I don't care much for the new version of Dunhill Elizabethan. Here's my review of it:
I used to smoke this back in the Murray days and wish it was still in production. My wife doesn't because she couldn't stand the smell of this one. Maybe she put a hit on this blend? Seriously, I thought it was a great mixture of Virginia and perique. The perique was peppery with just a little plum taste, and the Virginias were top quality, brown Va. and specs of lemon Va. flakes. It had a nice nic hit and a consistent taste that stayed with you. It always burned perfectly like your best dream. I miss it greatly.
Btw, the Sutliff Match is kind of close, except it has less lemon Virginia than the original. I know it's a close match because it not only tasted much like I remembered, but the second my wife smelled it, she complained it was strong. Five minutes after I started smoking it, she came back to the studio and said, "Are you smoking that crap again? I thought they quit making it." Memories...
8-14-2013 Update: I just tried the new version. I find it a bit different than the Murray's version. Less bright Virginia, less perique, and the cut is not ribbon, but shag, so it burns faster. It tastes similar to the old version, but lighter, and frankly, not as good. I also suspect the tobaccos are young and needs aging. I like it, but I don't love it. 4 stars for old version, two for the new version. I'm rating it at two stars since the old is lamentably dead and gone, and I believe my rating should reflect the current version, which has become a okay starter blend for VaPer newbies. That's not bad in itself, but not what I'm looking for at this point in my smoking life. They should have made the effort to replicate the Murray's version, and not foist a cheaper version on the market under the same name.
And here's my review of the match version, which 4Noggins sells at the best price I have seen:
I’ve compared this to the original (which once was a regular smoke for me) and I'd say this blend is fairly close, but not an exact match. It’s certainly closer than the current DE production by Dunhill, which I consider to be inferior to both the original and the Sutliff Match. The Murray’s version was a little more complex in taste, and had just a little more bright lemon Virginia. The perique is very peppery in both, slightly more plumy here. The brown Virginia is virtually identical. As much as I liked the Murray’s product, I like this Match very much, and would say it may be as close as you can get. A little more sprinkling of lemon Va., and it’d virtually be the same. Because the new version is different from the Murray’s, which is what the Match attempted to copy, I would not consider them to be similar. The proportion of ingredients in the new version is different and the shag cut is as well.
The Murray’s version of DE was one of the very few blends m'lady openly complained about. When they quit making it, she was very happy. A couple of years back, I tried the Match for the first time. Five minutes after I started smoking it, she came back to the studio and said, "Are you smoking that crap again? I thought they quit making it." Telling me that she recognized the smell after several years just struck me kinda funny. That, besides the taste, amplified my assessment that the Match is close indeed.
I gave the Murray's version four stars. Couldn't do that for the new release.
