Experienced Pipers 20 Years+ Opinions on Definitive Blends

[dog_park_piper]

That maybe the subjectivity prevents the existence of definitive blends? Like this thread, ask ten different smokers the same question and you'll get just as many answers.

Yes.
I sensed that this was the point, to ask 10 different smokers the same question and get just as many answers to get a list of stuff to smoke and try for himself.

 

[Briar Lee]

Aromatic Smoker’s Pride Cherry Cav
Balkan Balkan Supreme
Burley Granger
English Larry’s Blend
Lakeland KC Creme (by a mile!)
Oriental Don’t smoke condiments
Scottish Haven’t yet
Virginia Capstan Yellow
VA/BUR Half and Half
VA/PER PS Luxury Navy Flake

 

[sablebrush52]

The opinions expressed are my own and were neither coerced, nor bought.

Keep in mind that these impressions are largely based on versions from 5 years ago or more. Quality has been more variable more recently.

Aromatic - I'm not much of an aromatic smoker and the traditional vanilla and cherry varieties no longer interest me. 1Q remains the most popular vanilla aromatic, along with Captain Black White. For a cherry that doesn't taste like a chemical factory try Cherry Sarrono from HU, available at Esterval's. I'm also a sucker for George Huber Virginia Golden Flake, which has a fine honeydew topping. Problem is, you have to fly to Munich to buy it.

Balkan - Sobranie Ltd and Gallaher's version of Balkan Sobranie, NOT Germain's, which is, for me, unsmokeable crap. Otherwise try Balkan Supreme or Tashkent from Peretti.

Burley - I like Watch City's various Burley blends, but I'm not much of a Burley smoker.

English - GL Pease Renaissance, Raven's Wing, and Bohemian Scandal are excellent blends featuring top quality Syrian Latakia. All are OOP and all are super expensive on the aftermarket. I'm also fond of an OOP The Smoker Ltd blend, Easy Chair, that Russ Oullette was kind enough to make for me from the original recipe book. Originally blended by Mel Feldman, a master blender of stout English blends and a Barling authority.

Lakeland - I don't like soap, but I do like Gawith & Haggarth flakes such as Glengarry Flake. I also like St. Bruno, even though it's not the same as the original Ogden's version due to the different Virginias used in the base.

Oriental - Many of the best of these were made by McClelland and are OOP, and cost your left nut on the aftermarket. I quite like Brunello Flake and some of the Watch City Orientals. There's likely to be a shortage of this type of blend due to shortages of Oriental leaf.

Virginia - GL Pease Union Square is a good choice. Montgomery is another interesting Virginia blend that doesn't get a lot of notice. There aren't many American made Virginia blends worth smoking since McClelland closed their doors. Capstan Blue is a standard, as was Cut Virginia Plug. But the latter has undergone changes to the Virginias and isn't what it once was.
Keep your eyes peeled this Fall for another edition of Sutliff's Cringle Flake, which may be a straight Virginia or a Va/Per. Either way these releases have never bee less than superb. I can't recommend the blends recently turned out by K&K because of the substitutions.
Keep an eye on micro batches being released by Ken Byron Ventures. He's producing some of the best blends available today, but they come in small one time releases because they're composed from limited supplies of top quality aged leaf.
I would also recommend Gawith & Hoggarth and Samuel Gawith tobaccos when looking for Virginias. Their use of Empire Leaf provides fuller and richer flavor than the pallid stuff generally offered by American producers, excepting Sutliff.

Va/Bur - About the only Va/Bur I smoke are Esoterica Stonehaven, Esoterica Tilbury and G&H Dark Flake. The Esotericas are hard to find, and insanely high priced on the aftermarket. Fortunately I was able to stock up at regular retail, about 15% of aftermarket gouging prices. Gawith & Hoggarth Coniston Plug and Dark Bird's Eye are other good choices. Gawith & Hoggarth turn out a high quality product.

Va/Per - This is where the slaughter gets bad, with producers subbing cheap dark fired for Perique, and it doesn't work. D&R Rimbouché blends are good basic Va/Pers, not fancy, but honest. GL Pease Telegraph Hill, Stratford, Fillmore, and Haddo's Delight are good choices. Solani 633 is a shadow of its former self. If you can find any, look for the RO Perique Series, in particular, GP-11. Escudo made by Copes or A & C Petersen is a classic and one of the best ever made. The STG version is crap. HU Director's Cut is a good choice as is Ascanian, but they need to be ordered from Germany. I also recommend Sutliff's Match Victorian, a high quality clone of the Murray's version of Elizabethan Mixture. Cabbies Mixture from 2017 and earlier is excellent. But the last batch I bought in 2019 was loaded with cheap dark fired and was pretty damned awful. Esoterica Dunbar and Dorchester are aromatic Va/Pers, both of which I like a lot. You also might like H&H Anniversary Kake and Viprati.

Since writing this, I'll have to take Dunbar off of the list after having sampled the 2021 and 2022 releases. The Virginias are different and for me, not in a good way, and the apricot is very much diminished. I'd prefer the diminished apricot if the Virginia base was of the quality Germain's was using up to 2018, which is the last time I bought any until I bought a bag of the 2021 and opened it shortly after posting to this thread. There's much better smokes readily available without the frenzy.

 

[vosBghos]

Since writing this, I'll have to take Dunbar off of the list after having sampled the 2021 and 2022 releases. The Virginias are different and for me, not in a good way, and the apricot is very much diminished. I'd prefer the diminished apricot if the Virginia base was of the quality Germain's was using up to 2018, which is the last time I bought any until I bought a bag of the 2021 and opened it shortly after posting to this thread. There's much better smokes readily available without the frenzy.

Interesting I have a 2022 tin of Dunbar and and Tilbury waiting for my 50th Bday to break in my Sir Jacopo I’m leaning Tilbury to keep the pipe free of Perique, do Esoterica toppings/casings ghost at all in your opinion like noticeably? Because I might just smoke some FVF …

 

[sablebrush52]

Interesting I have a 2022 tin of Dunbar and and Tilbury waiting for my 50th Bday to break in my Sir Jacopo I’m leaning Tilbury to keep the pipe free of Perique, do Esoterica toppings/casings ghost at all in your opinion like noticeably? Because I might just smoke some FVF …

They can ghost, but not the sort of ghost that can't be removed by a good cleaning and a few bowls of another blend, nothing like Latakia which requires an elaborate exorcism. They're semi aromatics, so they do leave behind a scent.

 

[SBC]

The following is copied and pasted from a thread entitled "Gold Standard Blends - Revised" at another forum:

A list of widely available reference blends for folks interested in exploring new genres. These are not meant to represent "The Best" nor are they necessarily our Favorites, they serve as good starting points and useful benchmarks.
No Unicorns here.

Aromatics:
British/Lake District:
Bosun Cut Plug
Coniston Cut Plug
Gawith & Hoggarth Co. Brown Flake, Dark Flake/Plug (scented or unscented), Ennerdale Flake, Broken #7 Flake, Best Brown #2

European:
Davidoff Danish Mixture
Dan Tobacco Blue Note
Peterson Connoisseur's Choice
Solani Blend 369 Blue Label
Peter Stokkebye (pick one)

U.S.A.:
Boswell's (pick one)
Cornell & Diehl (pick one)
The Country Squire (pick one)
Lane's 1Q and RLP6
Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic
Sutliff (pick one)
Watch City Deluxe Crumb Cut
Wilke Tobacco's (pick one)

American OTC:
Carter Hall
Half & Half
Prince Albert
Sir Walter Raleigh

British OTC:
Murray's Revor Plug
Original Flake
St. Bruno's Ready Rubbed and Flake

Burley (Non-Aromatic):
Peter Heinrich's Dark Strong Flake
Peretti's Burley Plug Cut
Solani Aged Burley Flake
Uhle's 00 and Perfection Plug Burley
Wessex Burley Slice

Virginias:
Light to Medium:
4th Generation 1855
Capstan Yellow
C&D Yorktown
Dan's Hamborger Veermaster
F&T Cut Virginia Plug
Orlik Golden Sliced (*very light perique)
Peterson Flake
Samuel Gawith Golden Glow

Medium to Dark:
Astley's 109
John Aylesbury Classic Flake
Capstan Blue
GLPease Union Square
Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake and Full Virginia Flake
Watch City Rhythm & Blues

Dark:
Astley's # 44
Rattray's Dark Fragrant
Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake

Red:
C&D Bijou, Interlude, Opening Nights
F&T BlackJack
MacBaren HH Pure Virginia
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1
Watch City Simply Red
Wessex Red Virginia Flake

Virginia/Perique (VaPer):
Escudo
HU Director's Cut
Samuel Gawith St. James Flake and Cabbie's Mixture
GLPease Telegraph Hill
Peterson DeLuxe Navy Rolls
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake and Luxury Navy Flake
Watch City Rougaroux and Old Dominion

Virginia/Burley (VaBur)
C&D Pegasus
Erik Stokkebye 1931 Flake
MacBaren Navy Flake and Old Dark Fired
Solani Silver Flake
Uhle's 44

Virginia/Burley/Perique (VaBurPer):
C&D Old Joe Krantz
HU Edward G
McConnell Scottish Cake
Peretti's No. 8 Sliced
Rattray Hal o' the Wynd
Reiner's Blend 71 aka Long Golden Flake
Watch City Slices

English:
Classics:
Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader and Skiff
GLPease Westminister
Peterson Early Morning Pipe, Standard Mixture, MM 965, and Nightcap
Peretti's Tashkent
Rattray's 7 Reserves
Peter Stokkebye Proper English

Crossover English:
Boswell's NorthWoods
C&D Epiphany
Kramer's Cary Grant & Danny Kaye
Lane HGL
Peter Stokkebye EOS & Luxury English
Sutliff Match Revelation

Scottish:
MacBaren Scottish Mixture
Perretti Pride of Loch Lomond
Rattray's Red Rapparee and Black Mallory

Balkan:
Balkan Sasieni
GLPease Odyssey
Hearth & Home Black House and White Knight
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve
Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme


Sources:
Original Gold Standard Blends list created at PSF
Review of TR Top Rated/Best Sellers
A lengthy thread and two polls here at PSD
Additional PSD member suggestions for updates and revisions.
Overhauled 12/17/2021 by:
Gold Standard Review Committee:
DarkFlake (* RIP), DmKerr, Fr_Tom, JimInks, Sablebrush52, Sasquatch, Spillproof, TallPuffofBurley.

 

[SBC]

I've been pipe smoking about 14 years, but I have some feel on pipe culture going back further than that. I didn't take the OP to be interested primarily in any given person's preferences, nor in actual quality, but simply in popularly iconic, historically category-representing status.

One question which remains open is whether the OP is interested only in extant productions.

But here's a stab at it, sticking to the OP's list --

• Aromatic:
  Lane 1Q
  
  
• Balkan:
  Sobranie
  (I don't think that any extant production holds iconic status)
  
  
• Burley:
  Granger?
  
  
• English:
  Dunhill/Peterson My Mixture 965, and GLP Westminster are probably both contenders for iconic, category-representing status (for Latakia mixtures, which is what most Americans mean when they say "English" tobacco today)
  
  
• Lakeland:
  Ennerdale may be most iconic for the "Lakeland sauce"
  
  
• Oriental:
  This category doesn't have a long enough history in the popular mind, as such. Historically, Orientals have sometimes been highlighted in otherwise Latakia mixtures, but that brings us back to the Balkan category.
  
  
• Scottish:
  This is a meaningless category, but tobaccos which use the term are taking their cue from MacBaren's "Mixture: Scottish Blend," so I guess that's the answer.
  
  
• Virginia:
  Two contenders for popularly iconic status would be SG FVF and (don't shoot me) OGS.
  (Yes yes, I know that OGS has a smidgen of undetectable perique, and the apricot topping, but OGS is more or less a VA, and it is certainly a historically iconic tobacco.)
  
  
• VA/BUR:
  Maybe C&D Pegasus?
  
  
• VA/PER:
  Escudo

In the above I have not answered according to my preferences (or taxonomy). In fact, my personal preferences are very different than these in every single category except Lakeland. I have tried to answer according to long-standing popular perception.

 

[sablebrush52]

The following is copied and pasted from a thread entitled "Gold Standard Blends - Revised" at another forum:

A list of widely available reference blends for folks interested in exploring new genres. These are not meant to represent "The Best" nor are they necessarily our Favorites, they serve as good starting points and useful benchmarks.
No Unicorns here.

Aromatics:
British/Lake District:
Bosun Cut Plug
Coniston Cut Plug
Gawith & Hoggarth Co. Brown Flake, Dark Flake/Plug (scented or unscented), Ennerdale Flake, Broken #7 Flake, Best Brown #2

European:
Davidoff Danish Mixture
Dan Tobacco Blue Note
Peterson Connoisseur's Choice
Solani Blend 369 Blue Label
Peter Stokkebye (pick one)

U.S.A.:
Boswell's (pick one)
Cornell & Diehl (pick one)
The Country Squire (pick one)
Lane's 1Q and RLP6
Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic
Sutliff (pick one)
Watch City Deluxe Crumb Cut
Wilke Tobacco's (pick one)

American OTC:
Carter Hall
Half & Half
Prince Albert
Sir Walter Raleigh

British OTC:
Murray's Revor Plug
Original Flake
St. Bruno's Ready Rubbed and Flake

Burley (Non-Aromatic):
Peter Heinrich's Dark Strong Flake
Peretti's Burley Plug Cut
Solani Aged Burley Flake
Uhle's 00 and Perfection Plug Burley
Wessex Burley Slice

Virginias:
Light to Medium:
4th Generation 1855
Capstan Yellow
C&D Yorktown
Dan's Hamborger Veermaster
F&T Cut Virginia Plug
Orlik Golden Sliced (*very light perique)
Peterson Flake
Samuel Gawith Golden Glow

Medium to Dark:
Astley's 109
John Aylesbury Classic Flake
Capstan Blue
GLPease Union Square
Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake and Full Virginia Flake
Watch City Rhythm & Blues

Dark:
Astley's # 44
Rattray's Dark Fragrant
Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake

Red:
C&D Bijou, Interlude, Opening Nights
F&T BlackJack
MacBaren HH Pure Virginia
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1
Watch City Simply Red
Wessex Red Virginia Flake

Virginia/Perique (VaPer):
Escudo
HU Director's Cut
Samuel Gawith St. James Flake and Cabbie's Mixture
GLPease Telegraph Hill
Peterson DeLuxe Navy Rolls
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake and Luxury Navy Flake
Watch City Rougaroux and Old Dominion

Virginia/Burley (VaBur)
C&D Pegasus
Erik Stokkebye 1931 Flake
MacBaren Navy Flake and Old Dark Fired
Solani Silver Flake
Uhle's 44

Virginia/Burley/Perique (VaBurPer):
C&D Old Joe Krantz
HU Edward G
McConnell Scottish Cake
Peretti's No. 8 Sliced
Rattray Hal o' the Wynd
Reiner's Blend 71 aka Long Golden Flake
Watch City Slices

English:
Classics:
Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader and Skiff
GLPease Westminister
Peterson Early Morning Pipe, Standard Mixture, MM 965, and Nightcap
Peretti's Tashkent
Rattray's 7 Reserves
Peter Stokkebye Proper English

Crossover English:
Boswell's NorthWoods
C&D Epiphany
Kramer's Cary Grant & Danny Kaye
Lane HGL
Peter Stokkebye EOS & Luxury English
Sutliff Match Revelation

Scottish:
MacBaren Scottish Mixture
Perretti Pride of Loch Lomond
Rattray's Red Rapparee and Black Mallory

Balkan:
Balkan Sasieni
GLPease Odyssey
Hearth & Home Black House and White Knight
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve
Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme


Sources:
Original Gold Standard Blends list created at PSF
Review of TR Top Rated/Best Sellers
A lengthy thread and two polls here at PSD
Additional PSD member suggestions for updates and revisions.
Overhauled 12/17/2021 by:
Gold Standard Review Committee:
DarkFlake (* RIP), DmKerr, Fr_Tom, JimInks, Sablebrush52, Sasquatch, Spillproof, TallPuffofBurley.

Hmmmm...we had agreed to drop Escudo because it's become so mediocre. Someone wit no palate snuck it back in.

 

[didimauw]

I only have 11 years of smoking a pipe. So I’m grossly unqualified.

Luckily I joined this forum right about the same time I started pipe smoking. That way I don't have to remember.

 

[rmbittner]

Hmmmm...we had agreed to drop Escudo because it's become so mediocre. Someone wit no palate snuck it back in.

Maybe I missed this note at some point, but was there any stipulation that these needed to be current or available blends? To me, if you’re talking about “definitive,” most of the genre-defining blends were released 50-100 years ago; they’re where the style originated.

But I’ll admit to having a hard time sussing out exactly what the intent of the OP’s question was. He only wants responses from long-time smokers, but our experience isn’t supposed to factor in…?

 

[sablebrush52]

Maybe I missed this note at some point, but was there any stipulation that these needed to be current or available blends? To me, if you’re talking about “definitive,” most of the genre-defining blends were released 50-100 years ago; they’re where the style originated.

But I’ll admit to having a hard time sussing out exactly what the intent of the OP’s question was.

At the time I was invited to be part of this project the goal was to recommend what was currently available rather than a list of once upon a time. I'd included Escudo at the time because I was still smoking the A & C Petersen tins I'd bought years ago.

Then I opened a tin of the STG after 5 years of aging and was more than a little disappointed. Their production has gone through a couple of changes since they took over manufacture and the blend just ain't what it used to be, so I suggested that it be dropped and the others agreed.

It just bugs me that smokers are being sold famous names with infamous contents.

 

[PennyStonks]

At the time I was invited to be part of this project the goal was to recommend what was currently available rather than a list of once upon a time. I'd included Escudo at the time because I was still smoking the A & C Petersen tins I'd bought years ago.

Then I opened a tin of the STG after 5 years of aging and was more than a little disappointed. Their production has gone through a couple of changes since they took over manufacture and the blend just ain't what it used to be, so I suggested that it be dropped and the others agreed.

It just bugs me that smokers are being sold famous names with infamous contents.

I’ve always seen escudo highly recommended but I never purchased any until last year. It’s gotten a little better after a year in a jar but it still leaves much to be desired. I’m glad to know I’m not just crazy in my assessment.

 

[vosBghos]

The following is copied and pasted from a thread entitled "Gold Standard Blends - Revised" at another forum:

A list of widely available reference blends for folks interested in exploring new genres. These are not meant to represent "The Best" nor are they necessarily our Favorites, they serve as good starting points and useful benchmarks.
No Unicorns here.

Aromatics:
British/Lake District:
Bosun Cut Plug
Coniston Cut Plug
Gawith & Hoggarth Co. Brown Flake, Dark Flake/Plug (scented or unscented), Ennerdale Flake, Broken #7 Flake, Best Brown #2

European:
Davidoff Danish Mixture
Dan Tobacco Blue Note
Peterson Connoisseur's Choice
Solani Blend 369 Blue Label
Peter Stokkebye (pick one)

U.S.A.:
Boswell's (pick one)
Cornell & Diehl (pick one)
The Country Squire (pick one)
Lane's 1Q and RLP6
Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic
Sutliff (pick one)
Watch City Deluxe Crumb Cut
Wilke Tobacco's (pick one)

American OTC:
Carter Hall
Half & Half
Prince Albert
Sir Walter Raleigh

British OTC:
Murray's Revor Plug
Original Flake
St. Bruno's Ready Rubbed and Flake

Burley (Non-Aromatic):
Peter Heinrich's Dark Strong Flake
Peretti's Burley Plug Cut
Solani Aged Burley Flake
Uhle's 00 and Perfection Plug Burley
Wessex Burley Slice

Virginias:
Light to Medium:
4th Generation 1855
Capstan Yellow
C&D Yorktown
Dan's Hamborger Veermaster
F&T Cut Virginia Plug
Orlik Golden Sliced (*very light perique)
Peterson Flake
Samuel Gawith Golden Glow

Medium to Dark:
Astley's 109
John Aylesbury Classic Flake
Capstan Blue
GLPease Union Square
Samuel Gawith Best Brown Flake and Full Virginia Flake
Watch City Rhythm & Blues

Dark:
Astley's # 44
Rattray's Dark Fragrant
Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake

Red:
C&D Bijou, Interlude, Opening Nights
F&T BlackJack
MacBaren HH Pure Virginia
Sutliff Matured Red Virginia 515 RC-1
Watch City Simply Red
Wessex Red Virginia Flake

Virginia/Perique (VaPer):
Escudo
HU Director's Cut
Samuel Gawith St. James Flake and Cabbie's Mixture
GLPease Telegraph Hill
Peterson DeLuxe Navy Rolls
Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake and Luxury Navy Flake
Watch City Rougaroux and Old Dominion

Virginia/Burley (VaBur)
C&D Pegasus
Erik Stokkebye 1931 Flake
MacBaren Navy Flake and Old Dark Fired
Solani Silver Flake
Uhle's 44

Virginia/Burley/Perique (VaBurPer):
C&D Old Joe Krantz
HU Edward G
McConnell Scottish Cake
Peretti's No. 8 Sliced
Rattray Hal o' the Wynd
Reiner's Blend 71 aka Long Golden Flake
Watch City Slices

English:
Classics:
Samuel Gawith Squadron Leader and Skiff
GLPease Westminister
Peterson Early Morning Pipe, Standard Mixture, MM 965, and Nightcap
Peretti's Tashkent
Rattray's 7 Reserves
Peter Stokkebye Proper English

Crossover English:
Boswell's NorthWoods
C&D Epiphany
Kramer's Cary Grant & Danny Kaye
Lane HGL
Peter Stokkebye EOS & Luxury English
Sutliff Match Revelation

Scottish:
MacBaren Scottish Mixture
Perretti Pride of Loch Lomond
Rattray's Red Rapparee and Black Mallory

Balkan:
Balkan Sasieni
GLPease Odyssey
Hearth & Home Black House and White Knight
Seattle Pipe Club Plum Pudding Special Reserve
Peter Stokkebye Balkan Supreme


Sources:
Original Gold Standard Blends list created at PSF
Review of TR Top Rated/Best Sellers
A lengthy thread and two polls here at PSD
Additional PSD member suggestions for updates and revisions.
Overhauled 12/17/2021 by:
Gold Standard Review Committee:
DarkFlake (* RIP), DmKerr, Fr_Tom, JimInks, Sablebrush52, Sasquatch, Spillproof, TallPuffofBurley.

I have been using this list for about 6 months for testing the waters , it’s a great list , and I’ve acquired many on it ,been slowly getting over Covid palate fatigue , so I’m just staring at tins waiting for my senses of taste and smell to return to normal.

 

[vosBghos]

Hmmmm...we had agreed to drop Escudo because it's become so mediocre. Someone wit no palate snuck it back in.

So where does that leave Deluxe Navy Rolls , who are the top VaPer’s now?

 

[sablebrush52]

So where does that leave Deluxe Navy Rolls , who are the top VaPer’s now?

Well, Deluxe Navy Rolls are an interesting example, because, Dunhill never made them. They were added to the Dunhill branded line by Murray's. A lot of people really like that blend, but I haven't smoked it. Somewhere, I have a sleeve, and I should give them a try.
IIRC, @JimInks thought that the original Peter Heinrick's Curly Block, before production went to STG, was very like the Murray's.
As for current VaPers, GL Pease Telegraph Road is pretty good, as is GL Pease Stratford and I also like GL Pease Haddo's Delight, though it isn't strictly a Va/Per. I also like HU Director's Cut, though current iterations have less Perique than they used to use, and Ascanian No 2, which is also a German blend.
Daughters and Ryan is a very good basic VaPer, both the SJ version and the AP version are good. Hearth and Home Anniversary Kake was a favorite of mine as was Viprati. Savinelli Doblone d'Oro is also good, though it's no longer a Three Nuns clone. Watch City #558 is another good option, as is Old Dominion Flake, and Rougaroux when it's available.
Most of my old faves are out of production, or have been altered, so no point mentioning them. Also, I keep blending Perique on hand for when I want to add it to a blend.
Hope this helps.

 

[sablebrush52]

I’ve always seen escudo highly recommended but I never purchased any until last year. It’s gotten a little better after a year in a jar but it still leaves much to be desired. I’m glad to know I’m not just crazy in my assessment.

Look, I'm biased. I smoked Cope's and A & C Petersen, and those had real character. So I'm more unforgiving than someone who hasn't experienced those versions.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I’ve always seen escudo highly recommended

You'll never hear that from me. Out of current Virginia/Perique blends, Sutliff's Match Elizabethan/Victorian is much better.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Maybe I missed this note at some point, but was there any stipulation that these needed to be current or available blends? To me, if you’re talking about “definitive,” most of the genre-defining blends were released 50-100 years ago; they’re where the style originated.

That's the "no unicorns" bit. The idea was to make a list of blends that newbies could get their hands on.

 

[LotusEater]

I only have 11 years of smoking a pipe. So I’m grossly unqualified.

I feel like this thread is discriminatory!
Where are the moderators when you need one?

 

[rmbittner]

That's the "no unicorns" bit. The idea was to make a list of blends that newbies could get their hands on.

Sorry…I was referring to the OP’s post and most of the comments that addressed it. I wasn’t commenting on the “no unicorns” post.