eh? Totally worth it in my opinion though.