Are These as Big a Score as I Feel Like They Are?

[ScruffyPiper]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

I found a B&M in my neck of the woods that is primarily a cigar focused establishment, but does carry some pipe tobacco. Because nobody goes there for pipe tobacco they still have these original dunhill tins in stock! I asked the owner how long they had been on his shelves and the only thing he could come up with was "a really long time". Being a relative noob I have a feeling I stumbled on a "honey pot" of sorts, but have no way of knowing if this is as big a find as I feel like it might be. I mean, aren't the original Dunhill tins alone collectable? Can someone either confirm my excitement or unceremoniously burst my bubble? Also, could someone help me date these based on the codes on the back?


PS and BTW: The tobacco in all three of these tins in exceptionally delicious.

 

[cshubhra]

Dunhill London Mixture tin is from May 2015. It is currently discontinued. It is an excellent tobacco and one of my personal favorites. I think it is a good score.

The Dunhill Standard Mixture is now available under Peterson label. It is a fantastic tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The Dunhill Standard Mixture Mellow is probably discontinued as well. It is also a very good tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The two standard mixtures have a different date code, which I don’t know how to read, so I cannot tell you the year.

Very good score overall

 

[canucklehead]

I think the London Mixture is 2015, no clue for the other two.

 

[BROBS]

I found a B&M in my neck of the woods that is primarily a cigar focused establishment, but does carry some pipe tobacco. Because nobody goes there for pipe tobacco they still have these original dunhill tins in stock! I asked the owner how long they had been on his shelves and the only thing he could come up with was "a really long time". Being a relative noob I have a feeling I stumbled on a "honey pot" of sorts, but have no way of knowing if this is as big a find as I feel like it might be. I mean, aren't the original Dunhill tins alone collectable? Can someone either confirm my excitement or unceremoniously burst my bubble? Also, could someone help me date these based on the codes on the back?View attachment 33094View attachment 33095View attachment 33096View attachment 33097


PS and BTW: The tobacco in all three of these tins in exceptionally delicious.

yes the discontinued blends you should probably pick up.

do they have any dark flake?

 

[canucklehead]

Dunhill London Mixture tin is from May 2015. It is currently discontinued. It is an excellent tobacco and one of my personal favorites. I think it is a good score.

The Dunhill Standard Mixture is now available under Peterson label. It is a fantastic tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The Dunhill Standard Mixture Mellow is probably discontinued as well. It is also a very good tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The two standard mixtures have a different date code, which I don’t know how to read, so I cannot tell you the year.

Very good score overall

Beat me to it! ??

 

[ScruffyPiper]

Dunhill London Mixture tin is from May 2015. It is currently discontinued. It is an excellent tobacco and one of my personal favorites. I think it is a good score.

The Dunhill Standard Mixture is now available under Peterson label. It is a fantastic tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The Dunhill Standard Mixture Mellow is probably discontinued as well. It is also a very good tobacco (I have not tasted it)

The two standard mixtures have a different date code, which I don’t know how to read, so I cannot tell you the year.

Very good score overall

Thanks for the reply. Now for a stupid question: it would be fair to say that the age on these will have greatly affected the flavor, would it not?

 

[canucklehead]

This only works for some years, but is a good resource:

Dunhill Tin Date

 

[ScruffyPiper]

yes the discontinued blends you should probably pick up.

do they have any dark flake?

I did see a tin that said dark flake, but if I'm remembering right I don't think that was a dunhill tin. Is that another discontinued brand?

Side note: I always avoided dark fired Kentucky based blends for fear that they would be too strong, but as I write this I am burning my first bowl of Mac Barren HH Old Dark Fired and LOVING IT! Is the blend you're referring to similar to this?

 

[Sonorisis]

You're just going to have to smoke them and see if you like them. There is no alternative approach.

 

[cshubhra]

There is no short answer to this.

Virginia’s change dramatically with age and at 5+ years they should be beautiful
Orientals change more slowly, but should have changed.
Latakia mellows down with age and starts to fade around 10+ years

I would think that these are now prime. Whether you like it, it’s your taste.

Thanks for the reply. Now for a stupid question: it would be fair to say that the age on these will have greatly affected the flavor, would it not?

 

[ScruffyPiper]

You're just going to have to smoke them and see if you like them. There is no alternative approach.

I've smoked them all and I don't like them. I LOVE the shit outta them! Being a noob I was just curious as to how hard these are to find and if I had stumbled onto something rare.

 

[desrtrat68]

Ya know...I feel bad that you've gotten those OLD mixes. You deserve something Fresh! I mean, if they were so great why would they be discontinued? Everyone knows newer is better. Tell you what, I'll be happy to trade you a NEW tin of Presbyterian, un-opened! for one of the Dunhills. Heck, I'll even through in a NEW unopened tin of CAO Eileen's Dream. What can I say, I'm just a good guy like that.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I've smoked them all and I don't like them. I LOVE the shit outta them! Being a noob I was just curious as to how hard these are to find and if I had stumbled onto something rare.

Solid find if you like the blends.
Rare? I wouldn’t say rare. They made a LOT of this stuff before the name change.

 

[mso489]

It's a pleasant find at a fair price. There are a lot of these Dunhill tins at pipe shops and on eBay and elsewhere, so these are not a triple-your-money deal, but the aging has been done for you, and you seem to appreciate the product. So they are good catches for a new smoker, for sure.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

You didn't find a pot of gold but if you like the blends, it was a nice thing.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yes, prime stuff, but not the pot o gold.

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[shanez]

As I understand the coding to be, the 2 standard mixtures are from March 2011.

The first digits of the long codes next to the UPC are YYDDMM or so I've read.

 

[sokrates]

I’m a big fan of London Mixture. I really hope Peterson’s revises that blend. If not, glpease’s Westminster is a good blend in that wheelhouse.

 

[virginialover]

Nice aged Latakia mixtures at a nice price, congrats!

 

[guylesss]

To simplify the dizzyingly complex history of Dunhill pipe tobacco, arguably the three key dates to know are:
--1981 (when the production of almost all of Dunhill's tinned blends was transferred from Great Britain to Murray in Northern Ireland);
--2005 (when Murray ceased production, and blending/production was moved to Denmark under the auspices of Orlik/STG/Peterson); and
--2019 (when the Dunhill trade name was "retired" altogether and STG rebadged the blends that they will continue to make with the Peterson name added).

As for the appreciation and connoisseurship of Dunhill pipe tobacco in its heyday--conceding that some disparage this as snobbery--the writings of John Loring are quite as good about Dunhill's tobacco as they are about dating (and almost every other aspect of) Dunhill pipes.

Many of Loring's articles, along with very helpful timelines (sorting out the complicated merger and acquisition history of Dunhill's tobacco business) may be found at pipedia's Dunhill Wiki.

Dunhill - Pipedia

pipedia.org

Accordingly, to answer the OP's question about whether this is a "big find:" Well-stored, sealed tins of Dunhill tobacco made before 1981 are the collectors' grail that command high prices and/or awe.

The Murray's period (1982-2005), in retrospect at least, has grown significantly better regarded than it once was (many diehard fans of Dunhill much preferred instead the limited production, higher priced "hand-blended" tobaccos that Dunhill sold "exclusively" at their London Duke Street headquarters during the same period).

As for what's transpired since, it mainly boils down to a reshuffle: discontinuing a few blends and changing labels. Many of us strongly prefer well-aged tobacco to new, and "cellar" what we buy. So, in that regard, a nice find if not a "big" one.