Don't You Think Dunhill Tobacco Sold in EU and the US ARE DIFFERENT?

[halfy]

I would only talk about two blends I have always been smoking, Dunhill Flake and Deluxe Navy Roll. I have tried them sold in both Germany and the U.S. in recent years. The European version appeared to be darker in color, milder, more flavorful and less harsh in taste. While the U.S. version was more brownish and had more crumbs. And the former develops magically faster by jarring. I usually put 10 tins in a sealed glass pot and let it sit for half a year or so before daily consumption. In a couple of months the fresh EU tins surpass even a few years aged U.S. tins (also jarred in same condition). I seldom smoke Latakia blends but I found it similar for MM965.
By curiosity I also tried some tins sold in UK, almost identical to the German tins. As a newbie pipe smoker that limited personal experience was based on EU tins made in 2013-2015 and US tins made in 2011-2013. Was this owning to batch difference, climate difference in transportation/stocking or they simply modify the blend for the U.S. market? More than grateful I am if you would feed me some input!

 

[cigrmaster]

Both blends are made by Scandinavian Tobacco Group and the chances of them making one version for the U.S and another for the rest of the world are pretty slim.
Where are you getting your tin date info from? When you buy them or from the codes on the back?

 

[mikestanley]

Its hard to imagine the blender wanting to make two different versions of the same blend. Its bad enough the warning nonsense requires two different labels. Sounds like an added expense to an industry with a diminishing customer base. That being said, I've never bought any Dunhill tobacco outside of the U.S.
Mike S.

 

[warren]

It wouldn't surprise me. I've not noticed any difference. That said, candy companies change recipes between the contents. And, Eastern European Marlboros taste nothing like American or Western European versions. Guinness is very different from market to market. So no, wouldn't surprise me in the least to find that blends are tweaked for different markets.

 

[halfy]

I would hardly believe two recipes either... But they do have noticeable and consistent difference. They were dated by the code, not the purchase date.

 

[mso489]

I've wondered about this, though I haven't done any careful comparison. My family has sent me pouch tobacco purchased in The Netherlands, and it seems to taste different, and a little better, to me. I've had several different ones and they seem more refined, but maybe that's just the knowledge that it comes from a more distant source. Psychology or product? It is sometimes hard to tell. As a matter of business, it would seem too expensive to maintain two different manufacturing streams for different markets, although some products are handled that way.

 

[woodsroad]

I have it on very good authority that there is only one version of each Dunhill blend, regardless of where it is sold, or whether it is sold in tins or bulk.

 

[pipestud]

Don't You Think Dunhill Tobacco Sold in EU and the US ARE DIFFERENT?

No.

 

[lestrout]

Yo halfy - tis been occasionally rumored that different recipes were used for different markets, much as Coca Cola and KFC are tuned for the markets. But our part of the consumer biz is pretty tiny. Presbyterian is famously reputed to have a German version, vs the 'merkin stuff. But Woodsroad has your specific question pegged.
Be mindful that there are slight variations across the years, and batch variations. After all, tobacco is a plant. I'm sure you pick up on seasonal differences in tomatoes and apples, even if their plants are in your own back yard. If your palate is in the same league as Greg Pease's or RussO's, you might be picking up on these differences.
Your data doesn't exactly pinpoint how long the tins were in the supply chain by the time you got them, but I would guess the US inventory shoots through the system, while, based on what I know about their distribution networks, the Euro and UK product takes longer to traverse the supply line. And if the stuff is sitting in the trucks and relatively uninsulated warehouses in the summer, they would get a little stoving action, free of charge.
If the SKU and bar code numbers on the tins are the same, in this increasingly global corporate world, you have the same product.
hp

les

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Some tobacco CEO, "Send ze Americans ze bad tobaccos, muah ha ha!"

Nah, don't think zo.

 

[warren]

The more thought I give this the more I lean to the idea that while the recipes are not changed for different regions, this would most likely be too expensive for any return, I do believe that certain blends are targeted for known markets. Perhaps a blend is developed for the Japanese market and if sufficient palates in the US develop a taste for it, demand will cause the blend to start shipping to the US or wherever a market is developed. I've not based this on any definitive information, just made it up as I went along.

 

[halfy]

The EU and US versions do have different bar code. The EU version starts with 571 (UK starts with 500) and the US version with 761 ...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The EU and US versions do have different bar code.

I'll take your word on the bar codes, but changing a sticker and changing the ingredients are two totally different things.

 

[cigrmaster]

It makes sense to have different bar codes so they can identify which tins go to which countries. I believe that trying to mfg two different blends for the US and Europe would be a serious loss in revenue.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

duh

 

[cosmicfolklore]

well... wait... let's just go over a possible MO for different blends. Why would they do this? --

Could it be that Europeans just have shit for tastebuds, and they have to make a better quality blend for the American market? They are further away from the refinements and luxurious lifestyles that all of us Americans enjoy within our capitalistic homes. Not every country can be as lucky as us to live the lifestyle of champagne wishes and caviar dreams that we are more accustomed to here in the USA. What do we know of European tastebuds? They gave us.... kale. See further evidence that Europeans wouldn't be able to differentiate quality from crap licked off the bottom on my boots. :wink:
*no real Europeans were injured in the making of this post.

 

[jmatt]

I love the contrast in style's between MSO's response and Pipestud's response.
And yes - I (we?) value the participation of both greatly.

 

[halfy]

I agree with you guys too. It adds too much costs to run two recipes in modern industry. The bar code is just bar code, which means different place of product registration but not necessarily different product.
However they do taste consistently different over the years ...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

However they do taste consistently different over the years ...

Could it be that you taste different? When I eat a McDonalds Big Mac at the beach, it tastes so much better than when I eat one in my yard. :wink:

 

[halfy]

As for Dunhill Flake which I smoke everyday, a delightful soapy flavor is developed for all EU tins within two of three months of jarring. For US tins (from fresh to 5 years of aging), it takes at least half a year or even forever ...