Condor Alternatives

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mingc

Lifer
Jun 20, 2019
4,235
12,559
The Big Rock Candy Mountains
Assholes are necessary, although no more than one is required.

It's been a while since my last pouch of Condor (I had both the ready rubbed and long cut and still have some stashed away) but at the time, I thought that it scratched the same itch as Ennerdale. However, for whatever reason, I don't see other people drawing similarities between Condor and Ennerdale, so it might just be me.
 

edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
3,025
22,700
75
Mayer AZ
Closest I’ve found is St. Bruno. I recommend the Ready Rubbed.

I love, love, love Condor but St. Bruno has become a favorite as well. In fact I would say those are my two desert island blends.

Nothing else comes even remotely close to Condor in my opinion.
I generally smoke flakes. Is there a flavor difference between the two? Thanks for the tip. My grandfather smoked Condor in Ireland but this St Bruno sounds intriguing.
 
I loved the old Condor, but I am afraid that no one else is going to have that exact same flavor profile. A running forum joke amongst us Condor fans is that road tar and coal are the missing ingredients. So... grains of salt and all that. puffy

WarHorse Green, some really liken it to the Condor, but I am not sure about how it tastes after the ownership changes. I'd be interested to hear...

But, if you are looking for flavor and strength, some really find that GH&co Dark Flake (scented) makes an acceptable replacement. But, I prefer the (unscented), and it still has some of the flavors added, just not as overwhelming.
 

davidintexas

Part of the Furniture Now
Jun 4, 2013
679
218
I may be wrong but I don't think Condor has any dark-fired Kentucky in it, which I believe St. Bruno does have in some amount. So to me they're not quite in the same ballpark but St. Bruno is an excellent blend and one of my favorites as well. It is quite readily available, as the GH Dark flake is not, at least right now. That may change in the future. If you can get ahold of some dark flake (scented is my preference) and some Conniston cut plug, then you can decide which if any might scratch that particular itch. They're all good. To my tastes the Warhorse Green doesn't taste like Condor, and I don't believe it was meant to be a match
 
To my tastes the Warhorse Green doesn't taste like Condor, and I don't believe it was meant to be a match
I didn't think so either, but I have heard some say that it reminded them of it. Not me, but people have said, ha ha.
I was unaware that the road tar and coal tar was a running joke on the forum, so I want to apologize publicly for the kerfuffle, ashdigger.
I wouldn't worry about Ash. I love him to death, but he probably had it coming for something or other, ha ha.

Those of us that love the old Condor have endured the most heinous of insults, and none more than the insults to our taste buds, ha ha. I get a little suntan lotion taste when I smoke it. Like when you get a little of one of those 70's styles tanning accelerators in your mouth, or a lick a girl that has been sunning herself. It's really hard to describe. Maybe even a little coconutty flavor from time to time. Sometimes, I even smell old shoes in the smoke.

When Russ was working on the formulas for recreating WarHorse, he was posting some stuff that he was finding that those lakeland-ish blends like Condor and WarHorse had in them. Things like valerian root and kerosene. I maybe be mistaken about kerosene, but it was things like that. Things you'd never imagine a sane person adding to a tobacco. But, I think it was these things that add to the allure.
 

condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,484
30,035
New York
As a life long Condor RR and Plug consumer I can attest to the fact that it has really changed since it moved to Poland. Something happened and it lost that 'Fairy Washing Up Liquid' taste and the room note hit the floor. As to Russ's experiments with War Horse thats another story. The SToP batches had Heliotrope and Valerian Root extract in them since it was designed to paper over the crap tobacco used by Gallagher to make War Horse Plug and in essence was added to stop you gagging on the stuff. Since we handed over production to STG I have been told that the flavor profile has changed. War Horse Green was another kettle of fish entirely. It has its fans is all I can say about it!
 

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,192
5,115
I don't think anything else is close to Condor. As lovely as Dark Flake Scented is, the real deal is the unscented. I know I lived in the dark ages, but I never could appreciate a scented version over the natural tobacco. Condor, certainly scented, has no scented version, and thus is exempt from the assertion, above. But in the last year I ventured out, to some extent, with War Horse Red and Green.
 

Ahi Ka

Lurker
Feb 25, 2020
6,717
32,136
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
@edger can you confirm whether it was your maternal grandfather who smoked condor??? Sorry mate I couldn’t resist.

I’ve always wanted to try condor, however I have been stocking up on st Bruno for similar reasons. It’s all my grandad smoked.
 
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edger

Lifer
Dec 9, 2016
3,025
22,700
75
Mayer AZ
@edger can you confirm whether it was your maternal grandfather who smoked condor??? Sorry mate I couldn’t resist.

I’ve always wanted to try condor, however I have been stocking up on st Bruno for similar reasons. It’s all my grandad smoked.
As a matter of fact it was! I like the taste and aroma of Condor, but their is a strong element of nostalgia and sense memory involved. Add a little coal fire and wet tweed essence and I’m almost in tears.
 
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