Favorite HU Tobacco Blends?

[Country Bladesmith]

What are y’all’s favorite HU blends? I’m thinking about placing an order with Esterval’s. Also, if there are any other great blends that are only available from Esterval’s, I’d like to hear about those as well.

So far I’ve tried these (all were excellent):
Moroccan Bazaar
Director’s Cut
Louisiana Broken

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Dockworker
Directors Cut
Flanagan
Joschi's Oriental Sunrise
Soraya
Manyara
Sunset
Haymaker
Old Fredders
Nashville County

 

[lukasstrifeson]

What are y’all’s favorite HU blends? I’m thinking about placing an order with Esterval’s. Also, if there are any other great blends that are only available from Esterval’s, I’d like to hear about those as well.

So far I’ve tried these (all were excellent):
Moroccan Bazaar
Director’s Cut
Louisiana Broken

I haven't followed the other thread that closely, but has it been confirmed that Esterval's shipments are reaching the US again problem-free? I may have misunderstood but they were stopped for a while?

But either way, so many great HU blends to recommend, depends on what you like, but off the top of my head Fayum Cake, Makhuwa, Director's Cut, Zulu, Taurekh(?) are some of my favorites.

 

[sablebrush52]

I haven't followed the other thread that closely, but has it been confirmed that Esterval's shipments are reaching the US again problem-free? I may have misunderstood but they were stopped for a while?

It's still Russian Roulette, but with less rounds in the chambers. Now it's DHL sending orders back on occasion, due to some lack of understanding by some employees of international rules regarding importing and exporting tobacco for personal use. That said, the odds are better than they were.

My former favorite HU blends, before K&K turned to the dark side and started messing them up were:

Director's Cut
Makhuwa
5th Anniversary Blend
Zulu
Old Fredders
Indaba
Flanagan
Moroccan Bazaar
Edward G

After the last purchases I made in 2019 I wouldn't waste the money. Makhuwa, which was my top favorite, had been completely ruined, with the Malawi nowhere in evidence and the cocoa totally gone to be replaced by sour bitterness. The rich blend used in 5th Anniversary and Edward G had been replaced with cheap subs. Director's cut stank of cheap West African dark fired and wasn't the same blend.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

It's still Russian Roulette, but with less rounds in the chambers. Now it's DHL sending orders back on occasion, due to some lack of understanding by some employees of international rules regarding importing and exporting tobacco for personal use. That said, the odds are better than they were.

My former favorite HU blends, before K&K turned to the dark side and started messing them up were:

Director's Cut
Makhuwa
5th Anniversary Blend
Zulu
Old Fredders
Indaba
Flanagan
Moroccan Bazaar
Edward G

After the last purchases I made in 2019 I wouldn't waste the money. Makhuwa, which was my top favorite, had been completely ruined, with the Malawi nowhere in evidence and the cocoa totally gone to be replaced by sour bitterness. The rich blend used in 5th Anniversary and Edward G had been replaced with cheap subs. Director's cut stank of cheap West African dark fired and wasn't the same blend.

Well damn. Would I just be better off placing a LJ Peretti order instead?

 

[spartacus]

It's still Russian Roulette, but with less rounds in the chambers. Now it's DHL sending orders back on occasion, due to some lack of understanding by some employees of international rules regarding importing and exporting tobacco for personal use. That said, the odds are better than they were.

My former favorite HU blends, before K&K turned to the dark side and started messing them up were:

Director's Cut
Makhuwa
5th Anniversary Blend
Zulu
Old Fredders
Indaba
Flanagan
Moroccan Bazaar
Edward G

After the last purchases I made in 2019 I wouldn't waste the money. Makhuwa, which was my top favorite, had been completely ruined, with the Malawi nowhere in evidence and the cocoa totally gone to be replaced by sour bitterness. The rich blend used in 5th Anniversary and Edward G had been replaced with cheap subs. Director's cut stank of cheap West African dark fired and wasn't the same blend.

Do you know when K&K went cheap? I have a lot of HU in storage but haven't ordered any for a long time.

 

[PipesRock]

Louisiana Broken, Old Fredders, Fayum Cake, Janneman Flake, Makhuwa. And all of mine have been since 2019 and very good. Perhaps I'm just lucky I didn't try the "good stuff" before K&K got involved as I really enjoy the above blends. Directors cut was my least favorite of the 8-9 blends tried but certainly smokable.

 

[hawky454]

Hadde’s Best Irish
Daddy Gefftl
Sissinghurst
Anniversary (5year)
Old Fredders
Dockworker
Directors Cut

 

[sablebrush52]

Do you know when K&K went cheap? I have a lot of HU in storage but haven't ordered any for a long time.

I don't know. Most of my HU purchases were done in 2016 when I ordered directly from HU. I placed a couple of orders with Esterval's in 2017 and early 2018, which were good. The order I made in 2019 sucked. My 2020 order, which contained no HU blends, was an unmitigated disaster. So some time during 2018 0r 2019 things changed.

 

[mtwaller]

I’m an English kinda guy… Al Fayuum, Al Taurekh, and Brullende Leeuw are pretty damn killer for my taste. I have Dockworker and Director’s Cut, but haven’t tried either yet, although both are HIGHLY recommended by a lot of folks on here.

 

[karam]

In order of preference:

• Janneman flake - delicious red Virginia with a little bit of Perique
• Louisiana Broken - very nice strongish VaPer with Kentucky
• Makhuwa - although I only tried the recent version, it is still a nice chocolatey burley
• Director's Cut - really disappointed me at the start, then refocused and looked at it for what it is for my tastes: a light sweet blend with some depth and interest, an archetypical all-day smoke for me.

Jerry Sarono/Hadde's Best Irish/Fayyum/Khoisaan/Port Latakia/Zulu I enjoy(ed) smoking but wouldn't buy again as they didn't offer me something I can't find elsewhere.

Dockworker/Tillerman pissed me off.

 

[captpat]

I haven't purchased any in a while, my favorites are Directors Cut and Old Fredders. Life is too short to deal with the hassles of ordering from overseas, especially when there are so many excellent blends available domestically.

 

[creole]

A blend I don’t see mentioned often is My Special One. It’s a VaPer with some dark fired and a trace amount of Latakia. I smoked it out of an open tin for about a month. It went from being a decent if unremarkable smoke to being something truly special.
Nyala is another worth trying if you like burley and cigar leaf.