Edgeworth Red

[eddiegrob]

I recently posted a similar review of this blend in tobaccoreviews.com.
Smoking Edgeworth Red recalled to my mind Sir James Barrie's Holy Grail blend, to which he gave the fictitious name of The Arcadia Mixture. ER is very old, and so am I but I don't remember it from back in the day. I've been smoking a sample from a cellared tub unopened through all those years. Patches of rust were found inside the tin when opened, yet it has this incredible flavor, the tobacco not adversely affected in any way. The friend who sent me the sample explained that Edgeworth Red was infused with birch and brandy, a combination that obviously really worked. The Edgeworth base tobacco was unrecognizable to me; it's smoother than I've ever tasted in any iteration of this tobacco. The fusion of the sweetness of the birch syrup with the brandy, conjoined with the type of tobacco and the aging/cellaring is truly sublime. The sweetness does not cloy and the tobacco flavor is not only retained but enhanced, and made the most palatable of any pipe tobacco I remember ever smoking. On a class by itself among all the categories. And no longer to be had, as this product has been defunct for years. Why on earth did they ever discontinue this blend? Did I miss out on a successor or match blend for this aromatic? I can't believe that my friend and I are the only ones who just love this blend. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this one.

 

[huntertrw]

"The friend who sent me the sample explained that Edgeworth Red was infused with birch and brandy..."
I don't know about birch and brandy, but a magazine advertisement once described Edgeworth Aromatic (red label) as, "A blend of Burleys and Buttery Bright Flake, toned for aroma by Latakia, Perique, and Oriental leaf."
That same ad also described three other offerings from Edgeworth:
Green: "A natural aromatic blend laced with exotic orchid bean flavor. Cavendish for coolness."
Gold" "Unique Cavendish cut blend with caramel nut flavoring and a dressing of Algerian rose."
Brown: "A hearty blend lightly flavored with genuine hickory smoke, cut Cavendish for cooler smoking."

 

[huntertrw]

""The friend who sent me the sample explained that Edgeworth Red was infused with birch and brandy..."
A bit of quick research revealed that your friend is absolutely correct, as the tin label notes this in addition to the information which was contained in the magazine advertisement.

 

[eddiegrob]

It is also mentioned in an old post (2012) in pipes.org posted by someone who had just received a tub of the stuff. Coincidentally, his handle is hunter too. Small world.

 

[doctorbob]

Paul's in flint had a couple of tubs of it, almost bought one but it didn't have much in the way of information online so I passed. I suspect it's possible you might be smoking one of those tubs.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Bob

 

[papipeguy]

never saw Edgeworth Red but it sounds close to Lane's VIP because of the birch.

 

[huntertrw]

Here's the Edgeworth Green, Red, and Gold line-up:

 

[eddiegrob]

papipeguy, according to the mostly negative or blah reviews of Lane VIP, there is birch syrup but no brandy and it contains mostly black Cavendish and burley. Some noted that it leaves a harsh aftertaste. So I think that the similarity to ER ends with the listing of birch as an ingredient.

 

[JimInks]

I've never seen the Green, Red or Gold either. All I ever saw was the Ready Rubbed and the Slices. Hate that I missed out.

 

[shutterbugg]

I remember all those. Compared to the stuff they had at tobacconist shops, they were crap like every other drugstore tobacco. Basically the cheapest second-rate tobacco they could find, shredded to light easy but burn like hay, doused with a ton of flavoring and humectant to keep it soggy indefinitely while sitting forever on a shelf in those porous cellophane pouches. (I'm just finishing up the pound of ERR I regretfully ordered a while back...the more I smoke the more I am reminded of the chasm between drugstore blends and the good stuff.)
Those tobaccos were made for old working-class geezers back in the day who smoked from morning til night. If you only smoke a couple few bowls a day, do yourself a favor and splurge on decent tobacco. Life is short.

 

[doctorbob]

It was being advertised as a new blend in 1972, not too long before Larus was no more, I don't think it was around for very long.

 

[eddiegrob]

I don't know, maybe the Larus version was better than that of the successor manufacturer. The tobacco in this Larus tin is fine, and I can tell the difference. The late Bob Runowski ('morleysson'), pipe tobacco connoisseur and master blender (OJK, Morley's Best, Epiphany, etc.), is the one whose recommendation finally induced me to try Edgeworth years ago. Up until them I was an insufferable snob with a 150 lb. cellar, including fancy-named tins of fanboy-loved boutique tobacco, which I still have. I know what I smoke, I smoke what I like and I like what I smoke. So I smoke Edgeworth because I like it, not because I was waiting for someone to tell me whether I should like it or not. Otherwise I wouldn't smoke it. Geezer codger or no, life is too short to spend smoking tobacco that I think is crap. I leave that to others, along with the hair shirts and the flagellant whips. To each his or her own.

 

[huntertrw]

"I remember all those. Compared to the stuff they had at tobacconist shops, they were crap like every other drugstore tobacco. Basically the cheapest second-rate tobacco they could find, shredded to light easy but burn like hay, doused with a ton of flavoring and humectant to keep it soggy indefinitely while sitting forever on a shelf in those porous cellophane pouches."
So, if I understand correctly, you did not like Edgeworth Green, Red, Gold, or Brown?

 

[deathmetal]

Those tobaccos were made for old working-class geezers back in the day who smoked from morning til night.

OTCs (and most aros) in a nutshell. Reminds me of many people from the past who were a lot of fun to be around. But they always liked mild blends.

 

[huntertrw]

eddiegrob:
If the label on your tin of Edgeworth Aromatic pipe-tobacco (red label) states that it was manufactured by the House of Edgeworth, then it was produced under the auspices of Rothman's of Canada, Ltd. who purchased the tobacco subsidiary of Larus & Brother Company on October 18, 1968. I believe that Lane Limited may have manufactured for Rothman's the aromatic versions of Edgeworth just as they did the Ready-Rubbed (blue label).

 

[philobeddoe]

I saw an empty tin of Edgeworth jr. at an antique mall several weeks ago. Does anyone here have any first hand experience smoking this?

 

[huntertrw]

philobeddoe:
Edgeworth Junior was a Larus & Brother Company offering introduced circa 1936 and was designed to appeal to the pipe-smokers who also smoked cigarettes. In fact, an early advertisement billed it as, "A New Idea - A pipe tobacco matched to the taste of mild cigarettes." My guess is that they intended to compete with Prince Albert (which billed itself as "Long burning pipe and cigarette tobacco") and other popular cross-over brands of the time.
I have not smoked Edgeworth Junior, nor have I ever seen any full tins offered for sale, so I cannot comment on its taste and aroma.
Here is one of the introductory ads for Edgeworth Junior:

 

[shutterbugg]

Geezer codger or no, life is too short to spend smoking tobacco that I think is crap.

Agreed, which is why I never smoked more than one pouch of any of the 70s drugstore aro blends including Capt Black and Borkum. ERR and EGR were probably the two most tolerable because they actually were actually blends meaning they had more than one kind of tobacco in them, and much less casing.
(Btw Jim, my theory on the secret casing for EGR is that it originally was slivovitz. It's a plum liquor popular in eastern europe such as Romania where EGR was born and his family was from. He probably grew up with it being a household staple).
Probably if I had only had an ounce of ERR I would still like it but nearing the bottom of that barrel of it I had to buy I think I OD'd on it because it's starting to make me gag.

 

[JimInks]

Shutterbug: That's a fascinating theory about the EGR topping. It would explain the light plum I notice in the older manufacture. Where did you come up with the idea of Slivovitz, which I confess I have never heard of until now?

 

[shutterbugg]

I've been a fan of EGR since I was a child (referring to the actor not the tobacco )so I knew he was the son of Romanian-Jewish immigrants who left when he was a child to escape anti-Semitism. Several other Hollywood character actors of the era were likewise, among them Bela Lugosi (also from Romania) Peter Lorre and S.Z. Zakall (both from Hungary), or the children of similar immigrants (such as John Garfield, Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis). My late father-in-law(a concentration-camp escapee) was from Romania and introduced me to Slivovits. Always had it in the house. Apparently it's like a national drink. So when I read that EGR directed the development of his blend, and that people said it had a plum taste/aroma, I sort of put 2 and 2 together. I suppose we'll never know for sure but it does sound plausible.