Cross Overs - Love 'em or Hate 'em - They ain't goin away! Unique Tobacco Blend

[clanobucklin]

Cross overs. What are they? Sacrilige? Scraps put together like Hanover Honey Mustard Pretzel Bits? Well whatever they are - they are delicious in my book. While lovers of English Blends and Latakia mixtures may frown a bit - here is a list of some of the best Cross Overs - I have smoked over the years. For those new to the game - Cross Overs or Hybrids are traditional English Blends with casing - embuing the smoke with a myriad of flavors. Here are my favorites:
Most Unique:

Valle Crucis - Created by 2 Friends Line Cornell & Diehl. Craig Tartler added a unique liquor that embues the latakia mixture with ginger. Creating a yummy English that has refreshing quality of ginger.
Best Balkan Cross Over- 4 Noggins Britt's Balkan - a full bodied mixture with a hint of vanilla that just adds a wonderful smoothness to this tradional blend of tobaccos.
Best Full Bodied English

Sterling/1776 Tobacco - a new kid on block this blend is full bodied, sophisticated and superb. A unique casing trumps lovers of Pipeworks & Wilke's #13. This blend is more full bodied and more complex - can be smoked bowl after bowl. We are talking buttery, leathery, smokey flavors that even have a hint of mint in it. The casing and complexity also reminds me of Esoterica's And So To Bed which used to be my go to tobacco for years.
Best Original Twist - The folks at Uhle's have taken a tradional cherry mixture and added latakia. Blasphemey you say?! Nah - I am sure the folks at Reese's Peanut Butter Factory felt the same way..."Hey you got chocolate in my Peanut Butter.....No! You got Peatnut Butter in my chocolate!"
Most Complex Cross Over Blends

Just for Him - A tie between Short Cut To Mushrooms and Black Magic Woman. Both are delicous for different reasons. STM is an earthy delight. While lovers of jammy raspeberry and chocolate will come to blows over which is better.
Runner Up - Sterling/1776 My Buddy and Bostonian - 2 home runs by Jack Peterson with more flavors in them than you could shake a stick at. We are talking flavors like cigar box, coconut, cola, chocolate , beef jerkey and campfire smoke. Each one is completely different with the My Buddy being a little more stout - since it has a little bit of cigar leaf in it. If you like any of those forementioned yummy flavors - you might want to give them a try.
Best Non Latakia Cross Over - Holiday Blend. I have smoked Hermit Tobaccos for years. That is until they started pressing everything into little hospital size Brownies. Holiday Blend - is or was (haven't seen it in years) a unique mixture taking vintage aromatic tobaccos and mixing them with Virginias and other secret ingredients. A vintage tobacco gets a modern touch. In the past Holiday Blend was released in the Fall - I encourage you to seek this one out if it is available and if you don't like latakia.
So are my favorites...what are yours. Cmon' give us a shout - this how we all get to learn about what's really cool out there.

 

[zunismoke]

I might try Black Magic Woman. I got some STM, it was pretty good, but I like to to cellar blends for at least 3 years so it went away for the count of 3. Valle Crucis is good too, except I don't like ginger. But, my wife likes the smell so I will be smoking it once in a while. Maybe it will grow on me.

 

[nathaniel]

Good stuff... I personally love STM and ROI from Just For Him. Haven't had Black Magic Woman yet though. And I've been meaning to get 4 Noggins for awhile now. Thanks for the info, I'll add to my list. I too, enjoy mutts over thoroughbreds sometimes! :mrgreen:

 

[toehead]

Thanks for the info. I am new to piping and have mainly been smoking the aromatics. But now you have given me a reason to venture slowly over to the English blends.

 

[davebell30]

Clanobucklin

I'm assuming the Jack Peterson 1776 Best Full Bodied English Blend is "American Patriot". Is that true? Also, I believe the name Uhle's gave to their Latakia/Cherry crossover Blend was "Raiders Blend".

I have not yet tried the Uhle's Blend but have just received a pouch of America Patriot and will smoke my first bowl later this morning. I really think Jack Peterson offers quality tobacco and has developed some very unique blends. On top of that he is such a great retailer to deal with.

 

[mjtannen]

Clanobucklin/Charlie: Thank you my friend for a very well developed essay and very valuable information. You are a consummate resource of blend knowledge and always willing to share with others. I must wholeheartedly second your appreciation of Jack Peterson and his "Sterling" achievements. I too gravitate to his 1776 Bostonian and thanks to your sample I will be smoking his My Buddy blend as well. Of course 1776 American Patriot is also on my very top shelf of blends. I believe many of us will expand our tasting menu options based upon your post and it is appreciated certainly in my pipe room.

 

[clanobucklin]

Erata:

I typed this before going to bed without giving it a thorough proof. Here are some corrections:

Craig Tarler of Cornell & Diehl not Craig Tartler

Best Full Bodied English Cross Over - 1776 Freedom blend not American Patriot. Patriot has no casing.

Uhle's - Raider's Blend is the one I was talking about - a great Tart Cherry blend with Latakia

And So To Bed (ASTB) - Steve R. turned me on to this back in 1988 or 1989 at Sherlock's Haven in San Francisco - up till then it had been Aromatics and English - So - it was my first experience in trying a cross over - the taste blew my mind. 1776 Freedom and ASTB are totally different in taste. Their only similarities - having a full palate feel & a casing that is difficult to describe - you just know - you love the taste.

 

[brewshooter]

I recently tried Sillem's Black. I was blown away with how good it was.

 

[clanobucklin]

Let's hear some more of your favorites guys! This is how I learn something new from you.

 

[brewshooter]

Hear, hear, more ideas! I've found some aromatics that actually taste like they smell and enjoy English/Latakia blends like Frog Morton and Penzance, but when I tried that Sillem's it was something completely different to me and I'm interested in trying some more of these combo blends.

 

[loborx]

C&D Cross-Eyed Cricket has to be the godfather of crossover blends. Truly polarizing, you'll either love it or hate it. "Rum Punch" cavendish and latakia? You bet your sweet pattootie! I like this in the summer when the cicadas start buzzing and the monsoon season pokes lightning fingers up into the high desert. The heat and humidity can induce madness and the Cricket is only for the mad. Bwahahaa! ::

 

[creekspecter]

Well... I've been thinking about moving back a touch from my Balkan/English and Virginia/Virginia-Perique standards, and move more toward aromatics. I'm hoping they'll be a touch lighter, especially in this Texas heat. Sitting out in the back yard at 8 PM with temperatures still standing over 90 degrees isn't conducive to Latakia, and (dare I say it?) my usually terrific VAs and VAPers are getting a little... monotonous. So, I looked through this thread, took some advice I received earlier from a couple of other fine gentlemen on this board, and ordered from Just For Him the following:
Whiskey Biscuit Gravy

Shortcut To Mushrooms

Lane 1-Q

Gloria Patri

Ruins of Isengard

Privateer
It's a mad dash into the aromatic realm, to be sure. Still, I have had STM, and enjoyed it, though that was mebbe five years ago, and I still have ROI in a jar, so I probably need it refreshed. I've been told wonderful things about 1-Q (which isn't a cross-over, I gather). I'm not sure where WBG and Privateer fit in. I like ginger, but can't seem to find Valle Crucis. Ideas?

 

[lordnoble]

Not sure if this qualifies, but English Chocolate from Two Friends (Craig Tarler and Greg Pease) is excellent. Many will say it's an aromatic, but since it contains latakia, I consider it a cross-over.
-Jason

 

[cortezattic]

@Creekspecter: Two Friends' Valle Crucis is available from OutWest Tobacco. Retailer with great service.
Great post Clano!

 

[matchstickman]

Cornell and Diehls #100, Mild English, is a sugar sweet aromatic with a good dose of latakia. Good smoke when Im in the mood for something different

 

[papipeguy]

I'll second Jason's choice of English Chocolate from Two Friends. I just started my second tin in 3 weeks. Very nice stuff.

 

[doctorthoss]

I'm very fond of cross-overs, and have even made a couple of my own (Old Joe Krantz mixed 50-50 with Ennerdale Flake, it turns out, is a revelation).
My favorite of the genre is probably Boswell's Northwoods. Since discovering it earlier this year, I've smoked it more than any other latakia mixture. Shortcut to Mushrooms, which you already mentioned, is another great one.

 

[schmitzbitz]

Well, after reading Jason's post; I guess I do find a cross-over in my rotation - G&H Bob's Chocolate Flake (although I consider it to be a straight up aromatic with a hint of Lat, personally). Along the same lines, I've been enjoying the hell out of Peterson U.F. cut 3:1 with blending Latakia.

 

[judcole]

I am fond of Altadis' Tartans and Bagpipes. It's a fairly full latakia based blend with a light heather honey topping. I don't smoke ti a lot, but I enjoy it when I do. I find it smokes best in a pipe with a fairly large tobacco chamber.

 

[nbpiper]

Tried Shortcut To Mushrooms last night and loved it. Looking forward to trying some more of the mentioned cross overs.