English Never Grows Old

[Country Bladesmith]

I have Billy Budd ordered. Thanks for the tip on Tuggle Hall!

Yeah, no problem. And they’re both bulk, so you could always just order an ounce to try and go back for more if you like it.

 

[gerryp]

Latakia made me a pipe smoker. The first blends I tried were mediocre quality aros and I wasn't impressed. Then I tried Nightcap and saw the light.

I like Latakia year-round, but something about damp, cold weather makes it amazing.

On that note: For me, Perique-heavy blends (e.g. Bayou Morning) are best smoked outside when it's cool and damp. Or maybe it's the bayou that's a stone's throw from my back patio, which is also the reason I'm being exsanguinated by golfball-sized mosquitos at 3:30 p.m. on a cool, windy day.

 

[tomatamot]

I have Billy Budd ordered.

Well.....................................me too.

 

[Sincerely]

I will say that since I'm a burleyphile, the blends with latakia I like most these days are actually burley based, which seems decidedly "un-English." For example Bow Legged Bear, Old Joe Krantz Red Label. I've been meaning to give Billy Budd a try. The more 'refined' English blends don't seem to click with me.

You might try Notorious by KBV as well. Burley based English with Lat.

 

[--dante--]

I have Billy Budd ordered. Thanks for the tip on Tuggle Hall!

The Billy Budd arrived and you are quite right. No need to experiment any further (though I'm sure I'll try Tuggle Hall down the road). Bow Legged Bear, Billy Budd, and Old Joe Krantz Red Label are my three lat blends now. The OJK Red is a very nice light latakia blend.

 

[--dante--]

You might try Notorious by KBV as well. Burley based English with Lat.

Well that's another for the list down the road then, thank you!

 

[canucklehead]

Well that's another for the list down the road then, thank you!

There's always one more.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

There's always one more.

Damn if that ain’t the truth! ?

 

[ram74]

I still smoke Latakia mixtures everyday and I love them. I have tried to get into vapers and straight virginia blends but I find them so bland. Still force myself to smoke them so i learn to smoke them but it is chore.

 

[irishearl]

I still smoke Latakia mixtures everyday and I love them. I have tried to get into vapers and straight virginia blends but I find them so bland. Still force myself to smoke them so i learn to smoke them but it is chore.

VaPers are far from bland if you get 1 with a pretty high amount of perique, such as Bayou Morning.

 

[ashdigger]

It has been 6 months since I have last smoked an English blend. During the summer I hardly smoked English blends anyway ... but this year was completely different. I guess with the pandemic and spending some time at home, I grew some odd sense of consideration for my wife, who always complained about the smell, or I just simply grew bored of it. It was about mid march when I smoked my last bowl of a Wild Atlantic by Peterson, and after that I didn't touch it ... in fact I began wondering what the heck am I going to do with all this balkan and english stash I have gathered over the years. I even thought that I reached that time when I would leave these types aside completely. I remember having a conversation with forum member Ashdigger who pointed out that after so many years of smoking english blends he just switched to Virginias and never looked back.

Today I got this urge for a classic English, lat heavy, plain old classic. I must admit that I did experiment with some Dan's Old Iron Side over the summer, and I found that to be more oriental and kentucky heavy than Latakia, which is only a starter that fades away after that ... besides a bit on the too heavy kentucky for my taste, so not an every day smoke. So I come home today and going through my cellar I find this old tin of Hearth and Home - Black House (I know, not that classic but lat heavy non the less ) . Oh BOY .... what a joy ride, this is the best English tobacco experience since Syrian Latakia Artisan's Blend by Ashton, and some more on top of that.

I wanted to share with you that I am cured. I am far from being done with English blends, and now that the cold air is slowly creeping in with the cold front this weekend, I think I may lock myself in my den, and won't come out even if the wife shouts "Fire" and calls the fire fighters.

I’m still very hesitant to smoke more than one bowl a week. I use lats as a “treat”, kinda weird saying that.

I still hold true that if I wanted to smell like a burned out building I’d just go to work.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I still smoke Latakia mixtures everyday and I love them. I have tried to get into vapers and straight virginia blends but I find them so bland. Still force myself to smoke them so i learn to smoke them but it is chore.

I can relate. I live in a very moderate climate, where it rarely gets above 75º in Summer. So, Lat blends every day, with a VaPer or straight VA in between.

 

[hauntedmyst]

I think English blends are always good, no matter what the season. Latakia is wonderful in just about any blend to me, even adding it to some aromatics. I find some dark fired too heavy in summer.

 

[karam]

I still smoke Latakia mixtures everyday and I love them. I have tried to get into vapers and straight virginia blends but I find them so bland. Still force myself to smoke them so i learn to smoke them but it is chore.

I thought the same, but my first bowl of Deluxe Navy Rolls converted me.

Latakia made me a pipe smoker. The first blends I tried were mediocre quality aros and I wasn't impressed. Then I tried Nightcap and saw the light.

Exactly the same for me, the moment I popped open my first tin of Nightcap I instantly said "that's the stuff". Then after 2 years of straight Nightcap I branched out, but still smoke English blends 3-4 times per week. HU Zulu is a recent favourite.

 

[tomatamot]

I still smoke Latakia mixtures everyday and I love them. I have tried to get into vapers and straight virginia blends but I find them so bland. Still force myself to smoke them so i learn to smoke them but it is chore.

I`m sailing on the same boat. ?

But for me, not a real problem.

 

[unadoptedlamp]

I like a full bore latakia blend once in awhile, but I like it more as a condiment for my regular smoking.

Sam Gawith's Chocolate Flake is a nice one.

I've got some Inns Of Court waiting for me that I'm looking forward to. I bought it because I thought it might be a little lighter in the latakia than the modern versions. We'll see.

 

[haparnold]

I'm not a Latakia hater, but it's not my main fare. I think one reason I haven't gotten burned out on it is that I never exclusively smoked lat blends. Seems like a lot of guys go from B&M aromatics to Latakia mixtures and have an epiphany. After that, they go all in on Lat-bombs and get burned out.

I smoke about four ounces of English mixtures each year, and luckily I have enough on hand to last me my lifetime. It's historically been Westminster, but I recently cracked open a tin of Samarra, and have been really, really enjoying that.

 

[haparnold]

I've got some Inns Of Court waiting for me that I'm looking forward to. I bought it because I thought it might be a little lighter in the latakia than the modern versions. We'll see.

Inns of Court is good stuff. It's like a variation on a theme of classic English mixtures, and sometimes I get an amazing pepper-crusted bacon note from it that I wind up chasing away by puffing too hard to get more of it. I think it's the burley/perique/latakia combo that brings it out.

 

[mso489]

Maybe because I am a burley focused smoker, I am not always aware of the degree of Lat in a blend, whether it is Lat-loaded or lightly condimental. Other pipe smokers' wives tend not to like the room note at all, and I don't notice it one way or another. Billy Budd, the original Old Joe Krantz, and Tuggle Hall are attractive to me for the burley. As a retired Lucky Strike and Galois smoker, my wife is incredibly tolerant and can pick out a new blend for me, as a gift, and hit it right on the mark. One of the most refined English blends is Nat Sherman 536, mild but admirably flavorful; I'm sorry it may discontinue with the closing of the Nat Sherman store in Manhattan.

 

[JOHN72]

What do you think,boys.....Peterson 965,........Arango:Balkan Supreme.....which is more natural..more quality.....?????